Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 8:49:36 PDT From: Albert Huntington <balberth@badc.ssi1.COM> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3243$foo@default> Subject: Re: Water systems.
Joe,
You asked about fairly cheap watering systems.
What I've done in my greenhouse cost me around $130 ( less, actually, as
I made it out of stuff I had lying around ). I'm using an aquarium pump
attached to a digital timer to feed R.O. water out of a trashcan to a drip
irrigation system. Because the pump is not capable of providing very high
pressure, the drip irrigation is a bit slower than on a system driven
from my main water supply, but watering about a minute a day seems to suit
my plants fine.
I'm using a Rainbow Quite-One aquarium pump, which costs around $100. This
pump is not submersible, and is really a bit larger and more expensive than
necessary. What you want is a pump that can raise water high enough to get
to your highest plant, while still providing some pressure at very low flow
rates. I'd suggest looking for a fountain pump at the Home Depot for around
$40-$60 as the cheapest alternative. That should give you a submersible
pump with enough power to drive a drip irrigation system.
You will also need a timer of some kind to control the pump. Because
you will probably be dealing with watering times of a few minutes and because
you may want to water more than once a day, or alternatively once every few
days, you will probably need the $30 or so digital timer that is designed to
control lamps and appliances.
Lastly, you will need some sort of plumbing to attach the pump to the drip
irrigation. I've found that a short length of vinyl tubing and a couple
of hose clamps from the hardware store is usually enough to solve this sort
of problem.
I hope this helps. I might have a little more information on this stuff
at my greenhouse site ( http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Jungle/1436/ ).
Best of luck. You should be able to get out of this for less than $100.
--Albert Huntington
San Jose, CA
> I've read about small water tray systems for people going out of
> town...but what about something large scale as having a dozen 5 gallon
> plants? A seperate sprinkler system coming out of the reservoir seems quite
> expensive. I just need a simple pump that can divide up to 12 outlets and a
> timer.... Does anyone have experience with this? The best I found was an
> electric pump costing $250, which can be put on a $20 Timer from Home Depot.
> Anyone got cheaper/more effiecient methods?
> Joe Harden
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