Water wand and pump

[SkunkWeed]

Water about 50 plants at a time by hand is getting to be to much for this old man,,,So asking some of you experts out there about this.. What I want to do is get about a 40gal. heavy duty trash can and put a pump in it with a hose hooked up to the pump and use the water wand to water with. Now my question is with me shutting the water off and on with the wand is there a special pump I would have to have...... Thanks in advance from broke-back

 

[rokuez]

If someone can also recomend a good place to get a resevoir please or a resevoir / wand system. Its nice to fill your resevoir mix in whatever then use the watering wand.

 

[dongle69]

I use a decent submersible pump with a water meter attached to the end just before the watering wand.
I can then water each plant the same amount without any guesswork.
You may or may not need a more powerful pump depending on how far away you are watering from the reservoir.

Here is some linkage:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=45014

http://www.jerman.com/hosemeter.html

There are many other pumps available without floats, but the stuff you get at hydro shops is way over priced.

I use a 55 gal drum like this that I got locally for about $30:

 

[Dreamscape]

What about some type of air pressure pump thats quieter and doesn't use electricity ??

And I do like that regulator but i'm not paying 80.00 just so I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my 1gallon pots got 1/2 gallon of water.

 

[beta]

.

 

[durka_durka420]

some guy on these forums has a watering wand hooked up to a foot pedal for watering.....oooh i just got an idea while typing that....use a sewing machine foot pedal(one end plugs into wall then goes into foot pedal then goes into a plug that hooks into sewing machine) just replace sewing machine with your water pumps plug.... heres a link to a foot pedal...with some modifications you could extend wires...http://************/foot-pedal-switch and heres another one which can be found at walmart/hardware store http://www.amazon.com/15-FT-White-Footsw-Cord/dp/B000HE8QZU
good luck man i hope i have helped that will help you atleast turn pump on and off to switch pots but i think the sewing machine one may work better as its like a dimmer so it would make pump run at a slower speed if your watering smaller plants and if your into diy you could make this one also using a 110v momentary switch(hold down for pump on let up for pump off) http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Inexpensive-Dremel-Foot-Switch/

 

[gdtrfb]

just seems like i'm missing something, but the garden spray wand thingee i used to use (recently ditched dirt) had a trigger on the handle - i just hooked it up to a pond pump from a hardware store.

get a large measuring cup, use the wand to fill it to the level you want your plants to get. count the seconds off from the start until it reaches that level. spray your plants for that count.

it isn't exact, but it's close enough.

 

[Pain Killer]

Found a cheaper flow meter, ready for garden hose:

LCD meter $24


I've been using a cheap "waterfall and pond" pump from Home Depot. It attaches to a 3/4 vinyl hose I use to reach the plants. I tried a wand, but found you need more pressure to keep the flow "showering" out of the tip. If not it just clumps into a heavy stream. But more pressure means the pots get filled with water quickly. I feel watering the pots very slowly gets all the soil moist, and they seem to hold more (could be I'm just taking too long). I'll get details on the pump tomorrow when the lights are back on. THis pump was too weak for the garden hose, but OK for the 3/4 vinyl hose.

What I do now is just kink the hose before the end to shut off or control the flow, just pointing the end to the pot. Works fine for now. If I can find a cheap pump with more power I might try something more advanced.

My reservoir is a 30 gallon plastic trash can from HD, about $30 I think.

 

[gdtrfb]

if it matters, the pump i was using was roughly 500 gph - it gave me no problems thru a watering wand

 

[beta]

.

 

[gdtrfb]

i doubt it does it any favors, but neither would cycling power on and off in between plants

it's only one of those 'for what it's worth' kind of things, but my 50 dollar cheapo pump survived a couple of years of this w/out any hassles.

 

[durka_durka420]

on and off would not damage the pump as much as unrestricted flow imo.....but up to the person using it i suppose was just trying to give my thoughts...

 

[Numboard]

I have one of these
http://cgi.ebay.com/LAING-circulati...369?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35a99318f1
Its a magnetically driven pump that pushes 20 feet of head at 15gpm (thats quite a lot of power) already 3/4 so all you gotta do is cut the end of a garden hose off and stick it on. Very quiet and reliable pump.
Its also no problem to leave the pump running and start and stop the wand for watering.

 

[Admiral Canna]

Most people I know like to use.....

50 gallon drum (food grade is the key! Garbage cans will leach VOC's into yer nutes and then your plants and then...YOU!)

You can get a 1000GPH pump from any hydro store.........some 3/4" tubing....attached to a wand. The wand I have has a on/off lever. No prob shutting it off for a few secs in between plants.

Makes life easier.

 

[dachieftan]

yo AC, isn't that 1000GPH a little overkill? I would imagine that kind of pressure would be blasting your plants unless ur rez is a great distance away from them and has to travel a long distance.

 

[Numboard]

yo AC, isn't that 1000GPH a little overkill? I would imagine that kind of pressure would be blasting your plants unless ur rez is a great distance away from them and has to travel a long distance.

Not really, 1000gph works out to about 1.6 gallons per minute.
what comes out of your garden hose is prolly something like 30 gpm

 

[maxmurder]

Most people I know like to use.....

50 gallon drum (food grade is the key! Garbage cans will leach VOC's into yer nutes and then your plants and then...YOU!)

You can get a 1000GPH pump from any hydro store.........some 3/4" tubing....attached to a wand. The wand I have has a on/off lever. No prob shutting it off for a few secs in between plants.

Makes life easier.

what? voc's in the water? shit i never thought of that, damn. thanx for the headsup!
i use a heavy duty 40 gallon trash can (not for long) and a 1200 gpm little giant pump with a regular garden hose (that thing's lookin pretty beat too), 3/4 knob shutoff, connected to a dramm 4' wand and water breaker. the pump is perfect for the breaker, shoots out a full but soft (?) spray, doesn't disturb soil or coco. i hang my hose above the hosebib above the can, unscrew the breaker from wanda, (let it dry out overnite and tap out little particles for even spray) turn on pump (plugged into surge protecter with on/off switch) and use the pump and wanda to mix my nutrients/ adjust pH,- screw breaker back on and water, fast as fuck-

 

[maxmurder]

dramm.com - very affordable, ladies are nice on the phone. you can get 3' or 4' wandas. i got the in-handle filter but chucked it right away.

400 Aluminum Water Breaker
The original full-flow shower head nozzle. Dramm's aluminum 400 Water Breaker provides fast, full-flow watering without damage to your plants or disturbing soil. Used and recommended daily by professional growers worldwide. Cast aluminum with 3/4 inch brass hose threads. Invented, designed and manufactured in the U.S.A. since 1945.
ITEM GPM WEIGHT CASE PACK CASE WEIGHT
400AL 11.1 @ 40 PSI 5.1 oz 50 17 lbs

 

[Tela]

i doubt a sig amount of VOCs is going to leach from a garbage can. no more than a tray or a hose or plastic tube, etc.

make sure you get a mag drive pump with at least 750 gph. make sure your hose is a kink free model. use teflon tape on your fittings. try not to let it run more than 15 seconds without letting it spray. get a lead-free hose!

 

[Tela]

just did some research and discovered the grey, yellow, and white rubbermaid brute containers are "NSF STD. 2" which is food safe. Look underneath the lid on them if you have any doubts.

So the key now is the lead-free hose with the lead-free fittings. Check the fine print on the back of the cardboard label on the hose about this "contains product know to the state of california....". get one without that warning.