Blumat auto watering

[overmyhead]

First off, thanks for compiling such an informative thread. I have made the switch from hand watering to blumats because of the information contained here. I am getting great results and I keep finding little ways to tweak the system further. In my system I am continually adding new girls to my flowering box and I have now started to harvest a few. I didn't have enough new girls ready and I am wondering what do with extra blumats in the mean time. It should only be a week at most. Can I just turn the blumat to its minimum setting and let it hang? Currently my solution has been to cut the plant but leave the pot and soil with the blumat in it. Anyone have any experiences or suggestions?

I'd tighten it all the way, unscrew the cone and let it hang.

In your system, what kind of nutes are you using? I'm curious because I've got things staged too but am running into a little frustration with wanting to give differing nutrients for different stages of flower. Or are you using an all in one soil and just adding water?

 

[rives]

First off, thanks for compiling such an informative thread. I have made the switch from hand watering to blumats because of the information contained here. I am getting great results and I keep finding little ways to tweak the system further. In my system I am continually adding new girls to my flowering box and I have now started to harvest a few. I didn't have enough new girls ready and I am wondering what do with extra blumats in the mean time. It should only be a week at most. Can I just turn the blumat to its minimum setting and let it hang? Currently my solution has been to cut the plant but leave the pot and soil with the blumat in it. Anyone have any experiences or suggestions?

I use a clothespin on the 3mm tubing - it stops the water flow and the setting doesn't change.

 

[Smallthyme]

Both great suggestions
overmyhead-I'm just using a Lucas Formula for flowering so it stays the same. Disconnecting one we week before harvesting and hand watering to flush.

 

[huntingbb]

just checking in to say those jr's drip real slow, i think min 2 per 2gal lol - maybe one could handle a 6x6 - not sure

 

[Lazyman]

Best to keep the blumats wet or they will need to be refilled and reactivated later. I keep my extras in a butter tub of water, or an extra pot of soil will hold 8-12 spares.

 

[1quixotix]

Hey peoples, this is an invaluable thread. Thank you all for your contributions as well as the civility of the participants!
I have a question regarding additional parts. I am not looking forward to paying exorbitant S&H costs for what I think are basic drip irrigation type parts. In particular I am looking to source locally the shut off valves as well as the tube connection for the deep tank reservoir. Do any of you have suggestions on what to use as substitutes and what they may be called/sizing? I am hitting a wall as I am unfamiliar with drip irrigation as a whole. I appreciate any help thrown my way!

 

[sunnydog]

Warning!!! Dont't forget to purge!

Warning!!! Dont't forget to purge!

AFOM Just added 1200 w to his gro.
Extra heat caused a vapor lock.
He did not purge his line for a while, and got a vapor lock dry-up and subsequent over-water. Fortunately, the trays didn't over flow.

Insulate (cover) any lines exposed to bright light, and do a good purge at least once a week.

SD

 

[sunnydog]

Hey peoples, this is an invaluable thread. Thank you all for your contributions as well as the civility of the participants!
I have a question regarding additional parts. I am not looking forward to paying exorbitant S&H costs for what I think are basic drip irrigation type parts. In particular I am looking to source locally the shut off valves as well as the tube connection for the deep tank reservoir. Do any of you have suggestions on what to use as substitutes and what they may be called/sizing? I am hitting a wall as I am unfamiliar with drip irrigation as a whole. I appreciate any help thrown my way!

The patio kit has every thing you need to get started, but yes some generic parts will work, others will not.
Other folks here have more experience with part substitutions than I do, maybe they will help.
My BIGGEST RECOMMENDATION is to buy a roll of the brown dripper tubing, as there is no known substitution for this, and having an abundance will make thing go MUCH BETTER than the miserable little length that comes with the unit.

SD

 

[sunnydog]

Yeah, this is definately some kind of slime, really doesn't look like what I'd expect nutrient build up to look like. What do you think about this, take the screws out of each dripper, add an extra one at the very end (just like an inch from where the last one is now), screw it all the way down and let it clog all it wants. That should create the pressure to drip out of the others no? I can foresee it being a big problem is one of the sensors gets stuck open though! I'm gonna test it on one asap.

Try it, might work.

SD

 

[sanjuan]

A summary of tubing diameters:
The 3mm silicone line that drips is 3mm OD (outside diameter). This is very close to 3/32 inch ID (inside diameter).
Blumat supply line is 8mm OD which equates to 1/4 inch ID. It is stiff and wants to stay in a curled shape. A hot water soak will help it unwind.

Kentsystems.com has a nice selection of couplings and fittings. As far as I know, you need to call them to do any business. I bought a bunch quick couplings from their [Collection 1] group because that group includes the 3/32 and 1/4 sizes.

My reservoir will have "shut-off bulkhead" connection(s). The reservoir end of the 8mm line will have a 1/4 barb "triggering open-flow" male connector. They also sell caps and plugs to more securely stop fluid flow. Using 1/4" tees instead of the Blumat 8-3-8mm tees, I have enough couplings to make each pot a quick-connect.

 

[gdbud]

AFOM Just added 1200 w to his gro.
Extra heat caused a vapor lock.
He did not purge his line for a while, and got a vapor lock dry-up and subsequent over-water. Fortunately, the trays didn't over flow.

Insulate (cover) any lines exposed to bright light, and do a good purge at least once a week.

SD

When I set up my reservoir I came out the reservoir then I placed a tee right out side the reservoir then ran one line from the tee down to the plants and one line up above the the reservoir in order to vent the air out. Just like the vent lines in your drain lines in the house. this lets any air in the line to vent to atmosphere.

 

[huntingbb]

Sorry in advance, i'm probably overthinking this, but i want to do it RIGHT.

Best to keep the blumats wet or they will need to be refilled and reactivated later. I keep my extras in a butter tub of water, or an extra pot of soil will hold 8-12 spares.

perfect, was wondering about that...

AFOM Just added 1200 w to his gro.
Extra heat caused a vapor lock.
He did not purge his line for a while, and got a vapor lock dry-up and subsequent over-water. Fortunately, the trays didn't over flow.

Insulate (cover) any lines exposed to bright light, and do a good purge at least once a week.

SD

the vapor lock - thats basically air bubbles in the line here right?

cover em eh, with what? just some white poly draped? say 4" wide or something?

The patio kit has every thing you need to get started, but yes some generic parts will work, others will not.
Other folks here have more experience with part substitutions than I do, maybe they will help.
My BIGGEST RECOMMENDATION is to buy a roll of the brown dripper tubing, as there is no known substitution for this, and having an abundance will make thing go MUCH BETTER than the miserable little length that comes with the unit.

SD

Kay, sounds good, guess i'll grab a few of the deck kits.
right, you posted a link for elite hydro or so.

A summary of tubing diameters:
The 3mm silicone line that drips is 3mm OD (outside diameter). This is very close to 3/32 inch ID (inside diameter).
Blumat supply line is 8mm OD which equates to 1/4 inch ID. It is stiff and wants to stay in a curled shape. A hot water soak will help it unwind.

Kentsystems.com has a nice selection of couplings and fittings. As far as I know, you need to call them to do any business. I bought a bunch quick couplings from their [Collection 1] group because that group includes the 3/32 and 1/4 sizes.

My reservoir will have "shut-off bulkhead" connection(s). The reservoir end of the 8mm line will have a 1/4 barb "triggering open-flow" male connector. They also sell caps and plugs to more securely stop fluid flow. Using 1/4" tees instead of the Blumat 8-3-8mm tees, I have enough couplings to make each pot a quick-connect.

mind giving a parts list to do this?
http://kentsystems.com/index.php?file=c-con_category_listing&iCategoryId=MTg4&show=Category
looks good for the bulkhead, its got a shutoff (just in case)
they only had same size t's so 1/4"
http://kentsystems.com/index.php?file=c-con_category_listing&iCategoryId=MzEy&show=Category
looked like it would fit the bill;
dunno... its hard to figure out for me.. mind doing a full parts list assuming one has the blumats and 3mm line from them already, what would you get from kent systems for a given # of blumats - 12/24/36/48, etc - plz!

When I set up my reservoir I came out the reservoir then I placed a tee right out side the reservoir then ran one line from the tee down to the plants and one line up above the the reservoir in order to vent the air out. Just like the vent lines in your drain lines in the house. this lets any air in the line to vent to atmosphere.

was just thinking it should work like that; only thing i worry about is if instant pressure increases for some reason it might spout out the top - maybe a upside down U shaped fitting with a hole poked in it to direct flow? dunno, ever have issues?

 

[dubdi3mond]

just stopping through to give you guys an update... I fucking LOVE these blumats, takes my work down to about an hour a day sometimes less

and my plants are growing ridiculous fast now, cant wait til next run with clones instead of seed and co2 the growth should be explosive

 

[overmyhead]

I use a clothespin on the 3mm tubing - it stops the water flow and the setting doesn't change.

That's so simple I'd have never thought of it! But, you gotta make sure it doesn't get knocked off.

 

[sanjuan]

Huntingbb:
I can't find my actual parts list for Kentsystems but here is my plan. (I haven't set this up yet, the only potential problem I can see would be clogging of the internal shutoff mechanism.) The locking and rotating model (red coupling) is probably overkill.

Edit: now that I think of it, I'm sure I have the locking and rotating version for the reservoir connection. It is a very good idea there, IMO. That would be 9A2-EY055-004.

 

[overmyhead]

Try it, might work.

SD

Tried it but am scared to leave it, the ones without the screw basically pour the solution out

edit: just thought about it, instead of manually turning one on to test, I need to wait till I see one going on its own, make the switch and watch to see if it causes any issues, Also I'm a little affraid that if one gets stuck open, I have a lot less time to catch it than I do now. Will be back maybe tomorrow or the next with real test results, if it works you could re think it for your garden outside. Actually, outside I'd say it makes perfect sense because you can't flood and it would help get the water deeper to the roots.

 

[denvermmj]

where can I get a Tropf Blumat system sent to the US? For 6, 5 gallon pots. Medical Grow?
Thanks

 

[ninjagaiden]

how do you guys change out the reservoir using blumats? Seems like when you disconect the line from the res, you would make a big mess of any water left!

 

[InlineMax]

I use a transfer pump. You can also add another hole in your rez with grommet, a straight barbed connector, some tubing and a shut off valve. This would be where you can drain from.

 

[Lazyman]

I plumbed my reservoirs so each discharge line runs all the way across the room, with blumats on tees in the middle.

At the far end, near the outside wall, I put another shutoff valve. past the valve, all the lines tee together into one drain line. To drain a reservoir, just open that far drain valve and it all drains outside. This also flushes the lines out (I flush once a week for 10-15 seconds) and works very well.