Blumats. Who's using them?

JustBlazin

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
speedwell68 said:
That is what is putting me off Blumats. I grow in a loft, a flood would be very bad.
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That's why I recommend a pond liner for just in case shit hits the fan. I've had mine for almost a year and a half and most water I've had on the floor was a few litres, and few other times had a small puddle, nothing drastic
 
Jjgrow420

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
JustBlazin said:
That's why I recommend a pond liner for just in case shit hits the fan. I've had mine for almost a year and a half and most water I've had on the floor was a few litres, and few other times had a small puddle, nothing drastic
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Ya fuck. Now I'm rethinking this whole thing. Duno what I'm gonna do.
 
JustBlazin

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
Jjgrow420 said:
A flood wouldn't be good but I'm also in the basement so there's that.... Would still be a headache and the wife wouldnt be too happy
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I hear if you hook it up to the tap you don't get runaways unless your dripline clogs.
I think using a pump like lusidghost does the same thing with the constant pressure
 
Jjgrow420

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
JustBlazin said:
I hear if you hook it up to the tap you don't get runaways unless your dripline clogs.
I think using a pump like lusidghost does the same thing with the constant pressure
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Ya. I'm concerned about the whole flooding thing. I also don't want to overwater my plants and slow them down.
I thought I had it all figured out lol
 
B

bigbadbillybob

Member
i used them for a few weeks.....a few weeks of constant flooding or nothing getting to the plants, re-set them god knows how many times. they are a bloody liability.
get yourself a seconds timer, a mj1000 pump and some drip rings, much easier, and less chance of floods.
 
Cousin_suds

Cousin_suds

Active Member
I ran them for a couple of cycles and never had a runaway. you just have to pay attention to the details. I read the whole blumat thread on ICmag. i think it was 700 pages when i read it. I bought a couple of the plastic underbed storage boxes to set my growbags in.they are about 3 feet X18 inches and 8 inches deep. then i got plant saucers to set the bags in, if one of the carrots was overwatering I could tell because that saucer would have water in it. I qut using them cause i like to hang out in the garden, with the blumats i didn't have to go in there but a couple of times a week.
 
JustBlazin

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
bigbadbillybob said:
i used them for a few weeks.....a few weeks of constant flooding or nothing getting to the plants, re-set them god knows how many times. they are a bloody liability.
get yourself a seconds timer, a mj1000 pump and some drip rings, much easier, and less chance of floods.
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You sure you set them up correctly?
Doesn't sound like you did with your experience.
When you set them up did you soak the carrots correctly and fill the hole you put your blumat in with a medium with no perlite, the perlite can throw off the sensor and cause it to think it needs to water
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
lusidghost said:
You don't really want to have to take it all apart and then have redo everything. I just use Jack's and some liquid kelp. I tried using silica and humic powders, but one of them clogged up the tube that ran away, so I cut them out. Use some bleach or h2o2 in your res now and again and everything should be fine.
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Probably the humic.
 
lusidghost

lusidghost

Well-Known Member
Jjgrow420 said:
Ya. I'm concerned about the whole flooding thing. I also don't want to overwater my plants and slow them down.
I thought I had it all figured out lol
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You really shouldn’t have a problem over or under watering your plants if they are in normal sized pots. Mine are so small that it’s a razor’s edge between the two. And I got it sorted out. You can too!

Also in my opinion you’re more likely to over / under water with a timer system.
 
JustBlazin

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
lusidghost said:
You really shouldn’t have a problem over or under watering your plants if they are in normal sized pots. Mine are so small that it’s a razor’s edge between the two. And I got it sorted out. You can too!

Also in my opinion you’re more likely to over / under water with a timer system.
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As I like to say blumats keep your plants in the Goldilocks of the moisture zone. Keep them right in the sweet spot
 
Jjgrow420

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
JustBlazin said:
You sure you set them up correctly?
Doesn't sound like you did with your experience.
When you set them up did you soak the carrots correctly and fill the hole you put your blumat in with a medium with no perlite, the perlite can throw off the sensor and cause it to think it needs to water
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Oh no. I'm using promix... It has perlite
 
JustBlazin

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
Jjgrow420 said:
Oh no. I'm using promix... It has perlite
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I use promix too amended with dry organics. I just fill the hole with a mixture of straight peat no perlite I bought from the garden centre and ewc. You can use any of or a mixture of either sphagnum peat, ewc or coco without the perlite
 
speedwell68

speedwell68

Well-Known Member
I think this thread has put me off the idea of Blumats. TBH they seem expensive for what they are and it seems there are too many variables that can lead to a flood. I can build a SIP system for less than $5 a plant, that will achieve the same goal and never flood my house.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I don't get all the issues some have had with blumats. I had one runaway right when I first used them. After that not a single problem. They're extremely easy to setup and use. But I never seem to have many of the issues others have. Growing weed is like breathing to me. Something you do and never think about.
 
speedwell68

speedwell68

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
I don't get all the issues some have had with blumats. I had one runaway right when I first used them. After that not a single problem. They're extremely easy to setup and use. But I never seem to have many of the issues others have. Growing weed is like breathing to me. Something you do and never think about.
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That is just it. You had one runaway. That is too many times IMHO. I cannot afford the hassle of a flooded loft.
 
LeastExpectedGrower

LeastExpectedGrower

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
I don't get all the issues some have had with blumats. I had one runaway right when I first used them. After that not a single problem. They're extremely easy to setup and use. But I never seem to have many of the issues others have. Growing weed is like breathing to me. Something you do and never think about.
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I'm still on board to try this out for long weekends and vacations later this year. my Tent is basement level and I'd plan on using a basic 5g container across 4 plants in 5g bags (possibly x2 5g for some extension). I can generally get about 3-4 days interval between waterings but having something to lengthen that by a few days would be a nice bit of grow-engineering. I'd most likely use it for water rather than feeding and then follow up by a feed once I get home. And I'm in Pro-Mix HP+ as well.
 
lusidghost

lusidghost

Well-Known Member
I think the threat of a runaway that actually floods your house is overblown. They can dump a lot of water for such a small hose, but you can also keep your res low enough to avoid a major catastrophe. Really the first day is all you have to worry about, and then it’s fine tuning for a few more days. Just set them up on a day off and monitor them like you did with your plants during your first grow.

I’ve had no runoff let alone a flood this cycle. This was also when I had spotted the runaway. Last time was more of a hassle, but I was also growing around 30 plants. I didn’t flood the house, but I did end up chronically overwatering a few of them.

That’s when I realized how little moisture the plants requires in the medium if it is given a continuous supply. It seems like if you’re watering once a day, it doesn’t hit that sweet spot until close to the next watering. If you’re watering multiple times a day you’re probably keeping it too wet unless your medium dries out really quickly.
 
LeastExpectedGrower

LeastExpectedGrower

Well-Known Member
lusidghost said:
I think the threat of a runaway that actually floods your house is overblown. They can dump a lot of water for such a small hose, but you can also keep your res low enough to avoid a major catastrophe. Really the first day is all you have to worry about, and then it’s fine tuning for a few more days. Just set them up on a day off and monitor them like you did with your plants during your first grow.

I’ve had no runoff let alone a flood this cycle. This was also when I had spotted the runaway. Last time was more of a hassle, but I was also growing around 30 plants. I didn’t flood the house, but I did end up chronically overwatering a few of them.

That’s when I realized how little moisture the plants requires in the medium if it is given a continuous supply. It seems like if you’re watering once a day, it doesn’t hit that sweet spot until close to the next watering. If your watering multiple times a day you’re probably keeping it too wet unless your medium dries out really quickly.
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Yeah I when I test my soil (both by lifting & by putting a finger in, even when I know it's good to go, I wait another day or so anyway and I've never gotten any signs of it being too little water. An inch or two down isn't a great indicator of how much water is being retained deeper in the center of the soil strata no matter what.

In my case, a slow drop on the verge of too little is probably about right since it's more about eeking out a few extra days without hand watering.
 
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