Blumat auto watering

[hamstring]

Just transplanted from 1/2 gal into bigger (4 gal) smart pots with Fox Farm Ocean Forest . I decided to remove all the carrots and clean and soak them. I tied off all the 3mm drip lines( Got that idea from this forum).

I watered in the the new soil by hand( 4 gal smart pots) and will wait until they get to the right moisture content before adding the carrots again.

While transplanting I noticed the soil in some of the 1/2 gal smart pots was very dry except right where the 3mm drip line was. A few had all dry soil except for aprox. 30-35%. See if I can word this correctly. They pots had 65% dry soil and 35% moist but the plants were healthy.

I trimmed the 3mm line down as recommended for quicker reaction time. I think with the larger pots I will pull the line out farther away from the carrot so I get slower reaction time ie more water.

Again the plants were fine ( needed to be feed) its just I dont think the roots were filling up the pots in the dry soil area . Also seems unlikely the plants could have been feeding from the dry soil. Its weird and I dont want go away from the KISS method if the plants look fine.

I am a beginner with bulmats and any thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

[Cmoon]

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They pots had 65% dry soil and 35% moist but the plants were healthy.

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I think with the larger pots I will pull the line out farther away from the carrot so I get slower reaction time ie more water.

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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]thats one way, another is creating a hole 3 to 4 in deep with your finger in the meduim at the drip point, the moisture will travel both up and down and dos require fine tuning but your very close to having it spot on.[/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]bests cmoon
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[hamstring]

Cmoon
I believe understand your suggestion. The dripping sometimes makes its own hole. I usually fill it back up with soil.

Can you explain why it helps keep the container more evenly moist by creating this hole. It would seem that the hole would allow the carrot to feel the moisture quicker rather than later. Not trying to be argumentative just trying to get an understanding.

Thanks for the reply.

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[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]thats one way, another is creating a hole 3 to 4 in deep with your finger in the meduim at the drip point, the moisture will travel both up and down and dos require fine tuning but your very close to having it spot on.[/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]bests cmoon
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[Cmoon]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Can you explain why it helps keep the container more evenly moist by creating this hole[/FONT]

youre not dripping at the surface which creates more meduim to soak before the emitter switches off.


cmoon

 

[hamstring]

Cmoon

Ok, thanks i will give it a try. Info much appreciated.

 

[Chevy cHaze]

That's a really good point Cmoon.
I'm always thinking about my 3gal pots how to get the full pot moist enough for roots to live with just one carrot to keep it simple.
This might work, but not sure how long as the roots grow like crazy directly where the drip hits...
As I wrote way earlier, I did paint half the carrot (vertically) with clear coat to waterproof the side of the carrot facing the middle of the pot, so they moisture has to wick around until it reaches the back side of the carrot before shutting the valve, therefore giving the pot much more water, which is desired as the first inch from the fabric pot walls to the inside are mostly dry if I don't do this.

CC

 

[Cmoon]

Hi Chevy, iv found 1 carrot is good for 1 gal of meduim, you can increase this by dripping deeper which in turn creates lots of air roots, I also handwater once a week which I findrecharges the cones.


bests cm

 

[Fitzera]

Another way of doing it is to periodically spin the carrot 180° so that you are now dripping on the other half of the pot. But I'm preferring using 2 carrots per pot, 3 or 5 gallon. Also in flowering I'm giving them a tea every 2 weeks or so, so any soil that isnt staying moist via the blumats gets a good recharge.
Checking the soil moisture at the drain holes of the pot will give you a good idea of where your moisture is at in the pot.

 

[hamstring]

Thanks everyone for the advice/input. I am starting with lengthening the the 3mm drip lines and making a hole in the soil medium as Cmoon called out. Still going with one carrot.

I am open to changing my method as the plants call out. Just feeling my way through this.

Appreciate all the input.

 

[Cmoon]

you get a feel for it buddy, id say bit of tweaking first week on then they should be dialed in, I drpped compost/coir type mixes first use and found it very adaptable, just run brick cocco last 10 years but im thinking of going 50/50 coco/hydrton after seeing results on an IWS


good luck

 

[marmarb]

Do any of the box stores carry replacement feeder lines and supply lines have a nice stash of carrots.

 

[TychoMonolyth]

Good question. I've never seen them.

 

[HERBaceous]

Try Sustainable Village.com
Ive been getting my gear from there. They Stock alot of stuff i cant find anywhere else check them out

 

[kritios]

Trying out the blumat drippers for the first time. I have used the carrots before.



This time I am running a 7 gallon pot with two drippers and a hot soil. Put them in about a week ago and have had no runaways. I put it in a tray designed for kitty litter that can contain my full reservoir volume (just in case).



Keeping an eye on them, but the soil moisture seems good so far. Really pleased with the blumat drippers.

 

[marmarb]

Waiting on new tubing to arrive hows the orange compared to the black tubing.

 

[sunnydog]

Hi everyone!

Hi everyone!

So happy to see people still benefiting from the info gathered in this thread!
I'm still retired, till things change.
But drippin' and growin' are NEVER FAR from my thoughts.
Everyone be well!

SD

 

[sunnydog]

[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=81333&pictureid=1987029&thumb=1]View Image[/url]

the brown cap on top of the blumat is what you use to adjust.

if it was my kitchen, i would just pour the tea without adjusting the blumat. the blumat will start working again when the moisture reaches its previously set level.

cheers
blumats are the best!!!

 

[Chevy cHaze]

The beauty with blumats is that you can always hand water extra nutrients whenever necessary without worrying about the blumats.
I just had to do that as my revegged and now reflowering plants in the same old soil needed a bit of an extra boost.
Works a treat and hand watering will simply close the blumat valve in the cap and once it dries out enough it will continue to water normally again.
With the "deep watering" a straw inserted vertically under the dripper, 3gal and bigger pots are not a problem for one carrot.
CC

 

[kritios]

Waiting on new tubing to arrive hows the orange compared to the black tubing.

I like the orange tubing because i can pull it apart if I want to re-arrange. I don't really mind the cost since I've only got a short run from my reservoir and the one plant. I might run two plants in there w four drippers at some point and I want to be able to re-arrange the tubing. I'm sure the black works fine but I wanted to have a system that's easy to move around.



I followed the 'loop' plan with a bleeder valve at the furthest point from the res. I only used the black tube for a short run for my bleeder and attached to the through-hulls.


Edit to add: Glad to see sunnydog and Chevy chimed in here. I read both of their posts with interest and I'm glad I did. I like the blumat system and so does my plant!

 

[saitama]

I've been having some trouble this run with keeping my pots 'heavy'. The plants never complained but I feel like they still need a bit more moisture in their pots. I read somewhere that someone uses a straw that goes almost to the bottom of the pot at the end of their drip line, so the water has to wick all the way from the bottom to the top for the carrot to stop. I think I will try this if I can find straws somewhere.

I do have some stainless steel reusable straws, which are probably the only thing strong enough to make it all the way down there without bending. Does anybody know if it's safe to use food-grade stainless steel in coco w/ nutrients?