out of town watering...

[herbie99]

I need some input. I have to travel south in about five weeks. I'll be gone for about 8 days

I'm taking suggestions for the easiest, most efficient way to feed my girls while I'm away.
I'm a very small, personal operation. by the time I leave I'll have an Ice plant that'll be about 8 weeks into flower in my flower room. I'll also have 4 wonder woman, 1 ice clone, and some peppers that I'm crossing in my grow area.

I'll give all ideas equal consideration and I'll go with whatever seems to make the most sense.

thanx in advance :icon_smile:

 

[ArtVandolay]

I've gone 7 days without watering. Give them a good soak, leave a little water in the drip pan/tray.

 

[4u2sm0ke]

:ciao:

Like Art said Ive gone 10 days..

Ive read that some use those water globes...or 1 litter bottle in the soil container...Ive never tried though

:48:

 

[Melvan]

Depends on what size buckets you use. 1-3 gallons are not going to go 7-10 days.

You'll need a drip line system on a timer to water at least once while you'te gone, more often if you're in small buckets.

 

[herbie99]

more info...

flowering is in 5 gal.
vegging are in 1 gal.

the flowering plant is taking 1 gal every other day and could be very close to finish by the time I leave.
vegging are fed once every 4-5 days. however, I suspect they'll be drinking much more by then.

I was thinking of the drip line - w/pump & timer.
unless I can come up with some type of gravity drip system??

 

[7thG]

Give them all a generous watering, the one you think might not make it, sticks a soda bottle of water into the dirt nossle first, should be fine.

 

[Melvan]

1gals dry fast, depending on your light. Vegging under hps will make them dry quicker. Under T5 you may get by, but I doubt it.

Just one plant in flower should get by on soda bottle trick. But it would suck to come home and find her laying on the ground with browned out pistils that close to harvest.

 

[4u2sm0ke]

Okay....the size of containers help....for the smaller ones if ya cant hook up a drip line...look into "Wick" watering:aok:...if the flowering one is ready I would take it and hang..be done dry when ya return


I made a Gravity watering thing when I went to the UK....Used a 5 gallon water jug and garden hose timer...hook the drip lines to the Jug thats hung from above plants...worked well too
:48:

 

[AluminumMonster]

I would listen to these folks. Do what 4U2 says or go to Home Depot and get yourself some 3 foot by 3 foot containers, a water pump, a timer, and a five gallon bucket. Put all your plants into the 3 foot by 3 foot container, run a water line from the water pump that is inside the five gallon bucket to the inside of the 3 foot container and let the timer take care of your plants while you're gone. This has worked very well for me in the past, I have yet to lose a plant.

 

[Wetdog]

I've gone 7 days without watering. Give them a good soak, leave a little water in the drip pan/tray.

:yeahthat:

I also stuck them in a cool basement under T-12 fluros. They were mother plants.

8 weeks in flower? You might want to check out the Blumat self watering things.

Wow, talk about the worst timing.

Wet

 

[herbie99]

still worried about vacation feeding of my kids.
the pumps that are available to me push far too much water. my kids would certainly drown. without paying huge cash for a timer that will allow for the appropriate amount of feeding, all I've found is one that will run for 15 min. on a 24 hr cycle. I hooked it to a rheostat to minimize the flow, however I'm still at about an oz/min. almost a qt a day for the young ones is too much. so...
can I bottom feed these plants? that is to say, can I flood the tub that they sit in with my pump and timer set-up? I'll have a run-off system and the pots will be at about the water line and I think I'll have it timed to the point that they won't be sitting in puddles for any great length of time. by the time they drink their fill the waterline will be below the pots. I have the pots "panty-hosed" so no soil can infiltrate my system. the run-off will end-up either in a separate bucket or could I repurpose it back to the original res?



will this work?

 

[Growdude]

All you need to reduce the flow is a shutoff valve, just half cock it or so.

Your flood and drain setup there should work, but I would not want my pots flooded each day for 7 days.
I would reduce the flow and top feed once per day.

 

[herbie99]

All you need to reduce the flow is a shutoff valve, just half cock it or so.

Your flood and drain setup there should work, but I would not want my pots flooded each day for 7 days.
I would reduce the flow and top feed once per day.

holy crap, I feel like a tool. I never thought of a valve in the line. That way I can shut it down to a trickle. so I've got about $50 invested in something I could probably do for $1.59
growdude, you're my hero :clap:

 

[herbie99]

let me preface this segment by saying that I leave for the trip in two days, so fine tuning time is now.

wow...good thing I ran a practice run on the auto-feed system. I'm such an idiot (please, no need for confirmation).
I flipped everything I had growing just to make it simpler. having all of the plants needing the same nutes all in one place makes it easier.
I ran the pump and timer through it's cycle so that I could dial it in and adjust the output according to each plants need. worked perfectly. very pleased. shut it off and walked away full of happy thoughts.

now for the idiocy...I went back into the room to set more fans, separate the girls and generally get all of my ducks in a row. I noticed that the level in the tote holding my nute formula was very low. then it hit me...my tote was above the level of the plants and hoses. (sorry for the pause, I was looking for the homer simpson emoticon "doh") anyway, as most of you have probably already realized, having the reservoir above the finish point of the hoses created a siphon and even though the pump shut down the flow continued. luckily, the 5 gal pots have plenty of drainage and they should be fine.

once again, glad I made that practice run.

please believe, I'm much smarter than I'm making it look.

live and learn.