Auto Drip System for SOG

Growroom Design
#1

Hey all, I’ve been going back and forth in my head about setting up a drip system for a 20 plant SOG in 1 gallon square pots with HP Promix for the medium.
The reason I want to use Promix and not coco is, I don’t want it to drain as quickly as coco does.

I will be doing 12 and 12 from seed with this as well.
I will hand water till about the 3rd week, and by then I notice that they average around 2 liters every 3 days, up to week 3 of flower then they like 2 liters every 2 days

So I would like some help trying to figure this out. I don’t want to flood and drain either, I would like to just be able to put the timer on once every 3 days and give them their 2 liters if that’s possible, and just have a little run off, to make sure they are getting fully saturated.

So this way I can just keep the tent closed and no smell escapes the tent.

I will also be getting a pump sprayer for the initial hand waterings, so I can just pop my hand in there and give them a spray instead of taking them out and feeding from the bottom like I have been doing.

I asked Mr. Sparkle for advise last night and he was willing, but I kinda flip flopped on him and said I’ll just use a sprayer… Now I changed my mind again…lol
I like the thought of being able to go away at times and not have to worry about them drying out.

Here’s what I was looking at from Amazon, let me know what you think and how I should go about it, I will get 2 as they are only good for up to 10 plants and I hope to have close to double that, each time.
One great thing that I really like about this, is it has a battery back up, so if the power goes out, it will still work.
This is the main reason I haven’t tried any type of hydro, because a little rain or wind in this city and the damn power goes out…

Here’s the sprayer I’m looking at as well, never used one of these either, so any tips with this would be appreciated as well.

Thanks in advance for info and help!

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#2

Another option is using Blumat drippers instead of a pumped system.

They gravity feed, based on your plants’ intake, from whatever size reservoir you use.

I love them, as do many, but they have their own quirks and are certainly more expensive than an automated pump system.

Good luck, however you go with it!

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#3

Thanks man,
What kind of quirks do you mean?
So you don’t need power for them either, just gravity?

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#5

For auto drip refills i would recommend flora flex 108 for kits.

https://floraflex.com

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#6

The drippers are part of a ceramic sensor that opens when the medium dries beyond a certain point. Adjusting the flow, and sensitivity of the sensors, is done with a tiny knob and finding the right balance can be tricky. As girls start to drink more, the knob needs to be adjusted again. Also, you need enough height on the reservoir to insure adequate flow. This isn’t hard to do, but some people are height challenged in their grow areas or don’t consider how vital this is in a gravity fed system.

That’s right. No plugs or batteries. Just gravity, tubing, and a reservoir.
Search for “sustainable village” if you want to check them out in detail. The site also has instructional videos, since the printed instructions are translated from German (and a little clunky as a result).

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#7

sweet, will check that out!!

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#8

Look at a small diapham pump hooked to a garden water hose water timer. When the solenoid opens the pump will start. When the solenoid closes the pump will stop.

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#9

Look up aquavalve or autopot for gravity fed flooding systems

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#10

A solenoid on a timer will also work with a gravity fed line.

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#11

I like the idea Rock :slight_smile::+1:… Im thinking of doing a 50 plant “Dark Devil” SOG under a 1000 watt hps, and light mover in 1 gallon pots …

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#12

Well this is what I’m thinking about now, I really like the gravity fed style.

#13

So the biggest question I have is how do you figure out how much water to use and at what speed? Is there a formula?

#14

Drip into a bucket or measure jug and measure/adjust 6 hourly until it’s 1/4 the amount/day that you normally feed.

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#15

Thank you very much man

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#16

I’m not quite clear on the adjust 6 hourly part, sorry man

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#17

Well say if you want to drip 400ml per day you would need to adjust the drip so it made 100ml every 6 hours
Of course you could do it hourly and have it equal 1/24th of your daily requirement.

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#18

Ok, but I’m not gonna have a timer, just a continuous drip with emitters I can turn up or down

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#19

Yes it will drip all day so to adjust the amount for an hour to equal 1/24th of the total you want for the day.

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#20

Also another question, do you fully water your pot 1st, before you 1st add the droppers?

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#21

Try it on some of the pots and not on others?

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