So who here drips?

[Shadows]

HUH??

To satisfy my hydro craving and my soil requirements, Im thinking of switchin to a drip rig.
The setup will be a 1 gallon bucket with holes in the bottom for drainage. This 1 gallon will sit in another 1 gallon bucket with a 2" separtion. The water will drip from a gravity fed system (if possible), thru the medium and come to rest in the bottom 1 gallon container, which will be dumped daily. A run to waste gravity fed drip system.
ATM Im not certain on if I'll have the upper 1 gallon filled with medium or have 2 solo cups per with each of them filled with medium. It will be a phase of experimenting with each way.
For medium Im planning on using a 20/80 coco/perlite mix

I am trying to do this gravity fed, I do not want a pump to have to set times on or fail on me when not expected. So its also going to possibly be a 24hour drip cycle, but at a very low flow rate to lessen damages.

Theres more to the plan, but I'll take any change I can get on the subject from anybody with a few pennies to spare.

later
nds

[gorilla]

24 hour drip system in a coco/perlite medium? Have you done this before? Shadows I have 0 experience with anything other than dirt, so i'm not critisizing you. I'm curious though. Is this too much water for the plant? I'd love to see how two plants in solo cups do compared to 1 in the gallon bucket. This 24 hour feed thing seems crazy, like the roots would grow straight down and follow the water all day. :P what do i know.

[Shadows]

Nope, never tried drip before gorilla. And I hear ya on the 24 hour drip, seems a bit much and Im not to crazy about increasing soil moisture during the night cycle.
I did set up a test run lastnight with a 0-10gph adjustable dripper tied into a 2liter soda bottle. right now its feeding the affy solo cup reveg that I just put back in flower to see how it goes.
If its goin to be impossible to do without a timer and pump I'll get them, but like I say, Im trying to prevent a point of failure. Lets also not look past the fact that just because I have a 1 gallon res doesnt mean it will be filled to the top. If I find I need less in a day I can reduce what I put in. 5 hours of constant drip maybe?

[Shadows]

SOoooo, we're giving it a go. If yer interested, I'll continue to update what happens with this

[CB]

I say go for it bro... never know till ya try like :D

I'm watch'n just a bit busy and slow on post'n....

grow on bro

[gorilla]

Ya i'll be watching. Very curious about this one shadows. :cool:

[Naturalhi]

Hmmmmmmm. A 2 liter bottle set at 1gal. per hour would be empty in about 15min. or so. My first Q is will 2 liters be enough water for the mix? and why not have a little pump put water bac in soda bottle for reuse? That would keep the drip going for 24hr. Just a suggestion from the peanut gallery:=)

[Shadows]

Hey Naturalhi, the 2 liter bottle was (for me) just to test the concept. Its no longer part of the system. Friday night I set up a 3 gallon res, tapped in the barb that came with the drip head and ran 1/4" air line tubing into the flower room. From that I split off to pick up 3 drip heads.
These Drip head are pressure sensitive. If I increase the pressure going to them I increase their flow. Keeping that in mind, these are gravity fed. In a 24 hour period Im seein a 1 gallon loss from the res. The soil is staying moist, not saturated. Meaning I can't squeeze any water out of the medium, even after its been on a constant drip for 24 hours.

If I can do without it, no pump will be used in this setup.

[Naturalhi]

Sounds like a solid setup!=)

[Naturalhi]

Sounds like a solid setup!:)

[Shadows]

Well how about a few pictures to show the Preliminary setup. This has been working pretty good since setting it up Friday evening. As soon as parts money is available all of this air line tubing will be swapped out for proper irrigation tubing. The 1/4" barb thats stubbed into the res will be capped and a new 1/2" or 3/8" line will be plumbed in. The new line will go into the flower cabinet and be installed against the wall. There will be a single 1/4" line going to each 1 gallon container, which will hold 2 plants, and tapped off to the 2 drippers needed. The end of the 1/2" or 3/8" main line will be a shut off valve. From there I'll be able to drain the system as needed.

But thats enough of what could be, heres some pictures of what is

In this picture, you see the res to the left and the flower chamber to the right. The drip line comes out of the 3x9 hole on the left wall of flower. Theres about 6" in fall between the bottom of the res and the top of the drip heads. You'll also see that the res is propped up on 4" tall containers, so I get that 6" of fall.
http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=6907&stc=1&d=1164121564

This is where the drip line enters flower and branches off to the 3 drip heads. Its sloppy and was done as a "Lets see if it works" run. I'd clean it all up but in about 2 weeks I'll be doing a proper install and removing all that stuff anyway.
http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=6906&d=1164121776

This is the Affy, origionally started with the 2 liter bottle. Which BTW was a terible trial. It showed the principle worked, but the vaccuum created in the 2 liter stopped the drip after an hour.
http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=6908&stc=1&d=1164121564

There are 2 other plants setup on this drip rig and all appear to be loving it so far.
GS
http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=6909&stc=1&d=1164121564

The third plant to go on the system was WR#2
http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=6910&stc=1&d=1164121564
When I add nutrients Im staying on the low side. For now while they are stretching Im using 1/4 stregnth veg nutes. Since its a constant flow, theres no need for full stregnth as it would cause a lock up within days. At 1/4 tho a weekly medium flush will remedy any build up. Tonight I'll be mixin in Alaskan fish ferts (5-1-1) for them to feed on and the process will be, Mix 1 gallon of water at 3/4 stregnth and add it to the res, then top the res off with plain water. All my feedins will be setup the same way, mix at 1/2 to 3/4 per 1 gallon of water and top off the res with fresh water. After the res runs down it will be topped back up with plain water another cycle, then back on nutrients.

If you look under the pots you'll see my catch res. Its just a 16liter storage bin with 2 slits cut in the lid. Plants sit on top of the lid. This also is temporary as the future plan involves a single catch basin for all the plants. Theres no return of nutrients so the fact that some will be veggin and some flowering has no effect on the system or the res setup.

I wish I could be happier with this all right now, but I dont think its possible:D , Im pretty damn perked with it already. I just hope it continues to work as it is. Simplicity at its finest!

[Naturalhi]

Looks great! One thing to watch for is algea in the clear tubing, algea needs light to grow, black tubing prevents light from helping algea grow in the tubing.


This is for those who use clear or opaque containers for reservoirs.

[Shadows]

Looks great! One thing to watch for is algea in the clear tubing, algea needs light to grow, black tubing prevents light from helping algea grow in the tubing.


This is for those who use clear or opaque containers for reservoirs.
Right on man... Green irrigation tubing will be purchased on the final setup of this and all of drip lines will be of it.. I wanted to use PVC as my main line, but your post reminded me PVC is not light proof. So I'll either be taping it over, or painting it. OR I may just go with the typical Irrigation tubing main line. Will depend on ease of installation and functionality... IE I believe the PVC is thicker then the 1/4" barb can penetrate and remain water tight..

[Shadows]

Well, its been 2 weeks since the first setup was up and running and they are still on it. 1 thing about the clear tubing, Im still not seeing algea growth in it. But then, its only been 2 weeks, right?

Picture 1 - The 3 drippers. I think I messed up on 1 thing, WR#2s flowering age. You'll see in pictures 2 and 3 that her buds are coming along well, which means shes been in flower now for 21 or so days, instead of the 14-15 my origional estimate would have put her at.

Pictures 2 and 3 are that WR2
#4 is the Afghani
#5 is the Golden Skush.

Looking back at that last set of update pictures, Im pretty pleased with their growth, and health at this point.

Still getting parts together for the full conversion, but its much much closer now thanks to the success Im having with these.

[tom-tom]

yea it looks great i got a hydro water farm drip system i bought from the hydro store hear were i live and i have to tell u now that i figured out the nutes and got them on 1/2 nutes the growth is great far outgrowing my soil plants it only cost me 59 bucks so i think it was a great investment cause im not to good at building my own stuff like u have i like ur set up it looks nice and the plants look good i wish u the best of luck man hope ull check out my grows i got one posted and i have to post the outher ..:);)







HAPPY GROWIN TOM TOM