- Thread starter
- #161
RM's First Grow, Unknown Seeds
- Thread starter Riley May
- Start date
Habitual
New Member
Sweet show us your drip... Is it diy?
BedroomFarmer
Well-Known Member
Let's see what you put together! If that dripper is too restricted you can try running an open line. For me, it was too much water too quickly. May work out for you though
Slowpuffer
Well-Known Member
i would like to say, this is a 1 st. Class grow. I'm following closely, as I plan on going same route in near future. I'm getting ready to flip to 12/12 within a wk., so thanks for doing the journal. If ya don't mind me asking, how much $$ for the upgrade in automation ??
- Thread starter
- #165
Riley May
Well-Known Member
Thank you all so much for the kind words all of you. Sorry I not been keep you guys up to date. Been on 14 hrs shifts, I'll get a photo shoot done tomorrow.
It's nothing fancy, just a 4m 1/2 inch tube with a 8 way adapter on one end to 1/4 inch tubing with stop taps and a reducer dripper and a syphon tap at the other. Bought a pump that lifts 7ft (alittle over kill).
The run off trays was alittle too full today so I might shorten the feeds by 5mins.
Been wondering about flipping the girls too 12/12? The plan was today but thought I'd double check. It's been 40 days since the seed broke the surface.
Sorry not the best photo but not much time.
RM's First Grow - Unknown Seeds
It's nothing fancy, just a 4m 1/2 inch tube with a 8 way adapter on one end to 1/4 inch tubing with stop taps and a reducer dripper and a syphon tap at the other. Bought a pump that lifts 7ft (alittle over kill).
The run off trays was alittle too full today so I might shorten the feeds by 5mins.
Been wondering about flipping the girls too 12/12? The plan was today but thought I'd double check. It's been 40 days since the seed broke the surface.
Sorry not the best photo but not much time.
RM's First Grow - Unknown Seeds
- Thread starter
- #166
Riley May
Well-Known Member
They are in full "Iv just fed and am tired" mode. A hour before I took this they looked far better, all tips are back to normal. I think all I needed was more nutes.
RM's First Grow - Unknown Seeds
RM's First Grow - Unknown Seeds
- Thread starter
- #167
Riley May
Well-Known Member
Total £55 buddy it's made life so much easier, no doubt they would have missed a water or two last few days. Would really recommend getting one.
Thanks to Bedroom Farmer for taking the time out to help me.
RM's First Grow - Unknown Seeds
BedroomFarmer
Well-Known Member
Do you want me to post the how to here RM?
- Thread starter
- #169
Riley May
Well-Known Member
Feel free buddy of cause. Helped me so much. Once you do it for your self it's very simple .
RM's First Grow - Unknown Seeds
RM's First Grow - Unknown Seeds
BedroomFarmer
Well-Known Member
Alright so this is how I made my drip system. There are many ways to skin a cat but this works for me.
You need a pump. I use a Eco 633 gph pump. You have to pay attention to the head height. This one says 7.5'.
That means this pump will push water vertically up to 7.5'. This is important if your rez is tall you want to make sure you have good pressure. I've ran this pump from 4 to 9 plants no problem.
These are the types of fittings for your mainline 1/2" tubing. You have compression fitting (I use)
And you have 1/2" barbs. This one has a valve to stop water. They sell ones without the ball valve.
Here is what the 1/2" barb and the 1/2" compression fitting look like on the 1/2" mainline tubing.
Here we have your driper tubing/ spaghetti line. It comes in a roll it's 1/4" tubing that comes out of the 1/2" mainline and goes into your pot
Here is 1/4" barb. I use the T type but the have ones with only two barbs. These go into your mainline to connect to the 1/4" tubing
Dripper. Since I'm not using a big pump like a sump pump I cannot use the normal drip irrigation products. Stuff like Manifolds, pressure compensating drippers or button emitters, and antisiphon valves may not work since there is not much pressure in these little pumps. I use these flag emitters because they are pretty much free flow and you can open them to clean if it gets clogged! You can use anything you like. Halos, steaks, even make a ring with 1/4" tubing.
1/4" punch. This is what your use to punch a hole into your 1/2" mainline so you can put a 1/4" barb and connect the 1/4" spaghetti tube.
Here is what it looks like all connected. 1/2" mainline tubing. Either poly or vinyl. I use poly 1/2" because it's rigid and can stand up on its own. I punched a hole with the blue punch. Push in my barb and push on the 1/4" spaghetti/ feeder tubing.
It ends up being water tight. I have leaks sometimes but I just wiggle the 1/4" barb until it makes a good seal.
Here we have the 1/2" mainline that comes out of my rez. I punched a hole put a barb, some spaghetti tube, and my flag drippers. This allows air to enter the tubes once the pump shuts off. If you don't add an anti siphon hole in your tube once the pump shuts off you will continue to be irrigating your plants or flood your room.
Ok so back to barbs and compression fittings. You can use a barb that comes with the pump. screw it into the pump and push the 1/2" tubing in. For me. This didn't work. My barbs were the exact same size as my 1/2" tube so I ended up with a compression fitting. One side goes on the tube the other slips into a female pvc piece.
I'm using a pvc part. One side is threaded and screws into the pump the other side is female and the compression fitting slides in there. I like this because it makes it easy to dismantle for cleaning.
Now you make your layout. No matter what it can never be straight tubing. If you want even waterings to your girls you have to have the 1/2" mainline loop into itself. I've done a rectangle with 9 plants. This works for my current 4. Use your punch to make your holes. Make sure they are equally spaced I think it was 8-12" being ideal.
Put on your choice of emitters or drippers. I liked the flag ones. Home depot had a few different ones, I went with the most open ones. You can run open lines but a lot of water came out pretty quick. Their are many other styles of drippers. Here they are steaked into the pot
Elevate your pot so it's not sitting in dirty water.
Wet/dry vac for the saucers.
Once you set up your system put some cups under each dripper. Turn on your system and make sure each cup is filled the same amount at the same time. Also note you don't need to have two 1/4" lines like I have it but I wasn't going to buy two different sets of barbs. Now put in your plants. Turn on your system and see how long it takes to get run off. Buy a seconds or 1 minutes timer based on that. Not the 15 min cycle timer. I have a seconds timer and run between 1- 2:45min 3-4 times a day. Your going to want a strong air pump or another small fountain pump to stir your nutrients. I use a air pump because the 100gph pump I was using got my water hot. Think about what rez your going to use. I have a brute trash can. It's nice because it's not too wide. I'm able to get down to 3-5 gal of water in that trash can before the pump doesn't work. I also use a 5gal bucket and I can get that down to 1-2 gal before the pump can't pick up anymore water. If you have a long container you may not be able to fully utilize it. Any questions?
You need a pump. I use a Eco 633 gph pump. You have to pay attention to the head height. This one says 7.5'.
That means this pump will push water vertically up to 7.5'. This is important if your rez is tall you want to make sure you have good pressure. I've ran this pump from 4 to 9 plants no problem.
These are the types of fittings for your mainline 1/2" tubing. You have compression fitting (I use)
And you have 1/2" barbs. This one has a valve to stop water. They sell ones without the ball valve.
Here is what the 1/2" barb and the 1/2" compression fitting look like on the 1/2" mainline tubing.
Here we have your driper tubing/ spaghetti line. It comes in a roll it's 1/4" tubing that comes out of the 1/2" mainline and goes into your pot
Here is 1/4" barb. I use the T type but the have ones with only two barbs. These go into your mainline to connect to the 1/4" tubing
Dripper. Since I'm not using a big pump like a sump pump I cannot use the normal drip irrigation products. Stuff like Manifolds, pressure compensating drippers or button emitters, and antisiphon valves may not work since there is not much pressure in these little pumps. I use these flag emitters because they are pretty much free flow and you can open them to clean if it gets clogged! You can use anything you like. Halos, steaks, even make a ring with 1/4" tubing.
1/4" punch. This is what your use to punch a hole into your 1/2" mainline so you can put a 1/4" barb and connect the 1/4" spaghetti tube.
Here is what it looks like all connected. 1/2" mainline tubing. Either poly or vinyl. I use poly 1/2" because it's rigid and can stand up on its own. I punched a hole with the blue punch. Push in my barb and push on the 1/4" spaghetti/ feeder tubing.
It ends up being water tight. I have leaks sometimes but I just wiggle the 1/4" barb until it makes a good seal.
Here we have the 1/2" mainline that comes out of my rez. I punched a hole put a barb, some spaghetti tube, and my flag drippers. This allows air to enter the tubes once the pump shuts off. If you don't add an anti siphon hole in your tube once the pump shuts off you will continue to be irrigating your plants or flood your room.
Ok so back to barbs and compression fittings. You can use a barb that comes with the pump. screw it into the pump and push the 1/2" tubing in. For me. This didn't work. My barbs were the exact same size as my 1/2" tube so I ended up with a compression fitting. One side goes on the tube the other slips into a female pvc piece.
I'm using a pvc part. One side is threaded and screws into the pump the other side is female and the compression fitting slides in there. I like this because it makes it easy to dismantle for cleaning.
Now you make your layout. No matter what it can never be straight tubing. If you want even waterings to your girls you have to have the 1/2" mainline loop into itself. I've done a rectangle with 9 plants. This works for my current 4. Use your punch to make your holes. Make sure they are equally spaced I think it was 8-12" being ideal.
Put on your choice of emitters or drippers. I liked the flag ones. Home depot had a few different ones, I went with the most open ones. You can run open lines but a lot of water came out pretty quick. Their are many other styles of drippers. Here they are steaked into the pot
Elevate your pot so it's not sitting in dirty water.
Wet/dry vac for the saucers.
Once you set up your system put some cups under each dripper. Turn on your system and make sure each cup is filled the same amount at the same time. Also note you don't need to have two 1/4" lines like I have it but I wasn't going to buy two different sets of barbs. Now put in your plants. Turn on your system and see how long it takes to get run off. Buy a seconds or 1 minutes timer based on that. Not the 15 min cycle timer. I have a seconds timer and run between 1- 2:45min 3-4 times a day. Your going to want a strong air pump or another small fountain pump to stir your nutrients. I use a air pump because the 100gph pump I was using got my water hot. Think about what rez your going to use. I have a brute trash can. It's nice because it's not too wide. I'm able to get down to 3-5 gal of water in that trash can before the pump doesn't work. I also use a 5gal bucket and I can get that down to 1-2 gal before the pump can't pick up anymore water. If you have a long container you may not be able to fully utilize it. Any questions?
- Thread starter
- #171
Riley May
Well-Known Member
Day 2 of flower.
A very eventful day in the garden today. Turns out I was leaving the pump on too long ended up watering the girls 20L in 24hrs and the run off flooded the tent. So had a clean up and re tested etc ended up cutting the pump time down by little over half and now they should be getting 350/400ml every 8hrs. In 7L pots do you guys think this will be enough? They was living happily on 1L a day before the auto system.
Iv tested the set up 3 times and it doesn't feed perfectly even but only taking 30ml difference max so not overly bothered.
Very crowded in there now. Not sure how long they can live together happily for like that but Iv my eye in at lease two i don't mind losing. Hoping they show their sexes soon.
Any advice on trimming be very handy Iv done little to none
RM's First Grow - Unknown Seeds
A very eventful day in the garden today. Turns out I was leaving the pump on too long ended up watering the girls 20L in 24hrs and the run off flooded the tent. So had a clean up and re tested etc ended up cutting the pump time down by little over half and now they should be getting 350/400ml every 8hrs. In 7L pots do you guys think this will be enough? They was living happily on 1L a day before the auto system.
Iv tested the set up 3 times and it doesn't feed perfectly even but only taking 30ml difference max so not overly bothered.
Very crowded in there now. Not sure how long they can live together happily for like that but Iv my eye in at lease two i don't mind losing. Hoping they show their sexes soon.
Any advice on trimming be very handy Iv done little to none
RM's First Grow - Unknown Seeds
BedroomFarmer
Well-Known Member
Hay man looks good! How many plants do you have? The second picture looks like a full house. From what I've noticed, the growth will explode once you water over once a day. Good luck!
- Thread starter
- #173
Riley May
Well-Known Member
There is 8 in there :-/ but the tent is only 1.4m X 1.4m
See how they react over the next few days they been under alittle stress this week with flipping, flood and water changes etc
RM's First Grow - Unknown Seeds
See how they react over the next few days they been under alittle stress this week with flipping, flood and water changes etc
RM's First Grow - Unknown Seeds
Just clear out in the bottom a bit and make sure all the bud tops will get light.. a little at the time to clear out the down leaves.
- Thread starter
- #175
Riley May
Well-Known Member
BedroomFarmer
Well-Known Member
RM your plants are doing great! 
Obi Wan
Well-Known Member
Wow. Looking nice in there!
I'm going to give my plants a couple more weeks before I try trimming some of the underbrush. Bud sights that don't hit light after the transition stretch will be likely candidates to get snipped off.
I've always been conservative with my grows. To a fault sometimes. I do know from past experience that many of the lower fan leaves will die off on their own as the plant matures. I will probably focus on whimpy branches rather than large fans when I trim.
I'm going to give my plants a couple more weeks before I try trimming some of the underbrush. Bud sights that don't hit light after the transition stretch will be likely candidates to get snipped off.
I've always been conservative with my grows. To a fault sometimes. I do know from past experience that many of the lower fan leaves will die off on their own as the plant matures. I will probably focus on whimpy branches rather than large fans when I trim.
- Thread starter
- #178
Riley May
Well-Known Member
Evening all, a busy afternoon in the garden.
Been building a automatic run collector. Hard to explain but basically it's a wire grid with a big funnel that collets the water with a 1/4 inch tube pumping water out. So afar worked a treat. Had to invest because I'll be going in hospital for a few days next week .
Also and alittle trim under the canopy and killed off #3 she was much much smaller than the rest and taking up valuable space.
Forgive the sleeping girls they had a rough afternoon. Am sure they'll bounce back by morning
RM's First Grow - Unknown Seeds
Been building a automatic run collector. Hard to explain but basically it's a wire grid with a big funnel that collets the water with a 1/4 inch tube pumping water out. So afar worked a treat. Had to invest because I'll be going in hospital for a few days next week .
Also and alittle trim under the canopy and killed off #3 she was much much smaller than the rest and taking up valuable space.
Forgive the sleeping girls they had a rough afternoon. Am sure they'll bounce back by morning
RM's First Grow - Unknown Seeds
Good night ladies tomorrow is another day 
Obi Wan
Well-Known Member
I like your creative solutions.