DIY: My Starbucks Quick Easy Green Doser

[Bill Smith]

Hi all:

Thought I'd share yesterday afternoon's quick project. My Easy Green doser is based on a glass Starbucks coffee bottle, a USB nano pump, and a few parts I had lying around the house.

Here's what's involved:

1. Starbucks bottle ($3): Glass is necessary for this kind of approach, because it doses the fertilizer based on air pressure. Plastic bottles flex too much!
2. Digital timer ($7): Needs only to be accurate within one minute.
3. Airline adapters ($0.25): for joining multiple lengths or air tubing.
4. Airline adjuster valve ($2): Higher quality is somewhat important here; I recommend the Ziss valve.
5. USB nano air pump ($9)
6. Airline tubing ($1): I used three lengths, about 5 feet total.

Total Cost: About $22-$23

After cleaning the bottle and removing the labels, I drilled two 3/16" holes in the metal lid. 

I glued the two airline adapters into the lid from the bottom using 5-minute epoxy. (Silicone would have been better, but I'm impatient!)

Then, I attached a short length of tubing on the inside of one of the adapters, and two longer pieces on the outside.

That's pretty much all the DIY work that's involved! As air is pumped into the bottle, the build-up of air pressure forces the Easy Green out.

 I installed the Ziss valve on the output end of the fertilizer, and cranked it down to almost closed.

I tested this with water first. 😉

Knowing the following:

- 20 drops = 1mL
- The digital timer can only run in as little as 1-minute increments
- It will continue to drip for a few seconds after the timer turns off

...I set my digital timer to one minute and plugged in the pump. I then turned the valve all the way down so that I was getting one drop about every two seconds.

That works out to about 35-40 drops (about 2mL), which is a perfect one-time dose for my 20 gallons of water.

Here's the whole rig ready to go:

And here it is installed in my sump:

There you go! It was less than $25 in parts, and less than an hour's worth of work.

Thanks for reading!

Bill

 

Edited August 10, 2020 by Bill Smith

[Daniel]

Impressive work as usual!

[Brandy]

That is awesome. To dose a smaller tank you could just dilute the easy green...Some day, when we all start traveling again, I foresee this becoming an important tool in my house.

[DaveSamsell]

1 hour ago, Bill Smith said:

Hi all:

Thought I'd share yesterday afternoon's quick project. My Easy Green doser is based on a glass Starbucks coffee bottle, a USB nano pump, and a few parts I had lying around the house.

Here's what's involved:

1. Starbucks bottle ($3): Glass is necessary for this kind of approach, because it doses the fertilizer based on air pressure. Plastic bottles flex too much!
2. Digital timer ($7): Needs only to be accurate within one minute.
3. Airline adapters ($0.25): for joining multiple lengths or air tubing.
4. Airline adjuster valve ($2): Higher quality is somewhat important here; I recommend the Ziss valve.
5. USB nano air pump ($9)
6. Airline tubing ($1): I used three lengths, about 5 feet total.

Total Cost: About $22-$23

After cleaning the bottle and removing the labels, I drilled two 3/16" holes in the metal lid. 

I glued the two airline adapters into the lid from the bottom using 5-minute epoxy. (Silicone would have been better, but I'm impatient!)

Then, I attached a short length of tubing on the inside of one of the adapters, and two longer pieces on the outside.

That's pretty much all the DIY work that's involved! As air is pumped into the bottle, the build-up of air pressure forces the Easy Green out.

 I installed the Ziss valve on the output end of the fertilizer, and cranked it down to almost closed.

I tested this with water first. 😉

Knowing the following:

- 20 drops = 1mL
- The digital timer can only run in as little as 1-minute increments
- It will continue to drip for a few seconds after the timer turns off

...I set my digital timer to one minute and plugged in the pump. I then turned the valve all the way down so that I was getting one drop about every two seconds.

That works out to about 35-40 drops (about 2mL), which is a perfect one-time dose for my 20 gallons of water.

Here's the whole rig ready to go:

And here it is installed in my sump:

There you go! It was less than $25 in parts, and less than an hour's worth of work.

Thanks for reading!

Bill

 

Bill,

Very interesting.  Thanks for sharing that....

[Chandra]

27 minutes ago, DaveSamsell said:

Bill,

Very interesting.  Thanks for sharing that....

Very interested. It will be great if you post a sump tutorial too @Bill Smith

[Kelley]

This is very interesting!  One caveat for those wanting to try it at home:  protect the dosing bottle from light, either in the cabinet of your stand or by wrapping the bottle in aluminum foil.  I suspect Easy Green and other liquid fertilizers might be somewhat light sensitive and are therefore sold in either tinted or opaque bottles.

[Randy]

Awesome!

[Dean’s Fishroom]

I like it!!!
Don't drink any of that coffee or tea stuff so I'll have to find a different bottle.

[Daniel]

@Dean’s Fishroom Something with brown glass

[DaveSamsell]

On 7/30/2020 at 2:07 PM, Kelley said:

This is very interesting!  One caveat for those wanting to try it at home:  protect the dosing bottle from light, either in the cabinet of your stand or by wrapping the bottle in aluminum foil.  I suspect Easy Green and other liquid fertilizers might be somewhat light sensitive and are therefore sold in either tinted or opaque bottles.

I've had other liquid fertilizers years ago, exposed to light for quite some time and it got a little chunky; possible fungus growth, I believe.

[Bill Smith]

1 hour ago, DaveSamsell said:

I've had other liquid fertilizers years ago, exposed to light for quite some time and it got a little chunky; possible fungus growth, I believe.

Correct. If I'm recalling my livestreams correctly, I believe Cory has stated that it can develop a little bit of a harmless water mold over time if exposed to light and/or air.

I'm not worried about the clear bottles, I will go through it fast enough for this not to be an issue.

That said, my sump is kept in the dark 99% of the time. I only turn on the light to work in there or snap pictures.

Edited August 1, 2020 by Bill Smith