Auto-watering system (non-hydro)

So I'll be out of town for a few days and I need to come up with a system to water my plants while I'm gone for like 2 weeks. I plant to be watering every 3rd day so a simple 24 hour timer won't do it for me. Daily small watering is simply not an option b/c I'm using pre-nuted soil which can cause nute burn if watered daily.

So does anyone know of a product I can use? I imagine some sort of timer would be necessary and just a nice big-old bucket of pH'ed water...but I don't know of a product that would switch on for say 20 seconds every 3 days.

any help is appreciated

Here is what I did and it worked great -

I dropped a 460 gph pump into a 35 gallon trash can and hooked up a manifold with drip lines and drip sprinklers. The pump was plugged into a $20 digital timer than could turn on/off in increments of 1 minute. The real task is adjusting the individual sprinkler heads and adjusting the minutes per day and days per week to run the pump - once completed it works great.





At first I tried running loops around the plants with perforated drip line but found it much more difficult to control the rate (and they tended to clog). The sprinklers however are easily adjustable and really just drip - 4xx gph pump isn't enough to spray water.

I think this is the key component you're looking for - hydrofarm dual outlet digital timer. Can have up to I think 12 settings, you can choose single days of the week, every other day..., increments of 1 minute on/off.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=hydrofarm+digital+timer&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=1039867748266850198&sa=X&ei=ccqXTp3aK6PZiAK6ucnGDQ&ved=0CDQQ8wIwAQ

Where can I find the drip system online? I'll look on htg but if u know a spot lemme know dude. +rep btw

Also do u grow 12/12 from seed b/c u have various dif plants there with dif heights and some are flowering lol

knightryder215 said:

Where can I find the drip system online? I'll look on htg but if u know a spot lemme know dude. +rep btw

Click to expand...

Drip system? I used a 3/4" piece of plastic drip tube (found at any hardware/garden store), hooked it to my pump (pump came with several nozzles one of which is meant to receive this size tubing), and then plugged the end. Into this I attached my smaller 1/4 drip line - this is really simple as they make small spikes that plug into the larger tube and attach to the smaller tubes. All of this is really standard yard equipment found at any hardware or garden store. Same goes for the tiny sprinkler heads.

You can also find this stuff at some hydro stores but for twice the cost.

knightryder215 said:

Also do u grow 12/12 from seed b/c u have various dif plants there with dif heights and some are flowering lol

Click to expand...

I was growing in different sized containers so I let the plants going into the larger containers have a two week head start in order to fully utilize their space. All of the plants were vegged at least a week or two before going into flowering but I often do start flowering them small so I can keep a more constant rotation of smaller plants.

Same batch a few weeks later:

NICE!!! but somehow i think i need the absolute minimum of watering them everday, otherwise id just forget about them xD

Ok thanks man, now that I've read up on similar systems and explored the hardware online I'm comfortable with the setup. Thanks man.

BTW do u find that you need a pressure regulator?? I see lots of them online for when you hook up your hose, but I'll be using 5 outputs and a 130 GPH pump.

knightryder215 said:

Ok thanks man, now that I've read up on similar systems and explored the hardware online I'm comfortable with the setup. Thanks man.

BTW do u find that you need a pressure regulator?? I see lots of them online for when you hook up your hose, but I'll be using 5 outputs and a 130 GPH pump.

Click to expand...

Aren't pressure regulators for higher pressure spray systems? You would need a tank and all of that if you are planning on running drip heads off a 130 gph pump (drip heads require quite a bit of pressure) but if you are just using open drip tube or a sprinkler heads it shouldn't be necessary. Might suggest upping the pump size though - I think the difference between a 130 gph and a 400 is $10-15 and you would be really surprised at how much the rated flow decreases with just a bit of resistance.

I'm a bit confused now gank lol, the press regulators I've seen are to step down pressure from a normal old hose connected to the system.

I'd buy a submersible pump (the 130 gph) and drop it in a bucket with my water. And connect to my system...here's what I plan on using.

http://www.amazon.com/Rain-Bird-Patio-Watering-PATIO-KIT/dp/B0019FLZKO/ref=pd_sbs_ol3
http://www.amazon.com/Sunterra-114516-Medium-Fountain-Black/dp/B0002HFTKW/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

So far I just need an adapter for the pump (1/2") to the line (1/4")....may just need a short 1/2" line and a barb to go to the 1/4" line. would this set up work oh mighty Gastanker?