Automatic Watering system

B

bby56567

Active Member
Im tired of manually watering from a reservoir with a wand. Im looking into setting up a watering system using a reservoir that I would only fill every 3 days or more hopefully. I have seen this, and it looks interesting

http://www.instructables.com/id/Self-Watering-Self-Regulating-Container-Garden/

but I am scared because I dont know how to regulate how much water each plant receives and that could be an issue when the reservoir has mixed nutes. Drip systems also scare me because the possibility of cloggage. I was wondering if there was a timer/relay combo that could regulate how much it dispensed to each plant or if there was another solution to this problem.
 
SnapsProvolone

SnapsProvolone

Well-Known Member
We call it hydroponics.

Any automated watering of soil should be able to detect when each plant needs water and water individually thus not overwater.

Any attempt to automate watering of soil is a compromise at best.
 
blackforest

blackforest

Well-Known Member
I was bored, so I built a small AWS. Cost like $15 in supplies. I have a 7' long 1/2" pvc w/ threaded (no leaks) 1/4" drip barbs/lines going to coco in smart pots. 1 per plant. I got tired of hand watering too. I just hook up a flex tube (that's hooked up to the pvc) to a pump and put into the res. I have it slightly angled so I can drain it and help with any buildup, havn't seen any. Feeds everyone way more accurately than by hand too, takes like 4 min for 10 gal. Again, small scale, but it works good for me. I'm switching to an undercurrent system though, buddy has one, killing it... we'll see what happens with that, should be fun, clones are in the Ez.

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PetFlora

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
I developed a DIY Mini-Me F & D with outboard rez

Buy a deep cycle timer and you're good to go

Works like a charm

See my Tales of Two Tents thread for details
 
Positivity

Positivity

Well-Known Member
Blumats...
https://blumatsystems.com

Just run straight water through it and it will run perfectly. Light nutes like veg + bloom will run through it well though..

It will drip as the pots dry out. Each plant gets it's own custom water supply. Use a big enough reservoir and you can go a really long time without watering. Just apply nutes seperately when they need it. Runs off gravity from an elevated reservoir and no electricity needed

Roots seem to like it..
image.jpg
 
Positivity

Positivity

Well-Known Member
Mine are crusty and haven't been cleaned in a long time but they keep flowing. r/o and cali magic have given me zero problems. The product is solid as far as I can tell. Just don't drop the ceramic cone on concrete

The only problems I've ever had was running general organics through it. The bio slime builds up and clogs it eventually. Usually good for just a run like that before it needs a cleaning. Air stone in the res and general organics on a drip is impressive..
 
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GrowerGoneWild

GrowerGoneWild

Well-Known Member
Blumats and the knock offs of it work fine.. Im running a few on some houseplants before I use them in the greenhouse. Its the closest thing I could come up with for automated soil watering.

I have some issues with them, they dont work so great for large pots, you need the bigger carrots and more of them. The way it waters is too localized. Its nothing like a proper drench, it will extend the wet cycle longer. If you dont want to water so much put some mulch on the top.
 
GrowerGoneWild

GrowerGoneWild

Well-Known Member
Positivity said:
Mine are crusty and haven't been cleaned in a long time but they keep flowing. r/o and cali magic have given me zero problems. The product is solid as far as I can tell. Just don't drop the ceramic cone on concrete
Click to expand...
I'm all about the plain water.. good to know that you could run some sort of low solids solution through it.
 
Positivity

Positivity

Well-Known Member
GrowerGoneWild said:
Blumats and the knock offs of it work fine.. Im running a few on some houseplants before I use them in the greenhouse. Its the closest thing I could come up with for automated soil watering.

I have some issues with them, they dont work so great for large pots, you need the bigger carrots and more of them. The way it waters is too localized. Its nothing like a proper drench, it will extend the wet cycle longer. If you dont want to water so much put some mulch on the top.
Click to expand...

I guess it has a lot to do with how you use it. If in a supersoil with a larger pot you'd need more carrots to even out the watering...I never trusted the piggyback emitters..never even tried them.

The way I currently use it works for me. It's more of a safety mechanism to keep my plants alive no matter vacation or unexpected absence.

If you can manage a perfect watering schedule that's the best of course. But short of that I'll take the consistency and ease of the blumat.
 
GrowerGoneWild

GrowerGoneWild

Well-Known Member
Positivity said:
I guess it has a lot to do with how you use it. If in a supersoil with a larger pot you'd need more carrots to even out the watering...I never trusted the piggyback emitters..never even tried them.
The way I currently use it works for me. It's more of a safety mechanism to keep my plants alive no matter vacation or unexpected absence.
If you can manage a perfect watering schedule that's the best of course. But short of that I'll take the consistency and ease of the blumat.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I work with larger 30 gallon smart pots with regular soil on the top and the bottom supersoil.

I hear ya about using a blumats as a safety, I'm working with a large volume of soil and with the bluemats and mulch I wont have to do anything for about a week at a time after a good drench with tea and water. Im sure that will change in mid to late bloom.

Should be as easy as the hydro side of the house :) Mebby..
 
dwood8165

dwood8165

Well-Known Member
I am not sure how you feel about bottom feeding, However, my system is based on bottom feeding. The cost to me is minimal:
5 gal buckets 1.00 ea
mini float valve 10.00
tubing 25.00 (whole spool or roll)
res 10.00 (18gal roughneck with lid)
t's .30
4 ways .90
The tees and 4 ways cost is determined on how many you use. Currently I have ten buckets connected to the one res
I use a pump to circulate the water in the res and the buckets are gravity feed. I added a shut-off valve so the medium can absorb the water and nutrient in the water bucket. It is all done on a capillary action.


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dwood8165

dwood8165

Well-Known Member
If you want more information let me know and I can post everything that was done. It is all fairly simple.
 
GrowerGoneWild

GrowerGoneWild

Well-Known Member
Hey that looks cool.. Im interested in specs if you dont mind sharing. Kinda works like passive wick hydro..

The OP might want to look at that.
 
dwood8165

dwood8165

Well-Known Member
1/4 inch tubing
1/4 mini float valve
2-5 gal buckets
1 lid
1 or 2 net pots (3 inch) get the net pots that a wide rim at the top
As you know you can make your res from anything that holds water and sturdy. You can also use 3/8 mini float valve with 3/8 tubing
I am using coco mixed with happy frog, all of my nutrients are granular.
I like happy frog fruit and veg (7 4 3)and there even (5 5 5). I mix and layer those two in the plant container when I transplant. Those to have a quick release and slow feed.
Also I have created spikes from TLO, used a 3/4 inch pvc pipe for that and filled the holes.
I have one problem. Keeping the roots out of the water bucket. The other day I trimmed all the roots back to bucket and net pot.

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Rollitup mobile app
 
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