Blumat auto watering

[budelight]

Been running on Blumats for almost a week, going smooth so far!

BEFORE: I would hand water each pot every day with a similar volume of MaxiGrow solution (or as much as they needed).

NOW: I am feeding through blumats on a water only res.
How often should i hand water nutrients? 1x per week? 2x? Has anyone else tried this?

Thanks

 

[budelight]

I did have 2 partial leak issues. no real issue with the water, the tray caught it all.

1st at the end of the supply line, the rubber was cracked.
2nd was near the res, attached to the thru-hull adapter.

I don't know if its old inventory from sustainable village or something i did

 

[oti$]

Been running on Blumats for almost a week, going smooth so far!

BEFORE: I would hand water each pot every day with a similar volume of MaxiGrow solution (or as much as they needed).

NOW: I am feeding through blumats on a water only res.
How often should i hand water nutrients? 1x per week? 2x? Has anyone else tried this?

Thanks

What medium are you growing in?

 

[budelight]

sup oti$, i grow in coco

 

[wg_farms]

Could anyone help me design a system for my 45gal fabric pots. 2 plants per pot and going to be on tap with the pressure reducer. Also will be peat based living organic soil. I was thinking I could maybe utilize a Maxi carrot in side of the container as well with distribution drippers or maybe the soaker hose could be a good option as well....if anyone has any experience with bigger pots and blumats please help a growmie out!

 

[tiffa]

Hi there everyone....It's a big ol read, but can anyone help me, there seems to be differing opinions but I'm about to build a twin res setup,

is the 8mm feed line supplied with the patio kit best or should I go with bigger tubing?

In terms of designing the feed line, is looped best? or is the line with end tap just as good?

Cheers

 

[tiffa]

I have been using V+B for several years, but only with Blumats, so I don't have a comparison for them vs a conventional feed. However, I stay pretty close to the recommended feed rates that V+B has published. If I drop lower, I start getting some pretty weird deficiencies, but that seems to be a characteristic of V+B. I don't use CalMag, but do supplement with epsom - my water has virtually no Mg in it, and V+B has plenty of Ca.

Hi Rives....I'll be setting a system up shortly..I dunno if this helps but I'm thinking of adding my extra drip system (Topspin) to feed the nutes separately and just let the Blumat feed water to keep everything clean.....My water is really hard 800 will i need to invest in RO water do you think?

 

[rives]

Hi there everyone....It's a big ol read, but can anyone help me, there seems to be differing opinions but I'm about to build a twin res setup,

is the 8mm feed line supplied with the patio kit best or should I go with bigger tubing?

In terms of designing the feed line, is looped best? or is the line with end tap just as good?

Cheers

If your plant count is high, then a larger line might be desirable. I think that people have run several dozen with the 8mm line successfully. I have a looped system and two single-ended systems. I built the looped system because I was having air lock problems when I was running a self-topping reservoir as a result of the entrained air in our municipal system. Since I went to the dual-reservoir system, it hasn't been an issue. Again, if the plant count is high, a looped system might be beneficial during periods of high flow.

Hi Rives....I'll be setting a system up shortly..I dunno if this helps but I'm thinking of adding my extra drip system (Topspin) to feed the nutes separately and just let the Blumat feed water to keep everything clean.....My water is really hard 800 will i need to invest in RO water do you think?

I don't have any experience with hard water, but that sounds pretty high to me! You might call whoever your nutrient manufacturer is and get their input.

 

[tiffa]

If your plant count is high, then a larger line might be desirable. I think that people have run several dozen with the 8mm line successfully. I have a looped system and two single-ended systems. I built the looped system because I was having air lock problems when I was running a self-topping reservoir as a result of the entrained air in our municipal system. Since I went to the dual-reservoir system, it hasn't been an issue. Again, if the plant count is high, a looped system might be beneficial during periods of high flow.



I don't have any experience with hard water, but that sounds pretty high to me! You might call whoever your nutrient manufacturer is and get their input.

Brilliant Rives, you have saved me buying a load of 13mm fittings, happy days. I've done a few rodeos but I'm not too up on RO water, I got near GPW last time (Finally after many rodeos) but always wonder if i could do better with RO water since my hardness is 0.8 . What are the main advantages of RO?
Are the systems pricey Rives?
It's reassuring to know you are still using the system after so long!

 

[rives]

Brilliant Rives, you have saved me buying a load of 13mm fittings, happy days. I've done a few rodeos but I'm not too up on RO water, I got near GPW last time (Finally after many rodeos) but always wonder if i could do better with RO water since my hardness is 0.8 . What are the main advantages of RO?
Are the systems pricey Rives?
It's reassuring to know you are still using the system after so long!

As I understand it, the problem with excessively hard water is that it can contain high enough levels of nutrients that it can throw off the balance of what you are feeding the plant. Commercial nutrients are compounded around "average" water, and include the water's nutrient levels in the calculation for meeting the plant's needs. For instance, my water is abnormally low in magnesium and will not hit necessary levels even with a chem nutrient that is considered to have a high magnesium content. I recommend that you start with a water analysis to see what your baseline levels are, and if you are comfortable with spreadsheets, the nutrient calculator in my sig line is invaluable. If you are on a utility for water, they should have a water analysis available and it is frequently posted on their web site.

I've never purchased a RO system, so I don't really know what their purchase or operational cost is.

 

[tiffa]

I don't think that aerating the water with blumats is necessary or even a good idea. I've been running without aeration for several years with no problems, and having air bubbles in the lines can create real problems - it's very easy to vapor lock the feed lines with air bubbles, that's why it is a good idea to have the plumbing set up so that the air bubbles can be easily purged.

Great advice Rives, now I will design my return drain so that it goes low into the big rez to get water movement (agitation) as opposed aeration. Plus more stealth!...Bargain

 

[Tamiami]

I have never used tropf products but I hope to be soon. I recently purchased a 6 Spike maxi kit and I have constructed a double reservoir setup using a 55 gallon bottom res to keep a 5 gallon bucket top res full to a constant level via a small submersible pump and some flood and drain bulkhead fittings.

The plants I'm hoping to use are in 20 gallon smart pots of promix hp which I have been hand watering. My plan so far is to install one Spike per pot in the bottom of each pot through the side with the dripper line run to the top. I'm going to try and feed through the tropf maxis themselves using maxibloom.

Criticism is welcomed as well as advice, does anyone see any glaring problems with my plan?

 

[Sforza]

I have never used tropf products but I hope to be soon. I recently purchased a 6 Spike maxi kit and I have constructed a double reservoir setup using a 55 gallon bottom res to keep a 5 gallon bucket top res full to a constant level via a small submersible pump and some flood and drain bulkhead fittings.

The plants I'm hoping to use are in 20 gallon smart pots of promix hp which I have been hand watering. My plan so far is to install one Spike per pot in the bottom of each pot through the side with the dripper line run to the top. I'm going to try and feed through the tropf maxis themselves using maxibloom.

Criticism is welcomed as well as advice, does anyone see any glaring problems with my plan?

Good luck. I would advise you to use them the way the instruction booklet tells you to use them, but go ahead and learn the hard way. That way you will convince yourself.

 

[Tamiami]

Good luck. I would advise you to use them the way the instruction booklet tells you to use them, but go ahead and learn the hard way. That way you will convince yourself.

What do you mean? I don't recall anything in the instructions that I'm going against.

 

[SamsonsRiddle]

I have never used tropf products but I hope to be soon. I recently purchased a 6 Spike maxi kit and I have constructed a double reservoir setup using a 55 gallon bottom res to keep a 5 gallon bucket top res full to a constant level via a small submersible pump and some flood and drain bulkhead fittings.

The plants I'm hoping to use are in 20 gallon smart pots of promix hp which I have been hand watering. My plan so far is to install one Spike per pot in the bottom of each pot through the side with the dripper line run to the top. I'm going to try and feed through the tropf maxis themselves using maxibloom.

Criticism is welcomed as well as advice, does anyone see any glaring problems with my plan?

I'm not sure if you have any dripclean or not, but it is suggested if you re going to try to run your nutrients through the lines.

what's the point of putting the spike in the bottom? can't you just install in the top and adjust as needed?

 

[Tamiami]

The idea of going in through the side actually came from the literature they sent when I bought them. It made sense to me since it would get the sensor directly in the middle and all the way at the bottom of the pot but perhaps I'm wrong. Like I said I have no experience with tropf products so I'm as far from set in my ways as can possibly be.

As for the drip clean I had considered it but from what I read on the tropf site as long as I stay away from the distribution drippers I'm hoping I will be alright without it. With any luck nutrients should only build up at the end of the drip line and I'm lead to believe that I will be able to knock them off fairly easily. Time will tell and if I'm wrong I will add the drip clean.

 

[maimunji]

Here is my current grow with 35 plants in coco all in 1.5 litter pots. Blumats no run off. Work great.

 

[budelight]

Is there a (secret) trick to pulling off the black supply tubing from fittings when making layout changes?

 

[Jhhnn]

Is there a (secret) trick to pulling off the black supply tubing from fittings when making layout changes?

I kinda roll/ wiggle it off with a circular motion. If it's really stubborn, I split the tubing with the corner of a razor blade & sacrifice a little bit off the end.

 

[Tamiami]

I'm beginning to worry my pots are to big. What's the largest pots any of you have run with blumat?