crimsonecho
Well-Known Member
oh alright
Blumats. Who's using them?
- Thread starter Jjgrow420
- Start date
JustBlazin
Well-Known Member
What issues did you have with the blumats?
LeastExpectedGrower
Well-Known Member
Hey @Jjgrow420 , @xtsho , et al.,
Now that we're in 'spring' (doesn't seem that way with about 14" of snow this week)...I'm gearing up to order a Blumat system. I'll be away a bunch of time as the season rolls on with some family commitments as well as a 10 day stretch of vacation. But I if I like how things work, I'd move to trying it as a semi-permanent watering system.
Some questions and request for guidance on doing this.
-Right now I'm only running 2 plants in 5g. bags (though I have other non-related plants in the tent I'd use it for as well).
-Medium is Promix HP+
-Current water/feed schedule is ~4 days & alternated feed/water, and top-watered by hand.
-Using GH Maxibloom (and MaxiGro in early veg), Epsom & a bit of molasses (to feed the mycos, etc).
-I've been using Recharge during watering.
^^ how do I need to alter how I'm feeding (aka 5-7g Maxi per gallon). I assume if it's just a long weekend I'd just fit it into my schedule depending on how my weeks are rotating...but when I go for 10 days or whatever... I also know that I wouldn't be able to use Recharge or molasses in the Blumat res. Alternately how do I work 'around' this when going back and forth if I'm not using it all the time?
Looking at something this size or equivelent: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00F724IBS
Other things I need to consider having/using? I figure 1 5g res bucket may not be enough, but I can certainly do a two bucket system or use one larger tup/container. Would run gravity, with the res outside the tent. Even at peak grow time I was using ~2g per plant per watering with 25% runoff, so in a non-runoff system I'd be using about 1.5g twice a week per plant.
What additional things do I need to know/consider here?
Now that we're in 'spring' (doesn't seem that way with about 14" of snow this week)...I'm gearing up to order a Blumat system. I'll be away a bunch of time as the season rolls on with some family commitments as well as a 10 day stretch of vacation. But I if I like how things work, I'd move to trying it as a semi-permanent watering system.
Some questions and request for guidance on doing this.
-Right now I'm only running 2 plants in 5g. bags (though I have other non-related plants in the tent I'd use it for as well).
-Medium is Promix HP+
-Current water/feed schedule is ~4 days & alternated feed/water, and top-watered by hand.
-Using GH Maxibloom (and MaxiGro in early veg), Epsom & a bit of molasses (to feed the mycos, etc).
-I've been using Recharge during watering.
^^ how do I need to alter how I'm feeding (aka 5-7g Maxi per gallon). I assume if it's just a long weekend I'd just fit it into my schedule depending on how my weeks are rotating...but when I go for 10 days or whatever... I also know that I wouldn't be able to use Recharge or molasses in the Blumat res. Alternately how do I work 'around' this when going back and forth if I'm not using it all the time?
Looking at something this size or equivelent: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00F724IBS
Other things I need to consider having/using? I figure 1 5g res bucket may not be enough, but I can certainly do a two bucket system or use one larger tup/container. Would run gravity, with the res outside the tent. Even at peak grow time I was using ~2g per plant per watering with 25% runoff, so in a non-runoff system I'd be using about 1.5g twice a week per plant.
What additional things do I need to know/consider here?
lusidghost
Well-Known Member
Part of the problem was my pressure reducer getting clogged and wilted my plants. That's an unnecessary piece and I was adding powder additives, so I can't really blame it on the Blumats. Aside from that it was just general deficiencies / burns which lead to my two worst yields ever. I couldn't seem to find a sweet spot EC wise. Plus I was never able to completely let them all do their thing. I was constantly adjusting the knobs. A lot of that was based on my tiny pot size, but that's the reason I wanted an automated setup.
Like I said before, I think they would be great for soil and apparently work fine in a normal setup, but they just weren't jiving with mine. I got them to make life easier, but they ended up giving me a lot of anxiety.
Jjgrow420
Well-Known Member
Just at work I'll reply after
Billy the Mountain
Well-Known Member
As a starting point, the Sustainable Village folks (Blumat's US distributor) recommend using 50% EC vs. normal watering w/ runoff EC
lusidghost
Well-Known Member
Also I'm a fan of runoff. I guess you can get away without it, but I prefer to flush out any imbalances before they have a chance of running away. I found it very strange that my tiny bonsai mothers were healthy throughout, while full sized vegging / flowering plants getting the same solution were catching burns. The only real difference was the bonsais were in rockwool cubes and getting plenty of runoff.
I went from coco and Blumats to rockwool slabs and an automated multi feed fertigation setup with an auto drainage removal system. The runoff shall flow like wine.
I went from coco and Blumats to rockwool slabs and an automated multi feed fertigation setup with an auto drainage removal system. The runoff shall flow like wine.
xtsho
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't run a reservoir with molasses and bennies. You'll probably want something like an 18 gallon tote for a reservoir.
I would just get this 12 blumat kit for $86. Looks like the one you linked to is charging $100 for a 5 gallon bucket. This one comes with the bulkhead fitting. Just drill a hole in the tote, insert fitting, attach tubing, attach blumats, fill reservoir, setup blumats, walk away.
https://www.amazon.com/Blumat-Medium-Box-Kit-Irrigation/dp/B008PXHY3A?th=1
LeastExpectedGrower
Well-Known Member
Thanks!
lusidghost
Well-Known Member
You said you don't use them anymore. Why not?
xtsho
Well-Known Member
That's how I've done it. I never run full strength nutrients anyway but with blumats you can really reduce the EC as it's a constant drip with no runoff. I never flush at all and never end up with any issues. Despite what many believe, coco does not require watering to runoff. The key is very mild feeding. It's a constant supply of nutrients as the coco stays consistently moist.
xtsho
Well-Known Member
I haven't used them for awhile. I'll use them again. I've been doing mostly seed runs of smaller plants in smaller containers. I'm shuffling around plants, removing males to another room to collect pollen, moving females out of the tent to pollinate in another room, etc... Not really a set it and forget it growing style using blumats. I still have everything in place and will probably do a run for yield as soon as the plants I have producing seeds are done. I should probably start some seeds now so they'll be done before the summer heat forces me to shut down the indoor grow for a couple months.
LeastExpectedGrower
Well-Known Member
Thanks! That helps. I figured it was some kind of reduction. In my case, for times when I'm out of town for just 4ish days or whatever, I'd try to feed before or after by manipulating my schedule and use it just for watering, but longer times (those 10 day stretches or whatever), I'd have to have some feed involved I'd guess.
Not sure if this is to me or the other post about why you stopped using them...but yeah, I'm a firm believer in runoff to keep the soil in good shape and the EC buildup to a minimum. I think that lots of top-feeding-soil-users run into problems due to not getting their watering technique down properly (aka they're not putting enough water through their medium).
Yeah, I wasn't necessarily sold on the bucket or the external water-level reader bit that doesn't really do anything for me. But let me also ask, is there some off-board stuff I'd really need to get to upgrade? For instance, the lines provided in the kit...are there better lines to use that would last longer/be easier to implement? Are there any other parts that I should buy for reasonable quality/performance upgrades? I'm not going to a pump or anything.
And I'd assumed that it would be straight nutrients without any of the additives...so that tracks for me. Too bad since right now my soil is doing really nicely with the Recharge/molasses thing nice white fuzz in the medium/on the roots.
xtsho
Well-Known Member
I'd get some more 3mm tubing for the Blumats. You'll probably need to get that from Sustainable Village in 25ft or 50ft lengths. There is only a 100 meter roll for $139 on Amazon and that's probably much more than you need. I replaced the 3mm that run from the feeder hose to the blumats with longer lengths than what comes with them. It makes it easier to move things around having a longer length of tubing going to the blumats.
lusidghost
Well-Known Member
Nah, I was just finishing my thought from where I quoted justblazin.
One issue with the small pots was they would either be over or undersaturated. I'd think I had it perfect, but it would slowly dry over the course of a few days and I would need to crank them up a little.
One thing I noticed was if you can keep coco moist it will wick equally and keep everything nice. If it dries out very much you need to hand water them well to get the the coco fully saturated or you'll have dry spots that will never hydrate on their own.
LeastExpectedGrower
Well-Known Member
Worth considering this kit? It's got 8mm tubing and a couple res fittings (was planning on doing a 'loop'). Then getting some extra 3mm/8mm as well?I'd get some more 3mm tubing for the Blumats. You'll probably need to get that from Sustainable Village in 25ft or 50ft lengths. There is only a 100 meter roll for $139 on Amazon and that's probably much more than you need. I replaced the 3mm that run from the feeder hose to the blumats with longer lengths than what comes with them. It makes it easier to move things around having a longer length of tubing going to the blumats.
https://www.sustainablevillage.com/Blumat-Medium-Deluxe-Gravity-Kit-Automatic-Irrigation-for-Up-to-12-Plants
120$ is definitely in the budget plus a bit more as needed.
xtsho
Well-Known Member
I don't see anything in that kit other than an extra reservoir fitting and shutoff valve from the 12 blumat kit I linked to. Are you going to run 2 reservoirs? That shutoff valve is $3.99 at any hardware store.
Billy the Mountain
Well-Known Member
I"m curious, what size were your small pots?
I had a similar experience, I normally use 2 or 3 gal fabric pots w/ coco but the blumats definitely worked better in a 5 gal pot vs. 3 gal pot.
I used 3 additional drippers in addition to the carrot.
I would also recommend using 100% coco as it allows the carrot to be evenly saturated. With perlite added, you can get more/less perlite
touching the carrot which will throw off its response.
I plan on tinkering with them again over the summer
LeastExpectedGrower
Well-Known Member
I think it's the upgrade to the tubing, double tank fittings, etc. I wasn't planning on running two tanks as much as playing with the idea of a loop system and whether it's better to run that from a T or from two connections to the reservoir.