Blumat auto watering

[vein5]

do you guys run circulating pumps in the top and lowwer reservoir.

 

[caljim]

I have not been in this thread in three years, realy glad to see all of the activity.

Just cleaned my garden center out of the two patio sets they had. Dude at the counter says that they had two sets on the shelf for a couple years that they finally sold at sale price about a year ago.

In the last three months he has sold a dozen patio sets and his supplier is back ordered on the 3mm hose. They will however be stocking some Kent System products and more 8mm and 3mm line when they can get it.

Looks like the word is getting out in the mid west.

I'm looking to get my feet wet with 2 4x4 trays with 9 plants apeice in 2 gal. pots. Just have to decide on the elevated res or pump set up like Weed, Killers'. I was hoping he would keep up on his thread but has been MIA from the site for a few weeks.

Found most of the parts for the pump set up, even stainless accumulator. Just gotta pull the trigger.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Cool my 50 blumats arrived yesterday.

Now i just gotta order the tubing. So its gotta come via EU or USA... hmmm better go check the $.

 

[Sinisterzane]

I am thinking of making a complete phone controlled system that uses blumats....

any idea if I can get away with one rez tank for veg and one rez tank for flower? without having to keep change the solution strengths all the time?

 

[rives]

SZ, if the changes in EC are substantial, my preference is to do it gradually. However, I don't think that the guys with large grows are doing it that way. It should be a simple matter to valve over the supply lines between reservoirs.

 

[rrog]

Been gone a couple months. Hope everyone is great. I've set up an Irrometer MLT to measure water pressure. This topic was mentioned a few months back in this thread.

Very interesting to put a number to the system.

 

[rives]

That sounds very interesting, Rrog. Any preliminary observations? How was the cost/availability?

 

[rrog]

The background reading has been very interesting. Medium properties, etc.

The MLT is designed for pots vs. outside crops and fields. The MLT is short. Sure is accurate.

 

[BLOCKER999]

so do they work following the instructions supplied?, -vpressure kegs, psi etc just seems to be taking a simple idea and making it more complicated than should be..

i just want my plants to be watered as cheaply as possible.. not by hand lol..

will the gravity package do the job alone?

 

[rrog]

They work excellently well, and were the 1 brand recommended consistently across the web.

No idea what a gravity package is. Sorry. You mean Blumats with a res? I run Blumats from a well.

I have the Blumats dialed in to 5 kPa. Hanging very steady.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Very happy to report my blumats arrived safely and i have succesfully tested one out. I used stuff i had lying around and only bought a packet of 4mm barbed joiners.

I pulled off the t valve that was on the line already and stretched it over a threaded joiner. It has no leaks and works on this little setup.

Running through a pressure reducer and parts i bought from the local hardware store. Should be simple enough to scale up i reckon.

 

[cody2white]

Looking good! I accidentally dropped one on tile and broke the tip off. It still held water and it worked flawlessly. Also i used it as #1 so it was first in line for water. Pretty cool shit

 

[moodster]

the blumats are still working sweet anyone else getting a bit of sediment in the res im using the lucas formula should i be worried or just dump it out, ive tried addding zone and its still the same i got 2 airstones in thier thanks everyone

 

[rrog]

I'm using the Blu's in 7 gallon Geopots this time. I thought that moving the three drippers closer to the outside would be good, as they dry faster. Bad plan. Drippers too close to the edge can saturate the edge fast and you get some runoff below.

I moved the drippers back in from the edge of the pot and all is fine.

Just an FYI I keep the moisture between 5 and 9 kPa.

 

[LEDSmoke]

Let me clarify if I understand how Blumats work. I get a 30gallon rain drum, drill a hole in it. Run the 8mm line and then branch from it the 3mm line? What I'm asking is all I need:
1 Reservoir?
1Blumat kit?
Extra 3mm tubing?
Do you have to have a bleed valve or any of these other valves I've seen mentioned in this thread.
If I need anything else please let me know everything I need to get a system up and running.

 

[rives]

Let me clarify if I understand how Blumats work. I get a 30gallon rain drum, drill a hole in it. Run the 8mm line and then branch from it the 3mm line? What I'm asking is all I need:
1 Reservoir?
1Blumat kit?
Extra 3mm tubing?
Do you have to have a bleed valve or any of these other valves I've seen mentioned in this thread.
If I need anything else please let me know everything I need to get a system up and running.

Unless you have some way to get your 30 gallon rain drum above the discharge point of the blumats, the 2-reservoir system is easier. You might want a handful of extra fittings (T's, elbows, couplers) for the 8 mm line. An extra bulkhead fitting is a good idea so that you can run a looped system. I prefer to have a valve at the reservoir on each line feeding opposite ends of the loop, and a bleed valve at the midpoint of the loop for purging air, but it isn't absolutely necessary. Yes, you want extra 3mm tubing.

Good thread on setting up reservoirs - https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=239518

 

[rrog]

Interesting to me how fast our highly amended soils can move or lose water. The soil moisture in the center of the root zone might drop from a wet 3kPa to a dry 15kPa in an hour. Exacerbated by the (7 gallon) Geo Pots. I'm in week 2 of flower after a 6 week veg, so a lot of transpiration happening.

I think I'll play around with that a bit and see if I can't gather some better data. Just for shits.

 

[Puscifer]

Ya know, I've had two brand new Blumats sitting in their boxes for 3 years now. After reading this thread I had them soaking in water overnight
My question to the community is about flushing...I'm currently doing DTW in Coco and end of flower flush is as simple as filling the rez with plain tap and let the timed feedings handle the rest. How does one go about flushing with Blumats? Do you hand water at first then fill the rez with plain water and let the Blumats run as usual?
Since I DTW, every time the pump comes on salt literally gets washed out. Curious as to how you guys go about that?

 

[Puscifer]

Oh darn, I just realized that all I'd have to do is open the valve on the Blumat to get a steady stream for flush then readjust for slow/steady.

 

[rives]

Once you get the blumat set properly, I've found that it is best to leave it alone unless you need to purge the line out for some reason. If you want to flush, you can just do it by hand-watering - the blumat will sense the additional moisture and turn off until the media dries out to the blumat set-point.