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elight · March 8, 2012

Excellent point about the "downstream" fertilizer issue. I may also plant cucumbers or something else in addition to tomatoes and peppers.

Perhaps this makes more sense, then (sorry for so many diagrams):

The added benefit would be that, if something goes wrong with the float, it is easily accessible. (And the water level can easily be adjusted if need be.) The elevated reservoir does not need to be elevated, but I think it will speed the flow of water with the help of gravity. The intermediate reservoir could be something as simple as a 5-gallon bucket or a smaller tote... the size is irrelevant given its purpose. This is essentially the Global Buckets method, but with the siphons "built-in" beneath the water level, instead of going through the fill tubes.

I think that the main reservoir has to be big - at least a 31 gallon tote, and maybe even a trash can, to ensure there is enough water to feed 5 plants over the course of a weekend. My 5-gallon bucket SWCs (which held 1+ gallons of water in their reservoirs) would often be filled in the morning and run dry by the time I got home from work on hot summer days.

March 8, 2012	#30
elight Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Allentown, PA Posts: 349	Excellent point about the "downstream" fertilizer issue. I may also plant cucumbers or something else in addition to tomatoes and peppers. Perhaps this makes more sense, then (sorry for so many diagrams): The added benefit would be that, if something goes wrong with the float, it is easily accessible. (And the water level can easily be adjusted if need be.) The elevated reservoir does not need to be elevated, but I think it will speed the flow of water with the help of gravity. The intermediate reservoir could be something as simple as a 5-gallon bucket or a smaller tote... the size is irrelevant given its purpose. This is essentially the Global Buckets method, but with the siphons "built-in" beneath the water level, instead of going through the fill tubes. I think that the main reservoir has to be big - at least a 31 gallon tote, and maybe even a trash can, to ensure there is enough water to feed 5 plants over the course of a weekend. My 5-gallon bucket SWCs (which held 1+ gallons of water in their reservoirs) would often be filled in the morning and run dry by the time I got home from work on hot summer days.