DIY Hydro Help drip or flood/drain?

[Guest]

just looking for some thoughts/ideas on what to do with these 16 Pretzel jugs i have collected.

here are the pictures of the jugs

when arranged in a pattern of 4 jugs by 4 jugs the square is 24" across at it's widest points. I was considering a 250 or 400 H.P.S. to hang over the 24" area, have to consult the landlord, a friend, on how many watts i can run at this spot, he has gifted me the space to play and i pay nothing so i can't go crazy

My first thought was a floodtray of some sort, but not really what i wanted to do unless it's the only option

i wanted to construct a drip system, don't really care where it drains to, a recirc. would be nice but tough considering these are odd containers and the drain would be best placed underneath also would i need airstones in each one if i do the drip?

pretty much clueless, lets hear your brainstorms

cj


i have included a Bic lighter in the pics for size comparison

 

[Guest]

also i may just fill them with promix and lots of perlite and add rooted clones and sog it right there on the carpet LOL

have cuts ready so want something quick, HELP!!



cj

 

[Guest]

nobody wants a pretzel?


..seriously though i just did some measurements

i could also cram 8 or 12 of them in a mills pride c25 cabinet i have there that is empty, would be tight, and i prefer to flower in open air, but the amount of light would be real nice, a 400 in a cab like that is a shit--ton and would make for some monster colas i think whether i go soiless or hydro..

hope someone helps out i am going there tonite to clean them out and start making holes in them or cutting them down.. LOL theyre that slippery soft poly that is impossible to work with i have to heat the plastic to soften it to make cuts or holes or i end up with cuts or holes in myself LOL also they crack real easy if not softened first

so please, don't hesitate to chime in, any mature comments or thoughts are welcomed and respected.

thanks in advance,
i may post a similiar thread in the hydro forum as this forum topic doesn't get as much traffic i don't think

be well every1

cj

 

[Sleepy]

i don't know, cap...

i say use a couple for cloning, keep a few to cure buds in, and recycle the rest.

how big are the containers? - i think they may be too small...

make a 'tubbler' and put it in the cab...

>what do you wash down all those pretzel with??
>do you ever dip them in chocolate??

 

[Guest]

hehe theyre peanut-butter filled pretzels sleepster :-D and i wash em down with pepsi :-D

theyre approx. 5.75" wide at the bottom and 10" tall with the caps on

my guess is 1.5 gallons each

i have a tubbler made with a 9" net pot i was originally going to run a scrog with in that cab very good idea, just smoking some new haze i bought and the ideas in my head are going wild LOL i really want to use these somehow i think it may end up being the promix route but i know a top fed drip system where the containers self-drained into the rez below would work,

i drew some lame line drawing in MSpaint b4 bed last nite and it's half-ass and i kinda left it unfinished, just a general idea of what i was thinking of doing, will post it now, just gotta upload it.. excuse the junky drawing, be back with the pic in a sec--

 

[Harry Gypsna]

a drip will be pretty easy to set up once you know what you wanna do...and plants love drip systems...... I definately think you will want to paint the tubs though, some plasti-kote will do the trick..its called plasti-dip in america. it isnt paint its a latex spray and a couple of coats is really quite hardwearing....
If you wanted to go with ur sol(promix is soil right?? or a soiless mix ) then run to waste would be easy to do once you suss out how much to water how often....You would have ur rez with the nutes and then a smaller one for the run off which you can pir on ur hgarden if you have one...i know someon whi is experimenting with using run to watse run off to water soil plants with but i dunno how its working lol..... anyway you will need some sort of drip tray to stand them all on....those under bed stoarge boxes are quite good and would dothe trick for a drip tray, I wouldnt use it for flooding for for drip it should be fine, once agin it should be black or painted to block light. A low pressure drip is easy to set up, a pump the size of which depends on how many drippers, you can use a pond pump if ur res is deep enough for it not to run dry...2 litre an hour drippers are most common, and there are adjustable flow ones too....a 2 litre an hour dripper is pretty easy though as you always know how much is gonna go though it provided there is no salt buildup and blockages... as far as blockages go, it goes wothout saying that for a soil based drip you would definately need a good inline oartucle filter which arent all that expensive...in our money i think they are under 10 ounds so maybe 5 dollars for u as u diont live in rip-off britain lol, If you set ur timer on the 2L/Hr drippers for 1 minute, they will deliver about 35ml of soloution so once you work out from how much youve waterd in the past,how much water the plants need, you can set the timers accordingly and udjust as needed.
If you used Hydroton then it is even easier because you can use the old 15/45 minutes routine with an analouge timer with 15 minute segemts and some even run em constantly....
One good tip is to have one dripper on the line not going to a plantand have it set in a measuring jug or beaker bug enough for a couple of days feedings, that way you will always be sure how much water is copming through the drippers.
with either,the layout of the system is the same and easy and can be done many ways...ill just describe the most basic.... The opumpo is in the res with some 13mm LDPE pipe going to the height of the table, then a fitting like an elbow iof there was just one run to do, or a tee and more tuning branching off as many times as nedded iof more than 1 run. ~The branching off is done withthe same pipe and you can either connect them all together in a circuit to make a ring main or use end stops at the end of each run of pipe. then each run of pipe has nipples places in by way of a hole punched in with a punch, aznd drippers are attached....i saw some nifty 6 way nipples at the grow shop this week which i will get for my flower room as i am setting up an automated watering system in there myself soon. anyway once you have them all in place, you run the opumo and check for any leaks in the system, these can be sealed with hot glue/epoxy/aquarium silicone. If you use silicone make sure it is aquarium silicone and not just bathroom silicone...the nutrient water desroysnormal bathroom and kitchen silicone.
hope ythat helps ,ate, you deserve a medal thopugh if you can understand my explanantions lol

 

[Guest]

 

[Guest]

wow Harry thanks for the helpful posT!!!!!!!!

One good tip is to have one dripper on the line not going to a plantand have it set in a measuring jug or beaker bug enough for a couple of days feedings, that way you will always be sure how much water is copming through the drippers.

great tip
i thank you

i think i will end up doing the drip, also just to clear it up if i did promix (peatmoss perlite verm and lime) it would be handfed from the top, no drippers i can handle hand watering these if it's soiless i wouldnt reuse the runoff either

if its drip or e&f,
i would be using hydroton for the medium
and order a reservoir and parts here www.usplastics.com
no need for rubbermaids and makeshift trays this company has made me custom fiberglass boxes in the past i know i have seen a 24" x 24" acrylic basin in their catalog, i will surely look later as i want to get this project on the road this week.. 00420 has been hlping me with the drip system know-how but his uses a bucket-in-bucket setup, which i will be trying in the future, this is a unique thing

great post harry, thanks again!

anybody else has any thoughts please do share

have a good 1

cj

this above drawing pretty much describes what you wrote, the main feedline and branched off

 

[Guest]

im also thinking now that i measured the individual pots they are 5.75 across meaning its 23" from end to end on the square of 16, which means the 24" tray would be quite perfect... still thinking about the whole thing but the rez would likely act as the base for the pots, and a fitting at the bottom of each container for the run off to drain back to the rez below... i have to go shopping for airstones and random pet store stuff tonite or tomorrow so if anyone has any suggerstions on putting an airstone in each container with the hydroton please let me know, ill buy them, i know people do it with some mediums but don't know for sure on pure hydroton

 

[Harry Gypsna]

Ur welcome mate...
On the airstone thing, addingmore oxygen cant hurt can it....i kow someone who uses flood and drain tables just filled with hydroton, no pebbles and he buries a few airstones in there...I assumed they just came on on the flood cycle but he runs them 24/7

 

[Guest]

heya Harry thanks for the feedback

i think no matter which system i end up running, i'll have to run it a bit to get a handle on things, too much oxygen in the root zone CAN be detrimental if it's causing too rapid a dry-out,
i believe they add airstones to larger beds liek you describe and I have also seen it done in a top-fed system when the container size is BIG, like a storage tub filled with hydroton would for sure be better equipped with an airstone or 2 supplememnting oxygen, but when the container is this small, do you have to worry?
i think hands-on is the only true way to find out.

 

[Guest]

and i do of course plan to cover the buckets, i was thinking spray paint which can crack Great idea on the rubber stuff, i use that stuff to make new grips on all my hand-tools

i have a dip, a spray sounds nice tho

 

[00420]

i think we can work with this capt'n......
i think harry's right.... drip all the way!
the drain might be a bitch!....that jar is thin....might make leak's?

let me think sum more bro!

 

[Guest]

o fuck yea haanzzzz

leaks? u mean at the connection point? i think i can fit grommets in there and a lil pvc piece going straight down and silicon that shit on there all waterproof like

i can easily do it with a rubbermaid tub, but not with this many containers..

basically its a multi-site waterfarm and i will get a pic of a good rez to use, it shall have a flat top to sit the jugs upon and they will be secured in place at the bottom by the drain plugs now i have my inspiration in tha hizey hehe i think i know what im gonna do.. lemme pull a few pics to give yas a better idear of what im tryin to do

thanks again for all the help and support here fellas you dont know how much it means to me

be well

cj

 

[Guest]

good thing i havent broken out the metal shears yet and started disecting the jugs man.. LOL i'd have to eat a shitload more pretzels HAHAHAHA ok im done

 

[00420]

jars on a rubbamade sounds good...........

 

[Guest]

40% royal gold coco 60% hydroton will rock in yer jars, ya can jes use some black duct tape make yer life easy.

a good way ta drain the buckets would be ta turn em upside down and use a holesaw fer a netpot and drill holes in the lid fer tha roots to grow down in to.

paint fumes and shit is the last thing that needs ta be emitted in ta tha atmosphere

eco friendly solutions are tha way ta go when growin herb as it is one of the most environmentally beneficial plants on tha planet

 

[Guest]

"Strictly Purps" u know my thoughts on coco, if i could find your brand i'd try but at the moment im so fucking turned off i dont know if i'll ever use the stuff again, the pet store coco "eco-earth" does ok tho, just not using reptile bedding as my hydro medium if you feel me on that..
if you have a link to the stuff or know what to look for in a good coco pith please share man im dyin over here LOL LITERALLY... check this out, seedling in EJ Grow-coir (bullshit, i won't buy anything from earth juice ever again, it ruined an entire run of tester beans for dg, came with nasties that the roots couldnt fight off and the pH was CRAZY varying like hell from container to container, i even mixed whatever wasnt stuck to the taproot with promix in an effort to save it but i think the bact took over the peat too because it didnt help a bit, just stayed stunted like this for almost 2 months then i shit canned em)

tell me why royal gold is better, this shit was TRASH period.

 

[Guest]

the only rubbermaid i found that could handle this many containers is 44" long by 20" wide and 17.25" tall here's a link but i doubt i will go this route this pic they give for this size shows a cover that would not adapt well to what i need to do. it is very thick and not flat and going to be a bitch to get perfect holes cut in even WITH my holecutter -
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/pr...Plastic&category_name=13843&product_id=13302#

the idea on the net cups is brilliant btw purps

i am still looking for a good aFFORDable rez made from polyethylene, seems the one i wanted is over 700 bucks fiberglass, holes drilled to my specs they say and thats with no cover LOL the cover is a coupla hunj more

be well

cj

 

[Guest]

btw fuck the environment LOL im moving to mars or the moon once we set up shop hehe seriously man this world is fucked LOL good luck on saving it tho :-D more power to ya, i'll keep burning my pcb's and fossil fuels and using aqua-net in my hair LOL

just kidding man i do try to stay earth friendly and up until now i have gone all bio-with my grows but general hydro's flora line seems to easy not to try, i really do want to know about the coco thang so if u see this or can get 24 more posts racked up and head on inta chat it would be greatly appreciated to hear back from ya doggie

feel good

cj