# Drain to waste in coco coir. Automated watering systems anyone?



## cocodreams (Jul 24, 2011)

I've become a huge fan of drain to waste in coco. (For the skeptical, drain to waste does not have to be wasteful. In fact I find it saves water if done properly.)

Here's the setup...

6, 5 gallon smartpots in a bathtub, filled with coco coir.

Clones started in coco coir, and transplanted into the smartpots.

GH maxi series + Botanicare cal+mag, pH at 5.8

My reservoir has a circulation pump, and a feeding pump.

The feeding pump turns on once per day, and feeds the plants through home made drip rings. I use 3/4 inch vinyl tubing and a barbed T to create a loop, and drill 6 1/8 inch holes in the bottom of the ring. This sits around the base of the plant and feeds the plants, until solution just starts to trickle out of the smartpot, in about 5 minutes. I find these home made drip rings clog less than driplines, and are more suited to creating a slow stream of solution.

Here's my question. Coco is commonly hand-watered, which is a wonderful way to spend some quality time with your ladies each day, but doesn't allow for watering when you are busy or away. Does anyone have a good automatic watering system that they like? I've been using the drip rings on a timer for quite some time now, and I like them, but the accuracy isn't exactly where I want it to be. Its hard to dial it in to the exact amount of time it takes the media to run to waste. Usually I have the timer set to "off" and I manually turn it on an off each day, monitoring when the runoff starts. I only use the automated setting when I'm not home.

Any ideas?


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## veen (Jul 26, 2011)

BUMP, I am looking for the exact same info guy. Hopefully we can get some good ideas


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## PLANT. (Jul 26, 2011)

HAve you heard of a bluemat? it feeds via drip only the plant that needs feeding only when they need it and just the right amount.
totally automatic, no power or batteries.
i think it uses capillary technology, people are using them they're on the market


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## Bezy (Jul 26, 2011)

you could try the restrictors they have, put a gal per hr one and let it run 30 min, boom you have exactly half a gal. Just put them inline before your rings. That way it will allow your timer to be set longer and your plants will get an exact measured amount of water. i know this is what Gorilla growers use for their drip systems.
If you want to water more put a larger restrictor in or let it run longer.


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## cocodreams (Jul 30, 2011)

I've been looking into the tropf blumats and they do seem promising.

I see two caveats...

Based on the way they work, i don't think that they would water enough to have waste come out the bottom. This would be amazing for water and nutrient saving, but would not create any runoff to facilitate the flushing activity that makes drain to waste so productive. This could easily be solved by hand flushing with a small additional amount of solution every week or so.

The other problem I can see is that these may clog easily. The ceramic element is designed to accept only water. I wonder if this would become an issue. Anyone used these with coco and nutes? I've heard of people using them with soil grows with pure water.

I might get a single unit to test it out.


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## cocodreams (Jul 31, 2011)

I've ruled out the blumats. They seem promising, but I hear they can clog with nutes, and have a tendency to get stuck open. All it takes is one stuck open valve to waste my entire res while I'm gone for a weekend.

I've tossed aside the idea of restrictors because they clog easily, especially with the dry nutes that I use. (I love dry nutes for many reasons, and I don't plan on switching soon.)

Homemade drip rings have been my choice for a while now. The only problem is that when you slow the stream to a trickle, the nutes only come out one hole. What I've found though, is that in coco, this is not really an issue.

In most top feed systems, dispersing the water evenly across the top of the media. In hydroton for example, if you only have on drip tube, the water will create a narrow "channel" and leave the rest of the root zone devoid of nutrients.

I find that because of the intense capillary action in coco, this is not as much as a problem. If you place a basket of slightly moist coco in shallow water, the top of the coco farthest from the water will quickly become moist. I've found that you could water coco in just one location at the top of a large 5 gallon pot, and as long as you water moderately slowly, the capillary action will cause all the coco in the pot to become saturated. This makes a dispersed top feed system unnecessary in coco-- you only need one drip sit for a large coco pot.

One other problem i've found with some home made drip manifolds, is that if they are not running at full pressure, not all the plants receive equal amounts of nutrient solution. Then at best, each plant is being given the same amount of nutes.

Here is my solution...

Pump in the reservoir, 3/4 inch tubing, T'd off so some water returns to the reservoir and slightly reduces back pressure on the pump. Then it is T'd off to one 3/4 inch tube for each plant. The terminal end of each hose has a 3/4 inch inline valve. This solves the clogging problem-- if nutes build up scale in the valve, it simply needs to be opened slightly more, then cleaned at the end of the grow. Each plant receives the properly dialed amount of nutes. This also allows me to slow down the feeding to a drip that takes about 30-45 minutes to run to waste-- making it easier to time, and more precise.


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## watchhowIdoit (Jul 31, 2011)

Many of the new pumps have pressure/flow control built right into the pump. Controlling pressure is the first step in controlling amount of flow...


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## watchhowIdoit (Jul 31, 2011)

Bezy said:


> you could try the restrictors they have, put a gal per hr one and let it run 30 min, boom you have exactly half a gal. Just put them inline before your rings. That way it will allow your timer to be set longer and your plants will get an exact measured amount of water. i know this is what Gorilla growers use for their drip systems.
> If you want to water more put a larger restrictor in or let it run longer.


There flow rates are based on a certain pressure which is usually much higher than what our little pumps are capable of producing. And they can clog quite easily....


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## cocodreams (Jul 31, 2011)

I forgot to add, that I flush once a week with home made compost tea, diluted and pH balanced. It adds trace micro-nutrients, inoculates the root zone with microorganisms, and helps flush out unwanted salt buildup.


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## YaK (Oct 30, 2011)

how about a good cycle timer? I have one for my cloner that will run for increments as small as 2 seconds. 

I like your home made drip ring idea, and I am thinking of doing that in a drain to waste rockwool situation that i am trying to wrap my head around. 

I'm thinking a 10 gallon res with an automatic nutrient doser and auto PH... with a pump set to maybe 5 seconds full pressure watering every 2 hours or so, if that gives the rockwool time to dry out a bit and doesnt oversaturate. I see your post are from back in July... how have things been working for you? I do flood/drain and it is simple and easy, but drain to waste seems more logical, and even easier!


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## Dudemankidson (Feb 27, 2017)

cocodreams said:


> I've become a huge fan of drain to waste in coco. (For the skeptical, drain to waste does not have to be wasteful. In fact I find it saves water if done properly.)
> 
> Here's the setup...
> 
> ...


Hands down Tropf Blumats are your savior. I use them on my 5 gal coco girls under and led and they're great. I just check the res every day or three and that's all she need. I have an occasional run-away but as long as you have something to catch a little water under them you're good. I only use a 5 gal res so I never have to worry about more than 4.5 gals or so dumping. I have them in like little potting trays which I keep nearly empty and my tent surprisingly will hold like 3-4 gals of water before it starts to leak from corners.


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## visajoe1 (Feb 28, 2017)

This entire discussion is the reason I switched from coco to DWC/waterfarm. It requires a more intricate setup to properly dial in a drip system than it does to fill up a bucket with nutes and an air stone. Plus DWC growth is way faster


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## Bakersfield (Feb 28, 2017)

visajoe1 said:


> This entire discussion is the reason I switched from coco to DWC/waterfarm. It requires a more intricate setup to properly dial in a drip system than it does to fill up a bucket with nutes and an air stone. Plus DWC growth is way faster


It's also prone to disastrous root infections. 
I love coco and it's no slouch in the production department running a drip system drain to waste.


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## Dudemankidson (Mar 2, 2017)

In my particular environment dwc is more difficult to manage. I have nearly no run-off and thus I fill a res once and let the girls drink up. As opposed to filling and then emptying a res or multiple if your not running a multi site container or rdwc. Ideally, in a different living space I'd prefer rdwc in a basement over coco dtw. But alas, currently there is no such suitable basement.


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## motoracer110 (Mar 3, 2017)

If you ever do a coco dtw grow again you want to use small 1-2 gallon plastic pots. Don't use smart pots or any air pruning pots. You don't want to let your coco dry out or get dry spots. And using small pots you can do multiple feedings per day and get run off very fast. If you treat the coco like hydro and do multiple feedings per day with runoff you'll get hydro results. The first time I grew in coco my big mistake was using 5 gallon fabric pots. It would take insane amounts of nutrient solution to keep the coco moist and also get 20% runoff. I eventually just fed them without runoff then 2 times a week flush out the salts and nutrient build up ( a pain in the ass) . How I dialed in my feedings was get a cycle timer. Turn on the feed cycle and time it until you start seeing runoff then stop your timer. My setup was about 10-15 seconds (you now have a time set) then depending on plant size feed 3-4 times a day lights on. I also set all my feeding tubes in a measuring cup and turned on my feed cycle to see how much water was being used. I came up with just over a gallon. With that number you can calculate how long your reservoir will last.


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## Niblixdark (Mar 3, 2017)

I personally have done every style of growing possible and everyone likes something different but I firmly believe no style of growing is superior to another but after many years of growing I found RDWC to be the best system to grow with. Nothing too complicated but fairly straight forward and the yields ...

Just my opinion that's all.


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## Bakersfield (Mar 19, 2017)

motoracer110 said:


> You don't want to let your coco dry out or get dry spots. And using small pots you can do multiple feedings per day and get run off very fast.


I agree with your post in general, but your pot size suggestion depends on the size of your plants, IMHO.
I do appreciate your suggestion on the fabric pots. That makes a lot of sense. I almost placed an order on some of those, for a tree run, that I want to try.


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## motoracer110 (Mar 19, 2017)

Bakersfield said:


> I agree with your post in general, but your pot size suggestion depends on the size of your plants, IMHO.
> I do appreciate your suggestion on the fabric pots. That makes a lot of sense. I almost placed an order on some of those, for a tree run, that I want to try.


Right on bro I would say pot size needs to be bigger if you want to grow trees, but one must keep in mind you can't feed as much in a big pot vs a small pot you can get overwatering issues witch can lead to root rot which takes away the treat like hydro multiple fee dings effect. This guy was getting 9 oz per plant in just 6.5 liter pots or about 2 gallon pots. I think his photos speak for themselves.


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## Bakersfield (Mar 20, 2017)

motoracer110 said:


> Right on bro I would say pot size needs to be bigger if you want to grow trees, but one must keep in mind you can't feed as much in a big pot vs a small pot you can get overwatering issues witch can lead to root rot which takes away the treat like hydro multiple fee dings effect. This guy was getting 9 oz per plant in just 6.5 liter pots or about 2 gallon pots. I think his photos speak for themselves.


Impressive yields indeed but I know folks that run 20 gallon pots feeding 5 times daily @ 900ppm @.7 conversion DTW. That pull from 1 to 1.5 lbs per plant with a 4 week veg., and zero issues with root rot.
Is root rot something you've personally experienced in coco with large pots?
Coco will only get so wet unless something is impeading it's drainage path.


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## motoracer110 (Mar 20, 2017)

Bakersfield said:


> Impressive yields indeed but I know folks that run 20 gallon pots feeding 5 times daily @ 900ppm @.7 conversion DTW. That pull from 1 to 1.5 lbs per plant with a 4 week veg., and zero issues with root rot.
> Is root rot something you've personally experienced in coco with large pots?
> Coco will only get so wet unless something is impeading it's drainage path.


Naw, never had root rot with coco but without a root mass coco can be over watered and can act like soil. Drain to waste in a 20 gallon pot feeding 5 times a day! ( pretty hard to get the entire 20 pot saturated and fully flushed with runoff. Great yields but damn I would not want to throw that much nutrient solution at a plant. I made a major mistake with my first coco gro using 5 gallon pots 8 plants and to get a true 20% run off multiple times a day you are burning through your solution faster than you think. I had to stop getting any drainage when I fed to save my wallet and had to flush every week to offset the buildup. Saved money but a pain in the ass. I guess to each their own and everyone has their own style. I have since switched over to the flo n gro 14 pot hydro system and love everything about it. Very simple to get amazing yields off it and 55 gallons of solution last me 10 days there's no way to get 55 gallons to last 10 days with 14 pots of coco.


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## Bakersfield (Mar 20, 2017)

motoracer110 said:


> Naw, never had root rot with coco but without a root mass coco can be over watered and can act like soil. Drain to waste in a 20 gallon pot feeding 5 times a day! ( pretty hard to get the entire 20 pot saturated and fully flushed with runoff. Great yields but damn I would not want to throw that much nutrient solution at a plant. I made a major mistake with my first coco gro using 5 gallon pots 8 plants and to get a true 20% run off multiple times a day you are burning through your solution faster than you think. I had to stop getting any drainage when I fed to save my wallet and had to flush every week to offset the buildup. Saved money but a pain in the ass. I guess to each their own and everyone has their own style. I have since switched over to the flo n gro 14 pot hydro system and love everything about it. Very simple to get amazing yields off it and 55 gallons of solution last me 10 days there's no way to get 55 gallons to last 10 days with 14 pots of coco.


You are right about burning through the nutes!
I currently go through 100 gallons @ ec 1.3 in 4 days and that is under 2 @ 1000w hps. I've got another room coming online soon. I feed 3 times daily in 5 gallon buckets and leach with water between refills of the reservoir, until my leachate reaches 300ppm.
I use the KISS method of the Lucas formula. I do substitute 1/3 of my Maxibloom with Maxigrow, add some Epsom salts and Orca bennies. Total cost is about 25 dollars a week. Over half of that amount is for the bennies. I have explosive grow!
I may switch to Jacks to save more money, until I start mixing my own (using a recipe), I'm not a chemist.
I would like to brew my own bennies, for some real savings and start adding silica, kelp extract, fulvic and humic acid to my mix.


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## visajoe1 (Mar 20, 2017)

im adding orca and great white to my hydro formula, curious to see what happens


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## ChaosHunter (Mar 20, 2017)

I use the same watering setup as the OP and use a Idevices switch. It only goes down to 1 min but that's all that's needed every day when the lights come on.


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## motoracer110 (Mar 20, 2017)

Wow you are set then, I have been wanting to go with the kiss method always afraid to pull the trigger, but would love to cut down my nutrient costs. I've been using the canna line and love the results just hate the price tag. Good stuff good talk.


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## all coco (Mar 20, 2017)

I've got a couple 315w cmh's and tried to put together something simple. I'm using 5 gallon buckets for res's. 172gph pumps feed a 1/2" single line manifold with 1 open ended 1/4" drip tube per plant that are in 1 gallon pots. Also used a T with a couple valves on the 1/2" tube at the top of the bucket to help mixing and control flow. I'm in week 4 and feeding for 1 minute 3 times a day right now, used to hand water 2 times a day.


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## Bakersfield (Mar 21, 2017)

motoracer110 said:


> Wow you are set then, I have been wanting to go with the kiss method always afraid to pull the trigger, but would love to cut down my nutrient costs. I've been using the canna line and love the results just hate the price tag. Good stuff good talk.


I've never used the Canna line of nutrients, but I love their coco coir! I think it's worth the extra to have a leached and pre buffered product.

I still prefer the Lucas formula using GC's flora series over mixing the Maxi with hot water, but the Lucas formula cost about double over Maxi.
Eventually, I hope to mix my own nutes and quite giving money to Scott's/Monsanto.


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## visajoe1 (Mar 21, 2017)

Bakersfield said:


> Eventually, I hope to mix my own nutes and quite giving money to Scott's/Monsanto.


This is where I want to get to as well. Just have raw ingredients. I'm at least a year away from that though, want to do a few successful runs in a couple different mediums first


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## GreenLegend420 (Mar 28, 2017)

I use dtw coco and its the easiest thing ive ever done. I just adjust my cycle timer based on how much they need to eat. (Bigger plants more food). 

Keep your rez filled and your runoff bucket emptied and thats it. 

For waste i would say i empty about 2-3 gallons a week.


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## visajoe1 (Apr 2, 2017)

GreenLegend420 said:


> I use dtw coco and its the easiest thing ive ever done. I just adjust my cycle timer based on how much they need to eat. (Bigger plants more food).
> 
> Keep your rez filled and your runoff bucket emptied and thats it.
> 
> For waste i would say i empty about 2-3 gallons a week.


what is your feed levels and timing from veg to flower?


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## GreenLegend420 (Apr 3, 2017)

visajoe1 said:


> what is your feed levels and timing from veg to flower?


I didnt put that cause it really is specific to how may plants you have, the size pump you have, and how big the pots are. 

Best advice i could give is to set up your plants on the table and hand water till they start to drain. Wait about six hours and use a measuring cup/pitcher to hand water till they drain again.

Ok so now you know they need x amount of water per six hours (for example 400ml each). So what you want to do now is put one of your lines out in the cup/pitcher. Lets say the hand water at six hours required 400ml. You would turn on your pump and time it until it puts out 400ml. Now you should be real close at this point with a twice daily feeding with lights on.

Based on how big or small the plants are you can dial it in based on the amount of runoff. You want a little runoff each feeding to flush out salts but you dont want to much because you will just be wasting nutrients.

Hope that helps!


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## visajoe1 (Apr 3, 2017)

GreenLegend420 said:


> I didnt put that cause it really is specific to how may plants you have, the size pump you have, and how big the pots are.
> 
> Best advice i could give is to set up your plants on the table and hand water till they start to drain. Wait about six hours and use a measuring cup/pitcher to hand water till they drain again.
> 
> ...


that does help, thank you. do you add anything to your coco? im using readygro moisture coco (30% perlite) but I I'd like more drainage to allow for more frequent feedings. the readygro aeration coco is 55% perlite. So, im planning on adding more perlite to my moisture mix when i transplant to 1g square pots.


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## GreenLegend420 (Apr 3, 2017)

visajoe1 said:


> that does help, thank you. do you add anything to your coco? im using readygro moisture coco (30% perlite) but I I'd like more drainage to allow for more frequent feedings. the readygro aeration coco is 55% perlite. So, im planning on adding more perlite to my moisture mix when i transplant to 1g square pots.


I have about 30% perlite in mine. To help with drainage i drilled four small holes on all four sides near the bottom of the pots. I put about one to two inches of hydroton on the bottom. You can use different stuff though like lava rocks or anything chunky.


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## Bakersfield (Apr 3, 2017)

visajoe1 said:


> that does help, thank you. do you add anything to your coco? im using readygro moisture coco (30% perlite) but I I'd like more drainage to allow for more frequent feedings. the readygro aeration coco is 55% perlite. So, im planning on adding more perlite to my moisture mix when i transplant to 1g square pots.


I wouldnt recommend you add perlite to your coco unless you have a very small grow and can afford to throw away more nutrients than straight coco, in a drain to waste system. Straight coco will allow the solution to remain in contact with the roots for a longer period than a super aerated coco mix, while still offering enough oxygen for explosive growth.

Now if you recirculate your nutrients then a perlite coco mix would probably give you awesome results and not cost as much doing so.
However, DTW is simple, while recirculating nutrients has more complications and requires more advanced techniques to maintain the proper nutrient needs of the plants.

Who ever told you that you cannot frequent water straight coco, has never done so and is perpetrating some bro's mythology. With proper drainage, your plants will amaze you, if you can give them what they need, in straight coco.
I use straight coco and have my timer set to run 5 X a day @ 2 minutes with about 10% runoff.
Between my veg and flower room, they currently use 47 gallons of nutrients a day.


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## GreenLegend420 (Apr 3, 2017)

I like a little perlite in mine. I use i dunno maybe a quarter of bag or less per 5kg block. Im sure straight coco is fine too.

Soon as charcoir get the coco blocks out of testing and in stores ill switch to those probably. I cant imagine how much better it will be on the back to just open a box of coco blocks that are ready to go lol


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## visajoe1 (Apr 3, 2017)

Bakersfield said:


> I wouldnt recommend you add perlite to your coco unless you have a very small grow and can afford to throw away more nutrients than straight coco, in a drain to waste system. Straight coco will allow the solution to remain in contact with the roots for a longer period than a super aerated coco mix, while still offering enough oxygen for explosive growth.
> 
> Now if you recirculate your nutrients then a perlite coco mix would probably give you awesome results and not cost as much doing so.
> However, DTW is simple, while recirculating nutrients has more complications and requires more advanced techniques to maintain the proper nutrient needs of the plants.
> ...


Thanks bud, appreciate it. Im planning on gravitating towards a 6 plant SOG harvesting 2 plants every three weeks. Small personal grow. Im currently trying to learn how often I can feed them, but if you're watering 10min/day in 100% coco, then I should be fine increasing my watering frequency. I do like the idea of some hydroton at the bottom of the pot tho


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## pinner420 (Apr 3, 2017)




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## Bakersfield (Apr 3, 2017)

visajoe1 said:


> Thanks bud, appreciate it. Im planning on gravitating towards a 6 plant SOG harvesting 2 plants every three weeks. Small personal grow. Im currently trying to learn how often I can feed them, but if you're watering 10min/day in 100% coco, then I should be fine increasing my watering frequency. I do like the idea of some hydroton at the bottom of the pot tho


If I had a smaller system, I would fully recommend more aeration and more frequent feeding, for sure. I hear the Tupur guys are killing it, but plain coco will not give you problems and will give great results on its own.


GreenLegend420 said:


> I like a little perlite in mine. I use i dunno maybe a quarter of bag or less per 5kg block. Im sure straight coco is fine too.
> 
> Soon as charcoir get the coco blocks out of testing and in stores ill switch to those probably. I cant imagine how much better it will be on the back to just open a box of coco blocks that are ready to go lol


So what's up with the charcoal? I'm not familiar with its use.
I know that permaculture advocates really love biochar to help sequester carbon dioxide and feed certain microbes out in the garden. Is it used for a similar purpose?


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## visajoe1 (Apr 3, 2017)

tupur. another great topic. i cant find any info on it, except that its coco fiber based. from close up pics, it looks like more finely shredded coco fiber with perlite. its usage description is nearly identical to readygro aeration mix (45/55 coco/perlite) "designed for multiple feedings per day" 
since i already have the moisture mix, i figure i can just pick up a $10 bag of perlite and make my own aeration mix and rock this bitch! lol


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## GreenLegend420 (Apr 4, 2017)

Bakersfield said:


> If I had a smaller system, I would fully recommend more aeration and more frequent feeding, for sure. I hear the Tupur guys are killing it, but plain coco will not give you problems and will give great results on its own.
> 
> So what's up with the charcoal? I'm not familiar with its use.
> I know that permaculture advocates really love biochar to help sequester carbon dioxide and feed certain microbes out in the garden. Is it used for a similar purpose?


Im talking about char coir the company not char coal.

I havent used any of his coco but heard only good things. Its triple washed and ph balanced. @charcoir on IG. The coco blocks are in testing i tried to get a box but he already gave them all out.

He made them to have an option to replace rockwool blocks.


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## cobshopgrow (Apr 6, 2017)

i have good results with these plain n simple units.
https://www.amazon.com/CONTINENTAL-AWS-10-Automatic-Watering-containers/dp/B007NHRYH0
There are no dripper to clog.
You need to take care for same lenght tubes and keep on same level.
Used them for 9 cocos plants, went flawless.
Other drawback, you cant avoid watering at night, but all in all, stressfree unit, batteries lastet almost 2 months.


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## visajoe1 (Apr 8, 2017)

I just made my own auto feed drip system using 1/2" line, 100gph pump, and digital cycle timer I already had. nice steady trickle; 2 minutes gives me 16oz of feed. just needed the drip line, fittings, shutoffs, and a bucket with lid. expandable to well beyond my needs or capabilities. its all setup and ready to go, but im not going to use it until i move these (4 plants) into flower tent. it would be a royal bitch to undo it all and move it 20ft after 10 days, lol


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## Mass Medicinals (Aug 14, 2017)

visajoe1 said:


> I just made my own auto feed drip system using 1/2" line, 100gph pump, and digital cycle timer I already had. nice steady trickle; 2 minutes gives me 16oz of feed. just needed the drip line, fittings, shutoffs, and a bucket with lid. expandable to well beyond my needs or capabilities. its all setup and ready to go, but im not going to use it until i move these (4 plants) into flower tent. it would be a royal bitch to undo it all and move it 20ft after 10 days, lol


Bump to keep this going. Visajoe1 or anyone else with a working DTW set-up.

Could anyone post photos of the set-up or links to the supplies? We have 2 weeks to build/buy a DTW set-up for a week of being away from the plants. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Currently we are hand feeding drip-to-waste.

Thanks!!!


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## rayuki (Sep 6, 2017)

great thread, im currently interested in trying something like this transitioning from soil, i have 10 x 3gallon airpots i want to get some use out of instead of letting them sit unused, are they ok to use in a DTW system? have you guys got any pics of your actual setups? do you need to have it up on a table or similar so you can have your runoff underneath? are canna nutes fine to use in a setup like this?


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## sacballa (Jan 20, 2020)

Mass Medicinals said:


> Bump to keep this going. Visajoe1 or anyone else with a working DTW set-up.
> 
> Could anyone post photos of the set-up or links to the supplies? We have 2 weeks to build/buy a DTW set-up for a week of being away from the plants. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Currently we are hand feeding drip-to-waste.
> 
> Thanks!!!











DIY Automatic Watering System for Indoor Cannabis - Coco For Cannabis


Complete plans for an automatic watering system for your indoor cannabis grow. Everything you need to set up a drip system for your grow room or tent.




www.cocoforcannabis.com


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## gr865 (Jan 20, 2020)

My setup, right now using 5 ports or the 8 port manifold for my vertical grow.

I have removed the hardware from the rez and installed them on a separate stand so I could add a lid to the rez.


I have removed the cut off valves as I do not get any syphoning from the rez.



I run these up too 16 plants, thinking I could do 24 in a SOG but when I ran that before I had to go to drip emitters as I ran out of volume. With this new pump at 3 gallon/minute I think I would have plenty of volume.

The with fitting inline is a quick disconnect so I can move the plants from the tent to work on them.



Here is a pic of my current grow.


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## Nrk.cdn (Jan 22, 2020)

gr865 said:


> My setup, right now using 5 ports or the 8 port manifold for my vertical grow.
> 
> I have removed the hardware from the rez and installed them on a separate stand so I could add a lid to the rez.
> View attachment 4461166
> ...


What kind of disconnects are those attached to the orange hose? Also..orange hose..PE 1/4 inch tubing? Pex tubing? Vinyl? 

Plants look super btw..


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## gr865 (Jan 22, 2020)

Thanks Bud, I will be updating this journal later tonight or in the morning. Those are 1/4" quick disconnects, on 1/4" red rubber hose. Got both when I was trying to run Blumats, that sucked, but the QD I can remove the plants from the tent as needed,


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## gr865 (Jan 22, 2020)

EDit
See my journal @
*Couple of pics from my Vertical coco, DTW*





Couple of pics from my Vertical coco, DTW


Update: Day 14 of 12/12 Everything is looking good, the stretch is continuing, did a bit of LST and Super Cropping today. Removed some of the fans, removed the nets and refastened the plants to the screen. After reinstalling the nets, moved the branches around to begin filling the nets. I...



www.rollitup.org


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## gr865 (Jan 22, 2020)

Ayahuasca Purple #1


Group shot.


Made up new rez last night, lowered the EC considerably, hope to not have the issues from past grows after major trim of what I believe is causes from losing leaf mass, making the EC to high for the plant.


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## curious2garden (Sep 6, 2021)

Sk-one said:


> As far as I can tell, no one make an off the shelf system to automate coco growing. That's why I developed this: A system that will feed the exact amount of nutrient solution required to maintain the runoff amount that you set it to. It uses digital scales to weigh the runoff, and if the amount collected is below the setpoint, on the next fertigation cycle the controller increases the amount of nutrient solution delivered by 10%. This keeps happening until the runoff setpoint is achieved. My website is www.growtekusa.com. I'm just a single person business trying to make it so I would really appreciate any support! ThanksView attachment 4981550


Have you considered becoming an advertiser on RIU? @sunni can help.


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## Sk-one (Sep 6, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> Have you considered becoming an advertiser on RIU? @sunni can help.


I haven't checked the rates here yet, but at another forum they were just out of my budget for the time being. I would like to get there at some point though


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## PJ Diaz (Sep 6, 2021)

Sk-one said:


> As far as I can tell, no one make an off the shelf system to automate coco growing. That's why I developed this: A system that will feed the exact amount of nutrient solution required to maintain the runoff amount that you set it to. It uses digital scales to weigh the runoff, and if the amount collected is below the setpoint, on the next fertigation cycle the controller increases the amount of nutrient solution delivered by 10%. This keeps happening until the runoff setpoint is achieved. My website is www.growtekusa.com. I'm just a single person business trying to make it so I would really appreciate any support! ThanksView attachment 4981550


That's pretty cool. A bit expensive, but I understand why. Did you do the programming yourself, or hire out to someone? Also how much are additional scales? I know that one of the dudes on the GML show uses scales, and he would prolly be super interested in your rig.


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## Sk-one (Sep 6, 2021)

PJ Diaz said:


> That's pretty cool. A bit expensive, but I understand why. Did you do the programming yourself, or hire out to someone? Also how much are additional scales? I know that one of the dudes on the GML show uses scales, and he would prolly be super interested in your rig.


Yeah, I did all the programming. One other thing I didn't mention that it does is automatically drain the drip trays once a day. It wouldn't really make sense to sell the scales separately because they integrate with the controller and are meant to work together. Yeah, it is expensive. But if you start piecing together your own system, it adds up as well. What is GML? Thanks for your response


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## PJ Diaz (Sep 6, 2021)

Sk-one said:


> Yeah, I did all the programming. One other thing I didn't mention that it does is automatically drain the drip trays once a day. It wouldn't really make sense to sell the scales separately because they integrate with the controller and are meant to work together. Yeah, it is expensive. But if you start piecing together your own system, it adds up as well. What is GML? Thanks for your response


GML is the Grand Master Level show on Friday evenings on YouTube. He's a rep for Horticulture Lighting Group and has a panel every week. Here's a link to his YT channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDY8sQMuA9Hfx_5w-8J4afg

Did you do all the programming in Python? I'm just learning that myself, and hoping to learn how to program some of my own environmental controls in the future. I like what you've done. Where do the drip trays drain to? I like that idea, because I can only go a few days without shop-vaccing out my drip trays these days.


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## Sk-one (Sep 6, 2021)

PJ Diaz said:


> GML is the Grand Master Level show on Friday evenings on YouTube. He's a rep for Horticulture Lighting Group and has a panel every week. Here's a link to his YT channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDY8sQMuA9Hfx_5w-8J4afg
> 
> Did you do all the programming in Python? I'm just learning that myself, and hoping to learn how to program some of my own environmental controls in the future. I like what you've done. Where do the drip trays drain to? I like that idea, because I can only go a few days without shop-vaccing out my drip trays these days.


The programming is in C++. Python probably would be a better choice but I just go with what I know  The waste solution can be pumped to where ever you want. I just route the tubing from the drain pumps to a jug that is outside my tent. Thanks for the info about Grand Master Level show...I'll check it out


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## PJ Diaz (Sep 6, 2021)

Sk-one said:


> The programming is in C++. Python probably would be a better choice but I just go with what I know  The waste solution can be pumped to where ever you want. I just route the tubing from the drain pumps to a jug that is outside my tent. Thanks for the info about Grand Master Level show...I'll check it out


Cool. I found the GML panelist who uses scales:


__
http://instagr.am/p/BxlDlqVhGZY/


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## PJ Diaz (Sep 6, 2021)

Personally I've been using the same automated DTW system in coco for years, with a few modifications over time. It's pretty simple:
2 circulation pumps in a res, plus one feed pump
1/.4" dirip line from the res, with T's from the main line to each plan
4 pressure compensating drip emitters per pot
large tupperware type container below the pot, with a baking rack on top of the container to suspend the pot and catch runoff
runoff gets manually sucked out by shop vac every couple/few days.


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## ComputerSaysNo (Sep 7, 2021)

cocodreams said:


> Does anyone have a good automatic watering system that they like?


I can only recommend the AutoPot. I suggest you give it a try, the system is expandable so you can easily scale up if you like it.
There are two different sizes of plastic pots (2 gal and 4 gal) and now there is also a version with large fabric pots (5 gal).

NB this is _not drain to waste_. It's wick-style watering from below.


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