Any recommendations on emitters or top sprayers for auto feeding coco

1ManTeam

Active Member
I currently installed a whole system for automated feeding. I have now is the floraflex round matrix which is a pain in the ass to dial in. The pot don’t get fully saturated and some are getting less water. All the lines are the same size, the manifold is open flow so no clogs. I rather hand watering then to deal with this lol. Also the water lingering on top of the round matrix smh
 

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oill

Well-Known Member
I currently installed a whole system for automated feeding. I have now is the floraflex round matrix which is a pain in the ass to dial in. The pot don’t get fully saturated and some are getting less water. All the lines are the same size, the manifold is open flow so no clogs. I rather hand watering then to deal with this lol. Also the water lingering on top of the round matrix smh
I have these too but I'm actually just using dripper stakes now... 5 per pot.

What you can do is have no end on the lines and cable tile the lines to the edge of the disk. You'll need 4 of 5 per pot to get even distribution. You need to make sure they are totally flat... which is hard when the coco hasn't bedded down yet.

Imo... the disks are a good idea and I'm sure they help block light to the roots and help make.kost of the pot space with extra roots... but the unevenness is a pain in the ass.
 

1ManTeam

Active Member
I have these too but I'm actually just using dripper stakes now... 5 per pot.

What you can do is have no end on the lines and cable tile the lines to the edge of the disk. You'll need 4 of 5 per pot to get even distribution. You need to make sure they are totally flat... which is hard when the coco hasn't bedded down yet.

Imo... the disks are a good idea and I'm sure they help block light to the roots and help make.kost of the pot space with extra roots... but the unevenness is a pain in the ass.
Sounds exactly wat I’m going through, I have 17 plants and 2 manifolds at the moment which only covers 16. Thinking of running open lines two on each pot but don’t know how it would saturate the pot evenly. And what size pots u running?
 

oill

Well-Known Member
Sounds exactly wat I’m going through, I have 17 plants and 2 manifolds at the moment which only covers 16. Thinking of running open lines two on each pot but don’t know how it would saturate the pot evenly. And what size pots ?
I currently have 2 tents... both with 5 pots each and 2 manifolds each. And each manifold has 16 lines... so 32 lines per tent....

So I have 6 lines going to each plant... and then on the end I have dripper stakes... no disks at the moment.

Coz I'm using slightly smaller pots in not using the disks at the moment. But when I was I just took the dripper stakes off and tied the lines to the disk. Floraflex make some clips you can use too.

What manifold are you using? Any pics of the setup?
What I'm guessing is you need either more manifolds and lines.... OR... youcneed a bigger pump to give stronger pressure
 

1ManTeam

Active Member
I use open lines attached to aquarium manifolds. Still fiddling to be done for flow adjustment.

View attachment 4783982View attachment 4783983

Hydro halos are my favorite for 3gal or larger.
I was also looking at those square caps, the holes are much larger than the round ones. Water sits on top of the round matrix that requires u to buy the pads lol. I like the aquarium manifold btw. I might have to swap for the square ones. What size pots are those and size square caps
 
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TintEastwood

Well-Known Member
I was also looking at those square caps, the holes are much larger than the round ones. Water sits on top of the round matrix that requires u to buy the pads lol. I like the aquarium manifold btw. I might have to swap for the square ones. What size pots are those and size square caps
4in for 1gallon.
6in for 2 or 3 gallon. (May not fit all 2gallon....i found)

Prefer the 6in with dual lines.

Keeping them level is key. Especially if pots are not level due to slight slant of the tray for drainage.

A more powerful submersible pump helps keep the port flow more even.
 

oill

Well-Known Member
I have a Wayne 1/2 hp sub pump, everything floraflex @oill
So when you run them... do they start to fill up?

When I had it set up like this... I had 2 lines going in... one each side...not one split. I just don't think you are getting the water to the trays quick enough... you want the trays to start filling and then it spreads more
 

1ManTeam

Active Member
So when you run them... do they start to fill up?

When I had it set up like this... I had 2 lines going in... one each side...not one split. I just don't think you are getting the water to the trays quick enough... you want the trays to start filling and then it spreads more
Ya they start filling quick but there’s like two that lacks, u think 1/2 hp sub pump is too weak? I thought it would do the trick . Maybe I do need a more powerful one
 

oill

Well-Known Member
I have a Wayne 1/2 hp sub pump, everything floraflex @oill
You only have 1 line into each... I think you need 2. I would almost be tempted to add another pump and another manifold... each plant gets one from each manifold... then if something goes wrong you are still getting water to them.... and you would have good flow.

Alternative is to just switch to stakes.
 

1ManTeam

Active Member
You only have 1 line into each... I think you need 2. I would almost be tempted to add another pump and another manifold... each plant gets one from each manifold... then if something goes wrong you are still getting water to them.... and you would have good flow.

Alternative is to just switch to stakes.
Ya I have one line that splits into two, maybe an upgrade on the pump will do. Tbh I like the square caps, the holes are much bigger
 

oill

Well-Known Member
Ya I have one line that splits into two, maybe an upgrade on the pump will do. Tbh I like the square caps, the holes are much bigger
Not sure that will help much... they will only fit the centre and you still won't have enough flow.

Maybe the pump might work
 

PJ Diaz

Well-Known Member
I just use 1gpm or 2gpm pressure compensating dip emitters, 2 per plant for better coverage and also in case one clogs. They drip slow, and coco wicks well, so I'm not concerned about even coverage. I used to do 4 emitters per plant, but this seems to work fine.

20200716_114517.jpg
 

1ManTeam

Active Member
Same setup, I’ll jus get a bigger pump and it it doesn’t work I’ll jus take it back
Tthanks for the help I’ll keep posting
 
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