Help for auto water system.

[goodolpete]

Attached is phase 1 of an automatic watering system I adapted from a youtube video this
spring. I bought a miniture toilet cystern ball valve from Amazon and installed it in the
side of an Asda strong lunch box. The inlet valve gravity / syphon feeds from a large
reservoir above.
Each ceramic pot has a one inch hole drilled through the bottom. An eighteen inch
square of towelling was rolled up, a knot tied two inches from one end and fed through the
hole, then the towelling spead out in the pot and compost built up around it. The pots
each sit in a reservoir on four, one inch high flat stones with the wick dangling down in
the water.
Each length of hosepipe had a syphon created in it by sticking a thumb over one end,
filling it with water, sticking a thumb over the other end and putting either end in the
lunchbox and the reservoir at the same time.
The system worked OK this year, including being on holiday for 2 weeks, for three
reservoirs with cucumbers, toms, and gherkins, EXCEPT when two little visitors came and
the syphon vanished ("Only looking, GrandPa! "). So for phase 2 next year I want to
connect the lunchbox to the reservoirs with some sort of hose fitting. For the first pot I'd
drill a hole in the reservoir and the lunchbox, in each put a fitting through from the inside
with a ring that is tightened to be water tight from the outside, and slip the end of the hose
on to connect. This way I would connect the lunchbox to the first reservoir, the first to the
second and so on.
I have scoured Amazon, Screwfix, Plumb Center and everywhere else I can think of for
these fittings without success. Can the Team suggest where I could get them, or another
way to do it?
Thanks.
Pete

[Kristen]

I'll be surprised if you can do this affordably

I think the only way to do it is with a threaded nipple - that would be inserted in the hole in the lunchbox and pinch from both sides to make a water-tight seal, and then you need a threaded-to-hose barbed converter onto which you can push the hose. They are going to be a couple of quid each

The route that I take with syphoning is to have them self priming. So I take a feed from (low down, relative to everything else) the bottom of the feed tank (NOT siphoning) and then loop that over the top of each container, and secure the pipe so that the bottom of it is at the same / similar level. Only connector required is for the primary tank, none for each target receptacle. Downside is that you need to be able to raise the level above the "lip" of all the receiver receptacles in order to prime it, which won't then be compatible with your normal running mode.

You could, perhaps, deliberately overfill your ballcock container, to flood/prime the system, and then rely on the ballcock thereafter to maintain the level.

That said, I think you might be better off with a drip irrigation system?

Something like this:


Drip Irrigation Kit 20 Dripper

There are kits available that will work from gravity / water butt feed, rather than Mains.


Water Butt Watering

[Bigmallly]

This is one I rigged up earlier in the year.........it may or may not give you some ideas:
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ion_77156.html

[goodolpete]

Thanks for your replies.
I've found a similar setup to mine where the feed is from the bottom:
How to make a genuinely ‘self-watering’ container garden
They say to buy things at Garden Magic, but I can't see anything there.
Pete