Tag: hydroponic drip system

Drip Systems: 5 Problems You Can Avoid

Drip system maintenance is key to running an efficient hydroponic drip system.  Below are 5 problems to watch for in your drip system.  Avoid these problems and you’ll be keeping your plants from automation gone wrong!

Hydroponic Water Pump Pre Filter
The foam filter inside of this water pump catches small particles before they have a chance to interrupt your drip system.

1.Drip Emitters – Clogged drip emitters are most likely the number one problem in drip systems.  The best way to fix them is cut them off and try a fresh one.

2.Timer On/Off Switch – Have you ever turned the switch on your timer off so your drip system wouldn’t run during a reservoir change?  Always double check to make sure that switch is back to ON when you are done.
3. Timer Malfunction – Timers can shut off for various reasons: water damage, battery or power failure, clock malfunction.
4. Reservoir Levels – Reservoir changes are necessary for productive hydroponic gardens.  Evaporation and usage will drain your reservoir.  When reservoir water evaporates, the nutrients and salts remain in the water.  The extra salts create a higher ppm nutrient solution.  Add plain or low ppm nutrient solution to get the levels back to where you want them.
5. Avoid Over Watering – Don’t run your drip system intervals for too long.  Start with small intervals and increase or decrease frequency depending on your plant’s performance.  It may take them a few days to react to changes so be patient.

Functioning Home Made Drip System
Both drippers are problem free!

Did you know you can buy and read customer reviews for Drip Emitters on Amazon? Check it out here.

Soil-less Growing – Happy Medium

Soil-less growing is the alternative to growing in soil or hydroponics.  Some soil-less grow systems could be considered hydroponic.  An example would be a top feed system in rockwool cubes placed on rockwool slabs.  I would also consider a container plant using hydro clay as the medium would be a soil-less grow.  These systems can be easily maintained using a  water pump to feed water and nutrients to each container or plant.

There are a multitude of reasons to choose a soil-less grow over a soil grow and vice versa.  First, soil can be VERY messy.  Accidentally knocking over a container that is pre-filled with dirt for a fresh transplant costs minutes of cleaning and a loss of soil.  You can also contaminate your soil with whats on the floor if you try to put it back in the container.  Soil is also a nesting haven for a lot of different bugs like gnats and crawling insects.  Gnat nests buried in soil can be hazardous to your plants.  The bugs can eat at the roots of your plants without you even knowing.

Simply switching the growing substrate to hydroclay or hydrorocks can help to control the problem.  There are a wide variety of mediums to choose from when growing soil-less.  There are also rockwool grow cubes, coco coir, and perilite.  You can always mix a variety of things to create your own soil-less mix to create the environment you want for your plants root system.