A Simple and Cost Effective Water Irrigation System for Flower Pots

 24 September 2019

 # Water irrigation,  flower pot, capillary,  dripping  https://tinyurl.com/yxc44fzg

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1. What’s needed?
2. Special Feature of System?
3. How System Work?
4. Preparation and Installation? 
5. The Previous Home Irrigation System

A Simple and Cost Effective Water Irrigation System for Flower Pots

This is another water irrigation system for flower pots.  It is  improved  from Home Irrigation System described here.   This  irrigation system  utilises the same working principle using water dripping method through capillary action;  only,  in this setup,  the preparation  is much simpler and water dripping rates can be controlled.

What are the Features?

a)  The system is simple;

b)  Cost effective;  mostly using waste and cheap materials;

c)  Wicks are covered and do not allow algae growth

d)  Easy to maintain and last longer without much attention.

What’s needed?

  

1.  1 roll of 4 mm diameter silicone aquarium air tube;  preferably black in color or painted black to prevent algae growth
2. Fish tank aquarium 3 way connector
3.  MS TP250 70cc Plastic water cup with lid for each plant as water receiver to keep water level constant for capillary flow
4. Dremel or similar with abrasive grinding Stone of 3.5 mm tip
5.  A few sheets of woven type fabric filter cloth
6   Few glue sticks & glue gun
7.  Mini float valve
8  MS 850 (800 cc)  Disposable PP plastic Food container
9  One length of 3mm thick 28mm PVC water pipe,  6” (150mm) long

How Water Will Drip?

Each flower pot will have one water cup,  inside which has one or two wicks made from woven fabric depending on the size of the flower pot.  During operation,  the wick will suck up the water by capillary action and drip the water through the stem of the cup.  This will wet the surrounding soil to achieve proper irrigation.

Preparation and Installation

Description	Action	Remark  doubleclick to enlarge pictures
1.  Arranging the Pots	Arrange the pots and group them according to heights	1. The water in the cup must maintain at almost the same level for each group of pot. 2.  One can raise the swallow pot by using styrofoam or wooden planks 3.  For taller flower pots,  make sure the earth is filled only to the same height as the other pots;  hole will need to be drilled at the soil level for the 4mm  tube to thread through.
2.  Preparing the wick	1.  Take 2 sheets of fabric sheet and use an electric iron or a plastic sealer to join the 2 pieces at the edges
	2.  Fold the sheet to ease cutting and cut the fabric sheet into  multiple of ¼” to 5/16” (6-8mm) strips as the wicks
3.  Preparing the cups	1.  Drill 2 holes;  the top one about 5 mm diameter and the lower one about 3 mm,  just smaller than the 4 mm air tube	The top one is for fabric wick to pass through and the lower one is for the aquarium air tube.  The lower hole should be just smaller than the air tube to maintain water tightness when air tube is inserted
	2.  Cut a short piece of aluminium foil of about  10 x60 mm,  fold it and hot glued to the plastic cup	To hide the fabric and prevent it from exposing to sun to prevent algae growth
	3.  Install the wick hangers onto the interior of the cup for  water dripping rate adjustment	Water dripping rate will depend on the length of the fabric. The longer the wick,  the lesser the water dripping rate.  The hangers will allow the wick to be  circled around the internal top of the cup
	4.  Painting the external of the cup to prevent sun exposure and connecting up the plastic cups with T shape air connector
3.  Preparing  the water reservoir	1.  Drill 2 holes on a 800 cc disposable container.  One on top for the mini float and the other at the bottom for the 3 way connector   as shown
	2.  Cut about 6”(150mm)  from a 3 mm thick 28mm PVC water pipe.  Split and heat flattened the pipe to make few  pieces of 15x150 mm PVC strips
	3.  Bend the PVC strip into shape using a lighter;  then rivets onto the reservoir  as shown
	4.  In the field,  using a lighter to further soften and bend the PVC strips so that it will attach onto the selected flower pot as shown.  Using bubble leveller if necessary to set the level.
4.  Field Setting up	1.  Daisy-chain the cups using 4mm aquarium tube and T joint and install the water reservoir	One 4mm hose should be able to daisy-chain more than 6 flower pot.
	2.  Water prime the system by filling up the water reservoir   and  lifting the reservoir;
	3.  After a few hours,  check the level in the cup and adjust the  water level to about ½ cup by lifting up or pressing down the cup	1. If the lifting the cup expose too much of the stem,  use  a larger open ended (top and bottom) disposable cup filled with earth to increase the soil  height  as shown One can  raise the height of the cup by as much as 6”(150 mm) or more using other containers like a small mineral water bottle. 2.  One can put Styrofoam under the flower pot to lift the pot
	4.  Check and readjust the height of the cup	a)  If there is a lot of water leakages from the pot  after lowering the water level to a very low level,  one can further reduce the water dripping rate by  Adjusting the length of the wick that  circulate inside the cup Cut and trim the width of the wick b)  If the flower pot is excessively big,  one can  install more water cup or add an additional wick into the existing water cup.
5,  Painting up	Paint the transparent or semi transparent aquarium hoses, containers, cups dark	So as not to allow algae growth

Source of Water Supply

The water source can be from a water tank like toilet cistern or overhead water tank.   Water mains can also be used provided permanent piping are used for connection from the water source to the water reservoir.     

According to specification,  the mini-float can withstand a maximum water pressure of about 0.6 MPA or 87 psi.

Video Clips for the above Article

Part 1 : How to Make the Water Cup for Flower Pots 

 

 Part 2 : How to Make the Water Reservoir for the Flower Pot Watering System

   

A 24/7 Home Water Irrigation System for Flower Pots

11 October 2018

A home water irrigation system that will supply enough water for the plants to keep them healthy and happy round the clock.    This system needs no water timers.   

How?

To use wicking action to supply water to the plants.  With this system ,  one can easily check if  there is enough water delivered to the pots and plants. 

What is Wicking Action?

It is an absorption  of liquid through capillary action by a material such as candle wick, paper or fabric cloth or strip.  In this irrigation system,  fabric strips are used instead of wicks as they are economical and easy to use;  furthermore,  one could control the rate of water flow easily 

What’s needed? 

1.  A length of 13 mm PVC to deliver water to the flower pots or plant	Click to enlarge picture if necessary
2.  A plastic water cup with lid for each plant.
3.  4 mm  silicone tube often used in aquarium,  preferably black in color to avoid algae growth.
4. Dremel drill or similar with abrasive grinding Stone of 3.5 mm tip
5.  A few sheets of woven type fabric filter cloth
6   Few glue sticks
7.  Mini float valve so that 4 mm or larger silicon tube could supply water through the float valve.
8  Plastic storage box about 150 x 150 x 120 mm

Step by Step

1.  Making plastic box stand
a)  Cut a strip of PVC measuring about 15 x 100 mm to make 2 stands for the cups as shown
b)  Heat the larger end of the PVC strip with a lighter and make it flat to form a  base to fix onto the bottom of the plastic cup using hot glue stick.
c)  Once the stand is ready,  drill 2 holes,  one on the top and the other at near bottom of the cup.  Making sure the near bottom hole is about 3.5 mm for the 4 mm silicon tube to be inserted tightly with no water leak. Make a horizontal cut at the top hole using a scissor. d)  Cut a long fabric strip of  about 5 mm width with one of its ends "threaded" through  the cup, making sure the strip will pass through the horizontal cut at the top hole as shown e)  Extend the 5 mm fabric strip if necessary so that the strip can be wrapped round the PVC stand.  A wedge made at the end of stand can be used to terminate the fabric strip. f)  With the cup cover fix,  the cup is ready to be used
2.  Constructing the Water tank
a)  At  about 100 mm from the bottom,  drill  a  hole of size to fit the mini float;
b)   At the opposite bottom end,  drill another hole of size to fit a PVC socket or otherwise to fix a 6 mm flexible PVC hose.   The hose will allow tank to be moved to adjust water level..    Alternatively in areas where water cannot be  piped through, one can use invested mineral water bottles as shown in the second picture.
3.  Constructing Water Distribution pipe
a)  For each cup,  make a 3.5 mm hole on top of the distribution pipe for the 4 mm silicon tube to be inserted.   There should not be any water leakage if the tube in inserted  properly;  if necessary,  apply UHU Glue to seal the leak. b)  Connect the other end of the silicon tube to the plastic water cup as shown.
4.  Installation
a)  Tank Installation Select a suitable place so that the water distribution pipe will be 15-20 mm below the surface of the earth in the pot.  If the pot is too large and too high,  drill appropriate holes in the pot for the tube and make sure the earth level of the pot is not higher than 20 mm from the distribution pipe. If necessary,  use bubble leveler to ensure that the distribution pipe is truly horizontal.  This will ensure water will find its level to supply water to the cups.  Thereafter,  fix the pipe in position by using pegs or pipe hangers. b)  Flower pot placement Adjust the height of the pot using padding so that all the surfaces of the earth in the pots are at about the same level;  if necessary, construct small stools for the smaller flower pots.
5.  Testing and commissioning
a)  Adjust the water dripping  rate to about 2 drops of water per 5 minutes or about 30-50 mils per day.  This dripping rate can checked by hanging the cup's stand to the pipe as shown using rubber bands b)  The dripping rate can be adjusted  by:  1.  Increasing the depth of the water level in the cup; 2.  Trimming the width of the fibre strip to reduce the water wicking action
6.  Water Filtration System
Water filters will be needed to get rid of algae which will easily clog up the small pipes or tubes.  One should place water filtering media in the following places: a)  in the water tank b)  along and in-line with the water distribution pipe as shown
7.  Maintenance No system can work properly without  maintenance.   Once a while,  one should do the following; a)  Monitor the water level in the cup,  making sure that water level is about the same; b)  Place paper testing strip  under each flower pot to test the wicking action.  Paper should not be  too wet or too dry.  One can also try to use finger to test the wetness of the soil. c)  Clean up the filters and clear the clog in the silicon tube as and when necessary.  Bicycle pump is a good tool to apply pressure to clear any water clog. If one found no water in the cup,   one can do the following: a)   Fill the water tank as high as possible to force water to flow into the cup; b)  Pump water into the cup by massaging or pressing the silicon tube repeatedly.

Note :   The system will work best in low water pressure as silicon tube are not for high pressure application.   High level water cistern should be used as water source instead of the high pressure water mains.   

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Other reference articles 

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Turning Food Waste into Compost in High-Rise Apartments

5 June 2014

In Singapore, more than 90% of the populations live in high-rise buildings.  Some might have luxury of balconies,  most just have common corridors for planting some plants and flowers in pots.  Not many have backyards that could be used to make compost which usually emits foul smell.  Many resorted to buying  pallet fertilisers from the shelves which can cost them a bomb over a longer period.

What is compost?

It is an organic fertiliser made from waste fruit peels,  skins,  vegetables and other organic foods.  They are usually left to decompose for a period of about two to three weeks until they are turned into partly a soil enriched with organic fertilising elements. 

How Compost was made?

Many in the net taught us how to make compost at home; some are suitable for high-rise buildings while others are not. Some used compost bins and some used earthenware to keep and make the compost. What they normally teach us is either to keep the waste in the bins or earthenware together with some dry leaves. These bins/earthenware might give out odours or scents and other rotten smell filling the whole apartment. 

What is the better method? 

Instead of bins and earthenware,  the better method would be to use plastic bag which every household will have plenty when they shop at the Supermarkets.  Instead of keeping the waste together with dry leaves,  one must treat the waste such that it will not give out lots of rotten smell.   

Preparing the compost 

1. Drying the waste 

A good method is just putting the waste under the sun. This will unfortunately attract a lot of small food flies and sometimes,  big flies which some may have strong objections.  However,  one can cover the waste with fine net mesh to keep away the flies as shown.   

It is always good to cut the waste into small pieces for easy spreading and for drying under the sun.

The other method is to fry the waste on a frying pan so that the heat will not only dry up the waste for safe keeping in the plastic bags,  it will also kill  the bacteria inside the waste.  

2.     Grinding the waste (optional) 

It would speed up the compost making if the waste is grounded every time for storage.  It is not quite necessary if one is prepared to keep the waste for a longer period than 3 weeks and not too fussy about the smell that may be emitted from the compost.   One could further fry the grounded waste to get rid of more moisture.

3.  Storage  

The success of the compost making will depend on how one can cultivate the anaerobic bacteria that will consume the waste and turn the waste into soil enriched with organic fertilising elements.  This is where plastic bags will come in handy as one can easily mark the plastic bags to keep track of the storage period as well as ensuring that there will be little exchange of oxygen that will kill the anaerobic bacteria.  

1.     Find a good plastic bag.  The shopping plastic bags are so thin that they would usually have small holes here and there.  To plug these holes,  inflate the plastic bag by blowing air into it and plug up the holes if any with masking tape. 

2.     Put the dry waste and spread it across the bag as a layer,  then cover it with 2 layers of ordinary soil. Active soil with some anaerobic bacteria in it will populate and digest the waste much faster than those inactive soil, idled for some period. 

3.     Mark the plastic bag with dates and keep in storage until 2 to 3 weeks later. Additional layer of same proportion of waste can be added to the plastic bag until it is full.

Precautions in Handling Compost

There were reports that some farmers in Australiaand New Zealandwere killed by legionnaire bacteria when they handled the compost with their bare hands and did not wash their hands afterwards.   

It is good to bear in mind that there would be many different type of bacteria in the soil and compost.  Legionnaire bacteria are one of such bacteria that could populate well under anaerobic condition especially when the waste is still wet before storage.   Legionnaire bacteria are commonly found in air conditioning cooling towers and also air conditioning condensate pipes and water storage if some part of the water is kept under an anaerobic condition. 

It is good to wear gloves as well as breathing mask when handling the compost as bacteria could fly around when the compost are being churned and mixed.  It is always advisable to wash the hands with soap and clean water each time after handing the compost.   Let the soil expose to the sun for a few day before handling them with the bare hands.