D.I.Y Watering Machine

[BongScott]

I just thought I'd share something that's been working very well for me. 

 

I spend quite a bit of time out of the country for a few days at a time and I was after a way to water my plant when I couldn't be there, so I came up with this which works surprisingly well. Its also great if you have a particularly smelly plant and you don't want to open the tent when you have visitors staying   Great for small stealth grows.

 

 

The box holds around 5 litres of water. I picked this one up in poundland for a quid. The aquarium tube was from ebay and was around 2 quid for a metre. When making the hole for the tube to go into the box, its important to remember to drill another hole to let the vacuum out when the water pumps out.

 

 

The tube attaches to a small submersible pump, the type used for aquariums. This one was about 5 quid from ebay and its tiny. The pump just sits in the box under the water and holds the bottom with its little sucker feet.

 

 

You then need to make a hole in the pot to feed the tube through to the base of your plant.

 

 

This is unfortunately the expensive part. An ordinary digital timer wont do as they only work in "minute" intervals and that's way too much, so I had to get one that deals in "seconds". This one is from ebay and is for Cloverleaf automatic fish feeders. You need to experiment to find the ideal programs for your plant, but with my current grow, I set it for 20 seconds at 08:00 .. then 10 seconds at 08:01 , and then another 10 seconds at 08:02 and that gives me a litre and a half. The timer was about 30 quid.

 

Anyway, I just thought I'd share in case it helps anyone out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

Nice one @Bucketboi  good idea that, and looks pretty simple to set up   

[vortex]

i like that .... ideal if you need to go away for a weekend or holiday .... just use a larger water conainer ,  and there ya go .....

[tokenroll]

Only advice is get a better container, that one will go brittle and burst m8. Check out the reallyusefull boxes no problem with them and a few here use them including myself.

Edited July 11, 2017 by tokenroll

[GSZZ]

Nice little bit of DIY irrigation I would say though just make sure to add an air gap or something in the pipe to stop the water siphoning. Not that a 5L flood is a very big deal  

[F-E_Man]

It's no saving, but a slightly more analogue timing system exists, if your interested.

It's a box that looks like a timer. A minute timer by name. It has a single twisty control for minutes. You put it in a typical segment timer as an extra. When the segment timer comes on, this minute timer only allows power through for the time you set on its dial. So, an example, if the minute timer was set for 30 seconds, then each time the segment timer came on, it would allow the power through for 30 seconds.

 

It couldn't do your timers job as you have both 20 second and 10 second feeds. It could be set for about 13 seconds though, and put in a segment timer set to come on (for 15 minutes typically) 3 times a day. To give 13 seconds 3 times.

 

I think they're about £30 themselves.

 

I can't find one? It might be time for a diy thread if nobody comes up with a link.

[zero]

good solution , looks just the job for a few days away 

[BongScott]

7 hours ago, Golden Syrup said:

Nice little bit of DIY irrigation I would say though just make sure to add an air gap or something in the pipe to stop the water siphoning. Not that a 5L flood is a very big deal  

Ive found that theres no worries about syphoning if the water box is on the floor of the tent and the pipe in the pot is higher ...but yeah its a good point if you need to position the water box higher up.

 

Edited July 12, 2017 by BongScott
Additional quote

[BongScott]

7 hours ago, tokenroll said:

Only advice is get a better container, that one will go brittle and burst m8. Check out the reallyusefull boxes no problem with them and a few here use them including myself.

 

Also a good point and a good quality box would deffo be a good investment 

[cypher79]

Nice job mate I'd imagine the water will get very warm on hot days though, maybe try wrapping the container in foil insulation or something.

[Joint hogger]

if the container is out in the open then you'll run the risk of algea forming & if the water is sitting a few days, it'll go stale.

[BongScott]

5 minutes ago, Joint hogger said:

if the container is out in the open then you'll run the risk of algea forming & if the water is sitting a few days, it'll go stale.

 

 

I've been using this for well over a year now on several occasions with the box sitting in my tent for up to a week and no issues so far

[H4rdc0r3]

Looking to automate my watering/feeding on the cheap 

 

How can i do this for multiple plants? Say 8-10 and what could i use as a big res?

 

been looking at drippers and stuff but it all looks confusing not sure how to go about it and what exactly i need plus most are for gardens to attach to the garden tap  

 

can anyone help?

 

H4rdc0r3.

 

@BongScott still about?

[hov1]

Get quick flow drippers (blue ones) and run tests with your timer into a measuring jug. You'll need a 2 x pump, small tank, big hose, small hose, digital timer (maplins do a reasonably cheap one) and drippers.

   I found about 3mins gave me a litre but there are loads of variables so test it yourself. The whole set up cost under £30!

ps 2nd pump on any old timer just to keep the nutrients moving. Maybe 2 x15mins a day

Edited September 18, 2017 by hov1

[ursus1000]

@H4rdc0r3 maybe have a look for 'topspin dripper kit'