Return to the Hydroponics Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Expanding
| | |
Posted by little_nicky 46385 (My Page) on Tue, Jul 8, 08 at 9:51
| My cherry tomatoes are getting HUGE, every day they are bigger than the previous. They are larger than 3 feet and have bunches upon bunches of tomatoes that should be ripe hopefully within a week. They are grown outside in a 30 gallon tote from walmart. I have 8 plants growing in one tote. I never thought the plants would get this damn big this fast.
My setup is very simple. 30 Gallon tote, 8 holes, 8 cups with pea gravel. The pump is a $45 25- GPH pond pump. I have the pump just sitting in the bottom of the container spraying right into the middle of the tote when it hits the top it spatters all over. I can't even open the tote without getting soaked. Its pretty loud but its outside right now so thats not a problem.
What i'm wondering is if I want to expand and add more totes without buying additional pumps then I would need to get sprayers & pipes and connect them all together. I also leave the pump on 24/7 So, here are my questions.
1. Will my plants grow slower with sprayers? Right now the nutrients are highly oxygenated and everything gets sprayed with bubbles of water and its not just a stream.
2. Whats cheaper: The pump which is $45 which I can buy local or sprayers which I will most likely have to order online.
What would you do? Just buy more pumps or go with sprayers. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Expanding
| | |
| Nicky, what about a small rotating sprayer like you would attach to your hose to water your yard? I bought one I had originally planned to use as part of my greenhouse cooler and then didn't. It was nice, all heavy metal to keep from tipping so bad like the new-fangled plastic ones do. It was only about 6 or 7 inches in diameter. I can see how that would work inside one of those containers, maybe. For that matter, they have those same yard sprayers, usually called spot waterers that don't rotate but have a circle of holes as well. Just a thought. Connie |
RE: Expanding
| | |
| My advice little nicky is go with the plan you have. The pvc and fittings may cost you a few bucks but the upside is once you get them they're not going anywhere. If you bought more pumps then that would be more monitoring you would have to do. Everyone knows that those pumps can be fine one day and kick the bucket the next day. Make one pump more efficient and make it irrigate multiple tote bins. Imagine if you had ten totes and ten pumps if three decided to go out in one day. That's real close to or over $100.00 bucks right there. One pump on three totes would make your life a little easier I would think. Im not an expert but there is always trial and error, then again that's why we are all members of this forum .....to learn from others mistakes and great ideas. Wish ya luck |
RE: Expanding
| | |
you could try these
just plug them into some of that black 1/2" irrigation pipe and attach to your pump. my 250± gph pump ran 5 of these without any problem. you can only let them rise enough to make a 'T' or elbow connection. much higher and you start to lose pressure. I would guess probably 2 or 3 of these per tub.
Also, remember you'll have to plumb it all together at the bottom so there is always solution at the pump. |
RE: Expanding
| | |
| My only concern is the water would not get nearly the oxygenation with sprayers. |
RE: Expanding
| | |
| You probably don't need to get the water oxygenated because it's a aero system. Roots should get plenty of oxygen because they are dangling in air. |
RE: Expanding
| | |
| OK, I'm sold. Thank you everyone. |
RE: Expanding
| | |
| If you want to boost aeration you can always just drop a couple airstones in the reservoir and hook up an air pump. That's probably not a bad idea for most hydroponic systems if you don't agitate the water enough to force air into it (like with a sprayer). More aeration isn't just good for the plants, it's bad for harmful bacteria and fungus. |
|
|
|
|
