Question: will a drip irrigation/feed system work for my.plants while im out of town?

My granny is old and degressing daily. I volunteered to go and sit with her. I'm not sure how often or how long I will be away? How can I water and feed my.plants in my absence? I plan to come home every couple days..maybe just the weekends..I'm retired/disabled..and am the only one who can sacrifice the time to go. My plants are in week 2 of flower..my lights and a/c are on timers..I just want a solution while I am away and until I get back for good. I have seen the self watering diy projects..will this work for me in my situation? Will the plants tarry on while I am away with something like this?

Blumats

Koco,
How big are your pots and what media? Makes a difference in that coco, for example, needs runoff to avoid nutrient build-up.

You want more then just a bare bones, keep alive system. Can't move the plants to Granny's place? That would be perfect...
JD

Yeah, you can put together a cheap and simple system. You need a submersible aquarium type water pump connected to drip lines at the bottom of some kind of res (storage totes work good), then a second smaller pump to recirculate the nute solution or a strong air pump with airstone. Then of course a timer.

JohnDee said:

Koco,
How big are your pots and what media? Makes a difference in that coco, for example, needs runoff to avoid nutrient build-up.

You want more then just a bare bones, keep alive system. Can't move the plants to Granny's place? That would be perfect...
JD

Click to expand...

My final pots are 3 gallon pots..in soil with quite a bit of perlite..I usually water in the sink one by one..some every other day..some every 3..but being out of town I dont know that someone could do it correctly..I have 6 kids different strains going in a spare room..tarp down but I still never water in the room so as to not have a musty smell and lots of water pooling..they are doing great with my schedule..I hate to leave them..and i doubt granny will let me make it bringing them all..I will for sure be home weekends..just want to keep them moist and at least light nutrients while I'm away..but I feel this is going to throw everything off either way..my actual children are teenagers and their attention span isnt worth a damn..maybe I can get away with traveling with all 6 and store them at a cousin's while I'm there in town..I agree with you after some thought..I dont want bare bones either..I want them to have their feedings and all stay the same..I will have to revise.my thinking by the time I leave on the 1st of November..ty brother for turning my gears..you make a good point about bare bones

PJ Diaz said:

Yeah, you can put together a cheap and simple system. You need a submersible aquarium type water pump connected to drip lines at the bottom of some kind of res (storage totes work good), then a second smaller pump to recirculate the nute solution or a strong air pump with airstone. Then of course a timer.

Click to expand...

Oh gosh..I can feel my brain crumpling like a soda can trying to absorb everything you just laid out..I was thinking a simple soda bottle with holes drilled shoved into the top layer..I saw something posted like that for a pepper garden..but I couldnt find a good post pertaining to cannabis plants..I guess it doesnt apply the same to our growing methods..anyways..back to the drawing board..so you're describing the water being tubed from a large bucket of solution and water and the air pump pushes the water through the tubing to the plant right? So the air pump is in the bucket of solution...where is the second pump for..or do you mean separate buckets for both the solution and water? Ty so much for your input..just wanna make sure I gather what you're saying correctly..

Plutarch said:

Blumats

Click to expand...

I did a search on that just now..wow man that sounds like exactly what I need right there..and then there's no engineering stuff to do on my part..me likes your answer..I may have to grab me one of these as I may be back and forth for a while..so I guess I can calculate how much nutrients per gallon and get a tall bucket going..it even has a timer setting..I do have air pumps and tubing from a failed dwc growing attempt..but if I have to rig it up on my own intuition and it fails I would be so friggin mad..so this.might be the way to grow..I mean go..lol..ty suga

koco said:

Oh gosh..I can feel my brain crumpling like a soda can trying to absorb everything you just laid out..I was thinking a simple soda bottle with holes drilled shoved into the top layer..I saw something posted like that for a pepper garden..but I couldnt find a good post pertaining to cannabis plants..I guess it doesnt apply the same to our growing methods..anyways..back to the drawing board..so you're describing the water being tubed from a large bucket of solution and water and the air pump pushes the water through the tubing to the plant right? So the air pump is in the bucket of solution...where is the second pump for..or do you mean separate buckets for both the solution and water? Ty so much for your input..just wanna make sure I gather what you're saying correctly..

Click to expand...

You need to circulate your reservoir somehow. Some people use a 2nd small pump for that in the bottom of the bucket, or some people use a airstone and air pump to keep it circulated.

You can try your ghetto way, or use the Blumats, but it's not gonna give you much control. Set it up right and you can be gone for a week at a time no problem.

Here's some simple set-ups:

I so love this forum more than others rollitup is the OG of weed growing know how..thanks..you guys are the bees knees

PJ Diaz said:

You need to circulate your reservoir somehow. Some people use a 2nd small pump for that in the bottom of the bucket, or some people use a airstone and air pump to keep it circulated.

You can try your ghetto way, or use the Blumats, but it's not gonna give you much control. Set it up right and you can be gone for a week at a time no problem.

Here's some simple set-ups:

Hydroponic Drip Systems

Click to expand...

Got it..thank you for the link..gonna read it through..it says it feeds the root system for large plants..sounds perfect..I have 3 or 4 air pumps air stones valves and tubing from trying to grow dwc..didnt work out..but I still have the buckets and tubing and all..you gave good info there..I will see what I can pull off..thanks a bunch for the.link..I am lessnworried and now motivated to pull this off.

Blumats

I wonder and i have to do a little reading to see does the blumats irrigation release a set amount of water also? Or does it a allow the plant to water itself by wicking or something? Going to read up on it a little..well a lot..now..it looks like a no fuss no muss system for soil..gonna go and check it out now..thanks

Automate and save that back.

Pics to show its semi ez pz.
Here 2 pumps in res.
Baby pump to circulate in res, and provide waterfall action. 24/7.

Bigger pump on timer for watering plants.

(Extra lines leaving res above are connected to a chiller as well as the baby pump.)

Coco 2gal. Twin open lines to each plant. Individually adjustable. Fancy caps optional. Lol

Don't overthink it at first is my opinion. Keep the setup simple, leave a bleed valve in the middle of the run and bleed it whenever you touch it. Air is not good and will be one primary cause for a flood. Bleed everything if you pull them for instance when they go back. The other flood issue is human error, step on a valve for example. Remember that multiple carrots means multiple calibration points, better to use one carrot and drippers in each rather than multiple carrots in my opinion for example simple from ease of management perspective. Quick connects are nice, filter at the Res is a good idea if you are running nutes, upgrading the line is a good idea and the meters are a nice to have. Someone mentioned that this doesn't give you the same level of control and I tend to agree. I reverted to hand watering and started to use them only when away but retained the meter data. There is a great place in Colorado, Sustainable something and if you reach out to them they can walk you through what you need. I wish had done that prior to ordering a kit rather than after. My two cents, and take it for what its worth, I'm not an expert here.

Turns out I dont have to go right away..another family member is going ahead of me..so relieved!..now I have a few more weeks to finish this grow..thanks yaw for the input..going to still get some equipment for this anyways so that I can have it on hand if the need arises..but id much rather be present..thanks a lot yaw