[Sticky] DIY Auto Watering System

@twisted1 - Seeing how you did this is nice but noticing you are using buckets it seems it would be better for you to use a flood and drain style watering system to minimize algae on the surface of your medium. Any light contact with water produces problems. If you water ebb and flow but leave 2 inches of space from the top of the medium you limit algae growth and deliver oxygen to the roots more often. You can use soil but the flow of water would need to be really slow. I find hydroton mixed with coco chunks works best. Especially when you go auto syphon and plumb them together. (I'll post an example as I am building one now for a grow.) I will most likely post a video link to the build to give more in-depth system assembly and auto syphon specs. I use the auto syphon to check ph, EC, and TDS, I just find it more simple and easy to use. 

@letsgrowgreen Welcome to Percys man, great info! Looking forward to seeing your setup

@letsgrowgreen I am interested in seeing your setup. this system has worked for me so far, the reservoir sits outside between my tents in a dark room. the problem was i am rarely home during the week and needed something to water while im away.

@twisted1I am going to take a video of my build and how I do what I do. here are some resources I use for building a grow. 
-  This is great for building your own flood tables. I just use a window squeegee and build a half box minimal side size of 6 inches and let dry for cure period.  Works great!!
And for most parts, I go to Amazon. 
I may post my calculators for media, water needed Needed pump volume, etc.  If you guys/gals want to know let me know so I have a need to post it all!
 

@monkeydo @@twisted1 @templegrower I would like your advice and ANYONE ELSE that are familiar with these systems.  I just bought a "moistentland" 😂 great name lol

 I have done a previous grow using a DIY fold and drain setup but recirculated and topped up for 3-7 days before a full water change and res wipe down.  Everything got dirty very quickly😅.  Within about 2-3 weeks their ways some discolouration on the tubes and salt stains on the res.  After 4 weeks ish there was the "slime" and solidified salts.  I didn't add any H2O2 to the nutes but still don't want this to happen again.

I'm planning to use this unit for a micro grow probably using amended coco.  Figure if I can just run water through it I won't need to clean it as often and if its coco over watering shouldn't really be an issue.  Although solo cups could be an issue with the right mix that feeds long enough but doesn't burn at the start.

Was wondering what ya'll recommend?

Watering frequently/amount/schedule? Water source (tap water, treatment for tap water, ro, spring, distilled), if I add H2O2 will it kill the amendments?, Medium mix ratios? Ph? Maintenance? If this is a horrible idea?

Thank you in advance, any advice would be much appreciated.  

All I can do is tell you what I did and still do. My grow is coco with perlite using Advanced Nutrients Sensi Coco that uses the ph perfect tech so it balances and maintains ph for up to 7 days if mixed correctly. I’ve gone as long as ten days without problems. On 350ml mug grows I fertigate every 2 hours with lights on and every 4 hours lights off. It’s overkill for sure but like you said with coco you can get away with this but the top of the coco was algae covered by the end, no problem for the plants tho. On the 60ml grow it gets fed every hour because I can hardly get anything in the bottle. When growing in 3 gal pots I fertigate 3-4 times a day to increase growth and yield. I’ve not used amended coco so no clue there. To help prevent slime buildup I put air stones in the res on a timer set to run 15 minutes every hour. This was enough for me to prevent the solution from going bad. From earlier experience I knew that too much air bubble in the feed will cause fast ph drift. I always use either rainwater or RO water because it’s easier to stabilize the ph for me. Not sure if any of this helps but if you want any other info just ask brother. Your solo cup experiment looks to have some promise.

Im a soil grower so ill have to leave this for the coco guys to answer, but i will do a coco grow this winter for the knowledge

@monkeydo cool thanks man.  Going to try to get it setup today (sooner the better for my plants sake lol)