automatic watering system and 10 gal pots

Ok guys so im growing in 10 gal pots well diy 10 gallon pots in a coco based medium. 5 plants which is a Hell of a lot of h20 to Carry to the room.

So I have a h2o container for a rv to serve as a resovoir. I plan on buying a water pump. But that is as far as I have got.

I need help with the set up.... Type and flow capacity of pump and getting the h2o to the plants preferably without have to move around a hose. If I have to I can but is like to water automatically without asking the wife while say perhaps I'm at work. Any advice?

blue pyro said:

Ok guys so im growing in 10 gal pots well diy 10 gallon pots in a coco based medium. 5 plants which is a Hell of a lot of h20 to Carry to the room.

So I have a h2o container for a rv to serve as a resovoir. I plan on buying a water pump. But that is as far as I have got.

I need help with the set up.... Type and flow capacity of pump and getting the h2o to the plants preferably without have to move around a hose. If I have to I can but is like to water automatically without asking the wife while say perhaps I'm at work. Any advice?

Click to expand...

I think growmau5 on YouTube did a DIY dripper system video, Id start there first! There's also some cool hydro pot and res set ups ive seen if you're not up for the DIY

blue pyro said:

Ok guys so im growing in 10 gal pots well diy 10 gallon pots in a coco based medium. 5 plants which is a Hell of a lot of h20 to Carry to the room.

So I have a h2o container for a rv to serve as a resovoir. I plan on buying a water pump. But that is as far as I have got.

I need help with the set up.... Type and flow capacity of pump and getting the h2o to the plants preferably without have to move around a hose. If I have to I can but is like to water automatically without asking the wife while say perhaps I'm at work. Any advice?

Click to expand...

First how far away from the water source is the garden and plants?
Are you going to want the reservoir to automatically fill up stay full all the time?
What size is the reservoir you are going to use the height?
How far away will the reservoir be from the plants?
I'm going to suggest to use 1/2 tubing and use tees and elbows to make a frame and at the end have a plug to stop the water. Then just connect 1/4' barbs to it and 1/4" line to the plants you dont have to have drippers you can have the hose open.

qballizhere said:

First how far away from the water source is the garden and plants?
Are you going to want the reservoir to automatically fill up stay full all the time?
What size is the reservoir you are going to use the height?
How far away will the reservoir be from the plants?
I'm going to suggest to use 1/2 tubing and use tees and elbows to make a frame and at the end have a plug to stop the water. Then just connect 1/4' barbs to it and 1/4" line to the plants you dont have to have drippers you can have the hose open.

Click to expand...

Water source is a bath tub 20 feet away
I would prefer to auto fill but not necessary. Res will be above and at most 5 ft from plants pots (on a shelf). And I figure I need a 50 gal res.

What about gravity Fed?

I'll be able to give more details after this week of work lol life ya know

My plan was to get a 100L water butt, and a timer, and gravity feed. You'd need a bubbler in the tank but I think that's about as simple as you can get. Not sure if the timer would require pressure in order to work or whether it's just an open close valve but I have a claber system that works in the exact way.

blue pyro said:

Water source is a bath tub 20 feet away
I would prefer to auto fill but not necessary. Res will be above and at most 5 ft from plants pots (on a shelf). And I figure I need a 50 gal res.

What about gravity Fed?

I'll be able to give more details after this week of work lol life ya know

Click to expand...

Since you are using a bathtub I would guess there is a sink or toilet. I would tap into the water supply for the either one and run 1/4" line to a float valve in your res. I say tap into the water supply so you can use the pressure in the line to move the water cold side of course. Home depot and lowes have lots of 1/4" fittings for water lines.
The res I wouldnt put it on a shelf you are talking about 50 gallons and that is 8lbs a gallon so you looking at close to being able to safely support 400- 500lbs
A 55 gal plastic barrel would work great and sit it on the floor.
The gravity feed is ok for a few plants but I dont run a few plants I would prefer to use a pump that will put pressure behind it.
I would recommend a pump like http://everflopump.com/ 1gpm and a 110v to 12v 4a power supply now you have a pump that will transfer some water in a few min not 30 min or hours. That pump can also be used to setup a feeding system.
I use the 2.2 gpm and has more pressure than my house.

Finally it's been a long long week... And back to work. Lol

The Res is 20x15x35 give or take a inch so were talking 44-45 gallons.

qballizhere said:

Since you are using a bathtub I would guess there is a sink or toilet. I would tap into the water supply for the either one and run 1/4" line to a float valve in your res. I say tap into the water supply so you can use the pressure in the line to move the water cold side of course. Home depot and lowes have lots of 1/4" fittings for water lines.
The res I wouldnt put it on a shelf you are talking about 50 gallons and that is 8lbs a gallon so you looking at close to being able to safely support 400- 500lbs
A 55 gal plastic barrel would work great and sit it on the floor.
The gravity feed is ok for a few plants but I dont run a few plants I would prefer to use a pump that will put pressure behind it.
I would recommend a pump like http://everflopump.com/ 1gpm and a 110v to 12v 4a power supply now you have a pump that will transfer some water in a few min not 30 min or hours. That pump can also be used to setup a feeding system.
I use the 2.2 gpm and has more pressure than my house.

Click to expand...

I agree with you gball. The shelf may not hold the weight ( Around 360#)

So a barrel on the floor would be better? My filters and fan are also on the floor maybe relocate one on top of the barrel

And the bath room h20 supply genius thanks for all the replys

blue pyro said:

Finally it's been a long long week... And back to work. Lol

The Res is 20x15x35 give or take a inch so were talking 44-45 gallons.

I agree with you gball. The shelf may not hold the weight ( Around 360#)

So a barrel on the floor would be better? My filters and fan are also on the floor maybe relocate one on top of the barrel

And the bath room h20 supply genius thanks for all the replys

Click to expand...

Its q qball glad i was able to help you can get containers any size but it maybe cheaper to look for a used barrel
Its easier to put fans and a filter on a shelf than it is to have a res.

Oops sorry about that. Yea I had them on the shelf (almost seemed as if the shelf impeded airflow) but I'm afraid this run the shelves may have to go I'm growing bushes instead of my normal 1 month 3 gal veg and 5 gal finish. Stepped up to 5 and 7 gal 2 month veg and 10 gal finish.

Oh and I need 2 reflectors air cooled 6 in with a 3x3 or 4x3 footprint for 160 to 200 any suggestions

qballizhere said:

Its q qball glad i was able to help you can get containers any size but it maybe cheaper to look for a used barrel
Its easier to put fans and a filter on a shelf than it is to have a res.

Click to expand...

blue pyro said:

Oops sorry about that. Yea I had them on the shelf (almost seemed as if the shelf impeded airflow) but I'm afraid this run the shelves may have to go I'm growing bushes instead of my normal 1 month 3 gal veg and 5 gal finish. Stepped up to 5 and 7 gal 2 month veg and 10 gal finish.

Oh and I need 2 reflectors air cooled 6 in with a 3x3 or 4x3 footprint for 160 to 200 any suggestions

Click to expand...

The reflectors I used when I ran hps were dominator xxxl but if you are looking at adding new lights look at cob leds

I do gravity feed on my gardens in the hills ....if your able to do this ....you can figure out the exact amount of water needed and very cheaply and simply hook up an omitter system and all your wife has to do is flip a valve and walk away .....it's quite simple .....GL


My other garden I use a tank and a cheap pump from harbor freight ....however it's not automated I still use a hose to walk around and water....but I don't have to lug water around because I pump
Out of a holding tank tank .....

qballizhere said:

The reflectors I used when I ran hps were dominator xxxl but if you are looking at adding new lights look at cob leds

Click to expand...

At the moment I'm just looking to add better reflectors, those cool tubes have to go... But have been interested in led for awhile what is it like 5w bulbs on a 5w driver basically?

Indacouch said:

I do gravity feed on my gardens in the hills ....if your able to do this ....you can figure out the exact amount of water needed and very cheaply and simply hook up an omitter system and all your wife has to do is flip a valve and walk away .....it's quite simple .....GL


My other garden I use a tank and a cheap pump from harbor freight ....however it's not automated I still use a hose to walk around and water....but I don't have to lug water around because I pump
Out of a holding tank tank .....

Click to expand...

Good point indacouch. My mind is know hard at work figuring the best way to accomplish this With my grow style.

If I don't go res pump timer route I guess I could put extra supports under the shelf or split the weight load between the 3 shelves? Sorry I analyze just about everything when it comes to family and smoke.
Lol and I'm baked

blue pyro said:

At the moment I'm just looking to add better reflectors, those cool tubes have to go... But have been interested in led for awhile what is it like 5w bulbs on a 5w driver basically?



Good point indacouch. My mind is know hard at work figuring the best way to accomplish this With my grow style.

If I don't go res pump timer route I guess I could put extra supports under the shelf or split the weight load between the 3 shelves? Sorry I analyze just about everything when it comes to family and smoke.
Lol and I'm baked

Click to expand...

It's a simple solution ...not automated like you were looking for but the gravity set up works good for me ....I use omitters on some or just reduce to small spaghetti sized water lines from the main feed line with a 4 way T and that gives me three small spaghetti sized lines on the surface of each pot/soil.....omitters do clog ,,but reducing to the small line takes care of thae clogging issue and still let's the water trickle slow enough to saturate soil without a mess ...and your wife just has to turn a valve once you learn how much water your garden needs ...

The cheap harbor freight pump works good as well and has lasted me a few seasons ....beats lugging water around ...I'm sure you'll find something that will work for you ...GL

blue pyro said:

At the moment I'm just looking to add better reflectors, those cool tubes have to go... But have been interested in led for awhile what is it like 5w bulbs on a 5w driver basically?



Good point indacouch. My mind is know hard at work figuring the best way to accomplish this With my grow style.

If I don't go res pump timer route I guess I could put extra supports under the shelf or split the weight load between the 3 shelves? Sorry I analyze just about everything when it comes to family and smoke.
Lol and I'm baked

Click to expand...

I understand about just upgrading, do it in steps over time yes it is hard and we want to do it all now but sometimes the finances are not there.
Led is a little more than that to equal or surpass what you can get with hps. There is a roi calculator https://chilledgrowlights.com/improved-yield-profit-and-roi-calculator-hps-to-chilled-grow-lights that just was released and you can see what is really capable and how soon they pay for themselves. The diy side of leds is not that hard once you have a basic understanding of what you want and looking for. I converted my 4k hps flower room to cob leds and I am still learning about them and how I could tweak my setup by adding a little more light. I need time to get the funds available also waiting 6 or 8 weeks for the drivers to be made and sent to you can add some time as well. on youtube growmou5 has an excellent series on building leds https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFeGgzTAA8vkzWTM7SWiQPlYAhNe3GMGi

qballizhere said:

I understand about just upgrading, do it in steps over time yes it is hard and we want to do it all now but sometimes the finances are not there.
Led is a little more than that to equal or surpass what you can get with hps. There is a roi calculator https://chilledgrowlights.com/improved-yield-profit-and-roi-calculator-hps-to-chilled-grow-lights that just was released and you can see what is really capable and how soon they pay for themselves. The diy side of leds is not that hard once you have a basic understanding of what you want and looking for. I converted my 4k hps flower room to cob leds and I am still learning about them and how I could tweak my setup by adding a little more light. I need time to get the funds available also waiting 6 or 8 weeks for the drivers to be made and sent to you can add some time as well. on youtube growmou5 has an excellent series on building leds https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFeGgzTAA8vkzWTM7SWiQPlYAhNe3GMGi

Click to expand...

That's quite a potential increase in yield... And a great roi

blue pyro said:

Oops sorry about that. Yea I had them on the shelf (almost seemed as if the shelf impeded airflow) but I'm afraid this run the shelves may have to go I'm growing bushes instead of my normal 1 month 3 gal veg and 5 gal finish. Stepped up to 5 and 7 gal 2 month veg and 10 gal finish.

Oh and I need 2 reflectors air cooled 6 in with a 3x3 or 4x3 footprint for 160 to 200 any suggestions

Click to expand...

Check out apollo hps lights and hoods on amazon, they've got all kinds of hoods, air cooled or not. I run 3 of their 600w air cooled hps . Ballasts work just fine to. They're digital though

I do my auto watering sort of how these guys were saying. I have built flood tables (shelves lined w plastic) in my veg room and my res sits underneath the table. I have a submersible pump in the res. From the pump I have a 2 foot piece of 1/2 inch tubing leading to a manifold w 8 1/4 line hookups on it.
From the manifold I run a 1/4 inch line to top feed each plant siting on the table.
The water top feeds the plant, runs across the plastic that lines the table, and then goes through a drain- and falls back into the resevoir.
This works great for me! Just something to think about