How to make a PVC dripper manifold

I think 350 GPH should be fine, but it really depends on how your system is plumbed (one of the most important being height) and how much you want to water. I suppose medium also plays a role in how well it absorbs / wicks moisture, if you can't get even watering through a small amount of low-flow water pumped to the top. I think that type of information is important in determining the pump size. You can always over-size the pump and control the flow with a valve if it's too much.

IME, I feel that my EcoPlus 396 GPH pump is just enough to get the job done for 16 x 2 gal square pots of coco.

This will prove very helpful to me in the future. Thanks pico!

PIco - Get a t connector for your dripper lines. connect it to the end. connect dripper hose in a loop to each end into the T. Drill small holes into the inner ring. Viola. even water distribution. 4 holes is plenty.One on each corner.


Good stuff man!

Sweet DIY!

Good Post Pico

Blunt69- I thought about that but that just seems like too much of a hastle. THe single drip line is keeping everything soaked so no problem here.


Thanks Pontiac and Canaboost.

pico , do you think if it was setup vertical for vertical systems it would perform as well

Ooooh me likey. Im going to need a short term, cheap top feed system for starting plants in my NFT and this looks like the ticket! Good job Pico.

I think the only thing different you'll be facing in vertical setups would be the higher head pressure required on the pump to get a certain amount of flow to a certain height.

researchonly- yeah i agree with clowntown. The pump size would probably need to be larger. Also some sort of flow control might be in order since the different height of the drippers could cause problems.

thanks itsgrowtime, glad it gave you some ideas.

this place isnt about making friends ;P

Dj Zion-i said:

Wow ure fuking dumb......ummm dude I have a pending appeal to the state supreme court as we speak,that if I win is going to legalise hashish manufacturing.Im on the frontier of legalization,been growing since I was 14,that was 20 yrs ago.Got my medical in 1997,after working for Dennis Perones original and first ever medical club in california all through the mid 90,s.And all my pics and gardens I do By myself and are all authentic please stfu.Youre wrong...and I dont believe in lying because its the heart of all evil on this planet.
And also dumbass my pics all have kiddy pools in them( you said they dont have anything in common) and pico knows me in real life.

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well dont know about anyone else but thats prity impressive to me! legal hashish production u say? what is your case argument in court?

loving those paddling pool gardens! how are they being feed? the indoor ones? youl defo have to start a thread on ic mate, i for one would love some details on your grows, like plant numbers per pool, lights ect ect.....all the best....mrc

sorry for the hijack picco

No problem Pico. Posts deleted as requested. Sorry to disrupt ya. If its any consolation Ill definitely be using your PVC manifold idea!

Thanks Itsgrowtime. This really isn't a big deal I just would like to keep this thread clean.

mr. cheese- no problem man. I don't mind people sharing some stuff. It is the useless arguments and name calling that we don't need. Don't hold your breath for legal hash. Isn't an appeal something you do after you get busted? I also like the kiddy pools. I have always thought those would work well.

DJ- No hard feelings man. I didn't care that you decided to show some pics in my thread. It wasn't the best placement since it was not relevant to the thread at all, but I really didn't care. What rubbed me the wrong way was the name calling and arguments. BTW, I don't know itsgrowtime nor have I ever even talked to him on ICmag. As far as being called a liar, it seems everyone new person that joins and has some cool pictures is called a liar at some point. I was called a liar when I first joined because people didn't think it is possible that I have all the grow equipment I posted. Given time everyone will believe you.

I know you have a lot to share and it can be exciting joining a forum like this. Just tone it down a touch

cheese please delete your post

cheese please delete your post

cheese thx for having my back nice to meet you....but Lets not clutter picos thread so can you delete the post where you quoted me? Thx.

----Dj Zion-i (Reverand&founder of Mt.Zion breeders/caregivers cooperative)

pico said:

Thanks pumpkin, I have been kinda MIA lately so I figured I better think up something cool before I show my face again

Try your hydro shop for the grommets. They sell them online here http://77hydro-store.stores.yahoo.net/irr034.html


here is the grow i just started yesterday with these manifolds. http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=62659

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\

Hi Pico ....

At 65c pop those rubber grommets are a bit on the pricey side , noticed there are standard screw in 1/4" barb fittings at local nursery for 25c ea . Think they would work alright ? They don't offer as big a throat as your grommets ....suppose they would screw right into pre-drilled hole in pvc and away we could go ?

Like the angled raindrip filter set-up w/hose attachment idea alot , wondering if theres any issues with clogging initially , i had recently switched to coco trying out various brands and found some to contain too miuch fine coco powder that literally leached right out on the table . Using Bcuz thisx was'nt an issue but tried another brand (sunshine mix i think) & was a little messy .

Noticed you are using the "Lucas" formula which another Icmag'r Neptune uses as well and seems to get wonderful results . Though i cannot fathom how Neptune works with the R/W slabs as they become so completely water logged & remain that way . He does great work though with them ....

So was just wondering if you could quickly define here what your interpretation & recipie for Lucas Form is ....and if you tweak it adding anything else at other stages . As i understand Coco it does tend to need a mag boost initially, though i think Lucas made the point here that GH has the highest Cal/Mag of most out there . .
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=21119&page=2&pp=15

Do you also add Cal Mag in Veg? And what ratio of perlite to coco are you using , i was thinking 60/40 might be good ....and what flushing do you do (and when ) .

thnx for posting this latest set-up , i'm thinking that it is alot easier to remove hard pvc frame from a table than a bunch of drip hose spaghetti ...

;o)

tia

T2

Pico I noticed you said it's best to cut the 1/4 lines to equal length for equal watering. How important is that really?

Mine aren't all equal length and I'm wondering if they're getting watered ok. They seem to be fine.

I also have the 1/4 lines stuck directly in the coco. I'm using a ecoplus 396 to water 20 sites. At first my main line was 8 ft. long, but I extended it hoping to slow the water flow cuz the water was coming out so fast I couldn't even use the dripper stakes cuz they wre spraying. Anyhow that didn't work so I ended up just using the open 1/4 lines.

My pump seems to be overkill though I get runoff within 20-25 seconds. Is this too fast or is it o.k.. Is it more beneficial to have a longer watering time?

I had to return my digital timer I got for the pump cuz it only went to down to minutes. Ended up getting a nice timer at the hydro store that does seconds. So lately I've been watering 3 times a day for 30 seconds.

At least it won't clog right? I'm doing run to waste and I'm not using a filter or anything is that ok? I don't think those 1/4 lines could clog since the flow is so strong.

The grommets are a bit on the spendy side, but I figure you only have to buy them once and they won't break or anything. I imagine the screw in barbs would work but I have never used them. My thinking was they might not be sealed as well, and might break off since it is plastic.

I don't have any problems with clogging right now, but I don't recirculate my nutrients either. If you were recirculating you will deffinately want to have that filter in line.

I have used the Lucas Formula and can reccomend it. I have never used the lucas formula with coco. I use House and Garden Van De Zwaan nutrients for my coco. I did use the floranova bloom with coco which is pretty similar to lucas formula. I had good results with that. The House and Garden nutrients really have suprised me though and I can't see myself switching to anything else anytime soon.

When I did use the lucas formula, I was using hydroton rocks with ebb and flow. I would keep my EC around 2.0. I never adjusted my pH and didn't change out my res water. I just topped up and added more nutrients at 8:16 ratio until my EC was at 2.0 again. I also used liquid karma and floralicious plus but neither of those things is really mandatory.

I don't add any calmag in veg. I have just been using these House and Garden nutrients at exact reccomended strength. I just go by the weekly chart from the manufacturer. I use all their additives which can be a bit spendy, but you don't have to use very much. It deffinately costs more than GH but it works well so I am not complaining.

I don't have an exact ratio of coco/perlite on this mix. I buy it prebagged from a local company. It is very very clean and I have not had any sort of calmag problems.

For flushing I screw my garden hose in the manifold and turn it on full blast. I usually let it run for a few minutes. This is the easiest flushing system I have ever had. I did a good flush about 4 weeks in to flowering. I will flush for a few days at the end and that will be it. Different systems will require different flushing ammounts so just watch your runoff EC and plants.

This is deffinately easier to move about and will last longer than the spaghetti systems. Glad it was of use. Post a photo of your manifold when you get it built.

terran2 said:

\

Hi Pico ....

At 65c pop those rubber grommets are a bit on the pricey side , noticed there are standard screw in 1/4" barb fittings at local nursery for 25c ea . Think they would work alright ? They don't offer as big a throat as your grommets ....suppose they would screw right into pre-drilled hole in pvc and away we could go ?

Like the angled raindrip filter set-up w/hose attachment idea alot , wondering if theres any issues with clogging initially , i had recently switched to coco trying out various brands and found some to contain too miuch fine coco powder that literally leached right out on the table . Using Bcuz thisx was'nt an issue but tried another brand (sunshine mix i think) & was a little messy .

Noticed you are using the "Lucas" formula which another Icmag'r Neptune uses as well and seems to get wonderful results . Though i cannot fathom how Neptune works with the R/W slabs as they become so completely water logged & remain that way . He does great work though with them ....

So was just wondering if you could quickly define here what your interpretation & recipie for Lucas Form is ....and if you tweak it adding anything else at other stages . As i understand Coco it does tend to need a mag boost initially, though i think Lucas made the point here that GH has the highest Cal/Mag of most out there . .
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=21119&page=2&pp=15

Do you also add Cal Mag in Veg? And what ratio of perlite to coco are you using , i was thinking 60/40 might be good ....and what flushing do you do (and when ) .

thnx for posting this latest set-up , i'm thinking that it is alot easier to remove hard pvc frame from a table than a bunch of drip hose spaghetti ...

;o)

tia

T2

Click to expand...

Well it isn't a huge deal if you have different tubing lengths. but it is possible to get different pressures out of your drippers. As long as you are getting good results it doesn't sound like you need to worry.

I also just run open 1/4" lines. I have 28 sites and a 600gph pump so we are right about the same ammount of pressure per dripper I guess. I run 30 seconds 3 times a day during lights on. I use a Sentinel DRT-1 digital repeat cycle timer and that thing is the shit. New company and they have some great enviornmental products.

As long as you keep the dirt out of your reservoir you probably won't have a clogging problem. Myself, I find coco fibers on my pillow so I know they find their way in to my reservoirs. So the filters make sure i don't have any problems. I also use Drip Clean from House and Garden to help keep my lines clean. I can't get to my drippers after the plants are in full bloom, so if even 1 line gets clogged it will cost me more than if I just got the filter in the first place. If you can get at all your drippers easily then it would be less of a problem. If a line clogged you could just slip it out and slide another in.


Here are pictures of day 35 bloom with my dripper setup.







And here is that Sentinel timer I mentioned. These are top notch. Way better than competitive models. Digital so I set exact times on and off. It has a photostat too, sweetness. I paid around $110.

meduser180056 said:

Pico I noticed you said it's best to cut the 1/4 lines to equal length for equal watering. How important is that really?

Mine aren't all equal length and I'm wondering if they're getting watered ok. They seem to be fine.

I also have the 1/4 lines stuck directly in the coco. I'm using a ecoplus 396 to water 20 sites. At first my main line was 8 ft. long, but I extended it hoping to slow the water flow cuz the water was coming out so fast I couldn't even use the dripper stakes cuz they wre spraying. Anyhow that didn't work so I ended up just using the open 1/4 lines.

My pump seems to be overkill though I get runoff within 20-25 seconds. Is this too fast or is it o.k.. Is it more beneficial to have a longer watering time?

I had to return my digital timer I got for the pump cuz it only went to down to minutes. Ended up getting a nice timer at the hydro store that does seconds. So lately I've been watering 3 times a day for 30 seconds.

At least it won't clog right? I'm doing run to waste and I'm not using a filter or anything is that ok? I don't think those 1/4 lines could clog since the flow is so strong.

Click to expand...

Good work Pico