DIY drip system DTW

[jondamon]

Evening all.

I wanted to share a DIY drip feed DTW system I’ve built with some help from others on RIU. Namely @myke.

I built this system to water 2 plants in 18L pots of 100% coco as many times I needed on a 15 minute segmental timer.

let’s go over some parts.

SUPPLY + DELIVERY RING COMPONENTS

13mm Flexi and Rigid Pipe ( I utilise long side as rigid pipe and short side as flexi pipe )

13mm Flexi pipe from ring to reservoir

13mm Barbed Elbows x5 to Create the ring and the supply out of RES.

13mm Barbed Tee x1 to create the supply connection.

13mm barbed Valve to isolate ring if needed or to drain the res (you’ll see why I say drain the res later)

4mm Flexi pipe for drippers

4x Adjustable schrubbler type drippers or PC emitters

4x micro tubing stakes/pegs

13mm Pipe stakes for securing ring if needed.

4mm hole punch tool for making holes for 4mm dripper lines.

4mm straight connectors

 

[jondamon]

Construct your delivery ring loop similarly to this using the above and leave the valve off the line for now.

make sure you lay it out however you want it to run around your plants.


Use the 4mm hole punch to make holes In your tubing.

Add 4mm connectors and your 4mm flexi hose and then drippers as you need them.

 

[jondamon]

I chose a 60L black tote with click lock lid as my reservoir.

Drill a hole in the lid that is 16mm diameter wherever you want your feed tube to be.

 

[jondamon]

THE PUMP

I chose a Hailea HX1500 submersible pump because it was cheap £10.

 

[jondamon]

Feed some 13mm flexi tubing through the lid and connect your pump so that it sits on the bottom of your tote.

Cut the flexi out the top of the tote so there is a small amount of spare and add a 13mm barbed elbow.

this will go to your drip ring supply line.

once it’s all connected we will add valves and bypass runoff to the system.

 

[jondamon]

Mount your drip ring however you want it using the 13mm Stakes anchored into your medium.

Use the micro pipe stakes to hold the drippers etc.

 

[jondamon]

Next we will add the valves and back pressure bypass.

We are going use these parts.



and we are going to fit them like this.



Simples



now if we want to drain the res we can close the supply valve and connect our hose to the bypass runoff barbed end where the angled cut pipe is.

 

[jondamon]

Next it’s times to turn on the system.

Start with

RED DRIPPERS CLOSED

BYPASS FULLY OPEN

VALVE FULLY OPEN



Switch on.

open the drippers to see if any flow begins

if no flow leave them open.

go to the bypass runoff valve and begin to slowly close it until you get flow coming out of the RED DRIPPERS.

Close up the RED DRIPPERS until you are happy with the flow.

The next thing then is timing drip rates etc to see how long it takes at certain flow rates to obtain your desired runoff.

I timed mine on click 3-5 from being closed on the RED DRIPPERS to obtain runoff within 15mins.

this does change over time though and you may need to open them or close them or increase irrigation amounts per day.

I’m currently delivering 5x feeds per day.

 

[jondamon]

Next update in a few weeks once the res isn’t in use will be water level indicator on the outside of the tote.

 

[Sk-one]

Looks good! I love to see how people come up with creative ways to make their grow easier.

 

[jondamon]

Finally part of the puzzle has just arrived!

Hard to believe I couldn’t find the parts under £9 to make this myself but the bulk head adaptor I couldn’t find for under £6.

the tubing would have been £3 for 2m of tube lol.

then I would have also needed an elbow attachment for the bulk head I found £2.50.

then I rubber seals the correct size £2.

so as you can see I could have made this DIY but would have cost more than the £8.95 for the kit.

 

[jondamon]

Just the elbow and additional rubber seal!

 

[jondamon]

@MidnightSun72 @Star Dog thought you might like this for anyone else who’s interested in DTW drip system.

 

[Star Dog]

Thanks for sharing Jon I have considered re designing the feed system and I enjoy a new project around my grow.
I'll be cutting my plant down over the next week or so, I'll snap a few pics of the plumbing and let you see it, it's simple but wets them reliably.

I think a timer with second increments would be a big help to any automated system, during heavy veg the constant run off adjustments is a pain, being able to add 5/10/20% at the timer would be super.
Im going to need to get one for the next crop.

 

[MidnightSun72]

@MidnightSun72 @Star Dog thought you might like this for anyone else who’s interested in DTW drip system.

I just got some pumps yesterday to start fucking with a pressure compensated drip system. Looking at the floraflex ones since they already come two stakes to one pressure compensator.

 

[jondamon]

I’m going to look for a 25mm hole saw in work tomorrow.

Tote is around 1/4 full.

might use it as an excuse to fit this lol.

 

[rkymtnman]

nice work.

mine is even simpler in that i skipped the emitters. i just put a brass tee on the end of each feed line as a weight to hold it down. one less thing to clog was my thinking.

 

[jondamon]

nice work.

mine is even simpler in that i skipped the emitters. i just put a brass tee on the end of each feed line as a weight to hold it down. one less thing to clog was my thinking.

I need the emitters on mine or the flow is too much for the timer I’m using.

that’s why I’ve purchased some 8LPH emitters and will most likely buy the 2LPH and 4LPH emitters also to have on hand.

thinking 8 litres per hour each emitter.

15min feeding time is 1/4 of an hour.

8/4= 2 litres per 15mins x2 emitters per plant = 4 litres of feed for that 15mins.

18L pots and 4 litres is perfect for a good 20% runoff.

the others emitters will allow me to control further and can have 2 different emitters in each plant if needed.

Eventually I’ll most likely get a more advanced timer. Such as the TIME+R and have a quick flow rate over some floraflex plates for dispersal.

 

[jondamon]

Diamonds anyone?

Lol.

tote is being removed and adapted tonight then tested to make sure it’s not leaking!

 

[jondamon]

Hole cut.

clean up hole with sandpaper.

clean and dry the tote.

rubber seal on each side of the tote and tighten up until snug.

No need to over tighten.

add tube clip to area to keep water tube vertical.

Test!

30mins with level of water above water indicator intake.