Aloha from Maui
So........ I am over hand feeding my plants every other day. I have been scooping 1L of nutes out of the 7g bucket per plant, 7-8 times per feeding. Its a lot of bending and a lot of scooping. Enough already hahahaha. So I want to automate my feed delivery. And since I have been top feeding/DTW, a top drip system is the logical path to take.
Here's how things are looking in the garden for some visual reference.
As you can see... its kind of tight quarters to be bending and scooping and pouring... especially when your backside is rather large.
Each row of (8) plants is 18ft long... so I am going to be doubling up the design - one for each row.
So.... manifold design....
I've been keen to Pico's PVC design: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=62654
I like the heavy duty-ness the 3/4" pvc pipe provides... especially since the garden is outside exposed year-round to elements like pounding rain and the hard hitting Maui sun. I also like that for flushing, I can switch lines and just hook up the garden hose the end and turn on the water at the spigot BAM flush. Smooth.
Now some questions.
And more LOL.
About manifold design....
Pico's design is "looped"; Other designs I have seen are "closed end"...
Is there an advantage of a "looped" system design over "closed end"?
Can I just use a simple straight pipe/line and hook up my feeder lines off of that?
Which system will ensure a more even distribution of water?
"looped" example:
"closed end" example:
"straight pipe/line" example":
and....
About pump size and emitters and GPH....
Currently I give each plant (in a 7G container of promix) 7-8L of nutes over the course of 15/20 minutes to achieve the desired amount of run off I like to see. In total I feed/deliver almost 15gs to the 8 plants... I have been thinking of placing 2 "sites" per plant.
Uhhhhhhhh.... now what??? hahahahaha
What do I need to do to achieve feeding each plant 7-8Ls per session? What pump size and GPH emitters do I need?
Is there some sort of mathematical equation to figure out the length of time the pump should be on for.... or do I just need to get a measuring cup and count "1-2-3-4-5...", and mulitply by x number of watering events? LOL
Any answers, tips, opinions, experience, ill-will... whatever... its all welcome. Bring it.
Mahalo Nui
So........ I am over hand feeding my plants every other day. I have been scooping 1L of nutes out of the 7g bucket per plant, 7-8 times per feeding. Its a lot of bending and a lot of scooping. Enough already hahahaha. So I want to automate my feed delivery. And since I have been top feeding/DTW, a top drip system is the logical path to take.
Here's how things are looking in the garden for some visual reference.
As you can see... its kind of tight quarters to be bending and scooping and pouring... especially when your backside is rather large.
Each row of (8) plants is 18ft long... so I am going to be doubling up the design - one for each row.
So.... manifold design....
I've been keen to Pico's PVC design: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=62654
I like the heavy duty-ness the 3/4" pvc pipe provides... especially since the garden is outside exposed year-round to elements like pounding rain and the hard hitting Maui sun. I also like that for flushing, I can switch lines and just hook up the garden hose the end and turn on the water at the spigot BAM flush. Smooth.
Now some questions.
And more LOL.
About manifold design....
Pico's design is "looped"; Other designs I have seen are "closed end"...
Is there an advantage of a "looped" system design over "closed end"?
Can I just use a simple straight pipe/line and hook up my feeder lines off of that?
Which system will ensure a more even distribution of water?
"looped" example:
"closed end" example:
"straight pipe/line" example":
and....
About pump size and emitters and GPH....
Currently I give each plant (in a 7G container of promix) 7-8L of nutes over the course of 15/20 minutes to achieve the desired amount of run off I like to see. In total I feed/deliver almost 15gs to the 8 plants... I have been thinking of placing 2 "sites" per plant.
Uhhhhhhhh.... now what??? hahahahaha
What do I need to do to achieve feeding each plant 7-8Ls per session? What pump size and GPH emitters do I need?
Is there some sort of mathematical equation to figure out the length of time the pump should be on for.... or do I just need to get a measuring cup and count "1-2-3-4-5...", and mulitply by x number of watering events? LOL
Any answers, tips, opinions, experience, ill-will... whatever... its all welcome. Bring it.
Mahalo Nui