USING DRIP EMITTERS

Using drip emitters

Irrigation via drip emitters is a well controlled way of watering and fertilizing the Eazy Pyramids. As the Eazy Plug and Block cover the first two phases where the demand and frequency of watering is low, there is no advantage or necessity of using drip emitters for those phases.

Optimal position of drip emitters in Eazy Pyramid

• +/- 1.0 cm. (0.39 inch) underneath the top of the Pyramid
• at an angle of 30-45 degrees
• 2 drip emitters on opposite sides of the Pyramid

Flow of drip emitters

The type of drip emitter and the flow depend on variables such as:

1. evaporation: depends on humidity level of growing room and the ventilators present
2. water intake plant: depends on size and phase in plant cycle
3. the amount of overflow the grower like to use

General guidelines for using drip emitters in the Eazy Pyramid

1. Moisten the Pyramid and let it drip the excess water. The Pyramid will self-regulate to exactly the right air-to-water ratio. Put a rooted Eazy Block onto the center of the Pyramid
2. Put 2 drip emitters in opposite sides of the Pyramid, following the above instructions at “Optimal position of drip emitters”
3. Make sure your ventilators are NOT working. Just after transplanting they are not needed yet and they will have a huge impact on the evaporation of your substrate and plant. Ventilators will accelerate the drying out of the substrate considerably.
4. In those first 2-3 days you can do without your drip feeding system in action. The just transplanted plant is still small and uses little water and the Pyramid holds a lot of water (when the ventilators are out).
5. After about 2-3 days the Pyramid will start to show lighter brown spots and you can start watering with your automatic drip cycle at a rate of about 1 liter (0.265 gallon) a day per plant. This is the moment to put your ventilators on again as well.
6. About 2 weeks after transplanting the Eazy Block onto the Pyramid, your plant should have evolved to a size that it needs about 2 liters (0.53 gallon) a day and you can adjust the watering likewise.

Why not start the drip cycle right from the start?

Making use of the above watering instruction will result in the Pyramid gradually becoming a little drier in the first phase after transplanting an Eazy Block with plant onto it. This is exactly what we want, because the roots will start looking for water, resulting in an accelerated rooting speed. Make sure to keep a good eye on the Pyramid and plant:

• Once the Pyramid starts to show lighter brown spots, it needs watering and you need to start your drip irrigation immediately.
• The leaves of the plant can be used as an indication as well. Make sure the leaves do not start hanging due to lack of water. Already at the first sight of tips of leaves starting to hang down a little, start your automatic drip cycle immediately.

Once starting up the drip cycle and providing the plant with the right moisture levels, there will be an accelerated development of the plant in the beginning. 

Extra remarks or suggestions when using drip emitters

• A popular schedule for growers is to water about 6 times a day with an automated drip emitter system, thus creating a very stable and constant pH and EC level.
• Most professional growers that re-use their collected water, like to work with an overflow of about 30%, but everybody has its own preferences and systems with collected drainage water.
• In the last flowering phase most growers tend to calculate with a daily intake of about 0.5 liters (0.14 gallon) per plant. The rest of the watering flow is mostly compensating the evaporation rate and creating the overflow the grower likes to work with.

Continuity of drip irrigation schedule

The industrial way of processing and producing the Eazy Pyramid substrate guarantees the same air-to-water ratio for each single Pyramid. So at the first start there is an effort needed by the grower in checking moisture levels of the substrate and controlling and adjusting the pump, but later on a grower can trust on working with the same values for each cycle.