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Automated watering with organics?

Veggia farmer

Well-known member
Im new to automated watering systems and new to coco setups as well, want to do it organic but I dont want my hoses and pumps and bla bla to NOT clog and get messy and so on...

How do you clean your setup? Florakleen? or rather KEEP it clean...

I wanted to work with an organic tomato gardener/farmer some years back (never got to work for him), and he talked about citric acid in his feeding to keep the system clean, any thoughts??
 

Veggia farmer

Well-known member
Biotabs is new for me, searched a little. You think of them dry ones or liquid nutrients?

Im sort of already tuned in to ammendments in terms of organic compost mostly, plus someothers.. Its no question to use liquid nutrients or not, only how to keep it clean so we can rock steady at the farm here. Im all in for big meals (soil and organics) and shakes/weight gainers ( liguids, wether organic or not, though I want to be organic for the most part). So I want to combine the best from both worlds. Remember cannabis originates from riverbanks where you can have soil and constant water flow.

This is not a setup like in a KISS method for some I have understood after some chats...

The setup Im setting up is a SOG in small pots with coco. So I can feed them multiple times a day with a small nutrient solutuion. Feeding like coco DTW (The waste goes to a bed thats already existing and Im growing strong plants with). The pots will be on top of a bed: hydroton on top layer - hydroton/compost/soil mix in the middle layer - compost/soil mix in the bottom layer.

The reason for the beds is that them are there already and I have a practical problem with the DTW with nowhere in an easy/practical way of getting rid of the waste. SO I want to try this. It will also serve as some security if the pumps breaks or if something else will make a mess, like a hose clogging... Or they are hungry for something that I don`t see....

One bed is 120cm x 120cm x 40cm. I guess the top of the hydroton layer will be at 35cm from the bottom. So quite big. Its already very alive with worms, fungi and many other creatures.

Later the liquid nutrient solutions will be for the most part made on site. Have some experience on doing it so Im comfident on doing some of them. BUT are starting with some bottles to get the stone to roll.
 

Brother Nature

Well-known member
Drip clean @ 0.25ml per L, but if you've got a great organic base you shouldn't need liquid amendments. My recommendation would be blumats with only water and a weekly top feed of an organic tea, if you're running a strictly organic setup. If you're running straight coco pots, organics are not going to work well for you in droppers and is kind of pointless really. If that's how you're doing it, look at running a Jacks mix, especially in a DTW setup. I've always been told organics is about feeding the soil, not the plant, your plants will take up the chemicals made available in the organic mix, they won't take up what you directly feed them. Growing in soil-less mediums is more about being able to regulate the CEC for better plant performance, doing it organically is possible, but a lot harder.
 

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