Drip irrigation with coco questions

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Greenman68

Member
I did my halo like this. It's definitely not ideal but it's effective. I put drippers on the bottom of the tube so it jets water into the medium. I used clear vinyl tube because it's soft and easy to fit attachments to, but something blacked out would def be better to avoid algae buildup.
diy.png
When there is salt buildup on the top I get the 1/4 hose with valve out and hand water a bit.
hand.png
 
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Billy the Mountain

Billy the Mountain

Well-Known Member
Greenman68 said:
I did my halo like this. It's definitely not ideal but it's effective. I put drippers on the bottom of the tube so it jets water into the medium. I used clear vinyl tube because it's soft and easy to fit attachments to, but something blacked out would def be better to avoid algae buildup.
View attachment 5330109
When there is salt buildup on the top I get the 1/4 hose with valve out and hand water a bit.
View attachment 5330110
Click to expand...
Why would there be any salt buildup on the top?
Do you water to runoff?
I've used a drip system of one type or another for years and have never experienced that issue

*Use some black vinyl tubing, the clear stuff will quickly fill with algae and biosludge.
 
G

Greenman68

Member
Billy the Mountain said:
Why would there be any salt buildup on the top?
Do you water to runoff?
I've used a drip system of one type or another for years and have never experienced that issue

*Use some black vinyl tubing, the clear stuff will quickly fill with algae and biosludge.
Click to expand...
I do water to runoff but salt tends to build up on the top layer where water isn't penetrating directly. The water jets out pretty fast, no longer than 10 secs per feed.
 
Billy the Mountain

Billy the Mountain

Well-Known Member
Greenman68 said:
I do water to runoff but salt tends to build up on the top layer where water isn't penetrating directly. The water jets out pretty fast, no longer than 10 secs per feed.
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Maybe try more holes in your drip ring? I found 1/4" tubing on a Tee-connector works better than the 1/2" tubing to make a drip ring.
Also, something that didn't dawn on me for a while: a soldering iron is better to create consistent holes, rather than trying to drill into the flexible tubing.
 
G

Greenman68

Member
Billy the Mountain said:
Maybe try more holes in your drip ring? I found 1/4" tubing on a Tee-connector works better than the 1/2" tubing to make a drip ring.
Also, something that didn't dawn on me for a while: a soldering iron is better to create consistent holes, rather than trying to drill into the flexible tubing.
Click to expand...
That makes sense, I'll definitely give that a shot. The 1/2 is really obnoxious tbh.
 
Billy the Mountain

Billy the Mountain

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rkymtnman said:
i just use a brass tee on the end of the 1/4 tubing. no drippers to clog. and a DiG 6 site manifold is already pressure compensating.

View attachment 5330127
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I'm sure it works well, but unless you have a minimum of 15-20 psi (way more than most any submersible pump) the pressure-compensation doesn't work. At least that's how the pc drip emitters function.
The lack of consistency and clogging is the reason I stopped using drip emitters.
An open tee seems like a good idea, not unlike the floraflex caps with no tiny orifices to clog.
 
rkymtnman

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
rkymtnman said:
DiG manifold
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DIG’s Adjustable Six-Outlet PC Drip Manifold (1/2″ female pipe thread) is used to retrofit an existing 1/2” sprinkler riser into a six-outlet drip irrigation system without altering or increasing the total flow of the sprinkler system zone. It has six independently adjustable, pressure compensating outlets with flow rates between 0 and 20 GPH at operating pressures of up to 50 PSI
 
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Billy the Mountain

Billy the Mountain

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rkymtnman said:
maybe i'm wrong, but the manifold itself is pressure compensating. i get identical flow rates out of all 6 outlets on that DiG manifold.
Click to expand...
It very well may be, but the pressure-compensating requires a minimum psi to function as advertised, just as PC drip emitters.
Not that they don't work below the minimum psi, just not necessarily equal output.
I have no experience with a PC manifold, only the drippers.

The DG manifold:
1695682154988.png
 
rkymtnman

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
Billy the Mountain said:
It very well may be, but the pressure-compensating requires a minimum psi to function as advertised, just as PC drip emitters.
Not that they don't work below the minimum psi, just not necessarily equal output.
I have no experience with a PC manifold, only the drippers.

The DG manifold:
View attachment 5330143
Click to expand...
i wonder what my submersible pump psi is then? i drilled a hole in the pvc riser (from pump to manifold) so that it would stop the auto-siphon.

i've had this same auto-feed setup for years now (knocks on wood). one of those "don't mess with it if it ain't broke"
 
Billy the Mountain

Billy the Mountain

Well-Known Member
rkymtnman said:
i wonder what my submersible pump psi is then? i drilled a hole in the pvc riser (from pump to manifold) so that it would stop the auto-siphon.

i've had this same auto-feed setup for years now (knocks on wood). one of those "don't mess with it if it ain't broke"
Click to expand...
Probably a few psi. I have what sounds like a similar setup with a check valve to prevent siphoning, use a cheap submersible pump and it works well.
Most pumps list head height rather than psi, 2.3 ft = 1 psi My pump says 2.5m height, so a whopping 3.5 psi

My cheap pump:
1695683102165.png
 
TCH

TCH

Well-Known Member
So if I have one of these pumps laying around, is that sufficient to run a drip system for 4-8 plants? I would probably run 1/2" line to the bubbler gadget and 1/4" line from there to the plants. I like the idea of no drippers on the line to get rid of clog points, but am open to suggestions. Might pick up some of the caps to help distribute the solution over the entire pot.

Screenshot_20230926_131830_Amazon Shopping.jpgScreenshot_20230926_131727_Amazon Shopping.jpg
 
Billy the Mountain

Billy the Mountain

Well-Known Member
TCH said:
So if I have one of these pumps laying around, is that sufficient to run a drip system for 4-8 plants? I would probably run 1/2" line to the bubbler gadget and 1/4" line from there to the plants. I like the idea of no drippers on the line to get rid of clog points, but am open to suggestions. Might pick up some of the caps to help distribute the solution over the entire pot.

View attachment 5330354View attachment 5330355
Click to expand...
Should work fine.
I'm not one to advocate any particular brand of anything, but the floraflex caps work better than any other method I've tried. I started with the square ones on rockwool and have been using them since. The only caveat is that you need to install them early, before the stem gets too thick as the drip ring isn't very flexible. They're truly a better mousetrap so to speak - no clogging and uniform distribution.

Also, if you don't already have one, a timer that does seconds is ideal to fine tune the running time to achieve your desired runoff.
 
TCH

TCH

Well-Known Member
Billy the Mountain said:
Should work fine.
I'm not one to advocate any particular brand of anything, but the floraflex caps work better than any other method I've tried. I started with the square ones on rockwool and have been using them since. The only caveat is that you need to install them early, before the stem gets too thick as the drip ring isn't very flexible. They're truly a better mousetrap so to speak - no clogging and uniform distribution.

Also, if you don't already have one, a timer that does seconds is ideal to fine tune the running time to achieve your desired runoff.
Click to expand...
That's the plan. As soon as plants go into their final pots, they will get plumbed in until the end. As far as timers go, I snagged a couple of these on a deal a while back. They will do 10 programs down to 1 second. Now, I need to dig that pump out and see what I can find laying around to piece this system together. I'll pick up some caps so they are ready to go. Do you run the drip rings on top of the plates? Can I just clip the 1/4" hose to the plate and let it run without anything on the end? Or will that make a mess?

Screenshot_20230926_135501_Amazon Shopping.jpg
 
Billy the Mountain

Billy the Mountain

Well-Known Member
TCH said:
That's the plan. As soon as plants go into their final pots, they will get plumbed in until the end. As far as timers go, I snagged a couple of these on a deal a while back. They will do 10 programs down to 1 second. Now, I need to dig that pump out and see what I can find laying around to piece this system together. I'll pick up some caps so they are ready to go. Do you run the drip rings on top of the plates? Can I just clip the 1/4" hose to the plate and let it run without anything on the end? Or will that make a mess?

View attachment 5330364
Click to expand...
I think you need to use the drip ring with the round caps. Two 1/4" lines feed each. I don't think you can just run 1/4" line to the round caps without some improvisation. The square caps have a clip to hold a 1/4" line, the round ones don't and need the drip ring or some ingenuity to distribute the water.
 
TCH

TCH

Well-Known Member
Billy the Mountain said:
I think you need to use the drip ring with the round caps. Two 1/4" lines feed each. I don't think you can just run 1/4" line to the round caps without some improvisation. The square caps have a clip to hold a 1/4" line, the round ones don't and need the drip ring or some ingenuity to distribute the water.
Click to expand...
I use square pots if that makes a difference
 
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