Self watering system

[MaPilot]

Looks like I'm going out of town for two weeks right about when my new plants will be entering flower. I don't have anyone I trust to water them as needed. Does anyone know of a good watering system that could work in this case?

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Tub
Fountain pump
Hose and drippers

Air pump
Air stone

Timer

Done

 

[multiVortex]

What's your grow medium? There are several options overall. Some are budget friendly, some not so much.

What nutrient line, or are you in a soil with just water?

Two weeks is a good bit to be away from the plants. Are you training them at all?


In general, Auto pots would be worth a look. It will run you a few bucks, but in the long run definitely a good option. It will even come in handy when you're home as well. So at least it wouldn't be one of those "once in a while" use things, so the money is well spent there.

The system comes with a 12gal res, that bottom waters your plants as they need it. For an extended period of time, you may need to extend the res (which is pretty easy, really) with an extra res, but that would depend on how many plants and how much they are drinking.

I looked real hard at the autopot for occasional coco grows. I still may, but for now I've decided to keep the cash for other stuff. If I change my mind, autopot will be exactly where I head to.

Now, as you already have plants in pots of some sort, things are a tick different. That's neither bad nor good, but you may need to get a tick creative.

Another option would be an external res with a pump on a timer. Small pump (like $15 or so), good timer (about $20, give or take), 1/2" flexible tubing,1/4" flexible tubing, and some drip emitters. You would need to absolutely know how much and how often you need to water. Then you tweak it back just a bit for safety. Figure out how much water it takes to just get a trickle of run-off, then how long it takes the drippers to saturate the soil. Set the timer for just short of that time, and then for frequency. Getting setup like that is probably about $70-$80 all in. Depending on particular parts, etc.

I'm considering setting up something similar for my occasional coco stuff, but I already have everything I needed to do it (sans a good timer that arrived Wednesday) from using micro sprinklers and drippers for my outdoor garden and landscaping.

 

[MaPilot]

Yeah, I'm growing in Happy Frog, Just planted them today, so I haven't thought about training yet. I have seen auto-drip systems with timers but would hate to overwater in two weeks. I think a soil moisture sensor type system would be best, but the only ones I see are either DIY kits on amazon or way too expensive to make sense.

What do you all think about these bulb type water picks?

 

[multiVortex]

Yeah, I'm growing in Happy Frog, Just planted them today, so I haven't thought about training yet. I have seen auto-drip systems with timers but would hate to overwater in two weeks. I think a soil moisture sensor type system would be best, but the only ones I see are either DIY kits on amazon or way too expensive to make sense.

What do you all think about these bulb type water picks?

Something like that isn't going to even come close to covering a 2-week period.

If you've just now planted, that's good. Damn good really. That means you're at least thinking ahead a bit.

If that's the case, I would absolutely get an autopot system. It's really a nifty system, and should do your situation just right. Not to mention that it will be awesome to have even when you're at home.

How many plants are we talking about here? 2? 4?

A 2-pot system runs about $125, and a 4-pot system about $250. Comes with a 12gal res, and you mix your nutes up and let the res handle the rest.

What it does is via gravity, it will feed into special saucers that hold a special valve. The saucers hold water, and as that water is sucked up by the plant, the water level drops and triggers the valve to refill the saucer.

If you need to you can get a second res, and connect it to the first with bulkhead fittings. Would depend on number of plants, etc.

As you've just planted, moving to a new pot would be OK.


It's not the cheapest option, but it would be the best one overall. Why? Gravity. No timer needed, still works after a power outage, not going to over water your plants, and will be a good peace of mind investment. Not to mention you'll appreciate it even when you're not gone.

The system is impressive. I almost scrapped my RDWC build and switched to this (before considering it for random coco runs) as it's really that impressive. I use sub-irrigation in other things and love it. Let the soil soak up water as it wants, not when you want. It's a great concept in watering, and I've used it with excellent results.

 

[multiVortex]

For reference:

1Pot XL - 100Pot XL Systems (6.6 gal pots) Archives - AutoPot

This page contains all products that are in the 1PotXL category. You will find all products from AutoPot that are 1Pot XL Systems and Kits.

www.autopot-usa.com

 

[MaPilot]

Thank you. I will look into that system. Wish i had waited to plant them now

 

[HydroponicFireman]

Water wicking.

old school....no special supplies...cheap.....easy removed.

 

[multiVortex]

Thank you. I will look into that system. Wish i had waited to plant them now

You'll be fine. There are obviously DIY options that could save you a few bucks. Depends on how handy you are, and good at that kind of thing though. Also it depends on what your time is worth as well. If you had a really large number of plants (like a dozen or more) than I'd recommend buying your own res, lines, pots, and trays. Then just get enough of those airport valves to handle the job. Then you're saving several hundred or more. But for 2-4 plants, you might save $150, but spend a good bit of time putting it all together. More so if you're not overly handy at that kind of stuff.

But you won't have to worry about over watering, under watering, or any of it. Ever. That's the final selling point to me. You'll be able to use this system for a long time. If it were just a one-off deal, I'd point you in another direction for sure. Kind of funny, but I mentioned autopots in another thread a few minutes ago. I'm still (at least a little bit, it seems) trying to convince myself to get some.