Help with irrigation.

Gtjoker420

Well-Known Member
I just finished setting up this new space planning to run three 4x8 tables 10 plants each in 3 gallons coco.
I’d like to setup drip irrigation as I’m tired of handwatering my gardens.
When I look irrigation stuff up it’s very overwhelming and confusing.
I’d like to go the cheaper simple route first till I get some rounds done in the space.
What all should I be getting and if you know any great informational videos or reads send em my way
 

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Oh you can just use those cheap 3d printed drip watering tips for common plastic bottles, they cost like few cents and you just attach them to a water bottle from cola, cut the bottom up and stick it's tip into the soil, then fill with water and options how huge is the flow, you can make it drop a waterdrop like each 10 seconds and it will keep the soil watered. I mean like this shit I'm attaching a pic
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ProPheT 216

Well-Known Member
Irrigation is never complicated it is drainage inside that is complicated all you have to really figure out is how you are going to collect runoff and where you're going to send it the rest is pretty easy there's numerous cheap pumps styles reservoirs you can go with
 

medidedicated

Well-Known Member
I did 3 gallons before, unless you have super slow dryback it takes up a big reservoir quick. Mine is 60 gallons. Floraflex is nice in my veg tent for plant count and less risk of any plumbing failure.

Ive been there and noone could figure out why my orbits wouldnt work unless I used double the strength pump. One did say orbits just need more psi. My floraflex works with just 100gph per plant.

All my plants in 1 gallon. Trying to feed 5 plants then two 1L plants 4-5x a day plus four 1L bonsai mothers 2x a day. 60gallons a week. Im switching from 8x a day but I should be able to do it or at worst Il add a 25 gal reservoir.

My floraflex is a pain for flower. Each tent of 2 plants or 1 get their own pump and timer. Have to routenely make sure its running right. Doing more than 2 would be tough which one warned me about but I never went that route.

I use Orbits for each tent of 2 or 1 as its a easy job for it to handle with a strong pump. I have backup manifold orbits deseigned for 1 plant for special treatment. Not gonna lie Id just flood and drain those tables if theyre tall enough.

I can be hard to teach but people here taught me how to setup dtw. Just ask away hell I might be able to help myself.
 

Drop That Sound

Well-Known Member
Like proPHet said, making sure you have a reliable way to drain the waste water is the best place to start from. Do you have a floor or other lower drain (if so you really got it made!), or a nearby sink you could T into the pipe down as low as possible? Cut into the subfloor? You might need more than a conventional gravity runoff system, and have to pump the water from a catchment basin up to a higher drain. If so, it might be a good idea to oversize the waste containers incase of a pump failure.. If you connect all three tables to a single smaller shared container, it could flood out easily, so make sure you got every aspect of the waste water management covered. Redundancy is nice, so figure out if you want 3 different systems, or try to share everything in one configuration. It might require moving the tables around again for the optimum layout.

From there, you can buy pre-made irrigation plumbing/fittings/manifolds/kits, or if you are feeling handy you can DIY the system from a whole host of different parts bought online or even at the hardware store..
 

Drop That Sound

Well-Known Member
From there you need to make the 3 manifolds that sit in the tables, around or between the pots. It could be one long tube running up the middle, but better to make a big square shaped loop if possible, to equalize pressure throughout the feed lines and drippers. You can get fancy with all the different manifolds they have, or keep it really simple and just run a bigger tube (PVC hardlines/fittings, or just black poly pipe for real cheap), with press fittings for the smaller feed lines if you want. You really don't need to seal or glue anything that sits inside the trays, because a small leak from your feed manifolds or the tubing won't be a big deal. You don't need expensive valves or anything, and best to go with full flow ported multi manifolds if you choose that route. Remember, none of it will be sitting outside in the sun breaking down from the UV rays, or be pressurizing the system passed a few PSI, so no need to splurge on the most expensive hardware. Outside the trays you need to worry more about leaks, which is the next step. Plumbing the the main lines leading back to the reservior... Or should I say reservoirs, if you decide to use 3, one for each table.

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^ Something like this.
 

medidedicated

Well-Known Member
I dump outside so it dont poison the water supply which can be fined for if caught. People with no filters will be drinking that. I know its not good to dump outside either but its better. Sucks this hobby is bad for the climate. Outdoor on other hand..
 

Gtjoker420

Well-Known Member
So I have been looking at the floraflex website and think I wanna go 2 drippers per plant.

Do you guys think this is what I would need to buy to set this up. I’m missing some 1inch pvc pieces I’ll use to enter into the room then a 1inch to 3/4pvc adapter then a 3way from the 3/4 to the 16/17mm line that’ll go to each table.
 

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