Run drippers constantly ?

Hello hydroponic veterans ^^ , i'm currently setting up a new system using drippers in a bucket with 50% perlite and 50% hydroton on the bottom. Its my first time using perlite and i'm not quite sure if i should run the drippers constantly or should i only turn them on couple times a day ?

What would be the pro's and con's of running the drippers constantly compared to turning them on a few times a day ? Thanks all ^^

By the way it is going to be a recirculating system !

i run mine twice a day for half an hour at a time during flowering and they seem to be doing fine

I'm just worried that when the roots get long enough to get down to the hydroton, they won't be getting enough water if i only run the drippers a few times a day because of hydrotons lack of water retention >< ...

Any experts willing to help this noob >< ?

lcd6044 said:

Any experts willing to help this noob >< ?

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i run mine twice a day for half an hour at a time during flowering and they seem to be doing fine

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aram

I also run mine twice a day -- once in the morning at 7am for 30 minutes, while I am checking them (in the dark) before work. Sometimes if I am feeling frisky, I will give 30mL of SuperThrive (15mL each plant) to the plants, straight to the dome (root ball in this case) when im home from work. Then, it runs at 7pm for 30 minutes, well before the light turns off at 1am. The system is set up on MY schedule hehehe.

I have one plant bare rooted in hydroton, and another that is engulfing a 4" rockwool cube, also in hydroton. Both plants are in 5 gallon buckets.

I have found this amount of watering most adequate. Any more and the leaves swell up and droop.

i run 15min 3 times daily

any thoughts on running the drippers constantly ? ... i'm just really worried that the roots will dry out given neither hydroton or perlite are known for their water retention abilities.

I reiterate:

I have found this amount of watering most adequate. Any more and the leaves swell up and droop.

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I think also, if you run it 24/7 you will have salts buildup unless you flush your containers, and massive evaporation unless you minimize the drip.

It might be ok to literally "drip" all day, for instance 30 drips per minute or so. That would allow max oxygen and some nutes, but I think when most of us drip its more of a stream of water. Thus the 30 minute, twice a day, or 15 min 3 times a day intervals.

I am going to be doing the same sort of thing. Well it is a drip system. But I am going to use 1gph drippers hopefully. I am soncerned the pumps might fuck up with drippers. A stream sounds good! Like a flood sort of lol. Good work team. Anyone use driiper heads? I will be vegging in ebb and flow and flowering in drip buckets. I am probably going to be using netpot lids and have the roots hang and according to jorge cervantes I thing that if I drip 24 7 then they should live. Maybe I should fill the whole bucket with hydroton and just stream a few times a day. That sounds fun. I still dont know the best way to drain. More fun work for me. Maybe 1 inch hoses on the bottom, maybe manually once every few days, maybe holes in buckets on bottom and place on flood table. Lead back to res.

There are so many options on how often to run the drippers that i'm very confused on what would be the most optimal setup >< ... anybody have any idea on how good perlite is at retaining water ? ...

pretty good. If you get the small kind it will hold a lot. A surprising amount. The big chunky stuff from hydro stores holds less.

i just made my own drip system and am getting ready to plant a clone in it. i should keep the drip system running continuously until roots are established and can reach water below correct? how would one calculate how long to run drip system in a newly transplanted system?

aeviaanah said:

i just made my own drip system and am getting ready to plant a clone in it. i should keep the drip system running continuously until roots are established and can reach water below correct? how would one calculate how long to run drip system in a newly transplanted system?

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Honestly you're going to get a ton of different answers. The best way to figure out is trial and error. You just want it to not TOTALY dry out. If you use a medium that absorbs alot then its less often if you have one like pearlite it will be more. Honestly just run a bubble stone in there and go. Don't stress too much. I run mine 24/7 just because I'm too cheap to buy a timer and I have a airpump and its been 2 months and its going strong. I think most people do it 2 to 4 times a day for 15 mins. I would recomend 4 times a day for 15 mins just based on what other people have done. The more oxygen the faster it grows though, that's the idea behind letting it dry out. you can compensate by adding an airpump and H2o2. Good luck! You'll be happy whatever you do. just don't let it dry out.

i use rockwool with hydroton,it really works welll ,with 2 feedings ,i even occasionally go to 1 a day to let soggy plants dry out.i use dripper

i use rockwool with hydroton. do you treat newly transplanted clones the same as you would an adult? it seems with the clones you may want a little more water on time correct?

If you're going to run them constantly you need to do it at a very slow rate. Most just run their dripper at a faster rate about 15 mins or so 3 times a day or 5 min periods multiple times a day. It just depends on your setup and preference.

check out this i made yesterday. my dripper is powered by an airpump...i drilled a couple little holes in a 1/4" airhose line. drip is pretty slow. would you use a little more water for clones than for adult plants?

also, is it ok to go straight 12/12 from transplant? clone was on 24/0 before transplant.

im 5 days in a wilma 8 pot run full for 18hrs light on and 1 x 15 min at 3hrs in dark and they look good on this, this is my 1st go at hydro, 600hps, wilma 8, sensi grow/bloom.bud blood,big bud, p/k 13/14, pH 5.5, ec 1.2- 0.3 background to run at 0.9, they look good so far

I see no problem with running the dripper 24/7. I do that in a diy waterfarm. It causes a lot more salt build up and maintenance because of that reason. But if you can deal with that then you shouldn't have a problem.

heres my home made drip/bubbler ive got a 90 ltr res with pot(not sure the size)rest across it full of clay ballsdrilled holes in the bottom ,the drippers on 4 times a day @15mins.Might switch to three times going off what ive read so far see hoe it goes.theres a airstone in the bottom so when the roots hit ther should be even bigger growth.. its cheese in the middle,sshaze &cheese around the side..