-
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
Aloha everyone, it seems that most everyone recommends the tropf vs the junior/classic. I just want something to water the soil without the possibility of the 10gal resivor emptying into the apt below. I use small pots only 1 gal (mini sog) and plan to amend the soil and possibly hand feed when needed. My balcony doesn’t have a outlet (so no pumps/faucet), and I was worried about how high I have to set the res as I don’t want it too much higher than the railing (plants are at railing height to keep the dog from eating them). I guess has anyone ever used the juniors for say bonsai mothers in 1gal pots? Thanks for the help!
TychoMonolyth
Boreal Curing
^^^ Yep.
I had 2 plants completely dry out because my reservoir wasn't high enough. Plants were doing great for 4 weeks. I left for 3 and came back to dry crunchy pots. I put them in the tub to rehydrate because the plants showed a tiny bit of life still. They still look like death warmed over, but they're not getting any drier. I don't expect more than a gram of weed though. If they'll flower at all.
Pots and reservoir on the same level is a no-no. Even if the syphon line and water level is higher. Make sure that reservoir is a foot above the blumat.
I had 2 plants completely dry out because my reservoir wasn't high enough. Plants were doing great for 4 weeks. I left for 3 and came back to dry crunchy pots. I put them in the tub to rehydrate because the plants showed a tiny bit of life still. They still look like death warmed over, but they're not getting any drier. I don't expect more than a gram of weed though. If they'll flower at all.
Pots and reservoir on the same level is a no-no. Even if the syphon line and water level is higher. Make sure that reservoir is a foot above the blumat.
thanks Tycho,
my understanding is that the juniors do not have a sensor, they just "slow release" water depending on the height of the reservoir to the height of the Blumat cap. Higher reservoir faster water, lower reservoir slower water (Blumat rep says Jrs siphon about 120ml every 24 hrs but the Blumat bottle is about 200ml, the extra large bottle version is 300ml per day), elevating the reservoir did you ever experience over watering or runoff? lots of youtube videos say not to raise the water above the plant as it can cause overwatering, but those are with the hydro spike not Blumats (I assume quality is different), also I see some you tubers who have their water above the plant.
I have about 10 plants running along my balcony railing, and was planing on taping the bottom of a 5 gal bucket, running a hose the length of the railing with a tee for each plant and connecting each Blumat to its own tee. I figured I could elevate the bucket to the right height so that each plant receives about 1-2 cups (.25-.5L) of water each day.
my understanding is that the juniors do not have a sensor, they just "slow release" water depending on the height of the reservoir to the height of the Blumat cap. Higher reservoir faster water, lower reservoir slower water (Blumat rep says Jrs siphon about 120ml every 24 hrs but the Blumat bottle is about 200ml, the extra large bottle version is 300ml per day), elevating the reservoir did you ever experience over watering or runoff? lots of youtube videos say not to raise the water above the plant as it can cause overwatering, but those are with the hydro spike not Blumats (I assume quality is different), also I see some you tubers who have their water above the plant.
I have about 10 plants running along my balcony railing, and was planing on taping the bottom of a 5 gal bucket, running a hose the length of the railing with a tee for each plant and connecting each Blumat to its own tee. I figured I could elevate the bucket to the right height so that each plant receives about 1-2 cups (.25-.5L) of water each day.
TychoMonolyth
Boreal Curing
No Jr's are not slow release. They siphon as the soil dries. From what I've read in here, the ones with the valve you can adjust *can run away and flood. That's why I didn't get them.
If it's on your balcony then I wouldn't hesitate to use them without fear of them running away on you. You shouldn't have to worry about height as long as the bottom of your reservoir is above your plants.
I hope you mean watering "line" and not a hose. lol. I think you can get all the parts you need at a hardware store. Look around here a little more for watering systems. YouTube also has great videos on watering system setups and How Too "DIY Drip System".
In all fairness, my Jr's probable stopped working after I moved it into a closet. You have to fill the taps holding them underwater when putting them together and make sure the lines are FULL of water or they won't siphon. I may have introduced air into the lines when I moved the setup.
If it's on your balcony then I wouldn't hesitate to use them without fear of them running away on you. You shouldn't have to worry about height as long as the bottom of your reservoir is above your plants.
I hope you mean watering "line" and not a hose. lol. I think you can get all the parts you need at a hardware store. Look around here a little more for watering systems. YouTube also has great videos on watering system setups and How Too "DIY Drip System".
In all fairness, my Jr's probable stopped working after I moved it into a closet. You have to fill the taps holding them underwater when putting them together and make sure the lines are FULL of water or they won't siphon. I may have introduced air into the lines when I moved the setup.
Hey Blumat Folks!
As a test, I've recently setup a gravity based Blumat system with an auto-topping 5 gal bucket. Water only with organic soil in 7gal pots with 2 carrots each.
The wealth of knowledge in this thread is amazing - it's allowed me to get started like a pro! These things are amazing so far!
So, I've followed all the rules, tips and tricks I could find throughout the years I've been bouncing around this thread.. I have a question about something specific to what I'm seeing inside the carrots that I can't really find much information about..
I put some RO water in a clean bucket, threw the carrots in and let sit overnight. On the next night, I used a pipette to push any bubbles out of the carrot and the cap, paying special attention to the little holes in the top of the cap, then screwing together under water. I let these finished carrots remain under water in the bucket, once again, overnight.
The next morning, after the tester plants had been thoroughly watered the night before, I plant the blumats per the typical tighten to cling and one arrow back.
So here we are, a couple days later, and of course I'm checking things out, lifting the pots, dialing in, etc..
I've noticed that ALL the carrots have a bunch of little bubbles inside!? I can see them through the semi transparent housing of the blumat! What the heck..? I used RO water, let it sit for 24 hours before filling the carrots, followed the filling procedure perfectly, and then they sat for another 24 hours!?
Where did all these little bubbles come from? Will they eventually cause an issue? Do I need to swap these out with fresh carrots prepared in a different way - like maybe using a couple gals of distilled water purchased from a store?
I'm guessing there was a bunch of dissolved oxygen in the RO water that I've used...? I'm not on a municipal water supply, I have well water. Has anyone seen anything like this, and if so, how did you overcome it?
Thanks for reading, and even greater thanks for any comments or suggestions that anyone can offer!
As a test, I've recently setup a gravity based Blumat system with an auto-topping 5 gal bucket. Water only with organic soil in 7gal pots with 2 carrots each.
The wealth of knowledge in this thread is amazing - it's allowed me to get started like a pro! These things are amazing so far!
So, I've followed all the rules, tips and tricks I could find throughout the years I've been bouncing around this thread.. I have a question about something specific to what I'm seeing inside the carrots that I can't really find much information about..
I put some RO water in a clean bucket, threw the carrots in and let sit overnight. On the next night, I used a pipette to push any bubbles out of the carrot and the cap, paying special attention to the little holes in the top of the cap, then screwing together under water. I let these finished carrots remain under water in the bucket, once again, overnight.
The next morning, after the tester plants had been thoroughly watered the night before, I plant the blumats per the typical tighten to cling and one arrow back.
So here we are, a couple days later, and of course I'm checking things out, lifting the pots, dialing in, etc..
I've noticed that ALL the carrots have a bunch of little bubbles inside!? I can see them through the semi transparent housing of the blumat! What the heck..? I used RO water, let it sit for 24 hours before filling the carrots, followed the filling procedure perfectly, and then they sat for another 24 hours!?
Where did all these little bubbles come from? Will they eventually cause an issue? Do I need to swap these out with fresh carrots prepared in a different way - like maybe using a couple gals of distilled water purchased from a store?
I'm guessing there was a bunch of dissolved oxygen in the RO water that I've used...? I'm not on a municipal water supply, I have well water. Has anyone seen anything like this, and if so, how did you overcome it?
Thanks for reading, and even greater thanks for any comments or suggestions that anyone can offer!
I have collapsable reservoirs. This means I can't make that second hole for the big line to do a loop. Going to run a single line as a result. I have 2 60 gal res to use. I will put 40 blumats on each line. Is there a spacing minimum on the main line that needs to be adhered to between feed lines? I want the main feed line to be about 12 feet. So I would have two res each with there own 12 foot line going down the center of their rows. Doing it this way a blumat will have to be connected to main line every 3.6 inches. This is going to be a little annoying to set up hah.
Is there any safety preventions I need to incorporate since I can't do loop? I know weekly purging will be necessary or so I read. Still unclear how exactly you purge lines though.
Is there any safety preventions I need to incorporate since I can't do loop? I know weekly purging will be necessary or so I read. Still unclear how exactly you purge lines though.
This the first I've heard of needing to weekly purge. Glad I saw it.
For me it's easy. I'll go to each end of my supply line and remove the cap and let the water flow for a bit, then recap. (The supply from my res comes to a T first, then splits off in each direction to get to the pots.)
If you're using a single line, I'd imagine just remove the emitters from the last carrot, open up the valve and let it drain for a bit before resetting.
I can't imagine purging is any more complicated than that.
Pretty idiot proof thanks for info. Yeah I read many times in this thread and another i think deserthydros that weekly will save the line from ever giving you issues. I even read tin foil on everything to insulate and not cause build up. I thought why not just use aluminum tape like they use for hvac...I won't be taking things to that extreme though hah. I figure if your shit is that bad you need cleaner nutes and I am runnin jacks in my res too scared to do my megacrop with kelp being in it. Although I did buy the inline clear filter from blumat.
No more DTW for you, 40A?
Totally switching shit up lol. With going back to coco in full swing I have been reminded watering by hand daily 2-4 times just drivin me nuts and taken too much time from other things in grow room. Will probably keep dtw for veg unless I can help it but yeah done with it for now. Nothing wrong with it my plants look phenomenal but time time time. I am really going to try to make blumats work. I just like too much the idea of letting them drink at will. If everyone here can rock it so can I.
kickass_chris
New member
Wow....just wow....
I discovered this thread shortly before I decided to pull the trigger on an order from blackswallowsoils, and finished it 3 weeks later.
To anyone just joining in....UTFSE!
So many repeated questions have been answered time and time again, it's all a matter of digging to get that knowledge nugget you're searching for.
Now that's out of the way, let me just say this system is pretty freaking amazing!
I'm out of town for 4 days at a time so I've be relying on my wonderful and patient partner in crime to lift the pots and water accordingly. That system more or less made sure the gals got water....most of the time.
With the Blumats in place that's not an issue anymore!
(Both my gf and my plants are much happier as a result)
The set up;
- 5gal elevated rez with single hole for thru-hull, refilled from 5gal bucket on floor with a 130gph fountain pump.
- 3gal fabric pots x2
- Promix organic vegetable soil mixed with pearlite(70/30ish)
- pH'd water with 0.5ml bleach per 5gal
- 1 carrot and 3 drippers per pot
- Tee off the rez, vertical line for level guage/air bleed
- Quick disconnect valve downstream of tee
- 3mm quick disconnect valve on each carrot(makes it super easy to take the gals out for an inspection/haircut)
- Bleed valve on end of supply line
- 28L plastic tote in cause of runaway
- Foil on supply line to prevent algae
(Blumat system was added about a week into flower)
Findings/Helpful tips
- So far the gals are drinking 6-7L while I'm out of town, they're in the first couple weeks of flower.
- Going by the pot-lift method they're much lighter then I like, but the leaves look really happy. That's with the recommended 2 triangles past a hanging drip.
- Because of the previous point I've been slowly turning up the Blumats by a half triangle every time I've back in town. I'm thinking because of how water hungry the gals are, and the soil composition. 1-1.5 past hanging drop is a more appropriate setting.
-Since I have a fair bit of pearlite in my mix I decided to surround the carrot with peat. Haven't seen this posted anywhere yet, but I can't be the only one that's done this....
- Take a peat pellet....soak in water to expand.....stuff carrot in expanded wet peat with netting still attached....form evenly around carrot....dig appropriately sized hole....plant carrot with it's peaty cocoon. You're welcome
Pics of my humble set up and some doodles I made before ordering to make sure I didn't have to pay for shipping twice.
Like my old physics teacher used to say, "If you're not sure....draw a picture!"
(apologies for the sideways pics....it's a pet peeve of mine too. But rotating the original and trying to resize didn't work)
I discovered this thread shortly before I decided to pull the trigger on an order from blackswallowsoils, and finished it 3 weeks later.
To anyone just joining in....UTFSE!
So many repeated questions have been answered time and time again, it's all a matter of digging to get that knowledge nugget you're searching for.
Now that's out of the way, let me just say this system is pretty freaking amazing!
I'm out of town for 4 days at a time so I've be relying on my wonderful and patient partner in crime to lift the pots and water accordingly. That system more or less made sure the gals got water....most of the time.
With the Blumats in place that's not an issue anymore!
(Both my gf and my plants are much happier as a result)
The set up;
- 5gal elevated rez with single hole for thru-hull, refilled from 5gal bucket on floor with a 130gph fountain pump.
- 3gal fabric pots x2
- Promix organic vegetable soil mixed with pearlite(70/30ish)
- pH'd water with 0.5ml bleach per 5gal
- 1 carrot and 3 drippers per pot
- Tee off the rez, vertical line for level guage/air bleed
- Quick disconnect valve downstream of tee
- 3mm quick disconnect valve on each carrot(makes it super easy to take the gals out for an inspection/haircut)
- Bleed valve on end of supply line
- 28L plastic tote in cause of runaway
- Foil on supply line to prevent algae
(Blumat system was added about a week into flower)
Findings/Helpful tips
- So far the gals are drinking 6-7L while I'm out of town, they're in the first couple weeks of flower.
- Going by the pot-lift method they're much lighter then I like, but the leaves look really happy. That's with the recommended 2 triangles past a hanging drip.
- Because of the previous point I've been slowly turning up the Blumats by a half triangle every time I've back in town. I'm thinking because of how water hungry the gals are, and the soil composition. 1-1.5 past hanging drop is a more appropriate setting.
-Since I have a fair bit of pearlite in my mix I decided to surround the carrot with peat. Haven't seen this posted anywhere yet, but I can't be the only one that's done this....
- Take a peat pellet....soak in water to expand.....stuff carrot in expanded wet peat with netting still attached....form evenly around carrot....dig appropriately sized hole....plant carrot with it's peaty cocoon. You're welcome
Pics of my humble set up and some doodles I made before ordering to make sure I didn't have to pay for shipping twice.
Like my old physics teacher used to say, "If you're not sure....draw a picture!"
(apologies for the sideways pics....it's a pet peeve of mine too. But rotating the original and trying to resize didn't work)
AgentPothead
Just this guy, ya know?
^^^ That's a good first post. Welcome to the fold brother. 
good tip about the tee off the rez with the vertical line to check water level. Imma have to implement that if I can get some clear supply tubing.
My setup is pretty similar as your except I use the red flex tubing. From the looks of your pics, it looks like the 3mm quick disconnects have been redesigned.
My setup is pretty similar as your except I use the red flex tubing. From the looks of your pics, it looks like the 3mm quick disconnects have been redesigned.
TychoMonolyth
Boreal Curing
Peaty cocoon! Genius.
Ya. Blumats saved my ass when I went away for 3 weeks. lol
Welcome and thanks!
Ya. Blumats saved my ass when I went away for 3 weeks. lol
Welcome and thanks!
Pro tip - if you get a run away pot, you've more than likely got air in the tops of your carrots.
I had a pot run away last week and empty my 5 gallon bucket onto the floor. Refilled the res and checked carrots. Sure enough, the pot that ran away had air in the carrots. All three of them.
Pretty sure it happened when I accidentally let my res run too low and got air in the supply line.
Got that corrected and now so far so good.
I had a pot run away last week and empty my 5 gallon bucket onto the floor. Refilled the res and checked carrots. Sure enough, the pot that ran away had air in the carrots. All three of them.
Pretty sure it happened when I accidentally let my res run too low and got air in the supply line.
Got that corrected and now so far so good.
kickass_chris
New member
Cheers for the positive vibes ��
I'm only in my 3rd grow since legalization day but loving this little hobby.
Also I should add, BOIL YOUR WATER YO!
Tried it with tap water... Bubbles visible the next day.
Tried it with distilled water, maybe pouring it in a bucket airated it. So i still got bubbles.
Pot of water on a hard boil for 10 min, let cool in a sink of cool water.... Cause I'm impatient.
Do a good air purge under the valve and assemble!
Haven't seen any bubbles in a couple weeks since I used boiled water.
I'm only in my 3rd grow since legalization day but loving this little hobby.
Also I should add, BOIL YOUR WATER YO!
Tried it with tap water... Bubbles visible the next day.
Tried it with distilled water, maybe pouring it in a bucket airated it. So i still got bubbles.
Pot of water on a hard boil for 10 min, let cool in a sink of cool water.... Cause I'm impatient.
Do a good air purge under the valve and assemble!
Haven't seen any bubbles in a couple weeks since I used boiled water.
Fitzera
Well-known member
I use a large garbage can elevated on a work step and have 2 air stones. No issues. The air stones are above the feed line exiting the garbage can. I just keep it 3/4 full with ro water.
I did have a runaway pot due to the water level getting too low once. I found that refilling the can, all the extra pressure changed where I needed to set the carrots.
I did have a runaway pot due to the water level getting too low once. I found that refilling the can, all the extra pressure changed where I needed to set the carrots.
PurplePotion
Member
Can some of the more experienced Blumat & coco users share their nutrient regimes? Looking for week by week EC levels of base/calmag/additives.
Struggling to find the right balance with RO, Drip clean @ 1ml/gal, Canna (and all additives) & cal mag (currently calmag+ but going to try Cali-magic. Room is sealed, A/C and dehu w/ Co2. Using a pressurized system in a loop with a continuous feed back to the res. I found that the nutrient solution would heat up significantly by the time it came out of the drippers which caused the lines to gunk up fairly quickly and the idea of a hot nutrient solution getting to the roots was unsettling. Anyone else notice this with Blumats?
My solution was to place a tee at the far side of the loop with shut off valves on each side and plumb a line back to the res. This keeps my lines constantly recirculating fresh, cool nutrient solution. I’ve played around with chiller temps on my res and currently have it set at 64, the water coming out is typically 6-8F higher than the res temp. I think this is the sweet spot. I had it set on 60 to give me a 66-68F output and I’m wondering if I didn’t cause some uptake issues.
Any tips or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advance.
-PP
Struggling to find the right balance with RO, Drip clean @ 1ml/gal, Canna (and all additives) & cal mag (currently calmag+ but going to try Cali-magic. Room is sealed, A/C and dehu w/ Co2. Using a pressurized system in a loop with a continuous feed back to the res. I found that the nutrient solution would heat up significantly by the time it came out of the drippers which caused the lines to gunk up fairly quickly and the idea of a hot nutrient solution getting to the roots was unsettling. Anyone else notice this with Blumats?
My solution was to place a tee at the far side of the loop with shut off valves on each side and plumb a line back to the res. This keeps my lines constantly recirculating fresh, cool nutrient solution. I’ve played around with chiller temps on my res and currently have it set at 64, the water coming out is typically 6-8F higher than the res temp. I think this is the sweet spot. I had it set on 60 to give me a 66-68F output and I’m wondering if I didn’t cause some uptake issues.
Any tips or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advance.
-PP
Last edited:
