Scheduled Watering System

A few times there is nobody at home to water my plants, many of them died due to lack of water.

I tried drip irrigation kit but faced following issues:-

1. Water pressure was too high, all joints start leaking. I added the Tank with stop valve. Pressure issue is sorted out but

2. I failed to adjust water emitter so that only required quantity of water is fed to plant. Then I came to know about "Digital socket timer" and used it to solve this problem.

Finally my plants and me are happy with the system and it is working since Dec 2018. Sharing with all of you who are facing similar issues.

Supplies

1. Digital socket timer

2. Water solenoid valve

3. A tank and overflow stop valve (In case, the pressure of water supply is high)

4. Drip irrigation kit

Step 1: Install Tank at Desired Height (Above Than All Your Plants)

I used my old RO(Reverse osmosis water purifier) tank for this purpose. Pressure of the water supply in my case was too high and causes leakages at joints of Drip irrigation system. So I used this as a way of reducing water pressure. A overflow stop valve is used to stop water inflow in case tank is full, same as used in Toilet flush and water tanks in our home.

My tank being small, I have constraint of size and luckily I got one in small size that fits in this tank.

1. Cut or make a hole on top corner of Tank to fit the stop valve.

2. Fit the stop valve

3. Install tank at good height to maintain water pressure sufficient to flow to the plants.

Step 2: Setup the Drip Irrigation Kit

A manual is generally supplied with Drip irrigation kit available online on Amazon/Flipkart/Pepperagro etc.

But briefly let me tell you the steps-

1. Lay down the bigger pipe (16mm) from tank to the last plant, keeping it near to all your plants.

2. Tighten it to the tank using a clamp available easily in local market.

3. Close the other end of pipe using the end cap. However I used the tap supplied with kit as it helped me throw the extra water out while adjusting "Adjustable Irrigation Drippers" (that I bought separately and not supplied with the kit to adjust water flow of each plant separately). You may use the Emitters/drippers supplied with the kit (you will be asked to do it at sr. no. 8 below).

4. Connect the pin connector after making hole using drip hole punch in the 16 mm pipe that was laid in step 1 above.

5. Cut the 4mm pipe (feeder line pipe) into pieces equal to number of your plants/pots. Length should be sufficient to connect 6mm pipe (main supply line pipe connected to the tank) to plants/pots.

6. Connect one end of 4 mm pipe (each piece) to pin connector,that we connected to 16 mm pipe at sr. no.4 above.

7. Insert a stake on other side of this piece (of 4 mm pipe) and insert its sharp end to pot (mud).

8. Connect the emitter to it and you are all set.

Repeat steps 6-8 for each plant/pot.

Step 3: Set Digital Socket Timer to Schedule Watering

Now set the timer to on/off as per your requirements.

I have set it to get on at 12:00 and get off at 12:01 on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Therefore water solenoid valve gets current only for 1 min and allow the water to flow to tank for 1 minute each on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Step 4: Connect Water Solenoid Valve

1. Give power supply to solenoid valve through digital socket timer.

2. Connect input side to water supply and output side to water tank.

Step 5: All Set and Done

Now your Scheduled watering system is ready.

I am using it since Dec 2018 and now my plants don't die when I am out of home for a long.

This system takes care of their watering needs.

Step 6: More Parts Means More Failure

After Few months, I was out for a longer period due to Covid-19. When I came back, my plants died except 'aloe vera', which can survive for a long without water. I realised that overflow stop valve was the culprit and due to salt clog it malfunctioned and did not allow water to flow even when there was no water in the tank that we installed. I realised that more is the no of parts, more is the probability of failure. Therefore I removed the tank and therefore just installed water solenoid valve in between tap and drip irrigation system. So you should also keep it simple. Hope it would be helpful. Give it a try and water/life to your plants.