Hand watering to automatic questions

Ezstreet

Ezstreet

Active Member
Currently in coco hand watering daily canna coco a+b , id like to set up a automatic watering system. just some questions.
1. currently I’m watering once per day say 10 ml per gal of a+b 1 gal for 2 plants, when watering more frequently from a 10 gal reservoir would it still be 10ml per gal so 100ml of a+b per 10 gal watering 2-3 times daily? or would it be less ml per gal for more frequent waterings?
2. will I need to add any additives to the reservoir solution ( reservoir will last about 3 days)
 
E

East_LA

Member
1. no need to modify nutrient concentration most likely. modify it as you would if you were hand watering. if you're watering very high frequency microfeeds (think like 8-12+/day), you probably want to limit your PPM to something like ~600-700 in late veg and ~900-1000 in peak flower.

2. stirring pump/airstones is a good idea to keep the reservoir oxygenated, the real issue when transitioning from hand watering to automated is pH swings. make sure to pH the res daily and get a good 'feel' for the pH stability of your nutrient res, i feel like this is key and will be one of the most important things when changing to automated feeding.

for example for myself ive figured out that my nutrient res achieves good pH stability after about ~2hrs (2 airstones,5W pump in 100L res), and excellent stability after about 6-12 hours, in the first ~6-12 hours of mixing the pH tends to float up by about 0.7-0.9.

knowing this information, my strategy is mix my nutrients as normal, pH to 5.5, allow the expected upward pH drift to occur over the next 6-12 hours, come back and pH the res again to 5.7-5.8 (usually its in the low 6.1-6.4ish range when i come back after 6-12 hrs). the res is now pH stable at 5.7-5.8 and pretty much stays within .1 of that for the next 7 days until I mix a new res. this strategy is great as it keeps them within the optimal pH range for coco whilst having an added benefit of providing feedings at slightly varying pH within that range.

that example is specific to my setup, my advice is to "learn" your setup as your pH drift will be different. the best way to do this is to pH daily if you can and take note of how much the pH swung and how long, eventually you'll be able to predict the swings before they happen and either eliminate them or use them to your advantage.
 
Ezstreet

Ezstreet

Active Member
wow thanks for all that info!! That’s exactly what I needed. I’ll be sure to check ph daily and figure out the ph fluctuation like you said. Thanks for the examples it really paints the picture I needed

East_LA said:
1. no need to modify nutrient concentration most likely. modify it as you would if you were hand watering. if you're watering very high frequency microfeeds (think like 8-12+/day), you probably want to limit your PPM to something like ~600-700 in late veg and ~900-1000 in peak flower.

2. stirring pump/airstones is a good idea to keep the reservoir oxygenated, the real issue when transitioning from hand watering to automated is pH swings. make sure to pH the res daily and get a good 'feel' for the pH stability of your nutrient res, i feel like this is key and will be one of the most important things when changing to automated feeding.

for example for myself ive figured out that my nutrient res achieves good pH stability after about ~2hrs (2 airstones,5W pump in 100L res), and excellent stability after about 6-12 hours, in the first ~6-12 hours of mixing the pH tends to float up by about 0.7-0.9.

knowing this information, my strategy is mix my nutrients as normal, pH to 5.5, allow the expected upward pH drift to occur over the next 6-12 hours, come back and pH the res again to 5.7-5.8 (usually its in the low 6.1-6.4ish range when i come back after 6-12 hrs). the res is now pH stable at 5.7-5.8 and pretty much stays within .1 of that for the next 7 days until I mix a new res. this strategy is great as it keeps them within the optimal pH range for coco whilst having an added benefit of providing feedings at slightly varying pH within that range.

that example is specific to my setup, my advice is to "learn" your setup as your pH drift will be different. the best way to do this is to pH daily if you can and take note of how much the pH swung and how long, eventually you'll be able to predict the swings before they happen and either eliminate them or use them to your advantage.
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