Blumat auto watering

[rives]

More reliable in the sense that there were far fewer runaways - blumats like higher pressures.

It is pretty surprising how much water can escape from one of those damn little 4mm hoses. I have T's in the 8mm line surrounding the tents, and block off the unneeded ones with pieces of hose that have couple of knots tied in them. I had one of those fail between the first knot and the T one time, and dumped almost a full reservoir. Murphy is an ingenious little bastard!

 

[FlowerFarmer]

Dude! I just had a bit of knotted 3mm somehow come untied and damn near a whole toter can worth of nutes down the drain.

1st time I've plumbed with 3/4" tubing with the rez a floor above and the extra pressure is really nice.

 

[rives]

I was always afraid of that and tied 2 knots in them for that reason, but Murphy still got around me. I've been tempted to try the Blumat plugs for the T's, but haven't yet.

I bet that elevation helps!

 

[Cobra420]

More reliable in the sense that there were far fewer runaways - blumats like higher pressures.

It is pretty surprising how much water can escape from one of those damn little 4mm hoses. I have T's in the 8mm line surrounding the tents, and block off the unneeded ones with pieces of hose that have couple of knots tied in them. I had one of those fail between the first knot and the T one time, and dumped almost a full reservoir. Murphy is an ingenious little bastard!

Interesting. That's good to know. I'll keep everyone updated on how they perform off a tap. Thank you.

 

[Cobra420]

Also a few questions on dialing them in. Want to to make sure I understand this.

Should I be slowly increasing the flow every couple days until I get a tiny bit of run off and then tighten back slowly over a few days until the point of no run off?

When increasing or decreasing to dial in, should I be using the arrows or the tiny hash marks?

Any recommendations on a safe amount to turn the dial without over doing it too much? So many arrows, so many hashes etc...

What methods are everyone using to dial them in and to determine they are dialed in?

Any tips or advice for getting them dialed in would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[beta]

.

 

[CHEFfy]

Just got my kit! Time to start tinkering.

 

[rives]

I use a slightly different method for setting the blumats, but it only works at transplant time rather than installing them in an established plant.

I water the loose media to the final moisture content that I want and then transplant the plant into it. The blumat is installed and the 4mm line is pinched off with a clothes pin, then let it set for several hours. After the blumat has equalized with the surrounding media, the clothes pin is removed and the blumat is adjusted to a clinging drop. It should then hold the moisture content that you established before transplanting.

I've also found that when you use media that has chunks of perlite in it, the blumat works better if you create a pocket of straight coco (or whatever media you use) so that the spike has good contact with the media over it's entire surface.

 

[n00bcake]

Hi all
Very informative read, I have read as many of the 261 pages as possible but is now getting a little mind boggling.

I have just purchased a Blumat kit consisting of:
Contents:
Tank Connector - to give a ¼" outlet from an suitable tank, to which the system tube connects.

12 Probes - these regulate the flow of water at the point of watering.

11 In-Line Connectors - to connect drip tube to feed tube (1 required for each probe).

1 End-Line Connector - to connect the last piece of drip tube in the system.

10 Metres ¼" Feed Tube - this forms the main artery of the system, carrying the water around the area to be watered.

3 Metres 1/16" Drip Tube - carries water from the Feed Tube up to and through a probe and delivers the drips.

This for my tent grow of 4/5 plants and will be connected to a 100L tank sitting around 4ft high.
The Tank connector will be at the bottom of the tank so hopefully no issues with pressure.

Could you clever folk check through what I have ordered and make sure I have what I need?

Is there anything I am missing or any golden rules I should be aware of with these kits?

Is it a loop system? I am also using 5gal/19l fabric smart pot filled with Bio Bizz All mix.
Thanks all

 

[n00bcake]

Sorry I was also meant to ask if I should be using the in line drippers?

 

[maestroman22]

I use a slightly different method for setting the blumats, but it only works at transplant time rather than installing them in an established plant.


I've also found that when you use media that has chunks of perlite in it, the blumat works better if you create a pocket of straight coco (or whatever media you use) so that the spike has good contact with the media over it's entire surface.

Whole heartedly agree. Cheers!

 

[DaleW]

skiptical on what these things do in coc because im not seeing any examples just a lot of praise. i purchased a pack but i think to be safe ill go the dripper route

 

[DaleW]

so is it possible to set them up on cone per 2 gallon pot, res about 2 feet higher with bubbles in the reservoir? kind of nervous about breaking it out im just looking at the box...

 

[rives]

They work great in coco, check out my albums. I've been using blumats with coco for the last several years.

The critical measurement on the reservoir elevation is from the blumat to the water surface, and the higher the reservoir, the better. Stay away from the bubbler - you don't want to vapor-lock the feed lines.

 

[Mikell]

Hah, just picked up a box of 25 unused carrots and random Blumat parts/pieces for 25 bucks.

Sometimes it pays to wander into the grow shop when you don't need anything

 

[Former Guest]

I paid $100 for 20 at Costco. You scored!

 

[Grownomenal]

I'm about to go look at Costco right now! Thanks!


Peace

 

[CHEFfy]

100 for $20 is a great score as well.

 

[Nomad28743]

QUick disconnet of blumats

QUick disconnet of blumats

Hello all,
Over the last few days I have read much of this fantastic thread and I am definitely ordering the blumats to go in my 1 gal plastic pots. However from my brief experience I will need to take the plants out to spray for spider mites at sometime during the grow. Has anyone come up with a quick disconnect plan? Seems like the carrots would need to be taken out of the pot and reinstalled each time I did this correct?
Thanks for the help.

Joke: If shrimp came over on the shrimp boat...how did crabs get here?

 

[Maj.Cottonmouth]

You can get small caps from Tropf that go onto the connector that the small line from the blumat connects to. You could pull the line off the connector and cap it, remove the plant, do your thing and then put it back. The only downside I see is that you will need to purge that air out after reconnecting it and then readjust the blumats. Maybe mark where they were set before disconnecting so you can get really close to where they were adjusted after purging the line.

http://www.sustainablevillage.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=112