[queequeg152]

Originally Posted by Speed of green

okay so in for an update, queequeg you are correct that the lines drain out of the spray stakes after the pump is off, in some situations this could present a problem, but for me its not an issue, i water until i get quite a bit of runoff so any extra that leaks out after pump shutdown is just adding to the runoff.

the pump runs the entire time i am feeding, it doesn't cycle off and on, are these pumps designed to shut off when they reach their max psi?

i have 86 emitters at 3.3GPH = 4.73 GPM my pump is 5.5GPM I also have 130' of 5/8 hose that could possibly be acting like an expansion tank.

i had an overwatering issue after the second time i used the system, i hadn't installed the check valve yet and after shutoff the system was very slowly siphoning, i caught it on the second day and pulled the pickup out of the reservoir, everything bounced back a couple days later. since then i haven't had an issue with siphoning, but for now i leave the pickup out of the reservoir when I'm not watering, just in case.

i wish i would have known about the button emitters beforehand, although i think my system is working properly without them, for anyone building a watering system like this i would map everything out and try to source all your parts from somewhere inexpensive online, HD & Lowes are really expensive on some of their drip related items.

the emitter assemblies are only like a dollar each at the high end places like greenhouse mega store. if you go elsewhere, you can find them cheaper, but they want you to buy 100's, and they generally have weeks long turn arounds... greenhousemegastore is nice in that they actually warehouse the spray stake assemblies, but yea they charge over reatil for them i think.

there might be more places selling the spray stake assemblies now? idk like i said im running the same bunch i bought back in like 2012 and 2014. they only break when i step on them.

its very possible that your pump would not short cycle with 86 emitters... just check your pump specs, these pumps are not TRUE positive displacement pumps like say a steel rod pump or even crazy PD pumps like ruby rod pumps... so yea they do have a bit of a drop off at high psi so its possible that at 4.73 gpm @ 50psi the system curve( nearly horizontal due to the emitters) and ( again nearly horizontal) would actually intersect before the pump cuts off.

even if iit does not though, just install a simple 5gallon accumulator and solenoid, its that simple. an additional pressure regulator would be ideal, but not mandatory.

re: siphoning,

again the emitters would solve this... but so would a check valve/air gap on the suction or discharge. however you would still have the issue of the residual pressure and elevation in the supply lines causing the spray stakes to continue to dribble after the pumpp is shut down.

the emitters are the way to go imho... they just make everything work much better. i think your spray stakes are probably running like 12gph now, and at pressures high enough to cause all the atomization that you mentioned earlier.

[Speed of green]

okay so here is the first hiccup, I am having some leaves turning yellow, starting from the bottom of the plant moving up, it looks like nitrogen deficiency. I am at 1.2ec - 6.3ph Jacks 5-12-26 & calcium nitrate. I am thinking to bump the feeding to 1.5-1.6 ec and dropping the ph to 6.1.

any thoughts or ideas? the yellowing is strain dependent, the og's are the worst, where the blue dreams are only slightly yellow on the bottom leaves.

[Speed of green]

could this yellowing be related to the pot size? What are some symptoms of root bound plants?

[queequeg152]

what is your nitrate at?

i run toms and melons at around 300 mg/l, but i run peat-lite or coco-lite not any organic mixes.

test your lechate as well... the leachate should be like 20-30% minimum higher than the feed conductivity. if the lechate is less than the feed then you are over watering, or you need to space out your irrigation events. in the heat, you tend to back off the runoff concentration to reduce osmotic stress when the plants are transpiring heavily, but during normal weather the leachate should be much higher.

i used to run like 8 irrigation events for rockwool toms... each watering was less than a coke cans volume lol, but its the only way to keep the medium at optimum moisture-oxygen permeability.

looks like classic nitrogen to me btw.

[delta9nxs]

Originally Posted by Speed of green

could this yellowing be related to the pot size? What are some symptoms of root bound plants?

they could need more feed. is there a chance the bottoms are staying too wet?

how are you mixing the jack's?

[CanniDo Cowboy]

First, if your plants are flowering, they dont require as much nitro. Be careful of loading up formulas as watering early spring pots won't dry out very rapidly which can cause all kinds of other problems. Ummm, if youre running an EC of approx 1.5 which equals a ppm of say, 800-900 (maybe higher) you should be in the ballpark.

If youre outdoors right now, even in a greenhouse, if you dont have supplemental night time heat, the yellowing may be a result of nite time temps being too low i.e. cold nights, nothing more...??cc

[Speed of green]

I am feeding every three days or so, The bottoms are dry when i feed. I get a lot of runoff everytime.

the lowest temp is 61 at night, ill try to bring this number up.

I mix the jacks and calnit by volume. jacks first till it completely dissolves and then the calnit.

The roots look okay to me, nice and white. its hard to get a decent picture by myself.

[Speed of green]

[Speed of green]

well i upped the feed to 1.5ec or 750ppm .5 scale 6.1ph Hopefully i will see some improvement in a day or so. The yellowing leaves will not get better correct? they just won't get worse if the issue is corrected?

[queequeg152]

lol is weed really that nutrient adverse? or are you running an organic soil?

i run my toms at 2.2 ec.

fuck i ran a Tennessee burly tobacco one year at close to 3ec, with shit loads of nitrate. tobacco is fucking savage on nitrogen. grows like nothing ive ever seen.