Irrigation design (DTW, multifeed, 60 plants)- Looking for help

[Zarezhu]

Hey guys! Been getting my shit together finally. Right now I'm hand watering my pure coco, but will be feeding 3-5x a day when its mid bloom.

I'll have 4 4x4 tables, with 14-16 plants per table.

I may need 2 reservoirs, as I would like at least 100 gal total nutrient solution, to last for a week+ while I'm away- and 50 gallon trashcans are easy to find and cheap. So I suppose I'll need 2 pumps huh?

I bought a UPS (uninterrupted power source) that has 2 batteries and a pure sine wave output @ 10 minutes on half load (500w). These pumps are 60-90 watts each so it should last through any blackout period.

The plants are in 4" cups right now, and will be transplanted very soon. I can't decide what size I want the final containers to be, but I'm guessing between half gallon and a gallon. I intend to get them extremely rooted, so the plants will NEED many daily feedings.

I'm not sure if I want Pressure Compensating drippers (2GPH ++) or if I would be just fine with open ended 1/4" line? I could put a T on the end of the 1/4" tube and have dual outlets per pot, albeit it will be difficult to regulate output consistency since the system is not pressurized. I'm wlling to use drippers and Drip Clean the entire cycle if it's best.

So with 2 pumps, I'd have 30 plants to water per pump, with 2 sites per pot, for 60 outlets per pump (either 1/4" or high GPH PC emitter). Would it be fine to use this Danner gph pump? Or would it be overkill? Or even underkill? I'm willing to buy 2 pumps/ 2 timers/ 2 garbage can reservoir.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Danner-Supr...740?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41874a8774

Mister_D turned me onto the Danner pump, he says there is no substitute for danner mage drive pumps, and I'm having a problem sizing my pumps. They have everything from 250gph to 2000gph +

I have some experience with irrigation for large outdoor gardens, but indoors is a learning experience for me.

I'm also interested in the best/fullproof pump timers for 3-5x daily feeding, I have yet to buy them but they're gonna be a very important part of my indoor room. Any links?

Thanks in advance for any insight! And if you took the time to read it all, a special thanks to you!

 

[FlowerFarmer]

I don't have all the answers for you but I am working on similar things myself.

Trying to DTW a 8k with perhaps 72 plants total. I snagged up a 3000GPH Danner Pond Pump but haven't messed with it yet. I'll be doing (2) 1/4" lines per pot w/ basket drip stakes. That's 9 per tray and I'll do 2 Gal Smarties likely.

I was originally wanting to hard plumb around the perimeter of my room with whatever the Danner accepts ( I think 1" or so )& trunk off of it. Now, I'm considering just using flexible 1".. Y it into (2) 3/4" lines and ultimately make a loop to feed 9 plants per tray similar to how I do my blumat distribution.

I'm not sure if this is enough, but I can always grab another 3000 danner if necessary and use 1 per each 4k.


I like farm tanks 100Gal at tractor supply for a hundred or so, but am using 96 Gal Toter Trash cans from home depot. $90. I've heard someone say they developed a leak over time, but I've had one in use for a while with no issues.

I've never linked the Toters, but otherwise I normally just use 1" drain fittings (bulkheads) to link (at the bottom) brute trash cans and 55 barrels to hold sufficient water as to not have to use multiple pumps/timers/etc. I want one tank to dose. Mix my jacks and walk away. Well, actually I'd make 55 batches of nutes and pump over to the linked stuff until I can also get larger RO storage.

I'll be watching this thread if anyone wants to drop some knowledge or tips. I've been using ART-Dne timers from CAP, but not sure they are available anymore. D9 just snagged a blueprint one so I'll likely try those as well. They are pretty cheap.


Overkill is underrated.. you can always bleed off back to rez to reduce and control pressure. Go big on your pumps. I've got a buddy that does 1/8" spaghetti lines per 6" or 7" pot (not sure). He does 16 per 4x4 with this configuration and pressure remains good even with run of the mill hydro store pumps. Not sure how many he uses but pumps are like cheaper 1000 gph pumps or so. Bigger is typically better though..

 

[Lyfespan]

Very nice, someone else working on a project I am.


Here my watering system layout from supply to plant.

Pre filter for sediment-> RO system-> 275 gallon tank, with air stone and circulation pump-> 110v pump, remote controlled, or timer activated-> jandy valve motor activated-> 2-275 tank with air stone and circulation pump, one for the veg room, one for the bloom room-> 110v pump, remote controlled, or timer activated-> sprinkler manifold with solenoid valves, remote controlled or timer activated-> 1/2 PVC lines with drip line manifolds every 4'-> 1/4 lines with drip emitters 1/2 gpm, four per plant.

Pre filter $20.00
RO. $200.00
275 tank. $100.00 ea
In line transfer pump. $20.00 ea
Sprinkler manifold w/ valves. $30.00 ea
1/2 PVC sch 20 20' length $2.00 ea
1/4 drip line 100'. $10.00
1/2 gpm drip emitters 50pcs. $1.00
12 station orbit IRIS timer w/ remote $200.00
Single pole 120v w/ 24v coil contactor. $10.00 ea
Sprinkler timer box. $10.00 ea
12x12x4 ele pull box. $20.00

With this system I'm able to water from anywhere in the world as it's web based, I will hard pipe my warehouse with the PVC, I will be using the sprinkler timers 24v signal to activate contactors to operate my transfer pumps either by the timer, with the remote that the timer comes with, or with the web access app.

RO will fill the 275 tank for storage, a pump will move it to a motorized jandy valve that will fill the tank either in the bloom, veg, or mother rooms

The sprinkler manifolds will have the same transfer pump system before the valves, this will be my pressure to the sprinkler manifold, which of course will be hooked to the timer, and will feed the drip system at each table.

Waste water will be drained from tables and into collection for testing.


In front of the RO and in back of the RO is a dual TDS sensor, it costs $30.00

And the Hanna monitoring system is $600.00

So for 1000 bucks I have a system I can operate with a remote control, it's on timers, and I can access it from the web.
Thank you I'll be here all week.

 

[ceosam]

how can you access it from the web, is it a feature of the orbit?

 

[shredGnar]

http://www.irrigationsupplyoutlet.c...rip-manifolds-retrofits/retrofit-fittings/896

These are the truth.. just run 1/4" drip line open ended. Anything else is one more thing to get clogged..

I use a 1/2 hp oil less pump per 4 heads, or 32 lines connected to a 1" x 16' pvc pipe manifold.

Sentinel recycle timer for multiple daily feedings

 

[Lyfespan]

how can you access it from the web, is it a feature of the orbit?

The IRIS HUB system is web based, and the Orbit sprinkler timer is IRIS enabled.

 

[Lyfespan]

http://www.irrigationsupplyoutlet.c...rip-manifolds-retrofits/retrofit-fittings/896

These are the truth.. just run 1/4" drip line open ended. Anything else is one more thing to get clogged..

I use a 1/2 hp oil less pump per 4 heads, or 32 lines connected to a 1" x 16' pvc pipe manifold.

Sentinel recycle timer for multiple daily feedings

Nice, I forgot about compensation manifolds, but for the price I could not pass up the emitters, they were almost free at 50 for 98 cents, and I got the manifolds you can shut off http://t.homedepot.com/p/t/100148153?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100148153&R=100148153

 

[Zarezhu]

@shred- I like those octabubbler manifolds! I'd need 2 per tray(4 trays), so each plant gets its own 1/4" tube, and I like that its 10GPH per outlet, which is .625 Liters per minute. I'm about to transplant from VERY rooted 4" cups to 1 gallon pots with 1" of hydroton on bottom. I'd imagine .625 L would be PLENTY of water, if not overkill, per 1 gallon pot. Especially if I watered 3-5x a day. I could probably run 30 second feed cycles! 3x feed @ 1 min = 1/2 G 3x feed @.5min = 1/4 G , more reasonable for a .8G container

@Lyfespan- I'm fairly envious of your setup! I don't completely comprehend it, but I'm sure if I saw it , it would make much more sense. I don't necessarily need to be able to control my feeds via mobile device. I'm going to water 3-5x a day, very controlled amounts, on a timer. This timer will have a battery backup for any power outages.

@FlowerFarmer- Appreciate your help! I couldn't find any applicable tanks at the local tractor supply, so I ordered the 96 gal trash can from HD. Should be coming in soon! I'll keep it at 75-80 gal max, hopefully not pushing it to the point of leaking/EXPLODING.

I also looked more into the pumps. Right now, I'm fairly set on buying the Danner 2400 gph mag drive pump.

http://www.dannermfg.com/Store/products/danner/PID-02740.aspx

Will this pump be enough to power 8 of those octabubblers (60 10GPH outlets)?? It seems like it would, as the octabubblers only require 15~ PSI.

They have a 3600 gph pump for sale also (for slightly cheaper), but it's discontinued and the reviews stated it is a LOUD pump. Plus, it runs at almost 400 watts versus the 2400gph's 265 watts. This means it would last longer in a power outage using the battery backup (10~ minutes at 265 watts)




I'm also most likely getting the cap DNE timer, so I can set it to 3x a day for 30 seconds at a time.

There's this mistking timer, which some peoples say is terrific, and its half the price. My gut feeling is telling me to go with the cap DNE though.
http://www.mistking.com/Digital-Seconds-Timer.html

 

[Lyfespan]

A pump like this one should do you just fine, if I read right.

Look for a holding tank like this one, you will be reducing it from the 2"-3/4 or 1/2 for PVC http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/for/4811843668.html

If you use any regular sprinkler timer, they all have a battery backup. You can through the coil(24v) on a lighting contactor like this one, http://www.amazon.com/Packard-Contactor-C130B-Pole-Voltage/dp/B004UZQHGM/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1421398393&sr=1-3-fkmr0&keywords=Packard+C120A+1+Pole+20+Amp+Contactor+24+V
olt+Coil+Contactor

Sprinkler timer controls the relay/contactor from station one, which powers an outlet with the pump, and station controls the sprinkler valves. Both come on simultaneously, feeding the Octo-bubbler, or whatever drip thingys.

 

[PetFlora]

You might check out my DIY Mini-Me F & D set up