drip/irrigation questions?

I figured I would come to hydro to ask questions about this kind of system even though I'm in dirt, well pro mix , but any way.

I'm trying to build a drip to waste type system from a single resivor to feed 9 plants. There arranged 3x3. I think I'd like to build some kind of manifold out of PVC and have the drip rings coming off of the manifold. And the resivor out of the room.

Each plant is in five gallon pots, and I would like to figure out what size of pump and timing I would need to give the plants just enough water for that day, I was thinking right about a half gallon. And feed every day.

Would this even work? Have you ever done this or seen it done? The reason I'm even trying to do this is take out some of the human error out of dirt growing. Any advice would be great. Thank you RIU and keep on growing on.

I use a 600 gal/hr pump for 9 hydro plants, and that is plenty of pressure. I'm sure you can get away with a 250 g/h for a soil watering system. Have you considered doing away with a pump and just do a gravity feed system with the PVC? It would be cheaper. The other thing that you want to consider is that soil needs to dry out between waterings. Constantly damp soil will lead to root rot, which leads to a myriad of other problems. So with that in mind, a watering system on a daily timer wouldn't be needed. A simple gravity feed watering every 3-4 days would be ideal for you... just something to consider. Hope that helps.

Are you using "hydro halos"? In my experience, they have a pretty high flow rate, and with 600gph pumps I can only get full delivery out of 6 halos.
What kind of timer are you using? You need to think about balancing your pumps "on" intervals with the flowrate of your drippers.

Here's something you might not have considered: https://www.google.com/search?q=blumats&rlz=1C1TSNJ_enUS450US450&oq=blumats&aqs=chrome.0.57.1140&sugexp=chrome,mod=7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Google around to find some coco+blumat grows. People are killing it with these things, and once you get em dialed in it's very low maintenance. No pump or timer required.

Murphio said:

Have you considered doing away with a pump and just do a gravity feed system with the PVC? It would be cheaper. The other thing that you want to consider is that soil needs to dry out between waterings. Constantly damp soil will lead to root rot, which leads to a myriad of other problems. So with that in mind, a watering system on a daily timer wouldn't be needed. A simple gravity feed watering every 3-4 days would be ideal for you

Click to expand...

Exactly what i was going to say!

A really easy way to do it would be to run drip irrigation lines with emitters to each pot, and then run the whole system to a rubbermaid 18 gallon tote, with a valve installed, in between the system, and the tote. Mix your water and nutrients right in the tote, and put an airstone in there to help keep it mixed, and to keep it aerated. When you are ready to water, open the valve that you installed on the tote, which would be located above the level of the plants, let the water run through the drip system. When you are done watering, shut the valve, rinse the tote, and wait for next time.

You can do fresh water or nutrient solution this way.

You will still need to water ONLY as needed. Because the plant's water needs vary week to week, you still need to decide when to water, and not rely on a timer.

I have been thinking about building a system like that forever now. I've read a little about those Blumats. They seem like an awesome design. I would love to hear from some Blumat-experienced users.

pacificarage said:

I have been thinking about building a system like that forever now. I've read a little about those Blumats. They seem like an awesome design. I would love to hear from some Blumat-experienced users.

Click to expand...

Give it a quick google. A lot of good threads out there. I don't want to plug other sites though