Auto watering help needed.

getogrow

Well-Known Member
I been using a gravity fed homemade watering system for many years but its high time i upgraded to a full auto system.
I like to put a bunch of heads together to figure out simple shit like this. The simplest method would probably be the best for me.

Ive looked at the lil heads that you put in the pot but they seems to have a 1/4" air hose going to them. That seems like an awful lot of clogging and fixing parts all the time....am i wrong ?
I have a few pumps on hand and some 1/2" pvc. i have a small 300gph pump and a medium size 600gph pump. I need quite a few watering sites on this system. Precisely 2-100 sites :eyesmoke: is what im shooting for.
I really dont even know where to start? maybe drill holes directly in the pipes right above pots ?

Any help is much appreciated! Thanks guys !!


soil :joint:
 

kingromano

Well-Known Member
i would use netafim pc drippers
and a good pump to put the line under pressure to feed the drippers

if you ave a small surface (1/2 m² maxi) you can do without PC drippers but the distribution will not be equal for each site
 

getogrow

Well-Known Member
i would use netafim pc drippers
and a good pump to put the line under pressure to feed the drippers

if you ave a small surface (1/2 m² maxi) you can do without PC drippers but the distribution will not be equal for each site
i better stick with the drippers then. i need it close to equal across all sites.
 

kingromano

Well-Known Member
how many tables/m² you must water ? it's important to know what pump choose
regular aquarium pump won't work to open PC drippers

i use these drippers on a 3/4 LDPE line
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Beehive

Well-Known Member
I always looked at the pump. Shurflo or IWAKI. With a solid pump you can run whatever and however.
 
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Beehive

Well-Known Member
Shurflo # 2088-594-154

The above pump is the 45# of pressure model. The same as the pressure of the kitchen sink. I use it to empty out my drain pan. It'll fill two 5 gallon containers in a few minutes.

120v
 

getogrow

Well-Known Member
You aint bullshittin! With 45lbs of pressure you can feed anything!
The pump i have pushes way more water but more then likely no more then a couple psi.
 

Beehive

Well-Known Member
Shurflo makes a bunch of models. I have another shurflo pump I found at a local pawnshop. It's for patio misters. Runs something like 120# of pressure. Its a pretty serious pump.
 
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2com

Well-Known Member
I been using a gravity fed homemade watering system for many years but its high time i upgraded to a full auto system.
I like to put a bunch of heads together to figure out simple shit like this. The simplest method would probably be the best for me.

Ive looked at the lil heads that you put in the pot but they seems to have a 1/4" air hose going to them. That seems like an awful lot of clogging and fixing parts all the time....am i wrong ?
I have a few pumps on hand and some 1/2" pvc. i have a small 300gph pump and a medium size 600gph pump. I need quite a few watering sites on this system. Precisely 2-100 sites :eyesmoke: is what im shooting for.
I really dont even know where to start? maybe drill holes directly in the pipes right above pots ?

Any help is much appreciated! Thanks guys !!


soil :joint:
Any progress with choosing stuff, Ricky?
 

getogrow

Well-Known Member
Any progress with choosing stuff, Ricky?
Uh, kinda, almost, not really....nah i aint done shit since i got a new rosin press. :eyesmoke:

I been doing a lot of thinking though and it seems the expensive way is the drippers with a better pump then i have. Thats the easy way to know im getting close to equal pressure arcoss all sites.

I hate spending money on easy shit like this , so i think im going to drill a bunch of holes in a 1/2" pvc pipe and see how many my pump can do before dropping pressure to some sites. Problem is , the only way to test this is to have a LOT of containers for the water to go into without running out the bottom.....

My only choice , i suppose , is to just guess. if the pump does 20x 1/4" holes , then i'll try 40.....unless i get a better idea somewheres...
I would love to just buy a kit to do it all but they dont make um with that many sites....so i dont know
 

2com

Well-Known Member
Uh, kinda, almost, not really....nah i aint done shit since i got a new rosin press. :eyesmoke:

I been doing a lot of thinking though and it seems the expensive way is the drippers with a better pump then i have. Thats the easy way to know im getting close to equal pressure arcoss all sites.

I hate spending money on easy shit like this , so i think im going to drill a bunch of holes in a 1/2" pvc pipe and see how many my pump can do before dropping pressure to some sites. Problem is , the only way to test this is to have a LOT of containers for the water to go into without running out the bottom.....

My only choice , i suppose , is to just guess. if the pump does 20x 1/4" holes , then i'll try 40.....unless i get a better idea somewheres...
I would love to just buy a kit to do it all but they dont make um with that many sites....so i dont know
Haha, cool. That's understandable then.
You're in the US right? Either way, I'd contact one of the many irrigation supply places (there's less if in CAN) and have a chat with them, they'll probably be very helpful in answering questions and guiding you or giving suggestions. I've been doing some research into the drippers.
If you're getting hundreds and hundreds of'em there'll probably be price breaks at certain amounts.

I don't think you'll be able to achieve even watering with what you're thinking of trying. You might end up just spending money on pipe and stuff and wasting time and patience (hah).
Some places (most?) do sell "kits", and I'd bet if you spoke to someone you could get whatever you needed all bundled up or something.

I'd need the same, everyhing - new pump, emitters, stakes if using'em, 1/4" tubing, main line tuving, elbows / connectors, etc. Yea, pita.
But I've been mid grow before and wished I could throw $100-300 at some annoying thing I tried to save money on by not doing/getting before. Most of us probably have.

Enjoy the fresh rosin, man.
 

getogrow

Well-Known Member
The only kits i have seen are for 10 plants at the most....i seen a couple for 12 or 16...
I would rather have one for 100 rather then buy 10 kits seperate. If i seen one with 100 sites then i would prolly buy it even though it will hurt my feelings and pockets.
Im getting up in age, i would rather spend money then to think about anymore then i already am. I actively study plant nutrition , PH, LEDS, spectrums, live soil, organics, ect....i really dont wanna spend much time on this watering system.

I have one 1/2" pipe that i ran a test on. 7 x 1/4" holes, fed by gravity. It worked great. all 7 holes got very close to the same amount of water. If i use pressure then i belive i can get 20 sites with fairly even flow but i dont have a way to test it.

My other choice is one of them high powered water pumps in this thread. They got enough power to push to over 100 sites. I suppose my main question is what do i need for a mainifold ?
100x drippers
100x tubing
1x pump
???

Thanks all!
 

2com

Well-Known Member
Im getting up in age, i would rather spend money then to think about anymore then i already am. I actively study plant nutrition , PH, LEDS, spectrums, live soil, organics, ect....i really dont wanna spend much time on this watering system.
I hear that; I understand.
The only kits i have seen are for 10 plants at the most....i seen a couple for 12 or 16...
I would rather have one for 100 rather then buy 10 kits seperate. If i seen one with 100 sites then i would prolly buy it even though it will hurt my feelings and pockets.
I guess I meant contact an irrigation spot, have a chat, and you can both put a "kit" together (i.e.: bulk prices on the amounts of each item you'd need. the more you buy, of say emitters or stakes or whatever, the price goes down). Tell them what you need and let them do all the work, calculations.

I duno, might be worth a shot.
 
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