Drip Schedule For Top-flow Irrigation

[CairnSetter]

I started 2 bag seeds in their own 3 gallon Smart Pots (breathable fabric) filled with some Root Organics soil a week ago and had been watering/misting them, but yesterday I finally got my gravity fed top-feed drip irrigation set up. Right now I have one emitter next dripping once every 5 seconds or so next to each seedling, being fed tap water (rested for 24+ hrs to let Cl gas off) from an aerated 2 gallon reservoir.

They're just under some CFLs in my closet, so it's difficult to maintain temperature and humidity beyond what the climate/house allows. Temperature holds around 75* and will probably rise as I add more lights and Spring rolls in. Unfortunately I can't really get my humidity above 40% because of how dry it is at 9,000ft in the Colorado Rockies. Drip irrigation appealed to me because I hope it will help keep the soil moist day to day and will work when I'm away for several nights at a time as camping season begins.

What will I need to do when the plants start getting properly thirsty? Right now I'm just trying to keep the soil moist around the seedlings, but I'm not sure how to set it going forward (especially since this is my first grow). I don't know whether to maintain a constant but slow drip rate, or if I should do intermittent but faster waterings and letting the soil wick up runoff from the tray in between. The soil drying out is definitely something I'll be watching for in this dry air, so I'd like to be able to use the irrigation system to compensate for the climate.
I'm also unsure of how to modify a feeding schedule for use with drip irrigation (especially continuous drip). I'll be using some Root Organics fertilizer my grow shop gave me as a freebie (Buddha Grow, Buddha Bloom, Trinity, and Recharge microbe supplement).

I hope to have a grow log and pictures of my setup posted later this week, but I'd love to hear your advice in the meantime! TIA

 

[Wolfe]

If I were you I would ditch the drip system after you get sprouts and use a pump and plant stakes with an air check valve to stop the syphon. And use timers to regulate the amount of water you want. That way when the plants get bigger you just add more time. You can order seconds timers online. Make sure every hose going to each plant is the same size. One main hose 1/2 inch or so and the other hoses you attach with connector barbs is 1/8 in I think...Order the proper size pump for the amount of plants and size of plants/distance you are going to run. Longer watering line/bigger pots= bigger pump. Ditch bottled nutes. And start with something that has all the nutrients in it to sustain 30 or more days without nutrients I use a super soil mix that can prob go 60 days with no added nutes as a
starter medium. Then transplant to super soil. On bigger pots sometimes 2 watering stakes per plant works better. Test it and see how much water comes out the bottom of any. You can dial it in to where none will come out the bottom but it gets plenty of water also. If done right it works like a charm practically maintenance free. Too each their own though. I'm just telling you what works for me. And this system just rooted clones for me also with 98 percent success rating in its first test. About to test a couple seed in it also. And beware some retailers at grow shops want to push the most expensive products but you don't need to pour money on it to get good results.