Blumat auto watering

[MIhomegrown]

Understandable, I am curious if I could downgrade my reservoir size then. I have been running 12 plants in veg and flower. I water everyday with 2 gallons per plant and get about half gallon of run off. Now what should the strength of nutrient solutions be if there is no run off? I am in coco and the highest I have run is ~1000 in flower.

 

[rives]

Funny, I just addressed this for Ethereal in the V+B thread!

I use the RO version of V+B and the strain that I run most often requires a minimum of 1.4 EC. Not sure what scale you are using, though. With V+B, the plants start showing weird deficiencies at low feed rates. From what I've read, there are numerous other strains that would react very poorly to that high of a rate (Gorilla Glue being one). YMMV. Throughout the normal life of the plants, buildup hasn't been an issue, but it does show up on mothers that are kept for long periods and an occasional flush works well. The blumats will automatically turn off when they sense the higher moisture content and then start dripping again when it drops.

 

[LostInEthereal]

Hehe, well I must admit, there were a few others besides you Rives that I read through the course of the blumat thread (thanks Lazyman, Rives, Weed,Killer, among others, and of course Sunnydog!! -- totally neglecting some and I apologize), and I figured I cannot go wrong if I just attempt to mimic the masters So in that regard I cannot thank you (guys) enough. It was that guidance that led me to V+B and the yet unused SM-90 (figured I'd used up the Zone first). Anyway, I got to stop drinking I moderately derail and kind of bromance too much..

I just picked up my new BM stuffs, and my new COB LED light to test, waiting for the 2x2 and I'll setup the basic layout for everything and start rocking. I just need to purchase a hole saw or step drill so I can install bulkhead hopefully switch over to flower once nute related issues are under control.

 

[bigbadbiddy]

Is this a DTW system ?, you won't be able to feed both veg/flower plants the same mixture/strength of nutrients.

Hey mate,

that's the beauty of it: I run organic soil and only feed water.
No nutes in the Blumat line.

The only thing I will "feed" is some compost teas and Canna Bio Bloom during flower.

In my mind I was going to just "additionally water" those in by hand. Or if necessary shut down the Blumat supply line (I ordered a shut-off valve from Blumat for each line of plants) to these plants and water by hand, then open the supply valve the day after again.

 

[Jhhnn]

Hey mate,

that's the beauty of it: I run organic soil and only feed water.
No nutes in the Blumat line.

The only thing I will "feed" is some compost teas and Canna Bio Bloom during flower.

In my mind I was going to just "additionally water" those in by hand. Or if necessary shut down the Blumat supply line (I ordered a shut-off valve from Blumat for each line of plants) to these plants and water by hand, then open the supply valve the day after again.

Just hand water the teas. The blumats sense the higher moisture level, shut down, start dripping again when they need to. Used outdoors, blumats act the same way when it rains.

 

[gr866]

I ran canna a+b through mine. No calmag, try some Epsom instead like I did. Gotta make sure no light can penetrate your rez. Put a filter around your pump. Come to think of it that canna did make some brown slime crap in the bottom of my rez but the filter kept it out. Must be some fulvic in that canna. Now that I switched to V+B there is no crap in the rez and it beats canna all to hell as a base nute.

I have found that using a recirculation pump from the lower rez to the upper rez has reduced the sludge in the bottom to just about nil. I was running it every 15 min for 15 min but now I run it all the time.
I also added an air stone to the lower rez, works great.

 

[MIhomegrown]

So this might be a difficult question due the certain variables but if someone could give me a rough estimate of how large of reservoir I might need and how long it should last me? I plan on running 12 blumats to my 12 plants per room. I run 5 gallon pots in coco and usually run 1 gallon dtw every other day. I could go a little longer in between watering but nervous about salt build up.

 

[stoned40yrs]

So this might be a difficult question due the certain variables but if someone could give me a rough estimate of how large of reservoir I might need and how long it should last me? I plan on running 12 blumats to my 12 plants per room. I run 5 gallon pots in coco and usually run 1 gallon dtw every other day. I could go a little longer in between watering but nervous about salt build up.

You are right, lot of variables. That said I run 12 plants per room on blumats. Our main difference is I use 2 gal fabric pots with coco. I strongly suggest you downsize those 5 gal pots at your first opportunity. Wasting coco and getting no added benefit for the plant. Are you growing 12 foot trees? I grow 7-8 foot trees in 2 gal coco. If you read a lot on coco you will find smaller pot is better. That said if you have a plant in a 2 or a 5 they should both use close to the same amount of water if the other variables are similar. I run 2k of lights on these 12 plants and they use about 4 gallons of feed/water every day, not each but for all 12 plants. Hope that helps you

 

[Bwanabud]

So this might be a difficult question due the certain variables but if someone could give me a rough estimate of how large of reservoir I might need and how long it should last me? I plan on running 12 blumats to my 12 plants per room. I run 5 gallon pots in coco and usually run 1 gallon dtw every other day. I could go a little longer in between watering but nervous about salt build up.

It's supposed to be about 1/4 gallon per day per plant, up to about 5' in height.

 

[MIhomegrown]

What are your ppms of your feedings typically when you're in veg and flower? Are they considerably lower since there is no run off?

 

[MIhomegrown]

Honestly brother, I can't help you with your situation of hauling water, perhaps some ingenious folks whom frequent this thread can. But blumats themselves will feed the exact amount the plant requires, no more, no less. Should save you on water over a traditional drip system.

You are right, lot of variables. That said I run 12 plants per room on blumats. Our main difference is I use 2 gal fabric pots with coco. I strongly suggest you downsize those 5 gal pots at your first opportunity. Wasting coco and getting no added benefit for the plant. Are you growing 12 foot trees? I grow 7-8 foot trees in 2 gal coco. If you read a lot on coco you will find smaller pot is better. That said if you have a plant in a 2 or a 5 they should both use close to the same amount of water if the other variables are similar. I run 2k of lights on these 12 plants and they use about 4 gallons of feed/water every day, not each but for all 12 plants. Hope that helps you

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]What are your ppms of your feedings typically when you're in veg and flower? Are they considerably lower since there is no run off? [/FONT]

 

[Jhhnn]

I think it's really important for hydro guys using blumats to make sure that the reservoir & the system don't run dry. If they do, it's a real pita because the initial setup can require a complete do-over, including soaking & filling the carrots. That's not a big deal until you're dealing with a room full of greenery.

It's important for everybody, of course, but it's a lot easier for soil growers if they can set up the reservoir with a float valve or use a pressure regulator. Then it's a piece of cake. With the right kind of soil mix in fairly large pots a grower need do nothing other than watch for problems once the plants are in their final pots. It's def the lazy man's way to grow. I barely need to pay attention at all but I do anyway.

 

[Bwanabud]

What are your ppms of your feedings typically when you're in veg and flower? Are they considerably lower since there is no run off?

Mine are 450-600 in veg, 700-950 in bud...lights, temps, and strains will alter that obviously.

 

[rives]

What are your ppms of your feedings typically when you're in veg and flower? Are they considerably lower since there is no run off?

Mine are 450-600 in veg, 700-950 in bud...lights, temps, and strains will alter that obviously.

It would help to nail down the scale - I use .5 for my own use, but EC on here since there is less confusion with it.

 

[bigbadbiddy]

Just hand water the teas. The blumats sense the higher moisture level, shut down, start dripping again when they need to. Used outdoors, blumats act the same way when it rains.

Nice, that is what I was hoping for!

 

[MIhomegrown]

Anybody try the blumat pumps? I just seen them on sustainable village. It allows you to use blumats without having a reservoir high up. Wouldn't a standard pump work just as good? They're selling them for like $400!

 

[Bwanabud]

That's all I run is pressurized Blumats sytems now.

 

[Jhhnn]

Anybody try the blumat pumps? I just seen them on sustainable village. It allows you to use blumats without having a reservoir high up. Wouldn't a standard pump work just as good? They're selling them for like $400!

The pump/ accumulator combo needs to be matched to the necessary delivery rate. It's hard to find pumps small enough. I'm sure there are other possible combos for DIY purposes but figuring that out would probably take some trial & error which can get expensive & may not work as well as desired. Sustainable village already did all that stuff, if you're willing to pay for it.

 

[MIhomegrown]

That's all I run is pressurized Blumats sytems now.

Are they a lot easier to deal with the having the rez up high? Did you create your system or did you buy one like the model available at sustainable village?

 

[LostInEthereal]

Are they a lot easier to deal with the having the rez up high? Did you create your system or did you buy one like the model available at sustainable village?

I have purchased one about a 2 weeks ago, but I have yet to install it. I was waiting on some tubing and fittings which I have received now and I plan to install it all tomorrow. Got the carrots soaking but I need to get a drill bit at HD to fit the o'ring that came with the bulkhead disconnect first to prep the reservoir.