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Small, affordable but reliable indoor self irrigation system recommendations?

growdc

growdc

New member
Hello folks,

I have 2 tens in my tiny apartment. A 2' x 4 tent and a smaller 2' x2.5' tent. I just switched to coco-coir.

I was wondering if you knew of or use a good reliable small self watering system for your plants? Seems to me that coco needs to be watered a few times a day little by little for the plant to grow fast and nice. I've looked online only getting more confused. And mixing nutrients all the time is getting to be a pain.

most I can see online are either big lawn type irrigation systems, those silly globe water spikes with 1 star reviews or expensive 100$ ones that would seem to do the job.

Any my help and links will be much appreciated.
 
Sump with airstones put in a fish tank pump with a line that runs to a small soaker house in the pot and then a catch basin under the pot.

I DO NOT KNOW IF IT WOULD DROWN THE ROOTS IN COCO. But if you elevate the pot the excess would drain out the bottom into another basin or even into the sump depending on how you set it up. You could also put the pump on a timer.

I would wait till someone who knows the grow portion to speak up, I just know the plumbing part.
 
I have never used this. That being said my choice would be flow and drain. Get a tray big enoug for your plants and place it 50cm (20 inch) from the ground (you going to need a table or something) so you can put a 20 gallon container under it that's going to be your reservoir. Now the tray you need is a special one for flow and drain with the proper in and out to pump water from the reservoir and drain back at it. The. You need a small pump and a timer. Set watering 3 times a day during the light cycle and keep the reservoir with around 1EC of nutrients. Check in YouTube "Vader OG" its a breeder that uses this setup and looks pretty low maintenance. Once a week he tops off reservoirs with water and some nutrients and that's it. Good luck
 
Best most efficient way in my opinion run a dripper or multiple drippers off of a small pump on a digital timer where you can Give It 2 to 3 minutes you can feed multiple times per day or go out of town as long as you have something to catch the waste in and a reservoir big enough to supply it. Drain to waste in my opinion is the only way to go if one plant gets sick the other ones won't catch it from The Roots.
 
Unless your pots are tiny you shouldn't have to water to runoff more than once a day. Watering in smaller amounts more frequently isn't advised with coco. Good runoff is important.
 
Thank you all for your suggestions. They are in 3 gallon pots. I guess my problem is probably not planning the grow correctly. I have 4 plants, all in different stages with different nutrient needs at the moment. That's what's taking up so much time too. Doing the plumbing like Formernuke said is cool, but is giving me a headache planning all the DIY stuff out. And having a special set up so they don't drown is another thing I need to think about. that's the probably with such a small grow space I guess. One of the plants is like taking over the tent and even if I wanted to do an automated system now that I think about it, it'll be hard due to space constraints. I was looking at this product, which seems to do everything just like I would like..... see link. But that's like $70. Thanks again all, I think I know my options now..... I just have to figure it out between having a real job, a bad back and a pinched nerve...... so stressful. I find it funny, that I grow so I can consume to lessen stress, but growing in itself is stressful. The irony. This lady is already taking 3/4 of my big tent. She is beautiful though......
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if they're all in different stages with different nutrient needs an automated system is never going to work unless you've got a reservoir for each plant with a different nute mix in it.
I've grown in 2gal and 3.5gal pots with coco. The 2gal needed to be watered every day, no exceptions once plants got big. This grow with the 3.5gal they hold enough water for two days at the most, 3 and they were pretty much bone dry.
 
that's cheap black plastic pots though, you could probably still get away with watering to runoff every second day with smart pots or air pots even though they dry out quicker.
 
Get urself a cheap water pump some old gargen hose or cheap pvc and a timer. Run ur hose over the plants drill holes conect ur hose to ur water pump put ur pump in a res and set ur timer to coinside with the gph and how much u need
 
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Hi Tyler...... it's strange, I don't think the notification engine quite works on this site. I haven't been on the forums in a while (real life is not fun!!) ........ but I usually get a notification email that I have a new message posted. Anyways...

What you mentioned above is exactly what I did.... with the exception of the item in the picture below, you see the ring around the plant? Sometimes I need to stop over thinking things and just go back to keep it simple.... :) Thanks again everyone!!! I am really liking the solution. And you're right, it's cheap. About $10 for just a super small 80 gph submersible pump, 1 air stone to keep it mixed, a small aquarium pump and the tubing, elbows and T connectors just costs a couple of dollars each.

The only thing is, by the time the reservoir (just using a 5 gallon bucket & lid from Lowe's and just cut out or drill some holes in the soft plastic lid so the wires and stuff can come through) is almost empty, I see a bunch of sedimentation. It's not slimy or anything, but maybe it's the beneficial bacteria stuff in the nutrients I use (Advanced Nutrients) or the silica additive? Or something from the air stone?

Anyway, 14 liters of pre-made nutrient solution made at 1/2 strength lasts me about a week. I'm not even sure if I'm doing this right, but I've heard water/feed with super low ppm nutrient solution every day or multiple times a day or feed with higher ppm but alternating with plain RO water with Cal Mag. The grow medium is coco & a little perlite. I've kinda done both and really don't notice much of a difference in anything, but I'm an inexperienced grower. This is only my 2nd grow. And the first was DWC. Then I ended up getting a pinched nerve in my left arm and didn't have to strength to lift and carry around DWC buckets around so I went to coco coir. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated also!!


This has saved me much of the heavy lifting effort. Just do it once and no need to carry around water and making nutrient solution to hand feed every day. Even for right now, I just plug in the pump when I want to feed because the damn timer hasn't arrived yet...... for anyone of you who is interested, this website: http://www.growershouse.com has excellent pricing, the prices even beat Amazon for everything except Nutrients.

The only downside to this is that their shipping sucks. It's expensive and slow. I actually had to go to my local hydro store and get those 2 rings you see in the picture for now because it's been a week and they still have not even shipped it yet. Not too happy about that. Their description or sometimes lack of, of some strange looking items sometimes lead to some confusion to new growers like myself. So I'd look up what it is on google first before even trying to search for it on Amazon.

And talking about Keep It Simple Stupid!!! I really don't need those rings. I can just let the end of the 1/2" tubing just open to water........ DUH! I'm so glad I came on here for the REALIZATION because I was seriously going to pay double for these rings again, either at my hydro store or Amazon for my other 2 plants in veg.

A tip for anyone who wants to use these rings. I like them, but if you look at the pictures, those are both 3 gallon fabric pots with a diameter of about 9-10". The one on the left is a 6" ring and the one on the right is a 9" ring. The 9" ring is too big, even though it fits perfectly, but you only get water dripping out of the periphery of the pot.

Thanks again you all...... I'm going to set up the pump system up for my vegging plants and just attach the ring whenever it gets here!!
 

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They look awesome man :) ur doin everything right. The cediments at the bottom is normal it's bound to happen I get the same thing it's all the larger minerals that settle to the bottom iron calcium ect... the air stones will help keep that circulating but if u find it still happening get ur self some cali Meg and amino acids. The amino acids will open the ion chancels in the cells to allow for quicker uptake of calcium and trace minerals. But if ur not noticeing deficincys don't worry about it but if ur useing cal Meg u should alsways use amino acids a very gd brand is npk industrys there cheap organic and definitly get ur money's worth
 
Thank you Tyler!! I had no idea about amino acids role in the ion channels. I believe that the super advertising magic mumbo jumbo AN puts out there mentions that they have amino acids in their products. So maybe that's why I'm ok. At least I know it's not my bennies dying out.

What are your thoughts on feed water schedule for coco coir? Reading around, I've come to realize that there are two camps of folks.
1. Water with low ppm nutrient solution everyday or multiple times a day.
2. Water with higher ppm 1 day. Next day plain ph'ed water. Repeat.

Ive tried both but I am not experienced enough to know a difference.
 
I think it's better to to water with a ppm of about 800ppm and flood and dry method water ur soil till 15percent or so runs out then wait till it's dry on a scale of 10 (2-3 out of 10 for dryness) then feed again. Some people say feed then water but I prefer to feed every watering at a ppm of 800ish. I find this method very effective. Also all ur bio stimulants are extreamly helpfull.
 
I feel if u feed with little nutes ur not getting the most outa ur plants and if u feed at high ppm ur stressing ur plant to much. Unless ur giveing each nute it's own doesage. But if ur useing bottled stuff (fox farm emerald harvest ect...) then u want about 800ppm but if ur useing raw nutes meaning ur suplying ur own npk levels then u can have a higher ppm because ur giveing ur plant more of what it needs. For example potasium (k) is ment for metabolism and usage of energy so usualy potasium gets used way quicker than nitrogen if ur suplimenting with co2 and high light levels. So u can add more (K) if ur supplimenting seperatly meaning a higher ppm but for only what the plant needs. Most people see a potasium def and add a jug of nutes when it doesn't need nitrogen or phausphous. So when useing jug stuff a lower ppm around 800 is much better because u can feed it more often and not over fertilize because if u over fertalize and even without nute burn ur plant will start to shut down because it's stressed about p,n. Then there's a whole other story on microbes but that's how I feel about ppm lol 800-1000 is max in my opinion
 
tyler_ hobbyist said:
I feel if u feed with little nutes ur not getting the most outa ur plants and if u feed at high ppm ur stressing ur plant to much. Unless ur giveing each nute it's own doesage. But if ur useing bottled stuff (fox farm emerald harvest ect...) then u want about 800ppm but if ur useing raw nutes meaning ur suplying ur own npk levels then u can have a higher ppm because ur giveing ur plant more of what it needs. For example potasium (k) is ment for metabolism and usage of energy so usualy potasium gets used way quicker than nitrogen if ur suplimenting with co2 and high light levels. So u can add more (K) if ur supplimenting seperatly meaning a higher ppm but for only what the plant needs. Most people see a potasium def and add a jug of nutes when it doesn't need nitrogen or phausphous. So when useing jug stuff a lower ppm around 800 is much better because u can feed it more often and not over fertilize because if u over fertalize and even without nute burn ur plant will start to shut down because it's stressed about p,n. Then there's a whole other story on microbes but that's how I feel about ppm lol 800-1000 is max in my opinion
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I'm sorry tyler..... !!! I didn't mean how you feel about 800 ppms..... I meant how you felt about the water/feed schedule.

1. water at lower ppms every day or multiple times a day
2. water with higher ppm nutes but do a feed - water - feed, basically every other day.

How do you do yours?

I totally get you with the Raw Nutes, but I just don't know enough about botany to know which raw element to use to add what to what...... don't get me wrong, a long time ago, i graduated a chemist. (don't get me started on the bottled nutes..... I know enough chemistry to know that I'm mainly buying water for those prices!!) But I don't know how to formulate any of that shit yet. And have a real job every day stressful day. So, in the meantime..... I have to just trust what's in that damn bottle and the wonderful magical things they say happen (some of their "jargon", like monoxidizing, tetrabonding sites. secret formula for the best benficcials procured from a land far, far away.......) But with just the evenings and early mornings to tend to the plants, and being a new grower..... have to come learn from you folks first...... :)
 
It's all gd man sorry if I rant a bit lol I feel that a medium range of nutes every watering. And I find that every other day is a better method so the microbes and plant chemistry can utilize what u give her.
 
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