Buddy232
Active Member
As I learn more, I've been thinking of creative ways to accomplish established growing techniques. It seems (to me) a lot of the commercial items are more geared twoards all purpose use - and all the great gardens I see justify better, more customized, and cough cough - cheaper hardware.
The idea of this is mixing a flood table setup with the top feed technique that ebb & grow users employ - plus some plumbing. I envision something easy to setup-maintain, has a small foot print, auto feeds multiple times daily, however drys quickly. Basically, the best of both worlds. This is just a base idea and I hope to get feed back from people. Whats neat about this idea, besides the general concept, is I'm sure you could modify it's principal to suit as many sites as you want.
Sorry if there is other, or even better techniques for this. Remember I'm new to hydroponic.
Also, sorry if the diagrams are hard to read. I'm terrible at drawing, and even the basic tools of MS paint is a massacre waiting to happen at my hands. BUT, I thought it was the best way to express what I'm trying to explain. Anyways, lets start with the front profile view.
1. Reservoir
2. Pump.
3. 1" ABS or vinyl/clear tubing.
4. Table
5. "Distributor Bar"
6. Drain
7. Ball Valve
On the front profile everything is fairly self explanatory except for the "bar" and the valve. I will explain it all just for fun.
So. Whenever your timer is set to go off, water/nutes are pumped from the reservoir, through the tubing and through the "distributor bar". (Anyone wanna come up with a better name for it, please do.) The bar feed's each individual plant. The table serves simply as a holder for the plants, and has a bottom drain piped right back to the reservoir to prevent excess water from sitting on the grow medium. The ball valve on the main reservoir is for cleaning/flushing. Rather than moving anything it's easier to have a BV and either collect it into a container or pipe it off somewhere else. Work smarter not harder.
Okay for the top view. Now that I explained the front you likely don't even need this explain. But, I'll finish.
1. "Distributor Bar"
2. Growdan Cubes (with covers) Or netpots... whatever
3. 1/2" Tubing
What's you guys thoughts? I may start the build either way, however I could post a more elaborate parts list if anyone is interested. I left a few things out and obviously thing's don't just hook up as they do in the picture.
The idea of this is mixing a flood table setup with the top feed technique that ebb & grow users employ - plus some plumbing. I envision something easy to setup-maintain, has a small foot print, auto feeds multiple times daily, however drys quickly. Basically, the best of both worlds. This is just a base idea and I hope to get feed back from people. Whats neat about this idea, besides the general concept, is I'm sure you could modify it's principal to suit as many sites as you want.
Sorry if there is other, or even better techniques for this. Remember I'm new to hydroponic.
Also, sorry if the diagrams are hard to read. I'm terrible at drawing, and even the basic tools of MS paint is a massacre waiting to happen at my hands. BUT, I thought it was the best way to express what I'm trying to explain. Anyways, lets start with the front profile view.
1. Reservoir
2. Pump.
3. 1" ABS or vinyl/clear tubing.
4. Table
5. "Distributor Bar"
6. Drain
7. Ball Valve
On the front profile everything is fairly self explanatory except for the "bar" and the valve. I will explain it all just for fun.
So. Whenever your timer is set to go off, water/nutes are pumped from the reservoir, through the tubing and through the "distributor bar". (Anyone wanna come up with a better name for it, please do.) The bar feed's each individual plant. The table serves simply as a holder for the plants, and has a bottom drain piped right back to the reservoir to prevent excess water from sitting on the grow medium. The ball valve on the main reservoir is for cleaning/flushing. Rather than moving anything it's easier to have a BV and either collect it into a container or pipe it off somewhere else. Work smarter not harder.
Okay for the top view. Now that I explained the front you likely don't even need this explain. But, I'll finish.
1. "Distributor Bar"
2. Growdan Cubes (with covers) Or netpots... whatever
3. 1/2" Tubing
What's you guys thoughts? I may start the build either way, however I could post a more elaborate parts list if anyone is interested. I left a few things out and obviously thing's don't just hook up as they do in the picture.
