Automatic Watering System - Any tips?

Hello to everyone. I have a crowded 5x8 space, with 28 plants in 10 liter pots. I thought that it would be a big hassle, having to water all these plants, maneuvering through them and so on...

I have a water source nearby (faucet). I use organic soil, water of my city has chlorine in it, so i needed to install a carbon water filter to be between the faucet and the watering timer i am going to use.

The plants are in 4 rows of 7. I decided to run a tee, running 2 3/4" watering hoses. I then connected 1/4" tubes and drippers in those two hoses, making sure to do the holes for the 1/4" tubes evenly and keep the lenght of the tubes the same.

For 1x3/4" hose, i run 16 drippers, for the other 12 drippers. Is there a problem with this?

Tomorrow i am going to run the system for the first time hopefully, putting plastic cups under each dripper, to see how they distribute water and how much time it takes for each dripper to distribute 1 liter.

Plants are still very young and they are in 10 liter pots already, i will not be running the watering system yet but i want to be ready for it in time.

Do you have any tips to suggest? Something else i could do? I know it's not Blumat but still...

The only way it could work good imho is when you get a perfect timing between each watering.
Watering should start when every pot is light, medium is almost dry, but having so many pots of that size it could be very difficult, especially if you're working with many strains.

So considere to do it manually if you want the best, or, try to avoid a lack of oxygen (overwatering) by raising up the pots randomly everyday, if they stay too wet, you need to decrease watering.

Thank you for your answer.Yeah, what you say seems reasonable. Because i will be using organic soil with good aeration it seems that it is okay if soil stays more humid,I have heard it's good for the beneficial microorganisms in it?

I was thinking about measuring with the cups what is the minimum amount those drippers use in a set amount of time.Then turning them and every full turn seeing how much water they provide in the same amount of time.

There are some general guidelines i have observed, like for example plants in 10 liter pots with little veg like my setup need ~1,5 liter every 3 days under normal circumstances.I will have that in mind and proceed like this.And then tweaking like you suggested.

Sounds like the most logical approach.Will be happy to hear any other suggestions.

I like

I like

The art d-ne timer. In soil, early on just leave your pump unplugged and when things dry out plug it in and push the button and everything gets feed however many seconds/minutes. Then later it feeds everyday if needed or if you can't be there. I also put a ball valve at each site to adjust the amount each location gets.