Timer watering for holidays/travel

[SouthPark]

This is another one of those threads - sharing automated techniques.

I'm not going on holidays just yet. But preparing in advance for it. Early testing of the watering method and system.

At the moment, the system is based on some device available on ebay stores called 'easygrow drip irrigation'. The ones I bought are cylindrical casings that houses the electronics and 2 buttons, with a green coloured panel on the top.

It allows you to water each day, or every 2 days or every 3 days, or every 4 days, etc.....depends on what we pre-set it to. It runs on four 'AAA' batteries. Not 'AA'.....they are triple-A batteries. Apparently should be able to handle holiday trips of up to a few weeks. This is what I will be testing later too.

The system comes with dripper spikes, but they're not going to be much use for orchids and orchid-growing-media.

So instead, I have options - such as using spikes to hold down watering tubes (terminated on the end with a plug so that water doesn't run out the open end of the tubes). I put holes along the length of the watering tube with a soldering iron.

I also have the option of putting holes at the top of plastic pots for passing the watering tubes through the tops of the plastic pots.

Another option is to put small holes at the top of the plastic pots (using soldering iron), and then run each tube over the top of the pot, and use twist-ties (those green coloured gardening strips) and the holes for fixing the positions of the watering tubes.

The watering tubes come in a rolled up coil, which can be cut to desired lengths with scissors. One issue is that the tubes retain a curved shape due to the coiling. It is relatively easy to undo the curve (or even make the tube curve the other way if needed) by either heating the tube in an oven to say 100 degree C for a little while, or run the tube across a powerful 'heat gun', or dunk the tube in very hot water for a while. The idea is to get the tube hot enough, which makes the tube fairly pliable again. This allows you to reshape the tube when the tube is hot enough - just hold the tube in whatever shape you want. And the new shape becomes retained when the tube cools down again.

The timer obviously should be set to some satisfactory watering time. Too much watering may result in too much build-up of water in the draining dish/tray, which could be an issue.

The timer needs to be reliable too obviously - as in turning off properly after the watering duration time is reached (eg. 20 seconds). The timer also needs to be reliable - running at the correct schedule. So enough testing needs to be done in advance, before a trip.

I also looked inside this irrigation device to see what sort of pump and motor is inside it. And after finding out, I ordered some of the same sort of pump/motor parts, which will later allow for our own custom electronics and user interface to work with (for reliability and features).

At the moment, it looks like this 'easygrow' device should get the job done. I think this 'easygrow' name isn't unique. It's probably just been mass produced, and various sellers pop their own name/brand on it.

A forum member mentioned this 'easygrow' device. So that's what I'm testing. They said it worked for approximately 10 plants. This is what I'm going to be testing. I personally didn't think the easygrow pump will accommodate 2 pots - let alone up to 10 pots - which is the reason why I purchased two of these easygrow kits, plus pump-motor assemblies for future work.



Above: the whitish spikes are only used for holding down the watering tubes in place. If the spikes aren't secure enough and move around too much, then other methods can be used to keep the watering tubes in place. Working well for ONE pot.



Above: showing the 'easygrow' watering device.




Above: another way to insert the watering tubes. Holes made by a soldering iron at the tops of pots (ie. putting a hot soldering iron tip into the side of the pot, melting the plastic to form holes) for inserting the tubes. Each tube goes into one hole, then comes out of the other. Working well for ONE pot.




Above: note the little holes in the watering tubes, also made by hot soldering iron tips. Just place the holes where-ever they are needed. Some adjustments of the tube may be needed sometimes - to straighten out the watering tube on the media surface, so that the water coming out of the holes come out cleanly.




Above: another mounting arrangement for the watering tubes. Using the green 'twist-ties'. There are two separate (individual) tubes. The two tubes are connected together by a 'T piece' or 'T connector'. The T piece is then also connected to the water supplying tube (the third tube for supplying the water). Working well for ONE pot.




Above: two separate DC motor/pump units, purchased from ebay stores - which are the same kind of water transferring part inside these 'easygrow' drip irrigation devices. These can run at 6 volt (DC). They can also run at other voltages, such as 5 volt, or maybe even 8 volt DC. But 5 or 6 volt is recommended for 'battery' operation.