- Determining System Size N
- How many plants is your system going to hold?
- Determining Water per Plant W
- In a closed loop system, you're generally looking at 2 tbsp. of water per plant.
- How Often to Check the System T
- You will probably find it beneficial to check on your system at least once a week.
- If you’re unsure about this step, go with a 7.
- Size of Extras + Extra
- Estimate the area of any tubing or pumps, etc. that are going to go inside the reservoir.
- Calculating It All N * W * T/2,000 + Extra
- For every 2,000 tablespoons of water, you’ll need one cubic foot of space in your reservoir.
- As an example, imagine you have 100 full-sized plants in a drip system that you only want to add water to once a week. You estimate that between your plants and evaporation, you’ll say goodbye to around 10 tablespoons of water per day. Additionally, you have an estimated .5 cubic feet of equipment to go inside your reservoir. How big of a reservoir do you need?
-
100 plants X 10 tbsp X 7 days / 2,000 + 0.5 = 4 cubic feet