just wanted to share how i installed a float valve in my swick setup. i dont have a lot of room so i was thinking how i could install a float in my swick tray without it taking too much space. looking at my tray i saw i have a few inches on the side where i could work with. but how do you put a float in the middle of a bunch of wicking material? put the valve inside a container! so i found a suitable emtpy yogurt bottle, and installed the valve into the lid and punched a bunch of tiny holes in the bottle, especially on the part which would be on the bottom, this is to allow water to come in but not my medium. some holes on the top to allow air to escape. also notice the two slits i cut on the bottom, you will see why later. i needed something to anchor the bottle to the bottom of the tray to prevent it from shifting and medium getting under it, which would cause the float to move and lose its calibration level. i found an old plastic pot and cut a couple of strips from it, any flat rigid strip would do (as long as its resistant to water). now i slid the strips into the slits i have previously cut into the bottle. now i put the whole thing inside my swick tray and covered it with my medium (i use red lava rock). taking care that all the rocks go above my anchor strips and nothing slips under them. put plants back the other end of the line is connected to a 5 gallon bucket which is sitting above. thats it now i just need to fill that bucket, but im too lazy lol! so ill post an update when i get that done. peace! //static.grscty.com//public/style_emoticons/default/user114593_pic327613_1268877659.gif
I'd love to do a sea of green grow using 2 gallon smarties and this method. Would this pot size be sufficient for a 55 day strain?
that really depends on how long you are planing on vegging and the genetics of course. if you are going with little or no vegging then it should be ok. i use to run SOG in 1 gallon pots with no veg time so you should be good.
been awhile! I got the itch again (spring and the stash is gone). Hopefully November will bring legislative changes and I can dust off the old equipment. Not sure if I even remember to do this anymore Miss you all....if nothing else, this post is good for a bump
hey noob! remember how? lol! because of your technique growing is a lot simpler for many of us! so thanks! and welcome back
Dust off them boots and get back in the saddle. We miss you. 4 years later and the no-till SIPs still kick ass.
Here's my setup for my 20gallon no till container. My ideal setup is to have a flood tray/table stretched across the closet floor. That way I can fit seedlings to full mature plants all in one tray. The ones from the hydro stroke are $100+ for the size I want! Really?!!! Any where else I could fine one like that? Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Look on ebay or amazon, they have smart pot flood trays. Not too bad in price and def. Not over $100+. They have a few sizes. 3'x3'x1',4'x8', check into these. They are rectangular and probably similar to what your looking for. I have a big bag bed. Which holds 100 gallons of soil and is 4ftx4ftx1ft but is circular. Wish I had a rectangular one myself tho.
Another option for cheap(er) trays in various sizes would be places like Tractor Supply etc ....or possibly even your local livestock/feed stores. If your lucky, they may even have the exact size(s) you consider ideal in stock requiring no shipping. A few years ago I found ths exact size needed right in stock at Tractor Supply and was quite amazed at the amount of sizes they carried. Another option is Home Cheapo or bLowes which usually carry not only the usual plastic concrete pans (in just a few limited sizes) .... but if you check in the plumbing area they also usually have pans for sale intended to go beneath hot water heaters to catch possible spillage/leakage. Some of these even come with a bulkhead fitting if one would like to hook up a water drain/feed supply. These models are a bit more pricier though. Glad to see ya back in action Noobs OC ✌❤✊
Could a heat pad be used with this setup? Would the perlite/water retain heat, and is it okay to have the plant drinking warm water?
I have ran into my problem with my soil mix. Not the wicking itself. It has plenty of lava rock and rice hulls actually more like 40% rather than the 33% recommended. STILL I RAN INTO OVER WATERING MY SEEDLINGS. The very bottom was so wet and STINKS. So what I did was add more peat moss to fluff my soil mix out. And instead of keeping water in the reservoir I'm going to let it dry out a couple days before watering again. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Does anyone have experiences with water absorbing crystals? Any SIP applications? Tried it in a 20oz bottle and this little basil dude took off in the 10 days since I planted it. I only watered it when i filled it the first time.
Looks good man. Why are they in kid pools and taken with a fish eye lens? Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk
The kid pools is my solution for cheap floodtrays. If I had more money to spend, I'd be getting a big 4x8 tray. The pools are sturdy, made to sit in outside sun all summer and were $10 each. Even the Hormone Deepthroat concrete trays are 12+ for only 24x36. The fisheye lens is just a clip on for the phone, but it takes fun pics and also has a macro lens.