Blumat auto watering

[sunnydog]

So i am loving my blumats but so are my fungus gnats!

I usually neem them into submission which takes a week or 2. It was interesting to read h202 is bad for the drip line but what about neem oil or other oils? I know they aint too good for latex lol

Its either neem or shelling out for some bti mosquito stuff. $40 shipping!

Don,t put neem in the system.
Be careful with neem in the soil, AFOM ODed with to much neem in the soil, and the plants suffered.

If you are growing organically, try having a layer of clean, un- nuted soil on top of the nuted soil.

 

[sunnydog]

I'm running blumats with a gravity system. I would like to directly setup a rez with a pump with the pressure reducer directly to my feed lines. Can you do this or do you need to set it up the way weed killer did with the accumulator and a pump that shuts off now and then?

Have a look several pages back, is a way I posted to make a [pressure res. from homebrew kegs. Can't believe no one has tried this.

 

[silver hawaiian]

I wouldnt put neem or any other oils into my res. You really dont want it to run in your lines.
You should have a seperate irrigation system for any poisons, or do it by hand. You dont want your plants always feeding off the residue of that shit. Id wouldnt even use the same pump.

Just finishing up my second run with the blumats. I used SM-90 in the rez this time 'round (along with ProteKt and FulPower)

The SM-90 is canola-based, and posed no issues in the system.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Thanks for the advice. Yeah i didnt think putting it in the res would be great idea. I have a nice 5litre hand pump sprayer.

Too much neem wouldnt be good right now as the plants halfway into flower. But i like neem. It is certified organic and at the correct dosage is very good for the root system but has lots of N and sure smells strong. And the taste!!!? Yuck.

The room does smell nice after a good spray fest but i try to keep it to a minimum.

A seperate res is a good idea but not worth the risk on the lines.

Cheers!

 

[icdog]

I've found a well setup blumat keeps the gnats away, the soil is generally dry on top.

 

[ak-51]

I'm about to upgrade my capacity by about 70% and I'm going to need a lot more blumats.

Anybody have any tips on where to get them cheapest? I had purchased them from Planet Earth Hydro previously.

Right now I'm looking at Sustainable Village's 50 packs as probably the cheapest. Has anybody ever ordered that before? Is it just the blumat, 10 or so inches of the drip line and the T that goes to the feed line? I could work with that.

 

[BrownThumb]

I just bought some Hydro Spikes which are pretty similar to Blumats. They use capillary action and are cheaper to much cheaper, depending on where you source them. I hear they draw slow, meaning you may need 2 in a bigger pot, but I cannot confirm that yet since I just received mine and I am only running 3 gallon pots.

Edit: @LeeROI just below...Didn't know that about the Blumat Jr.'s and I was looking at those hard, but then did the Hydro spikes... dodged a bullet I guess.

 

[LeeROI]

The topic of this thread is the "adult" Blumats, not the Blumat Juniors. Meaning, the adults are gravity or pressure fed.
People haven't had much luck with the Blumat Jrs for cannabis.

Edit for BrownThumb:
Hope they work for you.

 

[ak-51]

I just bought some Hydro Spikes which are pretty similar to Blumats. They use capillary action and are cheaper to much cheaper, depending on where you source them. I hear they draw slow, meaning you may need 2 in a bigger pot, but I cannot confirm that yet since I just received mine and I am only running 3 gallon pots.

Edit: @LeeROI just below...Didn't know that about the Blumat Jr.'s and I was looking at those hard, but then did the Hydro spikes... dodged a bullet I guess.

Those Hydro Spikes look exactly like Blumat Jr.'s, not regular Blumats.

 

[srs_bznz]

55 numats assembled and soaking.

tip: if you have a small submersible pump around, use that for flushing the air out of the caps. requires less precision than a plastic syringe.

I went with a 2 reservoir system because my water filter doesn't have a 3/4" attachment, and this way i'll have more oxygenated/room temperature water.

anybody have recommendations on water level height for the reservoir feeding the blumats? I'll have 2 x 7 meter loops. tropfenschlausserhausen's manual recommends .5 m height for every 10m feed line length. has anybody had trouble with too little or not enough pressure with a double reservoir system?

 

[rives]

55 numats assembled and soaking.

tip: if you have a small submersible pump around, use that for flushing the air out of the caps. requires less precision than a plastic syringe.

I went with a 2 reservoir system because my water filter doesn't have a 3/4" attachment, and this way i'll have more oxygenated/room temperature water.

anybody have recommendations on water level height for the reservoir feeding the blumats? I'll have 2 x 7 meter loops. tropfenschlausserhausen's manual recommends .5 m height for every 10m feed line length. has anybody had trouble with too little or not enough pressure with a double reservoir system?

Having the blumats filled and assembled prior to soaking isn't a good idea - people have experienced breakage of the upper plastic from the pressure exerted by the pinch valve under these conditions. Leave the cap off until the spikes are saturated, and then assemble them.

Regarding the upper reservoir elevation, the higher the better. The pressure regulator for use with hose bibbs is set to around 15 psi, so an upper reservoir could be 30' above the discharge point. Too low is not good - they work best with higher pressures.

 

[GrowNut]

Thanks for your time Sunny Dog !!

 

[BrownThumb]

Those Hydro Spikes look exactly like Blumat Jr.'s, not regular Blumats.

They seem to be working, for whatever that is worth. It's interesting to note how you can see moisture to the surface with soil that is not compacted, but you see nothing but dry soil in real compacted pots...that or they're not working in 2 out of the 3 pots I have them in..hahahaha! I'll update ya if they die from lack of watering.

 

[sunnydog]

They seem to be working, for whatever that is worth. It's interesting to note how you can see moisture to the surface with soil that is not compacted, but you see nothing but dry soil in real compacted pots...that or they're not working in 2 out of the 3 pots I have them in..hahahaha! I'll update ya if they die from lack of watering.

They will...........

 

[sunnydog]

I'll update ya if they die from lack of watering.

They will...........

 

[BrownThumb]

I guess you have used these and know from experience, is that correct? That must be the case because you said it two times, for emphasis I assume.

These are a little different than Blumats from my understanding. I think with the Blumats you soak the cones and then sink them in your pots. With these Hydro-spikes you fill the cones and then cap them. If the vacuum between the cap and cone is proper, there should be no failure unless you forget to fill the reservoir. At least, that's the theory. Like I said, if I have issues, i will let you know, but so far things look good.

One thing I have noticed is that the flow seems to be affected adversely by super compacted soil, which is what I am dealing with in 2 out 3 pots from using them multiple times without changing soil.

 

[sunnydog]

I guess you have used these and know from experience, is that correct? That must be the case because you said it two times, for emphasis I assume.

These are a little different than Blumats from my understanding. I think with the Blumats you soak the cones and then sink them in your pots. With these Hydro-spikes you fill the cones and then cap them. If the vacuum between the cap and cone is proper, there should be no failure unless you forget to fill the reservoir. At least, that's the theory. Like I said, if I have issues, i will let you know, but so far things look good.

One thing I have noticed is that the flow seems to be affected adversely by super compacted soil, which is what I am dealing with in 2 out 3 pots from using them multiple times without changing soil.

Why so hostile? Because I accidentally hit the submit button twice?
As far as the units are concerned, no, I have not used that particular product. I , and others here HAVE experimented with B-M Jrs. which appear to be essentially the same concept, ie (water seeping through a ceramic cone). The issue is primarily the cone cannot supply the optimum water needs for the intensive, high performance gardens we run. I would also be wary of the cone plugging over time.

Myself, and,evidently, thousands of people worldwide will testify to the efficacy of the "proper" blu-mat unit.

Best wishes!

 

[BrownThumb]

I figured you had NOT used them, thus the tone. I am not a high performance grower, rather a novice micro grower, so really...not even worth discussing. You're making assumptions and giving advice when you have only a partial picture, whatever your intentions. If you had used them, I would give your opinion more weight. Make sense?

 

[sunnydog]

I figured you had NOT used them, thus the tone. I am not a high performance grower, rather a novice micro grower, so really...not even worth discussing. You're making assumptions and giving advice when you have only a partial picture, whatever your intentions. If you had used them, I would give your opinion more weight. Make sense?

 

[rives]

I figured you had NOT used them, thus the tone. I am not a high performance grower, rather a novice micro grower, so really...not even worth discussing. You're making assumptions and giving advice when you have only a partial picture, whatever your intentions. If you had used them, I would give your opinion more weight. Make sense?

Well, I have used them. I tried them for a lower tier in my bonsai mom cabinet, and while they worked "ok" for plants in one quart containers, there were many drawbacks to them that the standard blumats don't have. For me, the elevation of the reservoir feeding them was critical - too low and the plants, even though very small, didn't get enough water. Too high and the plants were over-watered. I would think that they would also function as a filter for anything added to the water since the water has to flow through the porous ceramic, whereas salt-based nutrients work very well in the other model. So, in fact, they are hugely different than standard blumats.