Tidy- cat hydro tomato

built this out of stuff laying around I copied the air pump drip column from a waterfarm when I change out the nutes from my indoor grow I put them in here which is outdoors I started this beefsteak from seed

Is she light tight? That yellow seems like it'd let light get thru n lead to root rot....

Other than that, she looks like a stellar piece of stoner recycling! Keep us updated every once in a while with pics if she works out!

Flagg420 said:

Is she light tight? That yellow seems like it'd let light get thru n lead to root rot....

Other than that, she looks like a stellar piece of stoner recycling! Keep us updated every once in a while with pics if she works out!

Click to expand...

A camo paint job is in the works even though I can't see the nutrient level from outside the bucket I want it to blend in & as you've suggested it could happen

Priority No. 1 is keep light OUT of root zone, or it will breed root rot microbes fast, especially with no way to keep the water cool....

Replace the hose w/ a clear hose, keep it mounted pointed up like the pic, and it will give u your current water level (I would use a coupler n pair of hose clamps, keep the nice connection ya go there but thats me. Gives you a couple inches of light-proof hose b4 entering bucket that way.)

That was the only hose I had at the time I originally built this because I was gifted a plant I had the plant in it for a few weeks beside my waterfarm under a 400hps I'm new to dwc type growing & screwed up my nute level mainly using the gh feeding schedule long story short grower error 100% now I have a reliable tds meter & things are much improved I was gifted another waterfarm so the tomato plant went into this this is my first year here we moved here last summer I kinda wish I had put a homestead or delicious tomato in but beefsteak will do I've got to find my green & brown paint I would like a drain fitting like the waterfarm right now I use the drip feed to indicate my nute level as if it gets below 3 gal. It quits pumping

she has grown close to the top of the stick she is tied to

This morning I've got even more growth this thing is exceeding my expectations I wish the my other stuff was doing this good

That's a great DIY system you made, very impressive, hope you get lots of tomatoes man!

Yodaweed said:

That's a great DIY system you made, very impressive, hope you get lots of tomatoes man!

Click to expand...

Hey yodaweed thanks for dropping by the drip feed column I copied the fundamentals from the waterfarm which as you know I just started using & making some newby mistakes getting started I'm gonna make another one & refine it a bit tomato growing has never been this fun

Today I'm gonna start construction of another unit I'll do a step- by- step only difference is n the next one I'll be using a round bucket & a store-bought basket but outside of that pretty much the same my crude little bucket that started out as kind of a joke is putting out results about 2-3" a day I've been using the stick as something to measure growth by now the tomato has outgrown it by a good measure the new unit is gonna house my homestead tomato I started from seed about a month ago

OK this is gonna take a few steps but when done we will have a functioning unit first step is to duplicate the drip device which is as simple as it looks I'm using a fish aquarium air pump with 2 outlets & 1/2" pvc & I've drilled 3 holes in the cap 2 in the top & 1 on the side of the cap for the discharge 2 lines from the pump & routed down to about 2" from the opposite (bottom) of the pipe the 3rd line is near the top of the pipe nearest the cap the cap is now slid over the pipe I choose not to glue it as long as everything is air tight otherwise it will not pump silicone the tubing & let dry if you have a leak this the most difficult step next post we will finish her up & test fire

Next comes the top & the net cage for the hydroton care must be taken so the net pot fits snug in the top piece next a hole will be drilled for the drip feed column out of time will return soon....

The net basket is in I used a wood drill bit for the drip column also used a wood bit for the grommet that holds the drain tube it's set up for 2 gals. Of nutes tomorrow I put a homestead tomato plant in it a little fancier than the first unit but because I homemade the drip unit & already had the fish aquarium pump I'm out about $12.00

The homestead tomato is now in the new unit & tonight tidy cat gets a paint job the homestead is under the t-5s until tonight when it cools off

I now have 2 hydro tomatoes going outside the tidy-cat bucket is now painted

Just kinda letting them do their thing it's just relaxing to tinker with these & the building of them was cool as well

It has been 9 days since I put the tidy cat bucket out & I estimate over 12" of growth the other plant although only out a couple of days is showing growth as well it was about even with the stick I tied it to now its somewhat above soon I'm gonna have to figure out how I'm gonna support them & still have the access I need to change nutrients which by the way I'm changing out the res in the tidy cat tonight

still moving along fine & im getting a lot of enjoyment out of this I gave the tidy- cat bucket to a friend & will deliver it in a week the new bucket is getting growth too

both are doing good & continue to grow I'm waiting for them to bloom & start baby tomatoes

still growing I'm gonna have to up the nutes&addatives a wee bit & tune in my wire screen support