Grow Mediums The Waximus DIY2015-A Drip System for the rest of us

[Waximus]

Each year, I try to find an aspect of cannabis growing that I've not learned. Last year, it was organic growing- I had lots of success, and some failures, but it was well worth the journey.
For 2015, I've decided to work with Coco, using smaller pots and a DIY drip feed system. As part of this goal, I have been doing research on the various drip methods and began constructing what I jovially call...

The Waximus DIY2015 Drip System!



Before going into the details, I want to give a full measure of thanks to my fellow AFN peeps! The kind, and patient, assistance and support from truu, KSJAuto, and JAYAR has been priceless! And the coco forum peeps have already taught me more than could have hoped. I am grateful to all of you for your friendship and knowledge! Y'all Rock!

SO, lets make a drip system, shall we?

The above pic is of the basic REZ setup that I decided on. Lady Waxi and I took a trip to Home Depot and picked up a Rubbermaid cooler-on sale for under $20/US, as the rez container. I had the Agromax 260 pump (and 5 others!...) from my hydro ebb&flow equipment, and the air pump is from my cloning bucket setup. With expert input from Brother truu, I decided on DIY drip rings, which I will detail how to fabricate a bit down the thread.
I will be putting together a parts list, and will post instructions on what I did to make this setup. I hope it proves useful to anyone who would like to use drip emitter grow techniques, and want to make their own system.

Disclaimer: The Waximus DIY2015 name is for fun, only. No ownership of this design, or claim of intellectual property is expressed or implied.... I stand on the shoulders of AFN giants. May I one day be worthy of shoe prints on my own shoulders.... Let's Do This!

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:
"AFN smoke out"

 

[Grey Bear]

Nice Waxi,
I am subbed for this one.
Drip system are nice, they are just a hassle for most of us in the south as they build up calcium too quickly and are constantly having to be cleaned to get the emitters to flow correctly.
Be sure to have a decent filter on your pump to keep the root debri from giving you fits.

 

[Silent-Grower]

If Waxi is building this then it MUST be good

 

[elsamurai]

:Cool bud:"Munch..munch..munch subbed fo sho

 

[Waximus]

If Waxi is building this then it MUST be good

SG, my Brother, you just got drafted into my Fantasy Sales Force.... lololol

 

[Silent-Grower]

SG, my Brother, you just got drafted into my Fantasy Sales Force.... lololol

Hahah O Yeah

 

[Waximus]

Part list for the REZ:

1. Cooler, bucket, or barrel
2. A suitable submersible pump
3. a suitable air pump, and a good sized airstone
4. 1/2 inch diameter plastic tubing, for water distribution from pump/rez
5. 1/4 inch plastic tubing for air pump
Misc- small hose clamps, box cutter/scissors, a selection of killer Ganja for the job

First, let's talk rez containers... I chose an 8 gallon capacity cooler, because I think it'll give my 4 plant design a 3 day supply of nutes before I need to replenish. You could use a 5 gal covered pail for 1-2 plants, and if I wanted to cover my lower room with drip system, I could use my 50 gallon ebb&flow drum. The size of the rez is up to you, and your growing needs. I chose a cooler so that, when its hot in Summer, the nutes are insulated. In my case, I'm putting the rez outside of the tent. If you were going to put it in the tent (under the drip table..), you'll probably want to use a cooler, as the rez will heat up in the tent. I also chose to make a styrofoam cover insert, after taking off the cooler's molded cover (A quick screwdriver yank got the cover off I didn't want to ruin the cooler cover, as it may be repurposed down the road, and there's a term for a coverless cooler.... trash bin.....

Pumps- Lots of options here. Pumps are rated in GPH, or Gallons Per Hour, here in the US. The rating for this project is 260GPH. I also found a 160 GPH pump in my piles, so if I find the 260 is "2 much", I can use the lower rated pump. If you want to make this thing industrial strength, then you could put a 396 or higher pump in there! When we get to the "put it all together" part of this tutorial, the pump will connect to a timer, which will regulate how often/how much to feed.

Air pump-It is used to oxygenate the rez juice. Keeps the nutes fresh, and adds vital oxygen to the pots, which will assist in rapid growth. For this DIY, any quality air pump will do. If you're using a barrel or a small pool (ha!) for a rez, then upsize the air pump as needed.

I'll do a post on the actual fabrication of the rez, tomorrow.

 

[Truu]

Sorry I'm late but count me in for sure bro. Looking great so far, your efforts will pay off double!

 

[Waximus]

Setting Up the Drip System Rez

To set up the rez, using the parts I collected, you'll need to first remove the cooler's cover. Some will want to use the cooler's cover as is, so some drilling through the cooler's plastic cover will be needed. I chose to remove the original cover, and use it to make a cover outline on a piece of styrofoam.

Cooler cover, as pattern to cut on a 3/4" thick sheet of styrofoam. (2nd pic, I taped up the cut styro, for durability.

Next, you'll need to connect your rez pump to your distribution manifold, using 1/2" plastic tubing. I fastened the pump side tubing with a hose clamp. The manifold connection was a tight fit, so I didn't clamp that side... yet....

The Agro pump, connected to an 8 outlet manifold.


When you've got the pump/manifold done, you can put the rez elements in place within the cooler.


Here is the rez. Air pump to airstone on the left side, and pump on right side with manifold tube run going out of rez.

That's about all it takes!

Once I have the last parts for my "drain table", I'll post the instructions for finishing the drip system, in my tent.

NOTES: Each of the major parts-cooler, air pump, water pump, manifold, can be substituted for items you can find, or already have on hand. In my case, I only had to purchase the cooler, and I could have repurposed a tote, or old cooler from the shed...
Also, a manifold is recommended, but you could run 1/2" tubing (capped/closed on the end, instead of a manifold) and insert 1/4" barbs straight into the 1/2" tubing. I chose a manifold so I could have better control of the water flow to each plant. (The Apollo manifold I got has adjustment slugs for every outlet)

More soon!
"AFN smoke out"

 

[KsjAuto]

"Bailers Booya" :thumbs:
"Munch..munch..munch