Blumat auto watering

[Señor Chang]

Yes, price-wise it is no comparison. The advantage is only in the usability of the silicone tubing. It is as flexible as the 3 mm drip line & fits all the existing parts. I'll admit I probably have more than I'll ever use, but I have as much as I need for expansion and adaptation. If you are looking for a substitution that is infinitely easier to work with than the 8 mm black plastic feed line then this option may be for you.

 

[sunnydog]

Is it prone to kinking???

 

[Señor Chang]

@ sunnydog
The line is as prone to kinking as the 3mm flexible silicone drip line.
I would guess that the wall of the silicone feed line I am using is about 1-1.5mm thick.
When it is full of water and the system is running the lines are strong/straight.
I think my answer is no.
It is not prone to kinking.
Since it is more flexible there are no weird twists or curves to have to work around.
Even the connectors are able to twist with no loss of connectivity.
I believe it is an advantage to the system with no negatives.
Other than price

 

[trem0lo]

I'm using 2 blumat juniors (the non drip ones) for my four plants in a gallon pot. They are working quite well and growth is nice and vigorous, but can be a bit fussy to get started. Here are a few tips to those looking to use them:

--Soak the spikes thoroughly for at least 15 minutes before using, then ensure there are no air bubbles inside by shaking them a bit as you take them out of the water.
--Blow through the tubes to ensure there are no obstructions. You should feel a tiny sliver of air coming out the opposite side.
--Fill the freshly soaked spikes to the very top with water before inserting them into the soil.
--With the weighted tube ends in the reservoir, suck on the top ends until water starts coming out. Then attach them firmly to the full spikes already in the soil.
--Keep the reservoir below the level of the spikes, or they will give too much water. Any higher and you'll need fewer spikes.
--Lastly, give the plants a generous watering before you use the blumats to ensure the spikes can adapt slowly to the soil moisture level.

I know the juniors are cheaper and easier to find so hopefully this helps someone out!

 

[Voidling]

Hmm the blumat stuff is $35 for 30 meters, or 98 ft.

http://waytogrow.net/store/product/3761/Tropf-Drip-Line-30m-Roll/

Has anyone ordered blumat stuff from this company? When they list stuff like this
http://waytogrow.net/store/product/3796/Tropf-8mm-Tubing/
is that price for the inch or foot or what?

I'm trying to figure out if it's better priced getting the rolls of tubing, drippers, and components or to start with the patio kit from another company and adding on.

Thanks

nvm... The kit from sustainable village, is it using the dripper kind or the junior kind? it's confusing with their writeup, but the picture seems like it'd be dripper type. If that's the case then the 12 of them is $70 at waytogo so the kit is the way to go for sure.

 

[rives]

Has anyone ordered blumat stuff from this company? When they list stuff like this
http://waytogrow.net/store/product/3796/Tropf-8mm-Tubing/
is that price for the inch or foot or what?

nvm... The kit from sustainable village, is it using the dripper kind or the junior kind? it's confusing with their writeup, but the picture seems like it'd be dripper type. If that's the case then the 12 of them is $70 at waytogo so the kit is the way to go for sure.

Voidling, I made one order with WaytoGrow. They were out of stock on some items that showed as being in stock when I placed the order, and the shipping cost was outrageous ($17 vs $3 when I had to have it sent to the correct address!). They sent the package to the wrong address (the billing address on my credit card vs. the information that I had given them), etc, etc. They eventually made it good by shipping the back-order free, but.....pleasant people, though.

The last couple of orders that I have made have been from Planet Earth. They were quick, had the stuff in stock and a Patio Kit is $74 with free shipping. The smaller parts that they list show a standard shipping charge, very cheap, for each one, but it stacks up when you place a large order. I pointed this out to them and they told me that they would only charge one shipping charge if you ordered a bunch of fittings. They did, in fact, do exactly that. They were quick, well-stocked, and had good prices.

Patio Kit - http://www.planetearthhydro.com/products/Tropf-Blumat-Self%2dWatering-System.html

Misc. parts - http://www.planetearthhydro.com/search.php?search_query=blumat&x=0&y=0

 

[LifeLess]

Thats the same place i ordered from Planetearth very friendly people. The shipping was free and very fast (2 days from coast to coast). I havent tried these on my mj yet but they worked like a charm on my tomato plants. They were root bound in 100 degree weather and i never watered all season. Its takes a few days to get them dialed in. LL

 

[Voidling]

Thank you. I'm going to need a lot of these come spring. Soaker hose didn't hold up in my veggie garden. And needs a replacement

 

[rives]

Automating vapor lock purge

Automating vapor lock purge

I don't know how many people are experiencing the air lock problems that I have, but this may be of interest if you do. I have two systems running with 6 Blumats each. One is for my bonsai moms and is a very low volume system because of the plant size. It has a manually-refilled reservoir, and usually goes through about 1-1/2 gallons a week. I have absolutely no problems with this system - if I let it go a couple of month's between purging the air, I will get a few bubbles.

My other system is for the flowering gals, and it is a whole different story. I have been running a media mix with a lot of perlite (approaching 50%) because I use a constant release fertilizer and it seems more effective with relatively high water flows going through the pots. Because of this high usage, the reservoir is a self-topping system. For whatever reason (which plumb evades me!), this system has tremendous vapor-lock issues. I am out of town approximately 10 days a month, and a couple of grows ago I had some huge re-veg ladies growing that used lots of water. Well, by the time I got back to town, they had been without water for quite some time, and 2 of the three were a total loss. The system had so much air in it that only the plant on the low end of the distribution loop was still getting water.

My last grow, (after re-plumbing again), I got home to find that the plant on the highest portion of the loop was dry. It lived, but it stunted the shit out of it. Same thing - I purged the air out and the Blumats in that pot started working fine again without touching the adjustment.

My epiphany was to automate the vapor purging, because I've given up on trying to find out where in the hell the air is coming from. Actually, at this point, I think that the air source is entrained air in the household water, and with the high volumes that this system uses the air accumulates too quickly. So, I re-plumbed the system again (about Rev. 8.3, I think), and did away with the loop going clear around the tent. Instead, I took the two feeds that I have been using for quite a while and brought them both clear to the front of the tent and up the corner poles on each side of the door. I then took 3/4" pvc and made side rails which ran uphill from the feed point at 1" per foot and ran the feed line along this. The "T"'s feeding the 3mm tubing point down so that any air bubbles can continue merrily along with no impediment to their movement. The feed line continues uphill in this manner on both sides, and then ties together in a vertically-oriented "T" in the middle of the back, which is supported by another piece of pvc.

I then took a line from this centrally mounted "T" and fed it into a 1/4" direct-acting 120vac solenoid valve. The valve is made for potable water with a delrin body and stainless-steel internal parts. My system has a drain, so I took the discharge side of the valve and ran it down into the drain. I bought a Tork 454D battery-backed digital timer, and programmed it to cycle the valve for 1 minute, twice a week. This is enough time to purge 1 quart of water through the system. We'll see what I find when I get home from my next trip!

This system with a double-ended feed and a central bleed point is far superior to the former setup with a full loop and two feed points. I always had to fight like hell to get all the air out because it could go too many places - with this system, it is pushed toward the bleed point regardless of it's location. With the old arrangement, I had finally installed valves to isolate the flow direction when purging air, and it would still take the better part of a gallon of water to stop getting air bubbles. The new system, starting empty of water, had forced all of the air out in about the first 1/2 quart of discharge, and I got no more bubbles even though I purged another couple of quarts. Hope this helps someone, and I will give an update when I return from my next trip.

 

[self]

I'm loving the blumats...bought two patio sets, one for each room. makes my life so much easier. my 5gal res are outside my rooms, so all I have to do to refill them is stick a hose in the top and turn it on. this needs to happen every 3-4 days with 8-12 plants. takes me 5 minutes every 4 days, compared with 45 minutes hand watering every other day.
love it.

 

[rrog]

Rives, sure sorry to hear about the continued problems. I think it's dissolved air also. Maybe made worse because of any dissolved nutes. I forget if you have a res with straight O2 or nutes.

Anyway, in contrast, I use well water, which I expect is low in dissolved gas. Also, not sure if this is relevant, I kept the soil on the moist side. Plants seemed truly excellent, but the carrots never dried out. I just harvested three plants yesterday and the carrots were all completely full. Each made a slight sound when I unscrewed the top like a pressure seal. They were as full as possible. They were used for two months of flower and I never purged air. I checked soil every few days with my finger.

So I agree that dissolved air is a likely culprit.

 

[Herbophile]

http://www.mocap.com/silicone-rubber-tubing.html
I had to buy it in a 100' spool.
It cost me about $85 and that includes shipping to Alaska.
They require you to request a sample prior to the actual order.
The sample comes with some special tape that I found useful when attaching tubeing to my bulkhead.

The stuff really is a lot easier to work with than the black plastic 8 mm feed line that came with my 12 pack.
Hope this helps!

That's perfect, thanks! I came here looking for exactly this as I'm sick of the hard stock stuff. Thanks to you and some luck I found what I was looking for in just a few minutes.

 

[Guywithoutajeep]

I'm still having great success with these. Last run I really saw them working top notch. I'd let my res go dry, thus getting the coco drier than it usually would, and as soon as I'd refill the water would drip out like crazy until it was resaturated just like before. Amazing stuff.

 

[sunnydog]

Pressure Reducer Update.....

Pressure Reducer Update.....

this is relevant, I kept the soil on the moist side. Plants seemed truly excellent, but the carrots never dried out. I just harvested three plants yesterday and the carrots were all completely full. Each made a slight sound when I unscrewed the top like a pressure seal. They were as full as possible. They were used for two months of flower and I never purged air. I checked soil every few days with my finger.

So I agree that dissolved air is a likely culprit.

^^^!!!!!!!!!!!^^^^

I have been using the pressure reducer for about two runs now..... I am THRILLED TO REPORT it has performed essentially FLAWLESSLY!(Approx. 30 units)
Had one minor overrun(filled a black garden tray) very early on in the adjustment period, that's about it I think.

They have been dripping away for a while now(no plants), keeping the soil moist, waiting for plants as I wanna do a no till.

I must HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS.
However, use at your own risk,obviously!

 

[rrog]

I still have one SSH growing in flower. Still have yet to see a run-off. I noted some iron buildup in the drip lines. I have hard well water. I also disassembled the distributors and soaked in vinegar to help remove the iron from the threads. I have short runs of drip line so I just tossed them. I'll use new next time. I see the iron buildup as the weakness in my system. Well water would have much less dissolved air I'd imagine.

 

[sunnydog]

I still have one SSH growing in flower. Still have yet to see a run-off. I noted some iron buildup in the drip lines. I have hard well water. I also disassembled the distributors and soaked in vinegar to help remove the iron from the threads. I have short runs of drip line so I just tossed them. I'll use new next time. I see the iron buildup as the weakness in my system. Well water would have much less dissolved air I'd imagine.

Toss the distributors.

 

[NFD]

I just picked up a patio kit and will be running Blumats for the first time. I looked through the excellent information in this thread and learned lot's. I will be running pure water off of a 5 gal reservoir fed by my dehumidifier, to 3 gal pots of supersoil, do I need more than 1 Blumat per pot? Thanks!

 

[rrog]

NFD, welcome to the Blumat madness. I personally didn't use a reservoir, so others could comment on that. You'll only need one dripper for 3 gallons. I have 7 gallons and I use two. Others here may feel differently.

Either way you'll love them

 

[NFD]

NFD, welcome to the Blumat madness. I personally didn't use a reservoir, so others could comment on that. You'll only need one dripper for 3 gallons. I have 7 gallons and I use two. Others here may feel differently.

Either way you'll love them

I appreciate the quick response rrog! It looks like the Blumats will really work well for my set up. Thanks again!

 

[Protea]

I just had my biggest blunder whit the blumats till now. and it was all my fault.
I mainly use blumats so i can be absent for weeks at the time. so now i just started a new run whit northernlight, hooked it all up, just like the last few times tightend the valves abit exstra, and off i went for a longweekend in dublin whit out thinking witch res i was using. so when i got home it had all run out trough one of the pots, and all the 300 L water was already getting a thin layer of algee,growt. and it took me the hole night to dry it up.
so the lesson i learned is to allways start whit the small res. then adjust, then bring out the oversized one, or spend a week adjusting them befor they are left alone.