Hi Ross, I'm glad that you asked. I am realy happy to share what I am doing and I hope that you can help me improve. I started out using seed trays and cutting egg grate lighting panels to cover them but as you know the water fills the tray and then you do the turkey baster thing. My next move was to purchase 4x8 sheets of 1/4" PVC plastic and I cut them up and glued them back into trays that are 15" x 48" and 2" deep. In the end of the tray I drilled a hole and glued in a 1/2" PVC pipe nipple and 1/2" plastic ball valve. With this setup I can water until the tray fills and then drain it through the valve. Solid PVC started to get rather expensive so I switch to 1/4" expanded PVC. This works great. It is 1/2 the weight and easy to work with. On the newer trays I am using 3/4" nipples and ball valves because they drain faster and they don't clog with bark as easily. I drain the trays into a five gallon bucket that I just empty down the drain. I found out that if you pour the water into a sump pump, it is best to replace it with an ejector pump. The bark chips tend to clog a sump pump but an ejector pump will pass a 1" or 2" chunk. On top of the trays I still use the egg crate lighting panels. I do have plants that love to root down into the trays. I am not sure if I like that idea but I haven't been able to stop them. What is your opinion? On the walls of my room, I installed 8" shelves using some wire shelving we had at work. On top of the shelves is more lighting panels and underneath I made trays out of sheet metal and angled them towards a bucket.
When I started, I used a pump up sprayer with the spray head removed to water the plants. Now I use about 40 gal of RO water a week. I used to collect rain water but a couple of years ago we had drought conditions and the rain water was awful. It smelled like sewer water and was cloudy. I think this and the heat did terrible things to my plants. The RO unit fills a 55 gal plastic barrel with a float valve to control the level. From this barrel I pump the water into a 35 gal plastic trash can. This is where I mix in the fertilizer. (My son also uses the RO water for his fish tanks). In the smaller tank is a Little Giant brand submersible pump. The line from this pump goes to a wand from a pump up sprayer. I actually have two, one for spraying and the other for water flow. A quick disconnect allows me to switch between the two quickly. With this setup I can water the room in about 30 minutes. I will attach some pictures to help explain. Sorry this got so long. Let me know if you have other questions or suggestions. About once a year I do pull the trays and wash them out. Sometimes I put a little physan in them to knock down any algae growth.
John
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