Some help on reservoirs for auto feeding systems.

[Jamiek99]

Hi guys! I am new to growing and I am looking on starting my first grow soon.

I was thinking on going with a simple drop irrigation system (was eyeing up some of FloraFlex’s products) and I see on videos of when people run these systems that they have reservoirs set up. I can’t seem to get my head around it though. For example, if the drip system is feeding for 5 seconds every hour of when the lights are on. How do I work out how much water its using out of the res? How much to fill it up by? And then to work out the nutrient amounts for that week of feeding? It’s really baffling me if any can help with this I’d appreciate it!

 

[1989cheeseSOG]

you start by preparing a res at the right ph/ec. then you feed your plants with it one day.the runoff is recovered in a second reservoir.

the second day, you measure the ph/ec values of the solution in the 2nd res.

If the EC (ppm) climbed significantely, reduce the EC value. for exemple, you feed at 2.2mS and measure 2.5mS in the second reservoir means you must adjust your feed around 1.8mS(dilute the solution with water)


If the EC droped, it means your plants need more nutrients in the solution.

Ph value will be different in the 2nd res, it's normal. in veg stage it will climb when plants are healthy. In full bloom its different, it will have tendancy to drop when plants eat at lot.

adjust accordingly EC and ph value and transfer it again in the main res. where the pump will take the solution to feed the room.

 

[LexLuthor]

You hook up the irrigation system and run the system in empty buckets, so you can time how long it takes to get x amount of water from the drippers. You can hand water in the very beginning so you know how much water the plants need. Then as the plants get bigger you increase the frequency from once a day to twice and day and so on, or from once every 3 days to once every 2 days, etc.