Where is this #2 you are referring to?
-
ICMag with help from Landrace Warden and The Vault is running a NEW contest in November! You can check it here. Prizes are seeds & forum premium access. Come join in!
Blumat auto watering
- Thread starter sunnydog
- Start date
-
- Tags
- blumat drippers irrigation watering
Where is this #2 you are referring to?
Oh OK, I don't have any instructions as I just ordered the gear today. I did find another site where they sell blumat and they talk much more about the system- this is not for the jrs-
Keep in mind I am only talking about 10 feet of supply line for my 3 plants so I won't have to elevate past 2 or 3 feet according to what Blumat sez.
Elevated Water Reservoir Tank with Blumat
It is sufficient for a water tank to function simply by being elevated. In order for the water to flow well, the tank should be located 1 m higher for each 10 m of tubing. Almost any type of container is suitable including rainwater barrels, drink containers or chemical containers. It is also possible to connect a series of containers by attaching onto the water supply tube.
Connection into the system can be made at any point - it is also possible to connect at two points at the beginning and at the end of the system. Caution: the tank must be impermeable to light in order to avoid growth of algae.
Possibilities for filling tank: by hand, with a tap water connection and float as shut-off valve, or with a pump from a cistern.
Tank size: should be suitable for the size of the system and the frequency with which the tank can be refilled. The reservoir should be enough for at least 1 week. A balcony box of 1 m length requires about 2 l of water daily during the summer months (peak use can be over 4 l of water!).
Bubbagineer
Member
@Rives yeah.... and the bad part is there's a shower in the basement nobody uses grrrrrr
Got it all plumbed. Might look familiar to you Rives hehe. Only difference, I brought my loop in at the front of the tent so my drain works out to be back at the front above the doors. To purge, I just unzip the tent and turn the valve. Since my air purge isn't automated, I wanted it handy. Pretty much all went to plan and I built it out in about 3 hours..... it went too well, I just know something's fucked somewhere lol.
Got it all plumbed. Might look familiar to you Rives hehe. Only difference, I brought my loop in at the front of the tent so my drain works out to be back at the front above the doors. To purge, I just unzip the tent and turn the valve. Since my air purge isn't automated, I wanted it handy. Pretty much all went to plan and I built it out in about 3 hours..... it went too well, I just know something's fucked somewhere lol.
Attachments
Bubbagineer
Member
Bubbagineer
Member
Bubbagineer
Member
Bubbagineer
Member
Bubbagineer
Member
T
The_Core
Congrats on the 50th post. Thats no spam, thats cannabis....ha. Anyway nice plants bro.
Holy cow, Bubba, it looks like you are in business in an admirable fashion! Very nice looking arrangement and hardware selection. I'll be very interested to see how that much lighting works out for you - I had been toying with the idea of supplementing my 315s with some 660nm red LEDs, but haven't really seen the need thus far. You may convince me to do exactly that.
What is that upper reservoir? It looks much more heavy-duty than a standard "Homer Bucket". Plants look great & I bet that they will love their new home. Nice job.
What is that upper reservoir? It looks much more heavy-duty than a standard "Homer Bucket". Plants look great & I bet that they will love their new home. Nice job.
Stoned40yrs - obviously you should do as you like. Most of us have found that the higher the supply is, the better the blumats function. My first system initially had the bottom of the reservoir about 20" above the media surface, with the normal water level roughly a foot above that. After several months, I raised it up another 2' to get it as close to the ceiling as possible and still be able to look into the rez with a mirror (this is all sitting on top of a bathtub). Doing this reduced my runaway incidence significantly. The higher that the supply reservoir is placed, the lower the variation in head pressure becomes as a percentage of total head pressure, and our cumulative experience says that is a good thing. YMMV.
Also, I don't know how well the blumats will adapt to your desire for cyclical runoff. They are designed to hold a given moisture content, above which they pinch the line closed and below it they open it to flow. I would think that you will find that you either get no runoff or you get it continuously. Again, YMMV.
Keep us posted, and good luck.
Also, I don't know how well the blumats will adapt to your desire for cyclical runoff. They are designed to hold a given moisture content, above which they pinch the line closed and below it they open it to flow. I would think that you will find that you either get no runoff or you get it continuously. Again, YMMV.
Keep us posted, and good luck.
Bubbagineer
Member
Thanks man! You saved me a lot of time with your posts throughout this beast. You and I have similar needs though I typically am only gone M-F worst case. The 30 gallons should get me through and the 3x3 botanic are tray will hold that much in the case of a disaster.
I've though about putting a webcam in, but then I'd be checking it all the time and if things were crashing I'd be a basket case lol. Having said that, the webcam might would help me walk the old lady through a repair over the phone.... I'd be getting an earful the whole way though.
Here's what 2 of those 315w EA CMH lights grew out with the assistance of the blumats. This is Tora Bora, 15%CBD:10%THC .... And I'm actually planning to BOOST the red lol
Attachments
Well if it will work better with the reservoir higher than that's cool. It's just as easy for me to have the reservoir on the second story of my house. So I can have it from 9'-12' above the containers. No problem.
As far as runoff with hempy and blumats, I guess I'll start a new thread and see what other people have found out from trying it. No problem there also as if they don't go to run off I'll have multiple lines from the reservoir to the plants with valves and just hand flood them once a day. The blumats are mainly so I can go camping on weekends and not have to worry about the plants drying out.
It will be a few months before I set it up but I'll post up the results and pics. Thank you for all your help
Bubbagineer
Member
@Rives It's a 10g "muck tub" from a local rancher supply chain called Murdock's. Pretty much any feed store will have heavy tubs like this. Bigger even. It has a nice heavy wall - I've used it for two grows as my primary reservoir - manually lifted 2-5 gallons at a time with the same RIO pump from a 5 gallon bucket that I filled 1 gallon at a time.
purpleurksme
New member
I just got a set of blumats and set them up last night. As of right now I just have water pH 6.7 in the rez with 2 air stones but was thinking of adding a very weak nute formula for vegging, but was wondering if I should hand feed them.
I was also thinking of adding "Fulvex" or Gen.Orgs "dynamite black"(0-0-1) both of which contain fulvic and humic acid respectively, to my reservoir and hand feeding the girls. This way they will always be able to absorb the nutrients available. What do you guys think?
I was also thinking of adding "Fulvex" or Gen.Orgs "dynamite black"(0-0-1) both of which contain fulvic and humic acid respectively, to my reservoir and hand feeding the girls. This way they will always be able to absorb the nutrients available. What do you guys think?
skyview
Active member
One idea mentioned many posts back for using thick nutrients and granular organics was a "nutrient well" - digging a little hole under where the Blumat drips and filling it with the nutrients. Because the Blumat supplies water so slowly, you don’t have to worry about the nutrients draining away. Every time water goes to your plants, a little more fertilizer dissolves.
You can also use this method with thinner, more liquid nutrients by first putting vermiculite in the hole to act as a kind of sponge. It's like making your own time release fertilizer.
You can also use this method with thinner, more liquid nutrients by first putting vermiculite in the hole to act as a kind of sponge. It's like making your own time release fertilizer.
purpleurksme
New member
Advanced Nutrients in Rez + humic acid
Advanced Nutrients in Rez + humic acid
Thanks for the good idea. I only have liquid nutrients at the moment. I have Advanced Nutrients hobbyist bundle, and have been using Sensi Bloom A+B. If i added humic acid to the rez would that help to reduce salt buildup .. Would that work?
I was a bit apprehensive about using such a line, as i normally do foxfarm although im slowly graduating to true organics, but does anyone have experience with this, adding AN nutes to their rez and if so at what levels.
Thanks GUys
Advanced Nutrients in Rez + humic acid
Thanks for the good idea. I only have liquid nutrients at the moment. I have Advanced Nutrients hobbyist bundle, and have been using Sensi Bloom A+B. If i added humic acid to the rez would that help to reduce salt buildup .. Would that work?
I was a bit apprehensive about using such a line, as i normally do foxfarm although im slowly graduating to true organics, but does anyone have experience with this, adding AN nutes to their rez and if so at what levels.
Thanks GUys
