Top Drip System

Greetings Fellow RIU'ers

I'm now on my next project, I've decided to build a Top Drip System for my upstairs room and ditch Soil.
Unfortunately its just too narrow to build another EBB and FLOW system so I think that this may be a better alternative

Basic Info :

Space = 3ft wide x 6 ft length x 6.5 ft height

Flood Table = 3'x4'

How big will my rez need to be?

I've watched a few videos on the internet

Basically my plan is to place my pump in the res thats connected to the 1/2 inch main line and have the "feed" tubes come off the main line and into each individual pot with the steaks am I missing anything?.... I'd love to hear some of your guys methods of doing this .... I'm hoping to spend under $50 to build this simple system ... Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated

ch33b

I started something similar myself my first grow with 5 white widow in a 30 gal tub filled about half way with a drip system only mine was dwc with a recirculating drip system running 24/7. only problem was the roots started to tangle with i think stunted growth, still got about 4 oz each plant but your best bet is individual 5 gal bucket with 2 air stones per bucket.

gtran said:

I started something similar myself my first grow with 5 white widow in a 30 gal tub filled about half way with a drip system only mine was dwc with a recirculating drip system running 24/7. only problem was the roots started to tangle with i think stunted growth, still got about 4 oz each plant but your best bet is individual 5 gal bucket with 2 air stones per bucket.

Click to expand...

yeah, I was worried about ruining the downward progression of root growth with a steak style drip... doesn't it kinda defeat the purpose? Seems to me like you'd get caught up with most of your root mass in the netpot instead of below it. But I suppose that all depends on wether or not your grow medium actually retains any of the water or not.

My EBB and Flow is Rockwol and retains water nicely I'm going to use 6" inch Pots ....

Good luck my man. The build looks good, they'll be saturated with light. What strain are you growing? My first attempt at FnD failed as I added castile soap to my rez and turned healthy plants to limp spinach in 24hrs.

I use 6 in net pots and the roots will grow through the net pot within the first few weeks. All your root mass ends up in the buckets and fans out. Always make sure your water level is right below your net pot and doesnt get to low. When roots stretch to real the water level it stresses them out and stunts growth. Just always remember to top off every two days once flowering starts. My girl now is 4 weeks into flower and she drinks 1 1/2 gal per day. I personally never ran any stakes that mist the water but ive heard they works just fine, better suited for aeroponics if you ask me. I always used cpvc with holes drilled and let the water drip like that. Either way you should be good though.

Thank you gtran, I actually planned on using 4" stakes... when I get my pots and the lines made up i will snap a few pics and update this thread so please stay tuned ( that goes for the rest of you too : )

I did a nice little top feed system in a fridge that seems to be working out really well.

Funny, I put together I guess is a top drip RDWC using Home Depot buckets but I am considering going to a single container flood and drain system with a remove res outside of the tent (also a small space 2'x4'). The buckets have been working really well for me, and I just built a table that I can use if I decide to go flood and drain. Cost wise, the buckets are pretty cheap once you have the pumps. I run air stones in every bucket, but I suppose with the constant recirculation from the top drip it is probably overkill.




You can check out details on my setup if you like on my current grow thread:
https://www.rollitup.org/t/hbbum-going-hydro-f-cking-incredible-og.846446/

So here's what my setup looks like... I found a brand new pallet when I was walking to the bar with a buddy came back and loaded it up in my truck. It ended up being to wide so I took 5" off the width pulled the nails, re fit the 2x4 and nailed it back together and it now fits perfectly in my space .... I have the main line clamped to the side of the pallet with the feeding tubes that come off that line ( on the right side ) ... Attached is a photo ( reservoir not pictured )

I bought some cement blocks at Lowes and used that to elevate the frame up off the ground to get closer to the light and closer to waist height... I hope this may give some of you guys who may be looking to construct a drip irrigation setup some ideas, you can also construct this just as I did sweat + cash ( $100 tops ) is all you will need ... any questions or comments are greatly appreciated.. HG

-ch33b

My first grow was ion a closet just a bit wider than that. The flowering table was 32" x 32" and the trellis frame went wall to wall at about 41".
I had the res under the table and ran the pumps up to a set of 8 port bubblers. I used both drippers and sprayers, and ended up going with sprayers for soaking the pot better.
I run 2 pumps and each one feeds all the plants, so if I have a failure, the Ladies still get fed.




Peace and Great Grows

Asmallvoice