COCO - Automatic watering system - Question

[Ttutorial]

Hey
Iam a soil Grower - and i didnt bothered with trying coco out - measureing PH and EC.. Why should i do that, i asked my self?

But i did it - Canna Coco and Canna Coco A+B.
And i was more then impressed.

My EC Device broke early flowering stage - so i thought i was fucked!
But i just observed the plant - and she told me if she needs more or less.. That was awesome and worked out very well.
I pushed her once, saw the little tips burning a tiny bit and i reduced the fertilizer.. It was a beatiful grow for me.
It made my happy, to be honest.

So the only negativ, was the watering..
I watered once a day. The next grow will be twice a day, in flower, when the roots are fully developt in the pot.
Like 6-8 Hours after the first one, and the first one is when the Light is going on. Thats an good idea?

But the question, why i did opened this thread is a different question.
Like i mentioned before, the water schedule and the everyday nutrients mixxing got on my nerfes a little bit.

Is there any DIY method or a cheap system that i can buy?
It would be for my 4x4

I do have Autopots - but iam scared because the salts will burn the plants? Autopot = Watering from the bottom
Maybe it will work with Hesi?

I show u the Plant


It is a runt CBD Girl Scout Cookies she was so slow, but man.. worth it!
I did harvested yesterday, the plant was in 5L (1,3 Gallon)

LET ME KNOW YOUR OPINION. First time Coco.. But i have years of experience in Soil.
I know the plant is nothing special like look what i did, but i had so much fun man..
And the directly respons is something i really like! In soil u have to wait few days..

The plant really didnt go yellow.. i gave 15 days just water (20% Drain everytime), i even pushed like 20 liters (5 Gallons) twice in there, to get it faster yellow.. but nah ^^
But i didnt overfertilized in my opinion?

 

[CocoNut 420]

Is there any DIY method or a cheap system that i can buy?
It would be for my 4x4

Hey bud, nice job!
A pump, manifold, some tubing and T pieces make a adequate feeding set up with a timer (second interval timer) for cheap.

I've used autopots/bottom feeding with various nutrients ime the all work fine in Autopots or dtw it makes no odds it's just nutrient.

A tip for proper ec...test the run off if it's more than 0.2/3ec higher than the input lower the input, if its lower than input raise the ec.

 

[xtsho]

Blumats and 100% coco. No perlite.

 

[Ttutorial]

Hey bud, nice job!
A pump, manifold, some tubing and T pieces make a adequate feeding set up with a timer (second interval timer) for cheap.
View attachment 19048908 View attachment 19048909
I've used autopots/bottom feeding with various nutrients ime the all work fine in Autopots or dtw it makes no odds it's just nutrient.

A tip for proper ec...test the run off if it's more than 0.2/3ec higher than the input lower the input, if its lower than input raise the ec.

Thanks for that tip buddy!

Sadly, there is no runoff in Autopot..
But i will do once more handwatering and i get some stuff for free, from a guy that i gave seeds here and there and i wanted nothing for them, so he felt like he can give me something back..

He said complete set.. so i will do anyway a growreport here and jeah.. hopefully it will be fire.

@xtsho I do breed myself a little bit here and there, so these blumat seems so good for that.
Like 120 bucks for 2x12 Plants? So i believe i could run 24x 1,3 gallon with them? That would be great.

But i do see that the lower part of your coco is completly dry? Maybe u do need 2 of these blumats for ur pot volume?

 

[XYZVector]

If your looking into a nice auto watering system I can give you a BOM (bill of materials) and sell you the timer to run the system out the door your looking at about 200 bucks. It is a bit more expensive but it is pressure compensated, and you tell it how many mL of water you want at every event, and how much time between events. Be careful going the cheap route with hydro halos, and ball valves will drive you crazy.

 

[Ttutorial]

If your looking into a nice auto watering system I can give you a BOM (bill of materials) and sell you the timer to run the system out the door your looking at about 200 bucks. It is a bit more expensive but it is pressure compensated, and you tell it how many mL of water you want at every event, and how much time between events. Be careful going the cheap route with hydro halos, and ball valves will drive you crazy.

I did gifted a few seeds to a german guy.. he asked me i dont even know you why are u doing that?

And then he read this thread and just shipped to me a full blown all in one watering system. So iam good

 

[CannaRed]

I built the DIY Auto watering system by following the instructions at cocoforcannabis.
It's the absolute best place to learn about the science of growing in coco.

 

[gmanwho]

So many options an or paths with water delivery. More then a few things to consider when choosing a system. The details come into play when you need to match your environment. So there is a good chance u can adapt most watering systems to what u need, or really what the plant needs.

So what else do you consider when choosing a watering system, or better yet, fine tuning that watering system. so what does the plant need an how do i provide this.

The first details what i think is optimal is making sure the coco containers are the right size to match the plant canopy an or the speed at which the plant will remove the water an or nutrient ions from the medium. A bigger canopy then requires a larger amount of medium an container space so the root system becomes larger and can access a larger plate of buffered food.

In coco i feel a major factor is all about the dry downs. then changing the watering frequency, duration, ec an ph. Water temp is important too.

To play it safe since pathogens are often overlooked till its an observed problem. Most pathogens that plague cannabis thrive in over watered situations. These negative conditions aid in pathogen development an are usually exaggerated with bigger containers since they dont dry as fast. if the plants dont drink it down, a high water saturation aids in a lot of root or crown rots. And coco has a good amount of water retention. so this is easily done.

trying to put this next part in context. In the most perfect condition of flower development say day 10-50, what u want is if a container size that if today you watered to runoff, it will be pretty dry by the middle or end of the 2nd day light cycle. i feel this is the sweet spot. In all other conditions u can water less if the plant will not meet this criteria.

Indoor I can and have grown top quality plants in a 3 gal coco container that can yield 24-30+ oz per planter. The environment needs to be spot on.

after easily 12+ yrs of messing with coco, today I feel a measured 2 gallon of medium in a container with multiple netafim low flow pressure compensated drippers is the way to go. A Prefilters on you pump output & a 20 psi or so pressure reducer after pump. bigger systems will need a larger diatemeter feed line backbone, then a smaller diameter feed line that the drip emmitter.

-first the environment, temps that medium never drops below 68f or so. Cannopy temps match vpd and promotes the plants metabolism. More fans on lower air speed to promote smooth air flow above an below cannopy. Co2, air exchange. Proper VPd etc

-The same measured amount of medium in every pot!

-Plants up potted so the crown stays high an dry!!!!

-For system to work right a decent garden pump that builds pressure is needed. Most mag pumps do not build pressure, and only volume flow.

-2-3 netafim low gph pressure compensated drippers per planter. low water flow, low water delivery per event. more events or pulses prevent water channeling.

-Drip lines placed so they do not spray or drop water close to plant crown.

-Once system is setup, place drip lines in a measuring container and see the total amount of water deleivered. This way so u can learn a number that like 1 min of pump on time delivers 200ml of water. this way when you add up you delivery mins for the the day you can get a feel for how much water was delivered per day.

now knowing u have close to 2 gal of medium per planter, an that coco medium has somewhere around a 60% water retention, u can now say my 2 gallons of * BONE DRY * medium can hold approx 4500ml of additional nutrient water, before run off.

-watch the medium, feel the weight of the planter at first. increase the watterings as the plants develop, slow waterings as the plants go into senescence.

-wait for first watering an hour or 2 after lights on. stop watering events a few hours before lights off

 

[XYZVector]

Yes I had the coco for cannabis watering system, and then me and DrCoco came up with an even better watering system. No valves you specify the amount of water per each event in mL. It is a sweet system, way better than hydro halos. Check out the grow diaries here mine is Growing with the Borg, you can see the fertigation system at least the part that is in the tent.

 

[zukinjo]

Has anybody tried this Medusa TopSpin?

 

[Ttutorial]

I do have 11L (2,91 gallon almost 3) in my tent now.. second coco grow.

Iam not sure if i should really water they everyday.
it would be 600ml (0,16gallon) that i get 10-20% drain from that.

20% perlite.

I did used cocoforcannabis as a source too.

I got roots u wont believe in 1,3 gallon.. then i repottet in 3 and got after 5 days into 12/12.. so roots should be fine, plant is small tho but i really gave 100% light from day 1 of flower.

 

[mme_oscar]

Has anybody tried this Medusa TopSpin?

I've been using them for quite a few time now. I really enjoy them. They're not compensated, but water is given evenly. I found them versatiles and easy to maintain.

 

[Orange's Greenhouse]

As I understand it pressure compensated drippers are industry standard. Cheap, reliable and easy to maintain.
Choosing a proper pump is tricky for small systems. Centrifugal pumps are not ideal for high(ish) pressure and low flow. They also need a section of straight pipe on the outlet for optimal function. For a small garden I found them unsuitable.
My garden has a membrane pump for freshwater supply in RVs/boats. They are high pressure (2-4 bar), have sufficient flow for a few square meters of canopy and an internal pressure switch to shut off when the target pressure is reached, increasing safety. Don't forget a pressure compensation tank. Also they are self priming and sit outside the reservoir which reduces need for cleaning.

 

[zukinjo]

As I understand it pressure compensated drippers are industry standard. Cheap, reliable and easy to maintain.
Choosing a proper pump is tricky for small systems. Centrifugal pumps are not ideal for high(ish) pressure and low flow. They also need a section of straight pipe on the outlet for optimal function. For a small garden I found them unsuitable.
My garden has a membrane pump for freshwater supply in RVs/boats. They are high pressure (2-4 bar), have sufficient flow for a few square meters of canopy and an internal pressure switch to shut off when the target pressure is reached, increasing safety. Don't forget a pressure compensation tank. Also they are self priming and sit outside the reservoir which reduces need for cleaning.

Can u post a non centrifugal pump?
An example od it?

 

[Orange's Greenhouse]

Can u post a non centrifugal pump?
An example od it?

I have a diaphragm pump from seaflo. com

 

[Ca++]

I've been using them for quite a few time now. I really enjoy them. They're not compensated, but water is given evenly. I found them versatiles and easy to maintain.

I didn't know who medusa are, but DIG make the topspin. The spin12 being common. The head can have a different compensation valve for each of the lines out, and they work from 10psi upwards, which is handy for smaller pump. Of which I would recommend centrifugal each time. Below 10psi they don't lock down, and this is seen as a moment to clean themselves. I bet if you open the medusa it has the places for the valves, but they were too tight to buy them. Or, it's not dig, but that octo-whatsit for direct mains connections. Again without valves fitted.

I have used them a lot, and generally take the head off that massive T fitting, and put a 13mm hose barb on. Much more suited to home gardening duties.

Look at the 3 phase pumps thread. Lots of cheap near silent pumps. Easy to work with submersibles, that can easily do 7 meters of head. Some are doing 17 meters. Aim for a bar though/10 meters/15psi

I have an aversion to diaphragm pumps. They can't go in the tank, and clatter so much, you might wish they did. I have had them fail in storage, through warping housings. Plus the valve arrangements are not forgiving, and they really don't work with compensated emitters. They are positive displacement pumps, so expect a certain delivery. Meaning pressure relief valves. This is a 4x4 tent. It just needs a little submersible, that takes no room, offers flexibility over emitter numbers, and you can't hear it.

Here you go: https://www.icmag.com/threads/3-phase-pumps-the-latest-thing.17939901/
https://www.dig corp.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/TOP-12Outlet-Manifold_cutsheet_042221.pdf