Smartpots drain to waste with top feeders

Currently hand watering with soil in vinyl 5 gal post with amendment free soil. want to make this more automated so I am interested in putting in top feeder and hooking them up to a res. I would run the system once a day durring the begining of the light cycle in Smartpots and let them drain exces water. A big problem is, Im not sure what to put under the smart pots to gather water when they leak after being saturated with waste water. I thought about putting them up on tables but I dont have the height to move them up more than 6 inches.

How much do the smart pots leak water? would kiddy pools work for this if there wasnt to much waste water?

Also not sure if I should be changing my mix to a more porous medium if I am going to be top feeding.

So, basically anyone with any information about Smartpots I would like to hear your two cents. Thanks!

This isn't exactly my area of expertise, but I did however see someone using that white plastic lining to handle the run-off waste water. He covered the floor of his grow room with the lining and somehow slanted the floor at like a 5-10 degree angle so that all the waste water would simply just run down to the one side of the room and out a drain. You may be able to get by with not slanting the floor and just the lining, but you'll probably end up ghetto rigging a few things.

UncleReemis said:

This isn't exactly my area of expertise, but I did however see someone using that white plastic lining to handle the run-off waste water. He covered the floor of his grow room with the lining and somehow slanted the floor at like a 5-10 degree angle so that all the waste water would simply just run down to the one side of the room and out a drain. You may be able to get by with not slanting the floor and just the lining, but you'll probably end up ghetto rigging a few things.

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is the lining you are talking about panda paper? This sounds a lot like what I have in mind, but I have not figured out how to create the angle on the floor. Im sure I can "ghetto" rig a few things like you said, but Id like to have it be solid so I can leave it for a few days at a time, hence why I want to automate this whole thing and eliminate the hand watering.

hugaddiction said:

is the lining you are talking about panda paper? This sounds a lot like what I have in mind, but I have not figured out how to create the angle on the floor. Im sure I can "ghetto" rig a few things like you said, but Id like to have it be solid so I can leave it for a few days at a time, hence why I want to automate this whole thing and eliminate the hand watering.

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Panda paper? I mean... it's sometimes white on one side and black on the other... but I've never heard of it called that, hah. It's just plastic, light-proofed and water-proofed lining. It's similar to tarp but less crinkly. You could build a, let's say for example, 5' x 10' x 1" ramp, staple down the lining, and simply set the pots on the ramp. You'd want to place the ramp (or slightly slanted platform) against a wall. Hell of a lot easier than slanting the actual floor lol, but still some work and it probably isn't necessary granted you find another method. So yeah, good luck with your ambitions and definitely post anything worth posting.

UncleReemis said:

Panda paper? I mean... it's sometimes white on one side and black on the other... but I've never heard of it called that, hah. It's just plastic, light-proofed and water-proofed lining. It's similar to tarp but less crinkly. You could build a, let's say for example, 5' x 10' x 1" ramp, staple down the lining, and simply set the pots on the ramp. You'd want to place the ramp (or slightly slanted platform) against a wall. Hell of a lot easier than slanting the actual floor lol, but still some work and it probably isn't necessary granted you find another method. So yeah, good luck with your ambitions and definitely post anything worth posting.

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holy shit! this is fucking good, I didnt even think of using the wall to lean the platform on. This is starting to sound a lot easier, I just need to figure out how to do it with 3 separate reservoirs so that I can keep my harvests staggered. hmmm...

i use 3 gal smart pots in a homemade 3x3 e&f tub with a 10 gal res. underneath plants are grown in coco i flood once daily with the pump on a timer its a reliable set up this grow im using soil but ill still flood from the bottom just like i did in the coco but i wont flood every day

Moving thread to drain to waste section...

hellraizer30 said:

Moving thread to drain to waste section...

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sounds perfect thanks

horribleherk said:

View attachment 2681412View attachment 2681413i use 3 gal smart pots in a homemade 3x3 e&f tub with a 10 gal res. underneath plants are grown in coco i flood once daily with the pump on a timer its a reliable set up this grow im using soil but ill still flood from the bottom just like i did in the coco but i wont flood every day

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This sounds like what Im thinking but ona small scale. I would like to use the 10gal smart pots x4 on a 4x6 table under 2x1k HIDs, 40 or 50 gal res.

Why coco for your medium? have you tried anything else?

Yep tryed almost everything under the sun and coco with smartpots rule.....

I run hempy's and for collecting drainage I use a 4'x4' cheap flood tray, I've got it placed on a pallet, and have the pallet shimmed up on 4x4's to drain to the front left corner. This takes up about 7" to 8", in the photo you'll see a red tray I use to catch runoff. I've upgraded this and now have a 48qt tray I slide under the pallet.

^ How much did that tray run you? My local store has 'em for $65, but using two under-bed storage totes (62L?) is tempting for only like $40 + drain fittings. But then you can't easily place anything in the center...

The tray was in the mid $60 range, it's rather flimsy, so the pallet supports it well. There are more pricy but more rigid trays that could take 3 1/2" out of the shimming equation.

hugaddiction said:

This sounds like what Im thinking but ona small scale. I would like to use the 10gal smart pots x4 on a 4x6 table under 2x1k HIDs, 40 or 50 gal res.

Why coco for your medium? have you tried anything else?

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Yeah, I don't like the idea of putting them in tubs either. ;P And for this, I would just install a drip line system, if you're using the table/ramp that is and not the tub. The reason why I say this is because I'm not sure if you're thinking of building short walls on the sides of the ramp/table so you actually COULD flood it then drain it, and because I'm high.. But a drip line system can be just as effective and it will be way more simplistic in this case.

Im leaning toward abandoning my attept at being creative and just buying an "ebb and grow". My buddy has one that kicks ass, but its fucking retardedly expensive, and actually requires quite a bit of maintenance.

hugaddiction said:

Im leaning toward abandoning my attept at being creative and just buying an "ebb and grow". My buddy has one that kicks ass, but its fucking retardedly expensive, and actually requires quite a bit of maintenance.

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You could always try Hempy. Inexpensive, easy, lot's of size options, and low maintenance, just a thought.