Fill Port Idea?

[guitarguy10]

I am going to be trying my hand at DWC (1st time).

I will be growing in 12 gallon high strength tote bins with 2 plants per bin. I have the drain part covered and I am just now trying to find a simple solution in order to fill them. These totes, and my grow tent are no where near a water source so I need to bring the water to them, and thus I want a fill port at the top or something and a plug for that fill port. Probably an easy answer but uh well I'm high, has anyone got any ideas?

Also this is a dumb question but it's super expensive to buy a hole saw kit to cuz the 5" holes I will need for the plants, does anyone know of another method of cutting the holes thats not gonna cost me $30 for a tool that I will only use once?

 

[redi jedi]

I am going to be trying my hand at DWC (1st time).

I will be growing in 12 gallon high strength tote bins with 2 plants per bin. I have the drain part covered and I am just now trying to find a simple solution in order to fill them. These totes, and my grow tent are no where near a water source so I need to bring the water to them, and thus I want a fill port at the top or something and a plug for that fill port. Probably an easy answer but uh well I'm high, has anyone got any ideas?

Also this is a dumb question but it's super expensive to buy a hole saw kit to cuz the 5" holes I will need for the plants, does anyone know of another method of cutting the holes thats not gonna cost me $30 for a tool that I will only use once?

Got a jigsaw? Even a hacksaw blade, removed from the handle, would work. Or a utility knife, just score it a few times till your threw...pita, but it would do in a pinch

 

[Airwalker16]

A small hole for a nice skinny tapered funnel oughtta help you out. Piece of duct tape to cover it. Or get fancy and cut a piece of neoprene to size or something like that.

 

[rkymtnman]

i would pick up some of those 5 gallon jugs for water coolers to haul and a battery powered kerosene transfer pump for the liquid transfer.

and just a simple hole on top with a weighted lid would be fine.

and not to turn you off the 12 gal tote, but 2 plants would be much better in a 27 gal blk/yellow tote.

 

[DailyBlastin]

30$ is not expensive and bottom line is theres no better way to do this, any other method has a 100x better chance of not cutting a perfect hole and busting your lid, causing you to replace it, buy the wholesaw and be happy you have it, you will almost certainly use it again, i have atleast 10 different wholesaws ranging from 7/8" to 6" and each one of them has come in handy beyond their original purchase purpose.

As to your watering issue, the best solution that i give to most people with the "i dont have a water source nearby" argument is to get a FPT to MHT adapter from any hardware store, this will allow you to connect a garden hose to your showerhead pipe and for most people this is the cheapest solution.

 

[guitarguy10]

Thank you, yeah moving water was my next problem that I had not yet thought to tackle, I will look into an FPT to MHT adapter, the shower is only like 20-30 feet away. I will probably grab one of those portable transfer pumps too cuz they look cheap.

@rkymtnman I chose these totes because they maximally fit the growing space I have of all the sizes I searched for (which is 2'x4'x5'), and they are sturdy. My last grow in coco my plants did fine in 5 gallon pots, I'm sure that 6 gallons each (2 plants, 12 gallon tote) will be fine because it's too late anyways as they've already been cut and plumbed, just need to be filled with water and plants.

 

[rkymtnman]

Thank you, yeah moving water was my next problem that I had not yet thought to tackle, I will look into an FPT to MHT adapter, the shower is only like 20-30 feet away. I will probably grab one of those portable transfer pumps too cuz they look cheap.

@rkymtnman I chose these totes because they maximally fit the growing space I have of all the sizes I searched for (which is 2'x4'x5'), and they are sturdy. My last grow in coco my plants did fine in 5 gallon pots, I'm sure that 6 gallons each (2 plants, 12 gallon tote) will be fine because it's too late anyways as they've already been cut and plumbed, just need to be filled with water and plants.

i gotcha. i grew 2 plants in the 27 gal totes and from experience the roots took up most of the tote by the end. good luck!

 

[GBAUTO]

Thank you, yeah moving water was my next problem that I had not yet thought to tackle, I will look into an FPT to MHT adapter, the shower is only like 20-30 feet away. I will probably grab one of those portable transfer pumps too cuz they look cheap.

@rkymtnman I chose these totes because they maximally fit the growing space I have of all the sizes I searched for (which is 2'x4'x5'), and they are sturdy. My last grow in coco my plants did fine in 5 gallon pots, I'm sure that 6 gallons each (2 plants, 12 gallon tote) will be fine because it's too late anyways as they've already been cut and plumbed, just need to be filled with water and plants.

This is how I fill my main system upstairs. It would be nice to have a source in the room but it involves more hassle than just fitting a garden hose every two weeks. I top off with a 5 gallon bucket...plenty of exercise for this cripple.

 

[guitarguy10]

This is how I fill my main system upstairs. It would be nice to have a source in the room but it involves more hassle than just fitting a garden hose every two weeks. I top off with a 5 gallon bucket...plenty of exercise for this cripple.

You can wait 2 weeks before having to clean it out? I thought you had to do it at least once a week, if I could wait 2 weeks and just keep topping it off well that would make my life a LOT easier ... hrm ?

 

[rkymtnman]

You can wait 2 weeks before having to clean it out? I thought you had to do it at least once a week, if I could wait 2 weeks and just keep topping it off well that would make my life a LOT easier ... hrm ?

some people run the same res start to finish. or only one change when switching to 12/12.

 

[GBAUTO]

You can wait 2 weeks before having to clean it out? I thought you had to do it at least once a week, if I could wait 2 weeks and just keep topping it off well that would make my life a LOT easier ... hrm ?

Yeah, I will usually try for 14 day cycles but some strains will exhibit deficiencies by day 10.
On all of the iterations of my rdwc systems, there is always at least 25% of the system volume that doesn't get drained so it's never a complete dump.

 

[OldMedUser]

Also this is a dumb question but it's super expensive to buy a hole saw kit to cuz the 5" holes I will need for the plants, does anyone know of another method of cutting the holes thats not gonna cost me $30 for a tool that I will only use once?

Years ago I went to the local tool rental place and got a 5" hole-saw to do some Rubbermaid lids. Cost like $10 for the day.

Tip: Run it in reverse so it doesn't grab the plastic and fuggup your perfect hole.

 

[fragileassassin]

If theres a bathroom there you could probably t the water line under the sink for a more long term solution if you dont want to take your shower head on and off.

 

[guitarguy10]

If theres a bathroom there you could probably t the water line under the sink for a more long term solution if you dont want to take your shower head on and off.

Yeah I've been putting some thought into how I'm going to deal with that because the shower head where I live isn't really removeable (easily). At the moment I just did it the long way and hauled a 5 gallon blue water jug from the bathroom to my grow space 5 times as that's what it took to fill.

I'm having other problems though, they don't look healthy at all, I'll take some pics later and post em