-
As of today ICMag has his own Discord server. In this Discord server you can chat, talk with eachother, listen to music, share stories and pictures...and much more. Join now and let's grow together! Join ICMag Discord here! More details in this thread here: here.
Blumat auto watering
- Thread starter sunnydog
- Start date
-
- Tags
- blumat drippers irrigation watering
Ah ...this helps...cheers
hmmmm
There's a 1 hour vid on the tube. It's a guy giving a seminar on Blumats, he grows 1000's of Blue dream plants so he knows his shit.One of the most interesting things he mentions is that a lighter pot works best for him, he gauges this by looking at the leaves, if they point 45 degrees up that's optimum and if they are drooping a bit they are too heavy - Like me he only wants to feed once or twice a week. Well worth a look ;-)
G
Guest
Is anyone using the Blumat sensor in smartpots? Specifically the smartpots that hold 7-10 gallons true volume of soil. What is the sensor reading you use to water by hand?
I'm using one blumat sensor carrot per 3gal Smartpot.
I'm giessing for the volumes of soil you mention, you'd have to go for 2 per pot.
They're so easy to set up though... open them, throw upper plastic part and lower clay(carrot) part in a bucket of water, let the clay soak for an hour, smoke a fattie, some back and screw them back together UNDER WATER, making sure no air is trapped inside (stick your pinky finger in there a couple times, this will force all air bubbles out) then DRENCH your soil, put blumats in, connect all tubing to reservoir, open their dials until a drop is just clinging to the end of the drip line and close it three marks further. Set. Now make sure your res is full and go on holidays.
Hope this helps
CC
Hello Jhhnn,
Can you please should me the Quick Disconnect that you use and where did you buy them? I search google for Quick Disconnect 3mm hose and couldn't find any. Thanks Jhhnn.
Rice
Hello IC Mag,
First of all thanks for this great thread and all the great contributors. After reading almost 500 pages I've found what what i've been looking for to help with my busy life schedule.
Rives I've questions:
How do you activate your Air Bleed Solenoid?
What model, name or type of Solenoid you're using? (I seen your link that you provide but that's with so many parts I cannot figure which is which to buy).
Thanks,
Rice
Yes, the "T" is at the high point in the rear, so the air bubbles will gravitate towards it. The solenoid is mounted up on the right side, as you can see in the picture, and connected to the "T" with a length of hose. It discharges into the drain and is driven by a digital timer that turns it on for 2 minutes every other day. This bleeds about a 1/2 gallon of water out, and has done away with the need for manual purging. My reservoir is self-topping, so I don't need to worry about running it dry.
The solenoid - https://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp?partnum=7876K56
Fittings that fit the feed line - https://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp?partnum=5357K32
*EDIT* I just saw this old post and thought that I should add a change that I made - rather than the air bleed from the solenoid discharging into the drain, I wound up re-routing it to discharge back into the lower reservoir. Once I went from water-only to running a nutrient mix, I didn't want to waste it.
Rives: I've Found your Solenoid running 2 minutes every other day on page 180 with the link to buy the Air Bleed Solenoid.
Thanks
The solenoid - https://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp?partnum=7876K56
Fittings that fit the feed line - https://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp?partnum=5357K32
*EDIT* I just saw this old post and thought that I should add a change that I made - rather than the air bleed from the solenoid discharging into the drain, I wound up re-routing it to discharge back into the lower reservoir. Once I went from water-only to running a nutrient mix, I didn't want to waste it.
Rives: I've Found your Solenoid running 2 minutes every other day on page 180 with the link to buy the Air Bleed Solenoid.
Thanks
1/4" Electric Solenoid Valve 120VAC Air Water NBR Normally Closed
https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Sol...alve+Normally+Closed,+1/4+NPT+Female,+120+VAC
Anderson Metals 57001 Brass Hose Fitting, Adapter, 1/4" Barb x 1/4" NPT Male Pipe
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SAO7XQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
Rives: Would this be the same solenoid you're talking about?
Rice
https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Sol...alve+Normally+Closed,+1/4+NPT+Female,+120+VAC
Anderson Metals 57001 Brass Hose Fitting, Adapter, 1/4" Barb x 1/4" NPT Male Pipe
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SAO7XQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
Rives: Would this be the same solenoid you're talking about?
Rice
The solenoid that you show would work fine. It is "direct lift" rather than pilot-operated, so it will work with low pressure, and the plastic body shouldn't add anything undesirable to the water.
McMaster must have dropped the specific solenoid that I used, and now the link goes to their main page.
Sustainable Village is the US distributor for blumat. They have it all, pretty much. I just use the barbed connectors.
https://www.sustainablevillage.com/3mm-tubing-union-10-pack
They sell fancier connectors, too.
Thanks Rives and Jh for the fast reply.
Rives: after gathering all the information on this thread this is how I plan to run my blumats choosing your setup. This is my plan, please advice.
Growing Info:
-Plants Count: 15 Growing Tree Style
-Room Size: 10' x 15"
-100% Coco Coir
-Main Pot: 5 Gallons Airpot
-Nutes: Veg+Bloom Ro, Life, Shine and Push Foliar (their whole line)
-Azamax and other pest control will be hand watering
BluMat Set Up:
-Loop with 8mm Main Line around my wall (two wall forming 90 degree or should i make a U Loop with 3 wall?) with Tee off to 3mm line feeding the my Maxi (5 Gallon Airpot sticking 7" deep).
-10 Gallon reservoir with double head Feeding two 8mm Main Line that connect together at the End with the Solenoid hanging Higher than two 8mm main line.
-Solenoid water output will connect back to the Lower Main Reservoir (27 Gallon) to save runaway nutes when the Solenoid is run 2 minutes every other day.
-Feed Reservoir will be 4' higher than 8mm Main Line to keep consistent pressure
-Feed Reservoir (10 Gallon) will be auto pump by a Lower 27 Gallons Main Reservoir with SpectraPure Liquid Level Controller https://www.amazon.com/SpectraPure-...eywords=spectrapure+water+level+control+llc-2 by a Lower Main Reservoir.
Am I missing anything or anything else I can add/changes to improve the setup? I have a busy schedule, therefore any good automation will be great and very appreciates.
Thanks
The pump discharge into the upper reservoir needs to be above the water line or to have an air bleed hole above the water line. Otherwise the water will siphon back to the lower reservoir when the pump shuts off.
You also need to be sure that the selected pump has high enough head to get water up to the upper reservoir. Some aquarium/fountain type pumps will & some won't, so proper selection matters.
You also need to be sure that the selected pump has high enough head to get water up to the upper reservoir. Some aquarium/fountain type pumps will & some won't, so proper selection matters.
With the dual reservoir system, I doubt that you would need the air bleed solenoid. When I started using it, I was using a self-topping reservoir fed from the municipal water supply. Our water has a lot of entrained air, and I was getting frequent vapor-lock problems. Since I went to the reservoir-only systems, it hasn't been an issue for me.
I used a SpectraPure level controller with the above-mentioned self-topping system and found it to be very reliable. However, if you are manually refilling the lower reservoir and just keeping the upper rez topped off, you can simply use a timer to run your pump a couple of times a day. Make sure that the overflow line back to the lower reservoir is much larger than what the pump can provide (I use a 1-1/4" overflow line), and run the pump on a timer a couple of times daily for longer than what the worst-case usage would require. After the upper reservoir fills up, the volume just recirculates to the lower rez. With this arrangement, my upper reservoir level never fluctuates more than a couple of inches.
As Jhhnn mentioned, the pump head is critical. After you determine how high the nutrient needs to be pumped, check the pump curve for the model that you are considering. Some pumps have an advertised volume that is very high, but won't handle pumping against a head at all.
I don't grow trees, but have found that large pots are unnecessary with the airpot/blumat/coco/V+B combination. I've steadily dropped the container size with no impact on yield, and am now using the 4.4 liter pots (orange base, @ 8.5" high). I like Botanicare ReadyGro Aeration Mix, it seems to move more nutrient through the plant than straight coco and the Blumats insure that they don't dry out. I use straight coco to bed the spike in though - keeping the perlite away from the spike seems to help eliminate runaways.
Hope this helps, good luck!
I used a SpectraPure level controller with the above-mentioned self-topping system and found it to be very reliable. However, if you are manually refilling the lower reservoir and just keeping the upper rez topped off, you can simply use a timer to run your pump a couple of times a day. Make sure that the overflow line back to the lower reservoir is much larger than what the pump can provide (I use a 1-1/4" overflow line), and run the pump on a timer a couple of times daily for longer than what the worst-case usage would require. After the upper reservoir fills up, the volume just recirculates to the lower rez. With this arrangement, my upper reservoir level never fluctuates more than a couple of inches.
As Jhhnn mentioned, the pump head is critical. After you determine how high the nutrient needs to be pumped, check the pump curve for the model that you are considering. Some pumps have an advertised volume that is very high, but won't handle pumping against a head at all.
I don't grow trees, but have found that large pots are unnecessary with the airpot/blumat/coco/V+B combination. I've steadily dropped the container size with no impact on yield, and am now using the 4.4 liter pots (orange base, @ 8.5" high). I like Botanicare ReadyGro Aeration Mix, it seems to move more nutrient through the plant than straight coco and the Blumats insure that they don't dry out. I use straight coco to bed the spike in though - keeping the perlite away from the spike seems to help eliminate runaways.
Hope this helps, good luck!
Thanks again Jhhnn and Rives for the advice.
Question about Preventing Runaway: So you're saying I don't need a Solenoid for AirBleed if I run 1 Feed Reservoir with 2 Out Main Line 8mm Loop together and just cap the end with a Shut Off Valve? Of course with the Feed Reservoir constantly being refill by the Lower Main Reservoir. like this picture?
https://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?albumid=74578&pictureid=1782590
Question about Veg Bloom Feeds: It seem that we both use VegBloom Ro/Soft. What is your feeding schedule like from start to finish? This is my feeding Schedule
Vegetative Stage: Feeding just Veg Bloom and No additive and Hand water for the first 4 Weeks and start PVC Drip with a timer from week 5 on.
Week 1-2: .8 EC
Week 3-4: 1.2 EC
Week 5-6: 1.4 EC
Week 7-8: 1.6 EC
Flower: Multi Feed 6x a day with 1.4 EC using PVC drip with a Timer.
I go by the feed chart provide on HR website with a little reconstructed using the Shine for Bloom to help with my Tree Style. As recommend by Jonathan their representative and it been working great for my last cycle.
However, running a PVC Drip with a Timer I always have lots of run-off which in turn cost lots of nutrients waste. Also, trying to figure out which plant need how much water is a big time killer as plants change everyday to how much they needs to be fed. My busy schedule sometime leaving the plant going dry growing out of my expectation leading to stunt growth and stress. Therefore, I hope Blumat will give me more freedom and help my plants get healthier.
That's combing Hand Water and PVC drip with a timer. Now going for Blumat is so new. Your experience with Veg Bloom + Blumat would be great advice and good heads up for me. So, how is your feed schedule and what Nutes are you using for Veg and Flower?
Thanks,
Rice
It's important to realize that he level in the upper reservoir can vary by a few inches & make no perceptible difference in terms of performance by the blumats. You just need to run the pump intermittently on a schedule to keep it topped up.
It can apparently vary a lot more than that ime, provided that the height from the dripper to the water level in the reservoir is at least 3 ft. My tap water reservoir uses a float valve for constant level but the plants sometimes sit on bucket risers of somewhat different heights when growing from seed with organic soil. I can change the riser height with some impunity to give shorter plants a better share of the light.
It can apparently vary a lot more than that ime, provided that the height from the dripper to the water level in the reservoir is at least 3 ft. My tap water reservoir uses a float valve for constant level but the plants sometimes sit on bucket risers of somewhat different heights when growing from seed with organic soil. I can change the riser height with some impunity to give shorter plants a better share of the light.
So I setup and filled my double res to let it run for awhile so I could observe and. Learned that a 5 gallon bucket should not be filled with water and hung by it's handle or the plastic is likely to tear. I am currently trying to work out a new top res or a way to hang this one better.
Attachments
