Drip irrigation help, please!

A

Adam1303

Member
Hello,

I've been thinking about running a drip irrigation setup and while I have read up about them and understand them quite well I'm yet to find how often to feed and how long to run the setup for. I'm aware it'll vary from pot size and plant stage (seedling, veg and flower) but a brief guide/FAQ would be fantastic.

I'm aware that I'm asking a very broad and vague question, but just a simple explanation from someone who's running a drip irrigation system would give me a MUCH better understanding as to how to run/feed one.

I'm not running your typical clay pebbles or rockwool, I'm using a coco/perlite mix and from what I've read you don't water coco as much or as frequently, seeing as you don't want any run off when using a drip system to avoid over feeding/flooding.. Or so I've read.

Any replies would be greatly appreciated,

Adam.
 
ActionHanks

ActionHanks

Well-Known Member
I'm actually running the exact system you're talking about. 80% perlite 20% coco, the mix is verrry light, but holds water for about 3-4 days in veg, 1/2day -1 day in flower.
How often to water depends on the flow rate of your drip, i have my system running for 2 minutes once every 2 days, but I also tend to check to make sure everything isnt' dry or too wet. Pump failure is a real possibility, and eventually the drip line is going to get clogged.
 
A

Adam1303

Member
ActionHanks said:
I'm actually running the exact system you're talking about. 80% perlite 20% coco, the mix is verrry light, but holds water for about 3-4 days in veg, 1/2day -1 day in flower.
How often to water depends on the flow rate of your drip, i have my system running for 2 minutes once every 2 days, but I also tend to check to make sure everything isnt' dry or too wet. Pump failure is a real possibility, and eventually the drip line is going to get clogged.
Click to expand...
First off thanks for replying, really appreciate it!

What are you using to time it for every 2 days? All of the timers I've seen are 24 hour ones.

Do you run it to the point that the soil is soaking or just moist, because that's my main problem. I guess from what you've said it's pretty much test it and see how long it retains the water/nute solution, then water again when it runs dry?
 
ActionHanks

ActionHanks

Well-Known Member
As far as timers go, keep looking around for a "programable" timer. I found mine in a local hardware store for about 22 bucks. Has a function on it that enables programing by day of the week. Here are two to give you an idea of what they kind of look like
http://www.titancontrols.net/products/timing/apollo-11.aspx
https://apollogateopeners.com/store/digital-7-day-timer-specify-12v-and-24v.html?gclid=CPS2vdHE7sQCFaVj7AodPQ0AYQ

Since coco, perlite, and most other drip mediums are inert, what i do is blend about 70% of the suggested strength of the nutes right into the medium.

Then what i do, is for the first say, 4 week with NO RUN OFF. The medium is so moist there'd probably be run off with the addition of another cup or two of water, but I try to avoid run off in the first month.

Once they've gotten "mature" (you have to decide when that is for your set up), i add 15% of the suggested nutrients, to the water that's going to be coming out of the drip, so i'm watering (dripping) with nutes every watering. Once every 2 weeks I'll do a "flush" where i water with just plain water for about 4 straight days, then again back to 15% of whatever is recommended at stage X
 
B

brimck325

Well-Known Member
Hank, I don't think you should use straight water in coco. If flushing just use a low ppm mix. As long as you keep the medium wet you shouldn't need to flush.
 
A

Adam1303

Member
ActionHanks said:
As far as timers go, keep looking around for a "programable" timer. I found mine in a local hardware store for about 22 bucks. Has a function on it that enables programing by day of the week. Here are two to give you an idea of what they kind of look like
http://www.titancontrols.net/products/timing/apollo-11.aspx
https://apollogateopeners.com/store/digital-7-day-timer-specify-12v-and-24v.html?gclid=CPS2vdHE7sQCFaVj7AodPQ0AYQ

Since coco, perlite, and most other drip mediums are inert, what i do is blend about 70% of the suggested strength of the nutes right into the medium.

Then what i do, is for the first say, 4 week with NO RUN OFF. The medium is so moist there'd probably be run off with the addition of another cup or two of water, but I try to avoid run off in the first month.

Once they've gotten "mature" (you have to decide when that is for your set up), i add 15% of the suggested nutrients, to the water that's going to be coming out of the drip, so i'm watering (dripping) with nutes every watering. Once every 2 weeks I'll do a "flush" where i water with just plain water for about 4 straight days, then again back to 15% of whatever is recommended at stage X
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it. I'll give it a go and I'll post back in a few days/weeks when I have everything I need and I've set it up to let you know how I've got on.

Once again, I really appreciate it and you've helped a newbie out a hell of a lot.
 
A

Adam1303

Member
Just have one more question now.. I've been thinking about buying an air pump to aerate the water but I was wondering if I could put it on a timer to come on 30mins before watering (timer turns the water pump on) and leaving it on throughout watering, or would I have to leave it on all of the time for it to do a better job? Just want confirmation because I'm pretty sure it should do a decent enough job.
 
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