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#1
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some ideas
Hi! well I have constructed a drip nft system useing coco.I used 4 inch sewer pipe to make my smaller plant beds herbs ect, and 6 inch thin walled sewer pipe for the larger plants. to solve my problem for end caps on the 6 inch pipes I used plexi glass since the system has no pressure it works great and the kids can see the roots growing I just cover them with a piece of drapery backing from walmart that is white on one side and black on the other. my 4 inch pipe I used sour creme containers to cape them they actualy poped right on and on the bell end of one the lid fit pretty well so that saved me a little. Another thing I wanted to bring up is places to buy tools cheap cause if you dont have have them they can get pricey. I have been useing harbor freight tools they sell sump pumps for about half the price of the hardware store. Heck I purchased a 13 piece hole saw set that goes up to 5 1/2" or so for around 10 dollars and they worked great. I also purchased my drip emitters it had 10 in line 10 free standing in the set 100ft. of tubeing and alll the t's and hookups for 7 dollars a set! Another tip I learned is that when I went to lowes there 6 inch pipe was 30 bucks for a 10 foot section and was thick walled. I was like wholey crap! so calling around I found a pipe supply company that had thin walled 6 inch sewer pipe for 12 dollars and there end caps were about half the price of the home stores. so looking in the phone book payed off and almost every town has one (I live in temple tx a small town and we have 3). I used solo cups for my net pots just stacked them up and drilled them. I wanted to try coco but that proved to suck cause the shipping was more than the coco as I was told after giveing my credit card! I purchased my pump at tractor supply company they were on clearance for 50% off so I built the whole thing for under 100 bucks. My girlfriend is most awesome and let me set it up in the house and I decided to just drop my seeds in the system turn it on and let her rip! so far I am impressed it took my lettuce about 2.5 days to sprout when the pack said 8-10 days silly dirt farmers! oh well I just wanted to pass on some ways to save money while constructing your system they may not make it look all NASA and stuff but it works. Have fun and happy gardening!
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#2
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sounds cool... pics?
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#3
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nawh no camera handy guess I could have used the one on my phone but it takes crappy photos
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#4
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Quote:
P. S. If It helps anyone, I did find out that they have metal (galvanized) 6 inch end caps in the heating and air conditioning department with the household ducting for $2. It fits tightly in the tube but you will want to seal it with silicone, also you might want to line the inside with silicone (or waterproof material), to ensure there wont be any problems with possible rust (even though galvanized shouldn't rust). It's to thin for what I was going to do because all the weight would rest on the end cap, I was going to turn it vertical. But laying the tube horizontal there would be no weight on it. Quote:
Quote:
P. S. A crappy picture is better than no picture. Last edited by GpsFrontier; 03-11-2010 at 06:50 AM. |
#5
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One thing I did leave out is that I sanded the area I was going to glue so the silicone would ahere to it better.The first one I glued the kids knocked over and off came the end cap. I purchased the plexi at lowes for about 1.29 as a 7" x 8" piece. but they will cut it to any size you want. Harbor freight sells fountain pumps also but they did not have one with the lift requirements needed. Another word of warning about them is that i have purchased a few things there and have not been happy I have a retail store here so I examine there products carefully before buying them. Some items are too good to be true and turn out they are. for example I purchased a eletric dremmel type tool for about 5 dollars I was like WoW! the stupid thing wouldnt go fast enough to cut butter but the acecesories it came with kinda made up for getting a better one. but for the most part I have had products that is extremely happy with such as the angle grinder I purchased it out preformes my mikita and came with extra brushes. there fountain pumps are extremly cheap and work ok I built the 11 plant garden a few years ago and used one of there pumps in it and it worked well I eventualy donated this to a friend that wanted to give hydroponics a try.The bigest problem with there stores is people get in there see a few really good deals go crazy just to find out if they didnt get it on sale there they are usealy paying the same price they could have purchased a low end tool from the home store or sears.Another good tool supplier is wholesale tool they have allot of hard to find tools and machinest type tools at incredable prices. There again you need to watch em though they do sell some junky stuff but it usualy works fine.I used them when I lived in houston for makeing equipment parts from scratch.Dont froget about grainger they have EVERYTHING includeing replacement HID ballasts motor controlls and allot of the stuff you see in the hydroponics stores they just buy it there and mark it up.Home depot and lowes also have Industrial sites and stores similar to grainger.
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#6
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I find thin walled (low pressure) pipes better anyway, expecially if adding a bulkhead/Thru-Hull fittings as when tightning it the pvc "flatterns" out and seals better, no need for loads of silicon as I find I need with the more ridged pvp.
Also on the subject of pvc pipes has anyone ever tried to mould them? I know this guy who makes model plane out of pvc pipes, he told be he just cuts it, uses a heat gun to get it roughly into shape and then irons it flat! told be it comes out perfectly flat... was thinking of tring to get the bottom flat and leave the top round. |
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