Setting up Drip system 50 plants in the ground

[glaxo151]

Setting up the drip system is pretty straight forward. My question is about the correct mix of HVH booster, & HVH special blend using a 2 gallon EZ-FLO injector to feed. Will have 50 plants total. I came across Darren's article in Hibiscus International, & am duplicating his set up. He said with this set up he waters 3x's per week for 6 mins. The mix lasts approx 1 month. Already have the HVH ferts in bulk, just need to know where to start with mixing them for the injector. Thanks for your help.

[Kyle]

Glaxo151,
If you have a TDS meter (total dissolved solids) you can check how many parts per million is in your nutrient solution reservoir and take a reading where the injectors are just to see what your plants are getting fed.
What you can also do is measure out a gallon of water and add your normal Special Blend and Booster to see what a typical TDS reading is.   Lets say its around 700 PPM.    You can then check the injectors water to see what the PPM that is feeding the plants. 
You can also check the TDS of your tap water to know how many PPM is in the water alone.
With my tap water I have seen it range from 500 PPM down to 300PPM in a days time.
Good luck with your drip system and let us know how it goes. 

Kyle   

[farmer d]

Hi Greg,

This is a good question and one that is not easy to answer.  First off Kyle brings up a very key point which is how to even measure what is in your water.  A TDS meter is the way to go, especially if you are growing your plants in pots.  You need to precisely know what you are giving them in order to make proper adjustments as you track your results.

For those of us who grow our plants in ground they are much more forgiving with what we do to them and can tolerate a lot of abuse/mistakes.  The biggest factors are where you live and your climate.  How much and what I feed my plants here in So Cal versus another location like Southern Florida can vary quite a bit.  That super intense sun in S Florida makes the plants grow very fast there so going light on the Nitrogen helps not to mention the incredible pest factor there too.  More ferts = more attracting pests.

Greg for here in So Cal the sun is our friend and the more sun you can get your hibiscus the better they will grow and bloom.  After 5 years of experimenting with differing amounts of ferts I have found thanks to the input of several other growers here that for the EZ Flow 2 gallon tank you should use 5 pounds each of both HVH Special Blend & HVH Booster.  I also add 3 cups of Supernova, 3 cups of Cal-Mag and 3 cups of Quelant K.  It gets really expensive really fast so if that is a factor just stick with the two HVH ferts and you should be fine.

I have about 70-80 emitters on each drip line and a two way splitter so my drip system runs two times per session for 6 minutes each.  That happens three times a week.  You will have to figure out how long and how often to run your drip system as factors such as type of soil you planted in, sun exposure and maturity of your plants are all relevant.  Being we hardly get rain here anymore that does make it easier to steadily run your system without turning off for significant rain events.

I recharge my holding tank a little over every three weeks.  Once it starts to looking clear recharge it.  I find that if you wait until it is really light the plants are getting mostly water and if you have soil that retains moisture a lot that can quickly make your plants unhappy.  The soil I use does retain a lot of moisture so I have to be on top of when to recharge.

Another key factor to consider is what type of dripper to use.  For my potted plants they get 1/2 gallon/hr drippers.  In ground plants depends on sun/shade amounts and how large the plant is.  For my largest plants in super sunny spots they get 2 gallon/hr drippers plus additional microsprinklers to feed the large rootballs that the drippers are not going to cover.

Again many factors go into this and varies by location even in the same climate zones.  Ernest in North Orange county use only drippers and runs his drip system for 1/2 hour a day.  He has a south facing property with no shade so he knows his plants get tons of energy all day from the constant sunlight.  He has more plants than I do - upwards of 300 in ground.

One key component in growing any plant or tree and this applies to hibiscus as well is that you must train the roots to grow deep and find their main water source there.  If you water too often the roots stay shallow and your plant will not be nearly as hardy or robust.  Plus exotic hibiscus love dry soil with tons of air so that approach works well for them.  Feed them well but in a way that lets the soil drain very well and keep tons of air in it.  After a couple years when your plants are established they will pretty much be drought tolerant.  

What other plants can look so lush, green and have spectacular large blooms on so little water?  I am always amazed...

Farmer D

[glaxo151]

Thank you for all your input. My plants will be going in the ground so the pots are not an issue. That said am sure your reply will help many with hibby's in pots. Darren has helped me tremendously. My question now is where can you buy Quelant K? Thanks again for your help.

[Gil]

A TDS meter won't help if you are using the EZ-Flo injector.
I bought one (EZ-Flo), but only used it 1 month, before switching to a Mini-Dos injector.

I didn't like that with the EZ-Flo, the concentration starts out very strong, and gets weaker with every use, until you are spraying water only.
I wanted something that would spray the same concentration every day.

[Kyle]

Not sure how the fertilizer die holds up in a large reservoirs, but when I have used both Special Blend and Acid Blend in 1 gallon batches and don't use the entire gallon in 1 day, the very next day the color turns  lighter without any dilution.      It seems as though with time the blue dye  fertilized water will fade but that doesn't mean the nutrient water is any weaker.   

While were on the subject, do you know why laundry detergent is blue for a reason?   It literally dyes your whites so the human eye is under the impression your whites are really white.    Kinda like a 6000k or 7000k light bulb make things look whiter and brighter.

Does the blue dye in fertilizer have any effect in color in the flowers or foliage? 

Kyle       

[Cindy]

The dye is not made to permanently stain and will fade, particularly when exposed to light and heat. It will even lighten over time in the bag while dry. Its only purpose in the fertilizer is to provide visual proof that fertilizer is present in the water - a safety issue I suppose.

Charlie