PVC inserts

[Brokenfeather]

Originally Posted by JD4x4

For what it's worth, I had a heck of a time here in Maryland when I was asking for "Schedule 26" pipe. Most didn't know what I meant. I found out that "thinwall" is a better term around here, and it seems to be used widely by landscapers/irrigation companies. Once I found thinwall, "Schedule 21" was all I could find and the markings are "SDR21" and "ASTM D 2241". I think it's a wee bit thicker than 26 since the 2 liter caps only go about halfway in but it seems to work with a generous amount of glue to seal the cap "ridges". I'm using 1 inch pipe, btw.

My thinwall that I got at menards is a bit tight but after a soak in boiling water the caps would go in and be very tight. Hope this helps anyone else.
Don
PS I found out after buy a 10 ft section of the thin wall from Home Depot that their thin wall is the correct size. The bottle cap is a nice press fit.

[Qobsession]

I have bought everything for the system. The first thing I tried was how the bottle caps would fit. I cut the pipe with a miter saw. Then tapped the cap all the way in. It work great. I figure because the PVC was cut with a miter saw if the cap is flush the bottle should sit straight.
I still have not decided what type of hydroponics system I am going to go with. I originally was going to make it a wick system because it would cost $20.00 no pumps no timers. Just one bottle of water set up like the chicken waters.
Any one know of anyone growing strawberries with a wick system?

[GpsFrontier]

I still have not decided what type of hydroponics system I am going to go with. I originally was going to make it a wick system because it would cost $20.00 no pumps no timers. Just one bottle of water set up like the chicken waters.
Any one know of anyone growing strawberries with a wick system?

Sounds like you already have the system design planed out, so I am not sure how you would go about changing it to a different type of system, without it being a major problem. I don't know of anyone using a wick system for strawberry's. That's not to say it wont work, but can/will be a bit impracticable for more than just a few plants I'm sure. That is usually used for small plants that don't need much water.

[Qobsession]

GPS Sorry, I am making the 11 bottle unit like Ron's design for my back porch.
it will only be 7 to 9ea. 2 liter bottles.
Thanks for your input, because I thought strawberries were small plants that needed little water. I purchased 3ea. 1 gallon planters with 3 or 4 plants in each. I was planning on separating them and placing only one plant per planter. Is this system still too small for a single strawberry plant? What if I increase the height of the water to the plant? (decrease the distance between the water and the plant).
I was also going to use a heavy nylon cord for wick and run it all the way to the top of the medium.
What do you think of the self watering pots sold at target?

[GpsFrontier]

Strawberry's are fairly small plants when you have one plant per container. The problem only comes when the wick cant wick up enough water to replace what the plant uses, and if it is hot what evaporates from the containers. Then it will just slowly dry out. A lot will depend on how well the material wicks it up, how thick it is, if you use a lot of it, basically the whole design. I haven't been to a target in years, we don't have one in this town. The nearest town that might would be a 3 hour drive round trip. But if you can find a link to the self watering pots online I can have a look.

The 11 plant system is generally a flood and drain system, you can convert it though. I am not sure how you were planing to do that. Is each bottle going to have its own wick that runs all the way down the tube into a reservoir? If so you will need real large tubing to run all the wicks that are large enough to work well. Or were you planing it so that each bottle will have its own reservoir and wick in it, with the main reservoir being at a level that you can control the water level in all the bottles, and do nutrient changes at the same time. If it were me I would go the way of the second option. I have never built a wick system, so I'm not sure how well nylon cord will work, I understand that strips of felt works well though. But running the wick all the way up to the top of the growing medium should be helpful.