Best Automated Watering System

[lkline300]

I'm getting tired of spending 2 hours every 3 days watering my girls. I like spending the time with them it's just my time could be better spent inspecting & improving.

 

So my first thought would be to have a mixing res at waist level pump that up to a res on the ceiling and let that gravity feed through individual lines & collars. I want to set it up in the flower room to handle a max of 12 plants.

 

Growing in dirt with organic nutes. I notice particles in the organic nutrient so am concerned about clogging pump & lines also.

 

Again I'm needing to feed or water every 2-4 days so I.m thinking mix it, pump it up & let it feed. I already set up trays that drain into buckets now I need to get this done.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

 

[Grow Thread]

sounds a lot more complicated than 2 hours every 3 days

 

kiddin'..... make sure that if you are going to have nute/water mix sitting around for any amount of time that you get an air stone in there as well. this will help keep things stirred up and keep clogs from occuring. no different than in hydro systems. and it keeps the mixture oxygenated too.

 

best of luck!! i hope we see pics of the finished set-up

[G3LLO]

I'm getting tired of spending 2 hours every 3 days watering my girls. I like spending the time with them it's just my time could be better spent inspecting & improving.

 

So my first thought would be to have a mixing res at waist level pump that up to a res on the ceiling and let that gravity feed through individual lines & collars. I want to set it up in the flower room to handle a max of 12 plants.

 

Growing in dirt with organic nutes. I notice particles in the organic nutrient so am concerned about clogging pump & lines also.

 

Again I'm needing to feed or water every 2-4 days so I.m thinking mix it, pump it up & let it feed. I already set up trays that drain into buckets now I need to get this done.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

 

I am not trying to be rude but your no happy with 2-3 hours every 3 days??? I wish that was all the time I had to put in....

 

I know they have auto feeders that you can get and run lines to each plant and put the feeder on a timer.....

[lkline300]

I know, 2-3 hours dosen't sound like much, But if I could be doing the transplanting , mixing the soil, cloneing, cleaning and etc.

 

I begin to run out of energy at the end of the 2-hours (long time for me to be on my feet.) so anything I can do to make things more enjoyable helps.

[+RevThad]

I know, 2-3 hours dosen't sound like much, But if I could be doing the transplanting , mixing the soil, cloneing, cleaning and etc.

 

I begin to run out of energy at the end of the 2-hours (long time for me to be on my feet.) so anything I can do to make things more enjoyable helps.

I think a simple top drip system with mixing rez would work great for you, would be less complicated than hanging something on the ceiling, and could be built very inexpensively by you.

 

As bubblegrower noted, regardless of which way you do it, make sure your reservoir is well aerated, it will prolong the life of your mixture and is frankly just that much better for your ladies.

 

Not sure what your grow room looks like, so I won't recommend a particular DIY setup, but doing a google search for DIY top drip should give you some great ideas that you can adjust to your needs. If not just ask, and I am sure one of us will be able to help.

[lkline300]

sounds a lot more complicated than 2 hours every 3 days

 

kiddin'..... make sure that if you are going to have nute/water mix sitting around for any amount of time that you get an air stone in there as well. this will help keep things stirred up and keep clogs from occuring. no different than in hydro systems. and it keeps the mixture oxygenated too.

 

best of luck!! i hope we see pics of the finished set-up

 

I am going to mix at feeding time but do keep 25 gal tank w/ air-stone to store the weeks water for the garden. My water is cold from the well & I like to let it sit at room temps for a day or two.

[MightyMightyMezz]

A lot of people seem to have been extremely happy with tropf blumat. I'll probably get a blumat system going soon. The cone sits in the dirt and automatically releases the correct amount of water into the pot by the action of moisture-sensing pores in the cone.

 

[Grow Thread]

I am going to mix at feeding time but do keep 25 gal tank w/ air-stone to store the weeks water for the garden. My water is cold from the well & I like to let it sit at room temps for a day or two.

 

what rev said..... there are easier ways:

 

here is my control tote for one of my bubbletote systems. its just a sterilite tote. you could use whatever size you need:

 

 

in the 1st pic you can see 2 lines coming out the top. these are water lines. there is a water pump inside and the port has been reduced down to 1/4" airline tube. i teed the port and made 2 lines. you could make 40 lines if you needed. run one of these lines to each of your grow pots. you also see a blue line inside the tote, this is an air line attached to the stone in the bottom. the black cord is the power line for the water pump in the bottom of the tote. the thin black line is a thermometer, but you wouldnt need that.

 

when water time comes, mix your nutes and water in the tote. turn your pump on and you have all your plants getting watered. just make sure that you keep an eye on them and dont over water or run the tote dry and burn your pump out.

 

should be much easier than walking around with a watering can for 2-3 hours

[MightyMightyMezz]

Did I mention the tropf blumat system is passive, requiring no pumps? You only need a reservoir placed high enough to let gravity do the work.

 

To get even more stupidly simple, have a look at aqua globes and aqua spikes. The spikes screw onto a two liter bottle and slowly drip the water into the pot. Aqua globes do the same, but are glass and self-contained and not as big as a two liter.

 

[Grow Thread]

Aqua globes do the same, but are glass and not as big as a two liter.

 

that same thought just crossed my mind

 

i came back to post something about me seeing them on clearance at wally-mart last week and laughing at all the crazy designs as i walked past

[lkline300]

Did I mention the tropf blumat system is passive, requiring no pumps? You only need a reservoir placed high enough to let gravity do the work.

 

To get even more stupidly simple, have a look at aqua globes and aqua spikes. The spikes screw onto a two liter bottle and slowly drip the water into the pot. Aqua globes do the same, but are glass and not as big as a two liter.

 

I did think of these but I thought it was best to let your plants dry out some between feedings ?

[+RevThad]

Wouldn't the globes and 2 liters require refilling and replacing every now and then, and thus be right back to the going around to each pot for 2-3 hours?

 

Cool concept though.

[MightyMightyMezz]

I did think of these but I thought it was best to let your plants dry out some between feedings ?

 

You can set the desired moisture level and when the soil is at that level the blumats automatically stop dripping. They start again when the dryness of the soil opens the valve by pulling water through the pores in the cone. Every thread I have read about them has people raving about how much better blumat watering is than hand watering.

[MightyMightyMezz]

Wouldn't the globes and 2 liters require refilling and replacing every now and then, and thus be right back to the going around to each pot for 2-3 hours?

 

Cool concept though.

 

 

I guess it would depend on how much water the soil is sucking out of them. I can imagine it could be very fast to change out plant spikes and if you had a number of them for each large plant it could last for days.

[Grow Thread]

was thinking about this one last night............. here's what i came up with:

 

nothing is more important to them than the love, time and care that you give your plants. watering can be a PIA no matter what method you use. especially with a physical condition. bottom line is the water has to be moved from point "A" to point "B" no matter what.

 

i think that i would split up my plants and water on 2 different days, or split my entire crop into thirds and water 1/3 of them every day or whatever it took to continue to water each plant individually and still stay standing after im done different plants are going to drink different amounts of water. different strains are going to drink different amounts.........

 

yeah, one-on-one love is the way to go it gives the opportunity to be 100% positive that each plant is getting examined very often and thoroughly .

 

not the answer you wanted, but it's the best one IMO.

[MrShpongle]

I'm looking to buy a Tropf Blumat system, but my local hydro store doesn't stock them. Does anyone know of a retailer (hydro or otherwise) within 100 miles of Detroit that carries them?

 

Alternatively, has anyone seen any other brand on the shelves in Michigan? I would really prefer to buy this piece of equipment locally rather than online.

[MightyMightyMezz]

I'm looking to buy a Tropf Blumat system, but my local hydro store doesn't stock them. Does anyone know of a retailer (hydro or otherwise) within 100 miles of Detroit that carries them?

 

Alternatively, has anyone seen any other brand on the shelves in Michigan? I would really prefer to buy this piece of equipment locally rather than online.

 

Everyone says these are great.

[BassManD]

I'm looking to buy a Tropf Blumat system, but my local hydro store doesn't stock them. Does anyone know of a retailer (hydro or otherwise) within 100 miles of Detroit that carries them?

 

Alternatively, has anyone seen any other brand on the shelves in Michigan? I would really prefer to buy this piece of equipment locally rather than online.

 

I ordered mine online. I've never seen them local. I also ended up ordering extra drip line to make the pots easier to move around. Had to get that shipped from the maker in Austria. They work great though, the plants seem to love the consistent moisture.

[Catfinger]

"should be much easier than walking around with a watering can for 2-3 hours"

 

 

If you are hand watering with a watering can and still dont want to set up a total automated system you can always mix up your nutes as normal but instead of hand pouring into each girl, just get a pond pump, connect up some 1/2" tubing, attach tubing to 3ft bamboo stake with bread ties, so you can water any far away or unreachable plants and then just connect pump up to surge protector (use as on/off switch). Put the 150 gpm pump in whatever you mixed your nutes in and turn on pump and finish all your 'hand watering' in 15 min. with no automated system.

 

When I 1st started growing and was on an island with no one to talk to I used to hand water with a watering can too, now I look back and think of how much time I wasted with that silly can. It takes me 25 seconds to water each plant.

[semicaregiver]

Catfinger,

 

Think you might mean....'150 gph" instead of"150 gpm" pump

[Uncle Bud]

I have never heard anyone complain about how much work it is to grow cannabis. Maybe you should find a caregiver.

[Catfinger]

Catfinger,

 

Think you might mean....'150 gph" instead of"150 gpm" pump

 

haha, true, thats what I meant. 150 gpm is probably a fire hose

[2dogwalker]

Blumats are available at Home Harvest (next to SGS) in east lansing, they have carried them for a long time. The Blumat Maxis look awesome (Good for bigger pots - sensor is deeper in soil) and I would really like to get some. I have heard really good things about the blumat watering system in genereal though. Just make sure you get the standard size or the maxis not the minis....

 

In my opinion this would be the easiest, least time consuming method of water....Follow the advise all ready provided here with the air stone and other itesm, and I truly question whether organics will still go through the blumats for extended periods of time without clogging up...

 

But definitely look into the blumat for your watering needs. A little simpler than setting up a DTW using pump etc for me any how....But if you are growing multiple strains and are looking for max performance out of each Bubble made a very good point about the labor of love and each plant needing that special attention at times, this system will provide the plants with all the same nutes and levels...

 

Sometimes ppl can be a little too negative on this site for me.....If you need any other ideas I have feel free to PM me.. Would be more than willing to share

 

Respect

2Dog

[Calimari]

delete

[MrShpongle]

I have never heard anyone complain about how much work it is to grow cannabis. Maybe you should find a caregiver.

Not sure if this was directed at me or another poster, but I'm not looking to reduce my daily workload. I'm going out of town for 4 days and - call me crazy - I didn't feel like letting my flowering girls dry up and die. I will continue to provide water and nutrients by hand when I'm home. I *am* a caregiver, and my patients wouldn't be very happy if I lost an entire crop due to my desire to take one mini-vacation a year.

 

2Dog, thanks for the advice. I was not aware of the Maxis line; now I've got more decisions to make! I will only be running water through them for 4 days (I'll give them a healthy dose of nutes prior to leaving; I grow organic in soil so they can go a while without food anyway).

 

And I agree with you on the negativity comment.