Drip irrigation or DWC bucket

[Timhomegrow]

Hi all,

I'm starting to think ahead for my next grow, I have only done soil and hand watering and the watering is getting old . And as Covid seems to get under control I'll be traveling more for work and may be gone once in a while for 5-7 days at a time.

Will those DWC buckets last 5-7 days without needing refilling?

The other thing I'm thinking of is a drip irrigation system with a drip ring. From what I've read I'll need the rings, hoses, reservoir, pump, timer and an anti-siphon value. How big of a reservoir for up to 4 plants in 7gal soil containers? Thinking 15-20 gals.

Can that system go for 5-7 days away from home?

Anything I'm missing? Suggestions on products or grow journals showing the ins and outs of a drip system? Pitfalls of a drip system?

I know it's alot....thanks

 

[dick23rk]

Imo, if you could be be gone anymore than a full day, don't go with hydro. Things can change in a the matter of hours in a dwc bucket if something changes like a ph swing, lots of water uptake in flower.

Go with a drip irrigation system and stay in soil or soilless mixes is my best suggestion. If a problem comes up that way, it will take longer to show and progress than in hydro applications.

Hope this helps.

 

[dick23rk]

As for time on the the drip system. It's all in how often you really need to feed in 7gallon pots. This will also depend on your medium of choice, coco needs watering every day or 2, so will require more water. 4 x 7 gallon pots over a week in coco for example, feeding a gallon to each a day is 28 gallons a week, but coco will likely need more. So soil or a peat mix may be best.

There's just so many variables depending on that you choose to use that makes up how big of a res you need. Then you need to think about a way to keep that after moving so your nutrients don't settle if using bottled nutes.

 

[Timhomegrow]

As for time on the the drip system. It's all in how often you really need to feed in 7gallon pots. This will also depend on your medium of choice, coco needs watering every day or 2, so will require more water. 4 x 7 gallon pots over a week in coco for example, feeding a gallon to each a day is 28 gallons a week, but coco will likely need more. So soil or a peat mix may be best.

There's just so many variables depending on that you choose to use that makes up how big of a res you need. Then you need to think about a way to keep that after moving so your nutrients don't settle if using bottled nutes.

I use about 8gal every watering for four plants, so I'm thinking 15-20 gal reservoir. I'm going to out a bubbler or air stone in the reservoir as well.

 

[dick23rk]

Sounds good then. If you knew you would be home more often hydro is always great to get into. You could always try out hempy buckets, it's passive hydro. If you add vermiculite to the mix it will have some water retention. I have an old hempy journal I will link for you and there's lots of other on this forum too. It's a good way to get introduced to hydro before dwc and could still be set up on a drip system as long as you have catch pans under the containers.

Dick23rk's 1st Journal - 1st Hempy - CKS Autoflower Candy Cane & Amnesia Haze - 2016

Hey everyone. This will be my first grow journal, decided to do one since I got some seeds from CropKingSeeds. All my previous grows have been different bag seeds with decent success rates in soil. Now I am moving on to HempyBuckets to further my experience and hopefully keep things more simple...

www.420magazine.com

 

[XiwsX561]

Hi all,

I'm starting to think ahead for my next grow, I have only done soil and hand watering and the watering is getting old . And as Covid seems to get under control I'll be traveling more for work and may be gone once in a while for 5-7 days at a time.

Will those DWC buckets last 5-7 days without needing refilling?

The other thing I'm thinking of is a drip irrigation system with a drip ring. From what I've read I'll need the rings, hoses, reservoir, pump, timer and an anti-siphon value. How big of a reservoir for up to 4 plants in 7gal soil containers? Thinking 15-20 gals.

Can that system go for 5-7 days away from home?

Anything I'm missing? Suggestions on products or grow journals showing the ins and outs of a drip system? Pitfalls of a drip system?

I know it's alot....thanks

IF you go dwc it's going to cost some money to make it where u can leave 5-7 days. Your basic 5gal dwc really only holds 3.5 gal to the bottom of a 6 inch net pot and towards the end of veg with a combo of evaporation and them drinking was a gallon plus a day. So you would need a 2nd reservoir to keep it topped off. And you usually dump and remake a new batch of nutes every 7 to 10 days. And small reservoir the one they are in ph can drop or go up outa range by as much as 1-2 points something like bluelabs think it's call ph doser but it's like 700 dollars but makes life with dwc a dream get it with the connect and control with ur phone.
Drip can be done but recommend emitters or halos dialing I'd the pain in the butt part. How much how often. Again who's there without a doser to check ph?