Dripper System

[Mr.Cade]

Hi Everyone,

 

Having read many of the topics on drip and drain systems, I am fairly happy with how it all works and how to set up a basic system to water my plants, which are in coco. I am thinking of the Rhizo Drip and Drain System. However, I do have a few questions:

 

Do you guys clean the pipes with anything? If so, what do you use and how frequently do you apply?

 

Do you recommend putting any sort of air pump in the flexi tank?

 

Do you put any sort of filter on any of the waste pipes, or anywhere else, to stop any medium from entering into the waste pump located in the brain pot?

 

Is there any other tips you think might be useful?

 

All help much appreciated. 

 

Thanks  

 

 

[BushDoctoR]

Hi mate,

 

Me personally, I add Dutch Pro 'keep it clean' to my nutes to help prevent build up in the pipes etc although it's not strictly necessary. In the past I used Plant Magic 'pure clean' which I preferred as it also brings the pH down a fair bit but my local shop doesn't stock it.

 

I wouldn't recommend an air pump as they tend to cause the pH to rise. I use a wave generator that comes on a few times a day to keep the solution moving. A cheaper option is a small water pump insteaf witch a have in my veg/mum system.

 

In regards to a filter on your waste pump it depends on the pump. I use a bilge pump intended for boats with a large output so it isn't really necessary but I know a few people here use condensate pumps which have a much smaller outlet so I would definitely recommend some sort of filter for one of those

 

In regards to other tips, what I find really useful is measuring how much your drippers drip per minute. Stick one of your drippers in a measuring jug and time it for a minute. From there you can work out all sorts of handy info like how much your plants are drinking, how much more solution you use for each minute the pump is on, how long your tank will last and need refilling etc. I make charts to make all this easier for me.

 

I'd also recommend making sure you're getting enough run off and do weekly checks. When you have a pump pumping away the waste while you aren't present its easy to forget that the plants water requirements increase and the run off amount will be getting smaller if you aren't increasing the timings as the plants get bigger.

[Mr.Cade]

Wow, thanks for such a detailed reply mate. Cheers  

[twista]

Hey for man,  I use H&G Drip clean to clean my pipes it is in every feeding, the bonus about drip clean is does not kill the friendly micros like you find in mammoth p etc. you use 0.1ml a litre so a little goes along way as even use it to clean salt build up in my saucers.I also use Athena cleanse but normally only use that at the end of flower and to clean my tents as kills mostly everything. 
 

I agree with what @BushDoctoR has said use a wave maker as an air stone will just bring your ph up and if you have anything organic in your res an airstone might brew it into a tea and it will get foamy. If I’m wrong about this please someone correct me. 
 

For a filter I use this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rain-Bird-Automatic-Irrigation-Dripline-filter-regulators-Watering-/123630999022?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

It also put the pressure to 2.0bar but might upgrade to the alien hydro one. 
 

My tip would be try to make all the drip line the 4mm ones all the same Length as then in theory they should all pore out the same volume. Otherwise one might give more water out that others if diffrent lengths