Blumat auto watering

[Bwanabud]

I never got any damm instructions, a huge purchase of pumps, accumulators, 100's of feet tubing...the whole sha-bang, got nothing and couldn't find anything on their site.

So, how do I know if the drip rate is "perfect" ???...I have no run-off, no run-aways...but the pots feel pretty heavy to me. I checked them again today, some feel real wet/some real dry(the surface away from the dripper heads).

 

[Jhhnn]

I never got any damm instructions, a huge purchase of pumps, accumulators, 100's of feet tubing...the whole sha-bang, got nothing and couldn't find anything on their site.

So, how do I know if the drip rate is "perfect" ???...I have no run-off, no run-aways...but the pots feel pretty heavy to me. I checked them again today, some feel real wet/some real dry(the surface away from the dripper heads).

The plants will tell you. Honest. When my blumats are running just so there's a wet spot at the surface ~6" in diameter & it's dry at the top out against the rim of 5 gal fabric pots. That's when the plants hold their fan leaves high on the petioles & seem to be at their happiest.

That will vary somewhat, I'm sure, depending on the soil mix. I think blumats are at their best in open & fairly fast draining mixes having low moisture retention, the kind of mix where it's difficult to over water.

 

[rives]

Bwana, it sounds like you need more gadgets.....

http://www.amazon.com/Blumat-50205-...oliid=IT6TFG4ZZ4OTH&ref_=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl

 

[PerfectGrower]

I agree with you, I've run both ways and the Coco is easier to get dialed in...but the PM is much more accessible in large bulk in my area....I mix 50/50 with chunk Perlite, so flushes/drainage isn't an issue. If I had access to large bags of coco in bulk, i'd certainly be using your method. I had intended to do a run of mixed media of PM/Coco, just haven't had the time..I run 12 months a year, and rarely find "extra" time.

Promix is a cheap quality product, it just has to be controlled and constantly checked...if handled properly it does a great job...your ph & ppm meters are your friends, and checking run-offs become a basic requirement

Promix also has added calcium and magnesium that the plant will uptake. Something to take note of when feeding

 

[nastynate420]

Does anybody on here use 50 to 100 plus of these blumats? If so how much time do you spend a day messing with the setting on the blumats? Is your system pressurized or not? The reason I ask this is I just got a reply from lazyman who used to run like 400 but said he stopped because he spent an hour a night just adjusting the blumats. I'm going to be running a pressurized system with 80 blumats and dosatron with in the next few days. I'm hoping to be able to leave my garden for 4-5 days at a time without any problems. Is this a possibility?

 

[bigbadbiddy]

Hi folks,

I plan to use Blumats for my 2 flowering chambers.

Did some research already but just stumbled across this thread and thought I might as well just post my dimensions/room info and ask you guys for your valued opinion and advice.

If you don't feel like it, I suppose the info must be somewhere in here or elsewhere on the web, so I will just keep looking in that case.

Anyhow.

Chamber 1 is 1.1m x 0.9m in size and will hold 6 4gallon smart pots under a 315w cmh.

Chamber 2 is 1.2m x 1.4m in size and will hold 15 of the 4gallon smart pots under a 630w cmh.

The chambers are next to each other and share a wall.

My plan after some basic research:
1 Blumat per smart pot (21 total).
100l reservoir, elevated about 1m above the floor.
8mm line going from reservoir through the back of chamber 2 and chamber 1.
3mm line connecting to 8mm "main line" and then lined around both chambers to reach every pot.


Sound about right?

 

[Ez Rider]

Does anybody on here use 50 to 100 plus of these blumats? If so how much time do you spend a day messing with the setting on the blumats? Is your system pressurized or not? The reason I ask this is I just got a reply from lazyman who used to run like 400 but said he stopped because he spent an hour a night just adjusting the blumats. I'm going to be running a pressurized system with 80 blumats and dosatron with in the next few days. I'm hoping to be able to leave my garden for 4-5 days at a time without any problems. Is this a possibility?

I run 32 on a pressurized system. It takes me the first week to get them dialed in. After that, it's pretty much on auto pilot. I'd look at a backup power source for the pump if I was away 3-4 days at a stretch, just in case. If the pots dry out while you're away, you're screwed. Pressurizing the system isn't necessary, but it's way more reliable and easier to dial, IMO. If you go with a gravity system, get the rez as high as you can. Going with minimal drop will give you minimal reliability. I started with 3' of drop with a gravity system and it was very prone to clogs and runaways. I then switched to an upper/lower rez setup, with the upper ~6.5' above the plants. This setup worked better, but was still somewhat prone to runaways, not to mention space consuming. I've been on a demand pump/accumulator system for awhile now, and it's definitely been the most trouble free for me. If you buy the parts, and DIY, it's only ~$150 for the parts, and very simple to put together.

Hi folks,

I plan to use Blumats for my 2 flowering chambers.

Did some research already but just stumbled across this thread and thought I might as well just post my dimensions/room info and ask you guys for your valued opinion and advice.

If you don't feel like it, I suppose the info must be somewhere in here or elsewhere on the web, so I will just keep looking in that case.

Anyhow.

Chamber 1 is 1.1m x 0.9m in size and will hold 6 4gallon smart pots under a 315w cmh.

Chamber 2 is 1.2m x 1.4m in size and will hold 15 of the 4gallon smart pots under a 630w cmh.

The chambers are next to each other and share a wall.

My plan after some basic research:
1 Blumat per smart pot (21 total).
100l reservoir, elevated about 1m above the floor.
8mm line going from reservoir through the back of chamber 2 and chamber 1.
3mm line connecting to 8mm "main line" and then lined around both chambers to reach every pot.


Sound about right?

See above. Also remember "1m above the floor" is less than 1m from the tops of the pots. 1m above the pot tops is the absolute minimum.

 

[Ez Rider]

I'm wondering how "wet" people let their coco get with blumats. I had been using a 55/45 mix of coco/perlite, but I was feeling that the mix didn't hold enough water. I tried a 80/20 mix this time, and I'm having trouble getting it dialed in. With the 55/45 mix, I kept the pots just short of runoff, and it seemed to work fine. With the 80/20 mix and doing the same, the plants are looking overwatered and unhappy. The pots are quit a bit heavier with the 80/20 than they ever were with the 55/45. I didn't think to get a few pics before the lamps went out.

 

[nastynate420]

I already got the pressurized system, I just haven't installed it yet. I've been using straight botanicare coco on eight plants and it's been working pretty well. They sometimes get droopy looking when the lights have been on for 15 or so hours but I've noticed once the lights turn off they look good and by the time the lights come back on they look perky again.

 

[Jhhnn]

I'm wondering how "wet" people let their coco get with blumats. I had been using a 55/45 mix of coco/perlite, but I was feeling that the mix didn't hold enough water. I tried a 80/20 mix this time, and I'm having trouble getting it dialed in. With the 55/45 mix, I kept the pots just short of runoff, and it seemed to work fine. With the 80/20 mix and doing the same, the plants are looking overwatered and unhappy. The pots are quit a bit heavier with the 80/20 than they ever were with the 55/45. I didn't think to get a few pics before the lamps went out.

I'd dial 'em back a bit. A few, anyway, just to compare.

The soil mix Eighths-n-Aces brought me for blumats doesn't retain moisture worth a damn. Without blumats, I'd be watering all the time.

It's great w/ blumats, however. Overwatering is almost impossible. It lets me apply teas liberally if I want. The excess just runs off, the blumats shut down until the soil moisture goes down & they start back up when the time is right.

Dunno how that applies to hydro mediums because I've not used them.

 

[Bwanabud]

With Coco if you have a good root system and under sized pots, keep the media wet...the root system will suck it down. With a wetter media your PH won't spike, so eliminates maintenance flushing to remove salts.

 

[Ez Rider]

I'd dial 'em back a bit. A few, anyway, just to compare.

The soil mix Eighths-n-Aces brought me for blumats doesn't retain moisture worth a damn. Without blumats, I'd be watering all the time.

It's great w/ blumats, however. Overwatering is almost impossible. It lets me apply teas liberally if I want. The excess just runs off, the blumats shut down until the soil moisture goes down & they start back up when the time is right.

Dunno how that applies to hydro mediums because I've not used them.

With Coco if you have a good root system and under sized pots, keep the media wet...the root system will suck it down. With a wetter media your PH won't spike, so eliminates maintenance flushing to remove salts.

I got in and worked some on the plants last night and noticed a few things. The pots ranged from heavy to light, without any appreciable difference in plant appearance. Even the lighter pots were still moist inside, while the heaviest were just shy of runoff. A couple of the drier plants were showing some spots on lower leaves. A ca def most likely(my cut is a ca hog). I dialed the driest plants up an arrow, and the wettest down half an arrow.

I think the real problem is light stress. I started these cuts out under a single 315w cmh, in a 3x3 tent. The lamp was fixed to the roof, ~34" above the plants before I moved them into my larger tent. I transplanted to 4l pots, and moved them to my 5x9 tent(6-315's) In the larger tent(with much better ventilation), I had the lights down to ~20" in the hopes of encouraging faster growth. That was 2 weeks ago yesterday. The plants haven't been too happy since the transplant. I was going over my notes last night, and realized that I'd at least doubled the light intensity the plants were "seeing". When the lights came on yesterday, I thinned out a bunch of lower growth and little sucker branches, adjusted some of the blumats, topped the plants, and raised the lamps up to ~30" above the canopy. After a dark cycle, they're much happier looking. I won't be positive for a few more days, but I'm pretty certain too much light was the issue. I've had worse problems I suppose. Still figuring out how to best employ the 315's. They're different from any other type of lighting I've tried. Just glad it's not the medium. The 80/20 mix is way easier to work with.

@Jhhnn: I believe you're using 315's as well? How high above the canopy do you run them for veg? For flower? I'm using 930's mostly, with a 942 for early veg.FWIW: I've noticed that 6 in a 5x9 are significantly brighter than 1 in a 3x3 in terms of measured PAR.

Also, I'd be interested in hearing more about "organic" ways of employing a blumat system

 

[Bwanabud]

A simple yet enlightening test would be: do a run-off test on the "dry batch" and "moist batch", assuming the same age/nute schedule etc...see what the ph difference is. This could be locking out certain elements from being available...just for shits & grins check it.

Along with the light being a tad harsh on them, add the nutient/ph issue and there is the answer...maybe

 

[Ez Rider]

A simple yet enlightening test would be: do a run-off test on the "dry batch" and "moist batch", assuming the same age/nute schedule etc...see what the ph difference is. This could be locking out certain elements from being available...just for shits & grins check it.

Along with the light being a tad harsh on them, add the nutient/ph issue and there is the answer...maybe

I do my best to avoid runoff. If they don't look better soon I may try it, but I'd prefer not to. Pretty sure the lights were the issue.

 

[Kozmo]

Question: I have a 27" drop from the bottom of my res. to the top of the soil. The reservoir is a 54 gal. Rubbermaid. It's measurements are 42" x 21" x 16"(deep). Is that enough head pressure for 5 carrots(patio deck and balcony set)?

Much respect

Kozmo

 

[Lapides]

It depends on how far apart your carrots are. The rez needs to be 1 foot above the carrot for every 10 feet of main tube. If your carrots are 5 feet apart from each other, then no.

 

[Sforza]

It depends on how far apart your carrots are. The rez needs to be 1 foot above the carrot for every 10 feet of main tube. If your carrots are 5 feet apart from each other, then no.

They are made in Austria, so the directions are in metric system, not feet and inches.

"Elevated Water Reservoir Tank

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."

So approximately three feet of elevation for 30 feet of tubing, which is the same ratio of 1 foot to 10 feet of tubing that you provided, but I think the recommendation is to have at least one meter of head pressure, even if you are using less than 10 meters of tubing.

You should use the top of your reservoir tank to measure the head pressure, so you can add 16 inches to your 27 inches, if you use a lower reservoir or other method to keep you upper reservoir topped off. Keeping the upper reservoir topped off also produces a more consistent head pressure, which helps to minimize variation and potential problems.

The general consensus seems to be that the higher the head pressure (up to 15 psi or one bar or one atmospheric pressure, which are all different ways of saying the same thing) the better the system works, which is why some guys are going to the trouble of using pumps and accumulators or using the pressure reducer on a hose line connected to house water along with an automatic cut off system to prevent floods if there is a runaway with a carrot hooked up to a nearly limitless supply of water.

I am using 12 carrots inside with an elevated reservoir fed by a pump from a lower reservoir and 15 carrots outside hooked up to a hose connected to a tap and so far the outside carrots seem to work very well due to the higher pressure resulting in snappier reaction.

 

[Kozmo]

First off: thank you again Lapids- much respect. Sforza thank you and nice to meet you. hats off to you both.
43" would put kozmo at 1.0922 meters. Just enough, as long as she is topped off. I do not have the luxury of being able to tap into the main water supply so I will have to figure out the top off method.

I did some measuring. If I ran a straight line I would be at ten feet. My bed is 6.5' x 1.5' and 3.5' would be the length of hose used to go from reservoir to the begging of one side of my bed. I imagine I would start my first carrot 6"-9" in from the edge and spread them 12" apart. I was thinking of putting a relief valve at the other end where I have my floor drain. I know the "loop" method is a recommendation that would take up, let's say, double the amount of 8mm main hose line(20').

Decisions decisions

Much respect Kozmo

 

[Lapides]

I run a hose from a faucet and connect it to a toilet float valve inside the rez so it always stays topped off. The connection from the hose to the float valve isn't standard, but you can find the fittings with a little searching at Home Depot.

 

[Sforza]

Kozmo, if you run the loop system with two outlets from your reservoir, it would take 20' of 8mm line, but since you are only 10' from each outlet, you don't need to put your reservoir higher. The black plastic 8mm line that comes with the kit is rather stiff. I got 10 meters of the red 8mm line and used that instead of the black 8mm line, although where I wanted stiffness in the line, like right out of the reservoir, I did use short sections of the black line. By having a loop and two outlets, the pressure is balanced throughout the line and if one of the outlets is kinked or blocked, you still have water in the line to water your plants. Most people put the flush or drain line half way down the loop. I haven't had to drain or flush my lines very often, but I do sometimes use the drain line to water the plants when I have a little extra time so that the entire pot is wet instead of just the small area on top of the soil that is damp from being right under the drip line.

If your growing area has access to a tap or faucet and you can use the toilet float valve inside the rez like Lapides suggests, that is great and very easy and you will never have to top off your rez manually, since the float valve will do the job.

There is no way for me to run a water line to where I am growing inside, so I use a large reservoir on the ground and a small five gallon reservoir up high. I have a sump pump that pumps water from the large lower res up to the small upper res. I bought a small float switch from Amazon that turns the pump on when the level drops an inch or so and turns it off when the upper res is full. On the advice of members on this board, I put an overfill hose running from the very top of the upper res back down to the lower res, in case the float switch gets stuck and the pump keeps on running. The overfill hose would just take the extra water and run it back down to the lower res. I also have it on a timer so that if the switch fails, the pump will not keep running so long that it gets hot and perhaps fails. I use a five gallon bucket and put five or ten gallons in the lower res when it gets a bit low. That way I can fill the lower res when it is convenient every two or three days but the upper res always stays full.

If you have the time and patience to go back and read the earlier messages in this long thread, you will see all sorts of good advice and lots of different ways other people have managed to come up with ways of making the systems that work well, complete in some cases with diagrams and photos.

I read a lot of the messages before I set up my first system and just kept reading until I had read them all, good and bad, eventually. It can be a bit boring, since the same questions keep getting asked and the same answers keep being provided, but every once in a while someone will post something that is a little different, that provides a bit of a different slant on things, which helps provide a deeper understanding of the issues that other have encountered and how they solved problems.

I considered the time reading all the messages time well spent. If you don't want to spend that much time reading all the messages, read enough so that you get a feel for the five or six people who seem to know what they are talking about and filter the thread to only show replies by those posters and you will have 95% of the knowledge but only need to read 10% of the messages.

Jhhnn and rives were most helpful to me because they run small systems like I wanted and rives has to leave his system for a while when he is away from his grow and I got the blumats because I needed to water my plants while I was going to be out of town for an extended period, but there are others, including the OP Sunnydog who provided plenty of good information. It is nice to learn from other people's mistakes instead of having to make all the mistakes yourself and even if I did make all those mistakes myself, it is far from certain that I would have been as smart as many of the posters on this thread were at solving the problems.