Blumats and Living Soil (my split from main thread)

sunnydog · May 23, 2011

Hi.
As the orig. B/M thread has gotten quite large, I thought I would start a sub thread here, to consolidate questions and answers of relevance to organic/natural gardening.
I grow only organically, therefore, I cannot address many folks questions there regarding nutes,etc.

I am convinced these are quite an asset to my living soil.

Steady, even moisture control appears to increase the amount of useable soil per pot, among other benefits, IMO.

So, lets us drip onwards!

mad librettist · May 23, 2011

Steady, even moisture control appears to increase the amount of useable soil per pot, among other benefits, IMO.

I first observed this when I had my first micro-cab. At the time, inside and outside were two different worlds. So I would spray the surface of the soil every morning (pain in the ass with a rubbermaid), and that was my first time noticing outside is just like inside.

I was simulating dew.

Later on, I thought "why not mulch"? Then, it was "why not a living mulch?".

Now I have it all, and it all runs on blumats. I give a good little "rain" once a week, but otherwise I just fill up the rez.

Here's a cool tip: I like to make "drifts" of fallen or chopped material. Worms and other critters congregate under them. I like to run the drip line over or just under the drifts, and that makes the area an oasis of water and food.

Another tip: use a magic marker to make marks on your rez every cm. you can keep track of water use that way

third tip: buy the shutoff valve. very worth it.

sunnydog · May 23, 2011

mad librettist said:
Another tip: use a magic marker to make marks on your rez every cm. you can keep track of water use that way

I used to use a plastic milk jug as a float with a little flag on it, LOL!

mad librettist · May 23, 2011

sunnydog said:
I used to use a plastic milk jug as a float with a little flag on it, LOL!

lol well...

maybe the other tip I had was COVER THAT REZ!

man, I can just see it, the headlines when malaria takes over Chicago because of all the blumat rez's

heady blunts · May 23, 2011

great idea SD!

blumats + organic living soil is the perfect marriage!

if you're gonna let the plant feed itself, might as well let it control its water needs too!

heady blunts · May 24, 2011

has anyone tried FPE's in the res? i was just watering with a very dilute nettle FPE solution and i thought to myself, "this would totally work in the blumats." especially now that the plants are going through my res every 36 hours.

mad librettist · May 24, 2011

i just put a bit of EM for the first time.

thats basically molasses FPE

heady blunts · May 25, 2011

wouldn't em be more like rice fpe?

mad librettist · May 25, 2011

why rice?

I mean EM is (usually) fermented molasses

an AEM batch will have whatever was in the EM-1, and whatever was in the molasses.

heady blunts · May 25, 2011

oops i keep mixing up EM and lacto b.

VerdantGreen · May 25, 2011

cool stuff. would you recommend blumat jr's or the regular ones? - i use 3-4 gallon airpots and grow 2-3 oz plants in them. how many per pot?. how high above the pot does the rez need to be?? ive seen a few different recommendations on this...

thanks

VG

CC_2U · May 25, 2011

VG

According to the manufacturer you only need 1 device for each #3 - #5 gallon pots and that's probably true. The Tropf Blumat kit comes with 12 devices and all of the required delivery hoses, connectors, etc. Since I only run 4 plants I went with 3 devices in each pot (#5 SmartPots). My set-up is probably overkill but OTOH it's made the garden run on auto for the most part.

From the Blumat web site is this about the height of the reservoir: "If only one dep tank is required it should be positioned at least 0.5 meters higher than the Tropf-Blumat unit for every 5 meters of tube length. Example: for a feeder tube with a length of 10 meters the tank needs to be at least 1 meter higher."

I went with 1 meter.

A couple of things to pass along: setting up each plant's devices so that it can be turned off for maintenance (foliar sprays, nutrients teas, AACT) proved to be very helpful in the long run. All of the connectors with turn-off switches are provided, i.e. set up each plant as a 'zone'

RE: Blumat Jr. - I bought several and have had little luck in getting them dialed in. Nothing close to the Tropf Blumat devices which are flawless once you get each emitter adjusted correctly (no big deal).

I keep a large airstone in the reservoir - just because.

HTH

CC

mad librettist · May 25, 2011

From the Blumat web site is this about the height of the reservoir: "If only one dep tank is required it should be positioned at least 0.5 meters higher than the Tropf-Blumat unit for every 5 meters of tube length. Example: for a feeder tube with a length of 10 meters the tank needs to be at least 1 meter higher."

If you are willing to siphon, you can make it not so high. However if air gets in you need to siphon again.

VG - go with the real blumats. The blumat JR's water at a steady rate, whereas the regular blumats deliver water "just on time"

big ballin 88 · May 25, 2011

I agree with ML. Ive Blumat Jr's and theyre starting to get on my nerves. ll this constant checking to make sure theyre filled with water or else.

In regards to using them with FPE's I didnt have great luck with it. I have a couple of blumat jrs i cant use anymore because the lines are clogged, just dont know with what. I also tried molasses and kelp extract which was no bueno. Thinking about making the switch to regular blumats.

heady blunts · May 25, 2011

definately go for the original tropf blumat for ganja gardens. but, i use the jr's on my houseplants and they love them (especially my pothos).

i have a working system in my microcab, res and all. i took tropf's "for every 10m of hose 1m of height" rule and divided it. so for every 1m of hose i need .1m of height. so i have about a meter of hose and my res sits 10cm above my emitters. the res is basically at the ceiling, so i use a little pump to refill it from a bucket.

while i wouldn't try seaweed extract or molasses in the res, i still think a very light dilution of FPE might be possible. in the original blumat the res water does not pass through the ceramic cone they way it does in the jr., it passes only through the 3mm drip line.

sunnydog · May 25, 2011

gunk

gunk

I use only water, as I do not want any bio-slime in my hoses and driplines. I.e. ,the liquid in question may not clog, but the stuff that will feed on the additives eventually will.

SD :tiphat:

mad librettist · May 25, 2011

just water here too, occasional pro-tekt and a tiny tiny bit of EM

blumat jr's are all right under LED's so far.

heady blunts · May 26, 2011

it should be noted that mad's got liek 4+ jr's per pot.

mad librettist · May 26, 2011

yeah, I found found you need to use lots of blumat jr's

but my regular blumats are 3 per pot.

Chris1 · May 26, 2011

Can I use blumats in a stadium setup with the same res? Plants will be on shelves, so at different levels.

Blumats and Living Soil (my split from main thread)

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