A little something on DIY drip setups and manifolds

[cemchris]

So for a long time I have been running the home depot special 6 outlet manifolds. Well about 4 days ago I ended up having to go through about 5 of these before I found one that didn't have at least 1 drip site clogged. I don't know what changed or if I have been going through a bad batch or whatever but I'm done with them.

So now I got these to try out. Fantastic. Cheap. Think Amazon has them. They work great. Save yourself the headache and just get these from the start.

 

[oldskol4evr]

i seen that same one at home depot,didnt buy it,seemed like a accident waiting to happen,im starting to lean towards drip tape for my garden,plant were the water comes threw the soil,that shit high dollar but last up to 5 yrs under ground

 

[cemchris]

Yeah. I never had any issues with them till about a month ago when I started redoing all my drip manifolds. After seeing the strikeouts in a row not even worth the time. Since I bleach my tables and rooms PVC is kind of the only solution I want to use. Too much time messing with hole punches and lines into flex tubing.

 

[oldskol4evr]

Yeah. I never had any issues with them till about a month ago when I started redoing all my drip manifolds. After seeing the strikeouts in a row not even worth the time. Since I bleach my tables and rooms PVC is kind of the only solution I want to use. Too much time messing with hole punches and lines into flex tubing.

check out hosstools,the drip tape looks very interesting especailly for no till beds and such

 

[Dirtbag]

I'm shopping for supplies today and gonna see if I can find these. So they just have a 1/2" threaded female fitting?

I think you just saved me some fukkin around. I was thinking about using 1/2" PVC for my irrigation line instead of the shitty black thinwall irrigation tubing, this cements that decision.

 

[cemchris]

I'm shopping for supplies today and gonna see if I can find these. So they just have a 1/2" threaded female fitting?

I think you just saved me some fukkin around. I was thinking about using 1/2" PVC for my irrigation line instead of the shitty black thinwall irrigation tubing, this cements that decision.

Yes

Yeah the nice thing about going 1/2in or 3/4 in is most sprinkler components are geared directly to that. Lets you take a lot of shortcuts like precut threaded risers ect.

If you can't find them locally the rainbirds are on amazon. I have some huge Rainbird/Toro dealers near me so I luck out.

There is always the Floraflex ones if you are feeling like a baller haha.

 

[Dirtbag]

Yes

Yeah the nice thing about going 1/2in or 3/4 in is most sprinkler components are geared directly to that. Lets you take a lot of shortcuts like precut threaded risers ect.

If you can't find them locally the rainbirds are on amazon. I have some huge Rainbird/Toro dealers near me so I luck out.

There is always the Floraflex ones if you are feeling like a baller haha.

Lol my local hydro stores didnt have any rainbird stuff, Canadian tire used to have them but they've been discontinued apparently.

The floraflex.. lol, my local only carries cheap floraflex knockoffs. But octabubblers are pretty much the only manifold they carry. Seems to be all people use around here, but a but overkill for my setup. And expensive.

 

[Smoking Gun]

I used ones frome home depot about 10 years ago when I set up a vertical veg area. They were a real game changer. Ultimately I would never blame a clog on the tool, but there are some options that are definitely better than others.

@cemchris, are you still using Flora Nova nutes?

 

[cemchris]

I used ones frome home depot about 10 years ago when I set up a vertical veg area. They were a real game changer. Ultimately I would never blame a clog on the tool, but there are some options that are definitely better than others.

@cemchris, are you still using Flora Nova nutes?

No. Been quite a while. I was using Ebb tables when I was. Was concerned for the sluginess of the nutes in the rez but had no problems with them (no stones or pumps recircing) minus having to scrub the rezs more often. Something like drip and nova I would prob just use 3 part. Even 1/4 line I would worry about buildup with it unless you are running a filter.

 

[Smoking Gun]

No. Been quite a while. I was using Ebb tables when I was. Was concerned for the sluginess of the nutes in the rez but had no problems with them (no stones or pumps recircing) minus having to scrub the rezs more often. Something like drip and nova I would prob just use 3 part. Even 1/4 line I would worry about buildup with it unless you are running a filter.

Makes sense. I like the Flora Nova nutes, but would not use them in a reservoir.

 

[cemchris]

Makes sense. I like the Flora Nova nutes, but would not use them in a reservoir.

Same page as you

 

[Dirtbag]

@cemchris do you just rely on H2O2 for oxygen? or do you run an airstone or flooming pump for the res with the dtw in wool/coco?

I havent aerated my res in decades, I usually just make a fresh res for each feeding and hit them with an aerating rose on the wand. But now switching to wool I'll have a res sitting for about 3 days between refills in peak use. Thinking I'll probably run an airstone in it.

 

[cemchris]

@cemchris do you just rely on H2O2 for oxygen? or do you run an airstone or flooming pump for the res with the dtw in wool/coco?

I havent aerated my res in decades, I usually just make a fresh res for each feeding and hit them with an aerating rose on the wand. But now switching to wool I'll have a res sitting for about 3 days between refills in peak use. Thinking I'll probably run an airstone in it.

Nope H202 is there just to combat potential rockwool root problems with not having the system dialed 100% on water times. I run a bunch of different strains at different heights so the tuning would just be a headache if I didnt find a middle ground for everything. I dropped the H202 in my coco rooms (1 wool room left in flower) and will use the rest to clean after this. Don't have that worry in my coco rooms. Wool is just a lot more picky with this kind of stuff since it holds on to water a lot more then coco. I'm blowing through 40 gals of veg nutes in about 2-3 days now with the coco with veg not even running full tilt atm.. Just contacted Dosatron and finally biting the bullet on that route.

Oxygen isnt a worry for me since I'm top feeding and get plenty of that action on the feeds. That is only really needed for stuff like DWC where your roots are sitting in the feed 24/7. Airstones and pumps in the rez will only accomplish me having to mess with the PH and a lot more management of the rez vs now where I set it at mix and dont even have to check it the whole time nutes are in the rez. Not to mention I don't want to be adding extra P to my mix every time I have to dose it down.

 

[cemchris]

Just to focus on this a little more from the above post. Strait non stacked cubes get a serious root mat between the table surface and the bottom of the cube. This is where you can run into potential problems and why I always ran H202 with it. Also will fill any drainage ways and sit in nutes sometimes. Just the extra precaution and for that never had an issue.

Your biggest worry in wool is aphids. Always become religious of checking the bottom of the cubes. I never had to deal with them at the house but after seeing some of it with rockwool in the warehouses it has always been my biggest fear. Perfect enviro for them. Would also tear apart a some cubes after a run to check.

 

[Dirtbag]

Root aphids suck. Thanks for the heads up on that.
I'm considering getting the little plastic, floraflex type knockoff grate tray things to sit the rockwool on so they dont sag into the drain tray. They're cheap and a one time Investment.. Might help to contain the root mat?

 

[cemchris]

Ive been using the plastic 2x4 drop ceiling grates for lights. I just break a corner off them and get them half price for being damaged shhhh

 

[JadedMarxist]

Use rainbird brand they are the leaders In crop irrigation.
It's all I use as I'm a select contractor unfortunately at the depot even the rainbird is only diy grade but rainbird has been in the game since the very beginning of automated irrigation.
Are you using a manual valve like the faucet or are you using an electric valve with a timer?

Rain irrigation also sells inline filters and pressure regulating valves to extend the life of the infrastructure.

Rainbird even sells fertilizer injection systems

 

[RootsRuler]

Rainbird 8 port

 

[GrimReffer]

Raised this one from the dead flora flex is super cheap and never clogged on me.. just saying

 

[PahPahCee]

I just got done building out a drip set up. Took forever but I’m stoked. It’s 3 of the rain bird 8 port manifolds on an inline pump.