Drip system

I am going to be transitioning to a drip system and then possibly hydro. So i've started modelling some drip setups to test. Also gotta see if I can cut my build time down a ton. Got a few ideas to cut down cost and time etc. I'll be feeling them out in this thread. Feel free to add any input about 3d printing or hole sizng, spacing or any other considerations.

So I am using these to block out the light as well as provide the drip. Still on my list to make a floraflex style cap might be easier on the prints with no cavity.

I put two water attachments in case it clogs. Design to fit the Elite 600 nursery pot. it's a 1.5gallon which I think will be perfect for the size of plants I like. Also it maxes out the size of my print @8" diameter

So printed up ok. Think on the next version I'll just print the drip part to test. Then commit to the flat plate after.

Looking great.

finished my McGyver drip system now and I’m pretty happy with it for the overall cost of the “actual” parts I’m using lol.

these look cool though.

Especially being able to design it however you like.

Nice! Are you going to throw the files up on Thingiverse? I’d be interested in printing it

Dope! I to would love to see the file. What medium are you gonna grow in? I have a bunch other questions that'll probably be answered if you add to this thread or direct me to another one you have going on. I'm trying to switch over to a more automated drip system when this flower is over.

jondamon said:

Looking great.

finished my McGyver drip system now and I’m pretty happy with it for the overall cost of the “actual” parts I’m using lol.

these look cool though.

Especially being able to design it however you like.

Click to expand...

I may end up just printing the emitters and hand cutting the round plate with an 8" hole saw out of expanded PVC sheet. And maybe zip tie the emitter to the flat plate or have it slot it in some how. . Otherwise it will take around 20 days to print as many as I need. Vs a week or less if I get smarter. I shall be dreaming a solution until I have one.

1dude1seed said:

Nice! Are you going to throw the files up on Thingiverse? I’d be interested in printing it

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Yes sir I will share the file/link here once I have a reliable efficient model.

Monster_of_Au said:

Dope! I to would love to see the file. What medium are you gonna grow in? I have a bunch other questions that'll probably be answered if you add to this thread or direct me to another one you have going on. I'm trying to switch over to a more automated drip system when this flower is over.

Click to expand...

Yes will provide the file I promise lol.

I am a hydro newb so take it with a grain of salt. But I want to do perlite/vermiculite mix reason being it's cheap. High silica and Ph neutral. The cover portion is so I don't get algae on the perlite. Gonna have to put cloth pots on the plastic pots. Because after scouring the Internet everyone agrees clothpots with too much perlite is hard to keep wet enough it with plastic walls it seems doable. Anyways failing that being a success I might do a 70/30 or 50/50 coco perlite. But kind of intimidated with the PH and ion exchange on coco.
But I have considered running a tray of each and then 4 trays of promix until I know what I am doing.
If I do coco I will DTW.
If I do perlite vermiculite I would recirculate like an ebb and flow but just top drip instead.

but ya that's my goal to automate my grow some more so I can spend time caring for the other parts and not have every evening consist of watering.

feel free to ask here. I haven't posted about this except really in Jondamons thread and here. So for now it's the beat spot until I move over to trialing it the next cycle. 4-5 weeks from now.

So I broke one of those stupid fucking parts you attach the hose to. This has to do with the way the layers are printed. So I am going to try to make a thickening in the drip ring and have threads or something for this to go into. The other option is to 3D print a barb fitting seperately side ways for the bending strength and then thread them glue in or something. I dunno. I'll probably get the thread in to try.

Also found this site. don't mind me posting like crazy just dumping information so I dont lose it.


Open source site with hydroponic 3D prints

I've seen great success in drain to waste in sunshine #4 thinking of going more coco tho. I know that you can get prewashed stuff.

I could imagine printing those connections are hard af. I rember the guy who did the hempy buckets ( .smoke is his name) had "quick disconnects" doing something like that could allow you to put less pressure on that part. you shouldn't really have to change that 6 inches of hoes with the disconnect.

if you can do a quick disconnect I think a nut glued onto the plastic with a barb. I'll try to find the quick disconnect

I’m using a drip system now and having good results so far. I‘m using a 50/50 coco perlite mix. The drip emitters are very cheap, about $20 for a bag of 100 emitters on Amazon, so I’m not sure of the need to print them other than it’s cool to print your own. Good luck, I’ll keep an eye on the thread.

This is dope. Gonna be lurking

Hook Daddy said:

I’m using a drip system now and having good results so far. I‘m using a 50/50 coco perlite mix. The drip emitters are very cheap, about $20 for a bag of 100 emitters on Amazon, so I’m not sure of the need to print them other than it’s cool to print your own. Good luck, I’ll keep an eye on the thread.

Click to expand...

I did this to my own with very basic equipment.

10x 4mm drippers (2 per plant atm)
13mm flexi hose
3x barbed Tee’s
Hailea HX1500 pump
60L tote.
15m segmental timer

1x15min run to get runoff once drippers and pump flow are adjusted.

Sorry @MidnightSun72 for posting in your thread.

jondamon said:

Sorry @MidnightSun72 for posting in your thread.

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Post away my dude. The whole point of the thread is to come up with a cheap and cheerful drip system and your post def fits the bill.

Here’s a couple pics of my setup. It’s fairly simple, a 17 gal res with a 350 g/hr pump to 1/2” irrigation tubing. Next there are 2 x 1/4” irrigation tubes per plant with 1 g/h emitters at the end. The buckets recirculate back into the res via 11/2” pvc pipe. I run the pump for 15 min 3 times a day. I could probably run it less but the perlite provides a ton of drainage so I don’t think there’s any chance of drowning the roots or anything. Cheap and seems to work great so far, my biggest problem right now is keeping my ph down, but I should get my ro filter Friday so hopefully that will help me keep my ph more stable.

got this printing right now 53 minutes

Hook Daddy said:

Here’s a couple pics of my setup. It’s fairly simple, a 17 gal res with a 350 g/hr pump to 1/2” irrigation tubing. Next there are 2 x 1/4” irrigation tubes per plant with 1 g/h emitters at the end. The buckets recirculate back into the res via 11/2” pvc pipe. I run the pump for 15 min 3 times a day. I could probably run it less but the perlite provides a ton of drainage so I don’t think there’s any chance of drowning the roots or anything. Cheap and seems to work great so far, my biggest problem right now is keeping my ph down, but I should get my ro filter Friday so hopefully that will help me keep my ph more stable.

Click to expand...

damn love all the hooks for the trellis. nice and uniform

edit: High user name to post correlation.

jondamon said:

I did this to my own with very basic equipment.

10x 4mm drippers (2 per plant atm)
13mm flexi hose
3x barbed Tee’s
Hailea HX1500 pump
60L tote.
15m segmental timer

1x15min run to get runoff once drippers and pump flow are adjusted.
View attachment 4938497View attachment 4938498View attachment 4938500

Click to expand...

looking at that tubing again it looks alot better how you've made it than I imagined it would look if I had made it. I kind of imagined mine would look ovalled and kinked lmao

MidnightSun72 said:

Parametric hydro halo / watering ring

This is a hydro halo / watering ring, inspired by "[Hydro Halo 5mm barb](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4690927)". Instead of a hose barb it has a simple friction-fit stem for a 4mm OD silicone tube. I included the OpenSCAD source so you can customize it to your heart's desire.

cults3d.com

got this printing right now 53 minutes
View attachment 4938835

Click to expand...

Now that is cool AF!

Next up round floracap style. I'd like to see if I can get a flexible rubbery material would be nice to flex around plants.