Watering System - coming together

So I had this idea...

 Use rain gutters as planters, but also to add a pump (fish tank/small water feature) to circulate the water, as not to waste it and to use large jiffy pods as the only type of soil that the plants grow in. 

 I've had some success over the past few months as I've put this idea together. I noticed that with the small jiffy pods - they are just seed starters after all - will quickly dry out if not watered for 2 days. So constant care has been put in to watching the starters we've tested with. 

 Now that we have 99% of everything put together - just needing the tube to return the water to the bucket, it's time to start the next phase of the project - large jiffy pods and seed them with cilantro and lettuce. 

 You can see how much larger these pods are. Would these make a good size plant? Dunno. Usually the smaller the pot - the smaller the plant. In this case, it's lettuce and cilantro - we use a little here and there for sammiches and garnish. 

 6 pods of each were planted. The theory here is - clip from one pod every day or other day moving down the line, a week or two later we're hoping the 1st pod would have grown new leaves by then. 

 We also added a few pods for sunflowers. I'm thinking smaller plant and flower, at dinner or when we sit down for brunch, to take the pod and drop it into a terra cotta pot to decorate the table. 

Bucket with pump

Water slowly coming out on the top gutter, which flowed down.

Plants are placed zig zag down the line, this is to stop the water so it doesn't just flow right past the pods. The pods then soak up the water over a 30 minute period. (Shortest time I can set on the timer) 

 Water drops down to the next gutter, that's angled again slightly downwards. 

The glass beads are place inbetween the plants for easier identification and to pool the water every so often so the pods have time to soak it up and to also stop water flowing past quickly. 

End of the line. Here is where the tubing I bought from City Mill will take the water back down to the bucket. After I had attached it, I used caulking to seal it all up. 

Here the tubing is attached to the lid

Side view of what the lid and return tube looks like

  

The side of the bucket has a notch where the power cable and the water (feeding) tube go out. This way the lid can seal shut keeping the mosquitoes, bugs and dirt out. I placed 12 inches of water in the bucket. 

 Over the next week I'll keep tabs on how much water is used

I have more gutters waiting to be installed. Hoping to have 4 to 6 layers. Bird netting is place all around.

Outdoor timer. It's set to go off 3 times a day, and at 30 min each time. Looking to see if this is too much and what an ideal time would be to run it.