Question about halo drippers for D2W coco system

Indoor Growing Hydroponics
#1

Howday yallz.

Im in the process of building my auto drain to waste coco system with hydro halos. I just hooked everything up and let the pump cycle 2 gallons of ro water. The system ran through the 2 gallons in probably about 30 seconds if i had to estimate, and it seems the water is being forced out of the halos too quick.
My question is, should I reduce the intake going into the pump or should I close the valves 1/2 way that are connected to my tubing at the beginning of each halo. Or maby i need to do both. I just wasnt expecting to burn through water so quickly. I figured the water should trickle out of the halos instead of a heavy stream of water. Thanks for the help and hope everyone has a lit Merry Christmas.

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#2

Iā€™m not experienced in a grow environment but using impeller pumps ā€˜in a past lifetimeā€™ we used a ā€œYā€ fitting on the pump output. One arm was the ā€˜water outā€™ on the second arm was a valve (bypass). So basically you would crack the valve and set the flow rate. I was told the reason was that impeller pumps love lower back-pressure.

Cheers
G

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#3

Great idea. I will get one ordered and try that. Ive been but a humble living soil grower, but eagerly trying to get in over my head.

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#4

More power to ya!

I started with dirtā€¦ and Iā€™m still doing dirt. :grin:
Over the years Iā€™ve looked at every hydro system and figured that there were just too many ways for me to screw it upā€¦ and dirt was safer, at least for meā€¦ :vulcan_salute:

Cheers
G

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#5

I have a few diy drain to waiste coir/perlite grows going at the moment. I use a 400 gph or bigger water pump and I drill a hole in the line before it comes out the top of the reservior to ease up the pressure and also stop the flow of water once the pump shuts off (siphon effect) using 1/2" hydroponic hose from pump to filter and 1/2" drip hose from filter to 1/4" drip fittings, I donā€™t use rings but I do use 1/4" t connectors on each pot to disperse the nutrient water better. I also run a inline 50mesh filter to keep my lines clean every works great. Iā€™ve also had great success with the automatic watering systems sold on amazon for around 35.00. Problems with those are they come with clear lines and clog easier and doubt there as reliable in the long run

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#6

Coir is easier than dirt if you can keep up with the watering or have it automated. If you treat it like dirt it will grow like dirt but if you water it every few hours it will grow like hydroponics . Technically coir should never dry out and you should have some runoff every watering to prevent nutrient buildup. 1 gallons pots i use straight coir in 3 gallon pots i uses 50/50 coir/perlite but your ratios can vary depending on your watering cycles etc. My main system runs for 30 seconds every 6 hours . I threw away all my dirt indoors once I discovered what coir can do and I guarantee everyone else would do so to if they gave it a try

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#7

Thanks, that is a concise and interesting reply. I didnā€™t know about the watering differences. Do you recycle your grow medium?

Cheers
G

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#8

Sometimes I reuse the medium up to 3 times before throwing it into an outdoor bed but if you reuse it then you gotta make sure to get all the old roots out .

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#9

Yea, im planning on keeping the few moms i have in soil just to make watering and maintaining them easier, but i just transplanted some young plants from soil to coco and within 2 days theyā€™ve completely blown up. Im defiantly a believer in this medium.

#10

Donā€™t restrict the intake side, youā€™ll eventually burn your pump up.

The challenge with regulating the flow with individual valves per line is getting consistent flow per halo, is going to be extremely tough. Iā€™d restrict the main output line (before it branches) and let your halos run free.

Or better yet, just install a pressure regulator on the output. Drip depot, less than $10.

Edit to add - you want to get .5 to 1.0 gallons per hour output at each halo, depending on your pot size. So with all six going, should take 20-40 minutes to pump 2g. Good luck.

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#11

Hate when someone asks ā€œwhat is the best way to use X?ā€ Then bunch of folks post about why you shouldnā€™t use X, but use A orB instead.
But here I go, about to do it!
I used halos a bit but found the flow rates from halo to halo to be too different.
For about 30 bucks, you can get 25 Netafim .3 got drippers with 3 foot whip lines already attached.
Also, seconding what was previously said about frequency of watering in coco. Itā€™s like coco doesnā€™t start really doing itā€™s thing until the plants are rootbound and demanding 2 or 3 or more watering per day.
Edit: damn auto cucumber on this tablet lolol

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