I’m all about simple and effective. As long as you can lift a full 5 gallon bucket, it works great. For some folks that could be an issue in which case I’d recommend a food-safe electric pump to push the liquid from bucket to plants. I’ve toyed with the idea but figure that’s adding one more thing that could break (or not work at all if the power is out).
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awesome thanks for the pics and break down. where does your run off go or do you just feed lightly since using blocks ? would love something similar but for maybe 24 to 36 plants in 2 gal coco pots
EDIT SAW YOUR RESPONSE TO MY QUESTION UP THE THREAD
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I grow in a small tent with divisions. It is a old wardrobe with two 88x55 divisions. One of them for flowering and the other with vertical divisions for clones/vegetative/mothers.
Perhaps not the best thing to do, but I was used to rearanging the plants… I take it off, look at them, train it, water it, and put it inside again, but posibly in a different place, depending on how it is growing.
I like to be in contact with them
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I see a lot of nice irrigation systems, but I use a old vacum cleaner hard pipe, a pvc tube would be all right too, I make it down until I have the pipe rested on the pot edge and drop the water from there.
I really don’t get how these auto irrigation systems are reliable and if you have several plants in different stages will need a system for each feeding program.
I re use old Iced tea 2L containers to get the water, usually 2L is good for 1 to 2 plants in 5L buckets, each bottle with a specific feeding to a specific set of plants, if I have like 8 plants and my closet is packed up, I need the old tube to poor the solution in there.
If I am having like 3 or 4 plants I will have room to water without the tube, from the plastic bottle to the pot.
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Anyone using one of these? I was thinking about household stuff that would be good and I remembered filling fluids on my dad’s backhoe and his Iveco and International box trucks with these guys:
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Yeah that could work, I like the handle being on it. I could also see a combo with it and pvc pipes that could be sweet
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Oh interesting I never thought of a showerhead hand attachment
Good concept. Most cheaper types of aquarium pumps need to be run submerged, so you’d just need a different water receptacle instead of the water bottle.
But I’d still say, if you get to this point, why not just automate?
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I use the non-flexible version without a handle. 18" long and orange. They only cost a few dollars.
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Top-water with a slightly undersized watering can. It takes me more passes, but it ensures better saturation of the coco IMO, and not just flooding it too much at once which can sometimes leave dry pockets. But it’s a really cute watering can 
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I rigged up a drip system, with little flag drip emitters. It was connected to an elevated bucket which held exactly 4 usable gallons, and was marked off. This fed 12 plants at a time.
My plants were on a schedule, and received a dose of GH 3 part nutrients every 4th watering. I tried to water once a week or as needed , but as they progressed into flowering they got pretty thirsty and they needed more water.
Drip irrigation is SUPER easy, and it’s a serious timesaver if you have more than a few plants. It’s not very expensive, either, and it’s pretty durable so you can just keep reusing it.
The only caveat is to watch out for clogged emitters. If you have hard water, they can gunk up. I recommend using a screen at the feed outlet to prevent stuff from clogging up your system.
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You need a supply bucket, preferably square sided (cat litter buckets are awesome for this!).
Drill a hole about an inch above the bottom, then install the connector and shut off valve. Add screens or use a filter.
Since this relies on gravity for water pressure, elevate it as high as you can. 36” would be great, but do whatever works best for you.
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I do not have any big tents anymore.
I loved the Hydropharm 4’ x 8’x 7’ , (in reality it was almost 9’ long, and almost 5’ wide) I bought in 2008 maybe.
I did not care for having to get into it every time I gave some water, or some tea, or some mixed up fertilizers. ZIPPERS, up, ZIPPERS down, ZIPPERS sideways, ZIPPERS all around.
I’ve been using the same (cheapo) plastic 1/2 gallon watering can, hell maybe 18+ years now.
I was cutting a very old hose, I just threw all the chunks into the trash bin.
As I was going to fill saucers, in the tents.
I unzip the tent, as I’m unzipping it, to open it, a crazy idea, popped in my head, and really without thinking on it, I reached down got a chunk of hose, absentmindedly, I poked it down over the spout on the can, it fit snug, hell perfect over it, making a weird beak.
This extension, I could now simply unzip enough to lean in a bit to reach every saucer, in there without unzipping it totally, then rezipping it totally, saving mountains of unzipping, but crawling into each time.
I can not fully explain how much this stupid piece of hose helped me for so many years.
Now that I do not need it any more, I’m having a hard time trashing the beak.
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Put a plant in it. The irony of the plant inside the watering can makes it art
And the spout extension makes it extra, because, “why???” 
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I think a drip irrigation system would absolutely rock in a tent, if it’s well designed.
Love the bucket and spout, lol all my buckets wind up with holes for some reason
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Hey Hippychik, the first one I made, worked fine, until I needed to spin the plants, then removing the emiter lines, spin, reinstall, great for a cycle, not for a perpetual run tent, IMHO
Now fast forwarding to now, I use way over sized saucers, 3 gallon pot on a 10 gallon saucer, (where I can) I fill the saucers, from the time they seedlings, around 6-8 points young.
Drives the roots downward, and keeps a dry top layer so gnats look elsewhere for a moist warm orgy place to thrive…not so much when saucer filling.
So I would consider installing a feed line to the saucer side wall, if I had big tents again.
However, I’ll be composted by then.
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