How to water during vacation ?

[oldog]

I hand water about 6 plants on a table that drains into a waste bucket. I want to water maybe even once during a 10 day vacation. I have a drum and can set it up to gravity feed nutrient water. What valve and timer can I use to empty the drum on them say 5 days after I leave ? Thanks !

 

[Bulldog11]

I would buy a pump and a timer and some tubing. Put the pump in the drum and run tubing into table from the pump. Plug pump into timer and bam, your done. If you go gravity feed the amount of water brought to the table will vary depending on how much water is left in the drum. Pump will be even and you can play with it before you leave and find out how many minutes of pump time equals optimal amount of water for plants. Good luck and I hate vacation when growing,

 

[Bulldog11]

If you had a digital timer that could be set by the minute would help also. The timers that are 15 min increments will probably be too long of a run time.

 

[*Lola*]

don't go on vacation when u got plants to take care of.

 

[thcrefugee]

get a pump, and a good timer. let it run one or two days, for just 5 minutes, through drippers.

 

[ddrew]

What is a Vacation?

 

[DevilWeed]

Tropf Blumats! And not only for vacation.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=163623

 

[oldog]

" Good luck and I hate vacation when growing "
"What is a Vacation? "
"don't go on vacation "

Three years watering damn plants and no vacation.
Time for a vacation - they can die !!

Seriously - Drum and pump plan seems good. I will use the one from my airocloner. It has a valve on it that can control the output, so I will experiment with that and see if I can find a timer with short
'on' (5 mins ?) periods, and long ( 5 day?) 'off' periods.
Now all I have to worry about is power cuts !

 

[BPJR]

Another for Tropf Blumats

 

[*Lola*]

What is a Vacation?

a vacation is taking the whole summer off from growing for the first time since 1976.

a vacation is tearing down the indoor grow for 5 months and letting all the spider mites die of starvation.

a vacation is not having to tote water for a whole summer


ahhhhhhhh vacation is smoking up your stash

 

[Natagonnaworrie]

i typed this up for this thread but then realized that a lot more people could use it...

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=195415

Should answer all your questions.

peace.

 

[oldog]

Natagonnaworrie : " I am going to be making one of these for a friend so I will document the whole thing." ( from your linked post)

Look forward to that. I went and bought a few parts today and see there is going to be a problem conecting the 6 outlet 1/4" manifold to the pump. Probably gonna be one of my ugly epoxy and hose clamp jobs. Only see 6 and 4 port ones so I'll have to use two of them to water anything more than 6 pots. Be glad of any ideas on getting say 9 or 12 x 1/4" tubes connected to the pump. Pump does not have a standard size plumbing size outlet.
Cheers

 

[opt1c]

make sure to put a bleeder valve on the feed line inside of the res if u use something like a 55gal drum; otherwise u might empty the res the first feeding

 

[ahhhavalanche!]

everyone seems to be ignoring the twice suggested obvious answer of troph blumats:
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=111046

They will change your life, with blumats and a big enough rez you can essentially go on perpetual vacation. If you set them up for your vacation, i guarantee you will not take them down.

 

[_Dude]

I hear a lot about those German thingies. Might have to try them one day when I get everything else dialed in and I have the money to spend. Being able to take a vacation after stretch sounds very appealing.

Oldog you might want to try 1/2 gallon or 1 gallon per hour drippers hooked up to that pump on a timer.

 

[opt1c]

not everyone can afford/wait for blumats to show up... somtimes u gotta make due with what u can get at the local box stores

 

[oldog]

Those blumats look good - they seem to detect low moisture and open a valve to a res and pull water by suction - no pump.
About $100 inc shipping for 10. I am on a strict budget and am trying to find some of those rubber 'top hat' grommets to attach 1/4" tubes to my 3/4" pvc pipe scraps to make a manifold with 12 outlets. Bought a digital time for $20 and I have a pump. Might use some of those drippers at the end of the 1/4" tubes if I can't control the flow with the pumps valve.

Opt1c - I didn't understand what you were saying about a bleeder valve on the res line. I am going to use a large 55 gal drum with the pump in the bottom of the tank and the plants lower than the top of the drum so is there still a danger of it siphoning from the tank when the pump is off? Is that it ?

 

[strydr]

Second (or third) on the blumats. I set them up a few weeks before going on vacation, and my ladies were very happy. I'll continue to use them (not just for vacation) every grow.

For the peace of mind (and not needing a sitter), they are well worth the cost.

 

[InlineMax]

BLUMATS FTW

 

[dunkydunk]

Blumats.