Top feed/ dripper questions, any help would be great....

bunnyface

bunnyface

Well-Known Member
Hey RUI, how you all doing, good i hope.

As you can tell from the title i have some questions for top feed / dripper users, and any help or info would be great.

so not to bore anyone with the details i have just installed my topfeed system, and i am wondering about the dripper placement, i know i will get the idea eventually but it cant hurt to get some advice. After looking online and here I cant get the answers i need to my question, starting to Rambling now so i will try keep it short.

Basically im using the flood drippers i bought in expanded clay, it works good but im questioning the position of the drippers in the clay... So im doing a dry(wet) run with no nutes and cant see what is best position for these drippers, i have a few vertical with the water squirting out at two 45 degree angle from the dripper and some about 1/2 to an inch under the clay with the dripper at a 45 degree angle, but i dont see how i can get the whole post wet with that positioning , if you get what i mean. Are you ment to move the drippers about or is that a no no?

So Basically is it best to let it squirt out above the medium or is it best to have it under the clay? I guess i can try and see which works best but any advice from someone who uses a topfeed system would be great.
Also i read somewhere that with clay it is possible to run it 24/7, or 12/7 with one feed during the night cycle, dose anyone here do this? I dont think that is for me as isnt it little and often, i measured the flow rate and im gettin about 1 ltr per 2mins, roughly...starting to ramble again so,

Thanks to anyone that read through this rambling post and thanks to anyone who can help,, take it easy,
 
B

bseeds

Well-Known Member
i made a drip system the buckets with plants were up higher then res and water/nutes flowed back to res and got air rated again and pumped never stoped running it worked great exept the drip emitters pluged alot so i took them off and ran the 1/4 inch tubeing only the clay seem to stay wet and no problems
 
moonunit

moonunit

Member
I use home made drip rings, made of 1/2 inch tubing and a tee. I bury them just under the surface of the clay, because my pumps are so strong they splash everywhere if I were to set them on the surface.
 
Murphio

Murphio

Well-Known Member
Definitely let them drip above the clay, so that way the water spread is larger. If you go under the clay the water can't disperse as much. Think of the water going over the clay pellets like the game Planko from The Price Is Right, the more clay the water has to travel through the more dispersed it will be by the time it reaches the bottom of the pot. I actually do three drippers per pot, but my pots are a bit bigger than yours.
 
bowlfullofbliss

bowlfullofbliss

Well-Known Member
I've always been told that in clay, they go below, in coco/soil, above. I think you're going to need at least one or two more per pot than you have............I would do 3 if they were mine, in a triangle around the plant. theyu're very easy to add. I just finished a coco run with top drip, and had 2 drippers in each small 7" plastic pot, which were sitting in a flood and drain table setup for drip. worked great. anyting larger, would need more drippers for even dispersal of nutes/water.
 
Murphio

Murphio

Well-Known Member
Another thing I do with those 45 degree drippers is position them horizontally (don't even stick them into the clay), this way the water cascades down across the length of the whole dripper, covering more surface area of the clay. Hope that helps.
 
420greendream

420greendream

Well-Known Member
I'm starting up a top drip system as well. I have a Emily's garden 6 site hydro garden, with 1g buckets that I'm going to fill with hydroton and put drip rings above. Does anyone know if I should run a 24/7 watering schedule??? I'm using heavy 16 nutrients and my strain is Great Lakes Grape, which seems to loves her nutrients.
 
wormdrive66

wormdrive66

Well-Known Member
420greendream said:
I like the setup wormdrive. What your feeding/water schedule like?
Click to expand...
During veg 5 seconds on every 3 hrs, then I slowly increase watering amount and decrease times per day. I usually end up 15 seconds on every 6 hrs at the end of week 7 bloom. 6 gallons a week for veg and 8 gallons a week in bloom. Works great, plants love it and very little waste. I use H&G nutes with cal/mag and mycos added to the mix.
 
420greendream

420greendream

Well-Known Member
Interesting. That's seems like a short period to water. I have a mechanical timer so I can't run such precise intervals, I think each clicker tab thingy is like 10 minutes so what would you and everyone else suggest I do?

Sorry for hijacking your thread dude, I just didnt want to make another new thread.
 
wormdrive66

wormdrive66

Well-Known Member
You need a recycle timer. Clicker timers are for lights and fans. If you want to do run to waste this is a must have. check out the thread in my sig.

timer.jpg
 
hellraizer30

hellraizer30

Rebel From The North
bunnyface said:
Hey RUI, how you all doing, good i hope.

As you can tell from the title i have some questions for top feed / dripper users, and any help or info would be great.

so not to bore anyone with the details i have just installed my topfeed system, and i am wondering about the dripper placement, i know i will get the idea eventually but it cant hurt to get some advice. After looking online and here I cant get the answers i need to my question, starting to Rambling now so i will try keep it short.

Basically im using the flood drippers i bought in expanded clay, it works good but im questioning the position of the drippers in the clay... So im doing a dry(wet) run with no nutes and cant see what is best position for these drippers, i have a few vertical with the water squirting out at two 45 degree angle from the dripper and some about 1/2 to an inch under the clay with the dripper at a 45 degree angle, but i dont see how i can get the whole post wet with that positioning , if you get what i mean. Are you ment to move the drippers about or is that a no no?

So Basically is it best to let it squirt out above the medium or is it best to have it under the clay? I guess i can try and see which works best but any advice from someone who uses a topfeed system would be great.
Also i read somewhere that with clay it is possible to run it 24/7, or 12/7 with one feed during the night cycle, dose anyone here do this? I dont think that is for me as isnt it little and often, i measured the flow rate and im gettin about 1 ltr per 2mins, roughly...starting to ramble again so,

Thanks to anyone that read through this rambling post and thanks to anyone who can help,, take it easy,
Click to expand...
Keep your drippers above the clay so you can see if they clog! Plus theres feeder roots just bellow the surface that
absorb water as it drains through.

start using drip clean by house and gardens its a must for dtw.

I run one drip line to each bucket and place a tee so theres better flow to each side of the pot.
works well, or like worms home made halo ring will work killer
 
bunnyface

bunnyface

Well-Known Member
I try using the quote but thats to much for me so 420green dream, ta, Its all good , that would kinda be Another thing for me to try to figure out,, ha so thank you infact,,

and thanks every one for the invaluable advice and sharing your knowledge, top stuff from top growers,,
( just why rui is great )

you all take it easy and happy growing,, thanks again,,

p.s. i was thinking of making a home made dripper and giving it a go, so now i defo will so thankyou for that,,
 
budolskie

budolskie

Well-Known Member
wormdrive66 said:
You need a recycle timer. Clicker timers are for lights and fans. If you want to do run to waste this is a must have. check out the thread in my sig.

View attachment 2539366
Click to expand...
is this a must with my wilma worm m8, i wont be running to waste like it will be on a recirculating in clay pebbles and i will be changing res every 5 days or so yet to see as havnt tried this yet just soil.. i was justplanning on using a segment timer like u use for lights with 15 min intervals to feed when they are small, my wilma just been dropped off as i was typing this msg im over the moon now haha
 
wormdrive66

wormdrive66

Well-Known Member
budolskie said:
is this a must with my wilma worm m8, i wont be running to waste like it will be on a recirculating in clay pebbles and i will be changing res every 5 days or so yet to see as havnt tried this yet just soil.. i was justplanning on using a segment timer like u use for lights with 15 min intervals to feed when they are small, my wilma just been dropped off as i was typing this msg im over the moon now haha
Click to expand...
Not sure about the watering schedule on the Wilma. I would see what they recommend before you buy one of these timers. They are not cheap.
 
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