Auto watering

Hi guys,

just wondering if anyone can point me in the direction of the best ways to set up auto watering. Im using coco as medium and running to waste. iv set up sample points on the RUN OFF TO WASTE DRAIN LINE so im able to do a ph/ec test of each pot individually when i do a flush just for peace of mind. however my question is should i use a submersible pump to pressurise a common line with take offs to each pots with a halo and run the pump off a timer to come on say 4 times a day.

Im assuming iv got the right idea just wondering if anyones actually done something like this and what your results or problems they had were.

Thanks guys

I've never done it before, but from what you are describing it sounds like it's a good idea. I would go for it and see if it works. If it doesn't work then you know for sure, and if it does work, then it's all good lol.

I'm sure though that you don't want to waste time, money, effort and seeds experimenting on something that might not work.

Some peeps put coco in hydro systems as a medium. freaks me out, coco holds way too much moisture for hydro, You need a small submirsible pump and a pail of water/nutes, but find a days timer, you would not need to feed for days between.

so what is a better meduim to use than coco that doesnt hold as much moisture, or should i mix vermiculite and perlite in with coco say 40%coco 30%perlite 30%vermiculite.

You got nutes in that water? If not, you need something because coco is neutral, like most mediums except dirt. If your running to waste, use hydrotron (clay pebbles) But if your going to change, you should go completely hydro.

So long as the floor of your grow room is flat (sounds daft, but mine wasn't lol) then the best system for autowatering with coco would be autopots in my opinion. Mine came with a 100L reservoir and when i needed to i could leave them weeks and weeks. Flat floor is key though else it can just end up leaking everywhere. I like autopots because it is all based on gravity, there is no requirement for pumps etc and as such there needs be no worries about power outages like you might often have in hydro when everything depends on the pump being functional.

We use coco in 3G pots and auto water twice a day for one minute with 2 spider emitters per pot. We achieve about 20% runoff and the plants do great.

jjlongo said:

We use coco in 3G pots and auto water twice a day for one minute with 2 spider emitters per pot. We achieve about 20% runoff and the plants do great.

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Right Now Im Trying Out Two Auto Watering Systems. Both Use A 5 Gallon Bucket For A Reservoir And A 400 Gph Water Pump With Half Inch Tubing And An Air Stone. One Set UP Im Using 7 Gallon Smart Pots And Am Watering 3 Times A Day For About 8-10 Seconds Through A Waterfarm Drip ring. The Drip Ring Fits Right Inside The Half Inch Tubing. I Use An ArtDne Timer With It. The Other Set Up Uses 7 Gallon Eco Pots And The Half Inch Tubing Fits Right Into The Snorkel And Feeds The Reservoir In The Bottom Of The Pot. This One I Feed Twice A Day For About 8 Seconds As Well. The Timing Will Differ Depending On Which Set Up You Use And How Many Pots Are Attached To The Set Up And So On. But They Both Seem To Work Well. All Organic, Homemade Super Soils, Water With Compost teaS And Plain Water With Hygrozyme.