Blumat auto watering

[caljim]

Looking good Peat. Keep us posted on your coco run with the blumats. Very interested on how this works out for ya.

 

[Pompey_Monkey]

Hehe Lap.
...maybe...


Thanks one Q.
...maybe...

I do have to figure out how to tame the "unruly black hose".
(When is that NOT a problem?)


===============
EDIT:

I'm gonna wait for a few responses before I say yea, or nay.

I use 8" metal spikes - a bit like flimsy tent pegs:

View image in gallery​

...Which you can just about see under the silicone hose.

 

[Lapides]

Peat, your coco looks a little on the dry side. If you haven't already, maybe try turning the flow up a little. It's best to keep the medium around the cone moist most of the time. If the cone dries out too much, the water level inside the cone goes down because gets absorbed by the ceramic in an attempt to maintain the moisture level. Ya dig? I'm very high right now, but if you've done test runs already I'm sure you catch my drift.

 

[Lazyman]

Hey Peat, glad they're working out for you. It might just be the lighting, but that lady looks hungry! More food captain!

 

[Peat]

Thanks caljim. Will do.


Very glad to see you stop in Pompey Monkey.
I've seen a couple of your posts while researching Blumats with coco.
Good call on the spikes.

I'd definately like to know more about your drip rate / drain rate.


Hey Lapi, I can't slip nothing by ya.
I put a fresh layer of coco on top after planting the "carrot"
It was still a little dry when I took the pic.
Good eye!

Thanks for the drip tips.
I'm still handwatering every day until I get it dialed.

As far as test runs go, THIS is my first test run.
I'm just playing it by ear.
Er, uh ... I mean, by drip.


Thanks Lazyman.
I'm assuming you're talking about the yellowing on the bottom fan leaves.
I've been keeping an eye on that, fo sho.

I think I was at half strength a little too long.
Since switching to full strength some time ago, the yellowing seems halted.

:listen: If you're seeing something different, please let me know.


==============================
Just so we're all on the same page, this is...

my first boogie with Blumats.

my first go with coco.

my first foray with "Head's Formula"

Who knows what'll happen.

... ... ...

So far, so good!
Thanks for the help everybody!

 

[Lazyman]

Oh I was just noticing the overall color of the leaves looked pretty light green, but maybe I just like mine a darker green than you do. I tend to stockpile some N in them in veg, and I feed until the point where I get slight leaf tip burn on most strains, I get better yields that way for sure.

 

[Dislexus]

Hmm, that gives me an idea, feed hydro nutes through a siphon mixer or fert injector, and you could run HUNDREDS of these with no reservoir:

Hose Water > RO Water filter> Fertlizer Injector> Particle Filter > Pressure reducer> Manifold of feed lines> blumats to dripper lines

Once you got it dialed in, you just have to remember to check on your bottles of nutes/concentrate once a month or so. MUAHAHAHA AUTOMATION.

Great idea.. but plumbing has usual variations of water pressure, would this be a variable that affects the dialing in? Or would the pressure reducer pretty much provide a consistent bottleneck?

 

[Lazyman]

I think as long as the injectors are before the reducer, the pressure should be pretty consistent. The pressure reducer goes pretty much last, so an inline filter doesn't get clogged as easily. I'm thinking about running a trio of 2-part injectors for a 3 stage perpetual grow, one for veg, one for early flower, one for late flower. When you want to do a flush, just close the nute tank on that line and voila, pure water! And no reservoirs or pumps still..

 

[BorkBorkBork]

For the unruly black hose, I think I remember reading that if you let it lay in the sun for a little bit, or run a hair dryer over it for a bit, it becomes much more manageable.

 

[Dislexus]

I think as long as the injectors are before the reducer, the pressure should be pretty consistent. The pressure reducer goes pretty much last, so an inline filter doesn't get clogged as easily. I'm thinking about running a trio of 2-part injectors for a 3 stage perpetual grow, one for veg, one for early flower, one for late flower. When you want to do a flush, just close the nute tank on that line and voila, pure water! And no reservoirs or pumps still..

I like this... Hey you like splitting up beg/end flower too huh You going to do a thread about this tap method? I'll be waaaaaaatttccchhhiiiiinnng

 

[Lazyman]

I like this... Hey you like splitting up beg/end flower too huh You going to do a thread about this tap method? I'll be waaaaaaatttccchhhiiiiinnng

Oh for sure, no good reason to run week 1-4 and 4-8 on the same tanks, their needs are SO different!

Uh oh, a stalker!

Yeah maybe, I'm more likely to do small (55g) reservoirs in my new spot, since I have to run RO and even a GE Merlin can't keep up with a few hundred thirsty girls. On-demand water generation isn't easy with that much medium to water, so tanks are probably a necessity in my case.

 

[Lazyman]

For the unruly black hose, I think I remember reading that if you let it lay in the sun for a little bit, or run a hair dryer over it for a bit, it becomes much more manageable.

Yep, or throw it in your dryer on low heat for a few minutes, gets nice and pliable. Or a bathtub full of hot water works too.

Remember the tough old 3/4" poly hose sold in hydro shops? I used to have to heat the ends with a lighter to make em pliable enough to slip over tray fittings, that stuff was SO thick! Pretty much lasts forever though, gotta love durability.

 

[Pompey_Monkey]

Thanks caljim. Will do.


Very glad to see you stop in Pompey Monkey.
I've seen a couple of your posts while researching Blumats with coco.
Good call on the spikes.

I'd definately like to know more about your drip rate / drain rate.

Hi there Peat!

I don't really check my drain/drip rates: The system works on a feedback loop (hence the ceramic sensors), so I set it up as per the manufacturers instuctions i.e. push into the wet soil and then screw down the adjuster two arrows past where the drips stop.

After that it's just a case of monitoring the soil: If it's too wet, I turn down an arrow, too dry and I increase the flow a notch! The moisture monitoring is done by the good ole fashioned method of hefting the pots!

As I grow in the roof, I do have to be very careful of leaks/overflows so there are large drain trays under the pots. These have a volume of approximately 20 litres so I have plenty of time to catch any stupid mistakes! My res tank is about 70 litres though. so I can't get too complacent!

 

[Peat]

Thanks Pompey!


I'm trying to figure out a reservoir.


My less than 1 gal test res for my needs constant pH-ing & turns green every 2-3 days.


From what I understand, a larger res will help stabilize the pH.
And, a more "lightproof" res will keep the water less green.

I'm thinking a larger res need some maint.
Like O2 supplementation via air pumps.
And, nutrient mixing via water pumps.

But, I don't currently have an outlet available for any water &/or air pumps. (Hence, the Blumats.)


Having never managed a res before, I dunno really.
...
Just kinda thinking out loud...

=====================
EDIT:

...& what I'm thinking is to simply manage the res manually.
Daily (or so) mixing & aerating...



====================
EDIT
EDIT

Hey Pompey,
I'm in coco, using "Head's Formula".

I'm hoping to get at least some to drain through,
in order to exchange the air in the coco.

But, not too much as to waste nutes
& over flow my drainge collection "set-up".

Disclaimer:
I've only just begun to make this much more difficult than it really should be. LOL

 

[Dhude]

Peat, great minds think alike and all that. I got a deck/patio kit a few weeks ago, just set up a tester last week that is almost identical to yours (used a 1gal ice tea jug) except I put mine in a 3gal pot with a girl at week 6 flowering. Seems to be working great after minimal dialing in.

Going to put 1/4 of my next run on the Blumats, and test results side by side with 1/4 handwatered once/day, and 1/2 on drippers running 3x during lights on to 10% runoff.

I'm using GH mixed bricks coco (fines, fibers and chunks). Got high hopes, because if these even come close to handwatering or dripper yields, it will cut my gardening labor down tremendously and make long weekends out of town a viable option.

 

[Lapides]

Got high hopes, because if these even come close to handwatering or dripper yields, it will cut my gardening labor down tremendously and make long weekends out of town a viable option.

Don't worry. These drippers are all that and a bag of donuts.

I take care of 50+ plants with less than 5 minutes a day. However long it takes to fill my rez up with 10 gallons of water.

 

[Dhude]

Lapides, thanks for the lowdown. I saw CMoon's results, but he was using coco as a soil amendment rather than straight coco and I wondered. I've not seen an A/B test with blumats vs hand or drip in 100% coco. Good to hear you've had positive results, makes me excited!

Definitely will be putting my garden-veggie container plants (soil) on them next year, hooked straight to the water spigot. Really neat little device, and not that expensive really..heck, the 3 gal square pots cost more than the tropf blumat cone/dripper.

 

[PellePer]

I'm gonna do a small setup with four plants with 7l pots with coco. Using four blumats all connected, could I just let my hose go over the edge into my res. or would I have to drill a hole in it?

I was planning to use a 24l res. how long would it last? I won't let my plants grow any higher than 90cm.

This is my first setup so excuse me if I sound stupid

 

[BACKCOUNTRY]

Who is using these outdoors?

 

[Lazyman]

Hey Backcountry, I'm setting up one of the kits for my buddies outdoor crop next spring, but there's no reason not to. We'll put a res on stilts and let it gravity feed about 30 outdoor plants in 3 gallon pots (he gets amazing yields and huge plants with tiny pots, I'm envious.) Fed hydro nutes through the drippers, it will save a ton of time in watering alone.