Blumats. Who's using them?

[Billy the Mountain]

Would this work on a larger scale? Going on vacation for the last 10 days of July two weeks before chop date.View attachment 5147307

Theoretically possible, but no, a similar setup won't feed mature flowering plants for 10 days
10 days is challenging for a well designed irrigation system

 

[TrichDaddy]

Medic, I have read reports that they can work sometimes but Billy summed it up well. Just get Tropfs in my opinion. And set them up 2 weeks in advance. You will come back to huge thriving plants. That will be a lot of reservoir size so make sure it won't be a disaster if you get a runaway. I have a few of the XL carrots I plan to trial in veg at some point but I don't have high expectations. I just suck at watering my plants on time so hopefully they will keep things ticking over and reduce watering frequency.

Well it's been just over 2 weeks I think since I inserted my carrots. Verdict: frikkin incredible. No runaways, no nothing. The effort of growing (it's so hard lol) has gone from a 100 to maybe 25 or so.

Since my last post, I noticed a serious problem forming and signs of nutrient deficiency even though they were being fed well. Then a branch just wilted and died out of nowhere. Also had this problem last run but thankfully I didn't lose a critical amount. This time though, it started immediately entering flower so I researched it more. Verdict: Pythium or something close to it.

So I ordered up a jumbo bottle of PythOff (apparently just chloramine) and now I have a dead res! It's awesome. Seeing a huge improvement after a few days on chloromine. They're drinking twice as much which is a great sign to see. I should be free of slime issues in the res too. Haven't cleaned my res once yet, just topoffs, even before the chloramine. It's crystal clear.

So a big thank you to all the growers who've shared info. I'm nearly finished the icmag thread too lol.

Just a heads up for fellow newbies, do NOT waste your money on the dial protectors. They're so hard to get off that I pulled a firmly lodged carrot out.

Also, I got this tip from the ic thread, have one arriving any day now but its just a cheap device that will trigger an alarm if even 1 drop of water is present. If you search ebay or whatever for "water leak alarm" or similar you will see them. I'll let you know what I think when it arrives.

Nutes:
Maxigro and Maxibloom, ec 1.1 to 1.2, ph 5.9 or so. It's about 6.2ph by the time I refill.
PythOff at 0.25ml/litre
Silica at label dosage
DripClean at a little over 0.1ml/litre

 

[lusidghost]

Medic, I have read reports that they can work sometimes but Billy summed it up well. Just get Tropfs in my opinion. And set them up 2 weeks in advance. You will come back to huge thriving plants. That will be a lot of reservoir size so make sure it won't be a disaster if you get a runaway. I have a few of the XL carrots I plan to trial in veg at some point but I don't have high expectations. I just suck at watering my plants on time so hopefully they will keep things ticking over and reduce watering frequency.

Well it's been just over 2 weeks I think since I inserted my carrots. Verdict: frikkin incredible. No runaways, no nothing. The effort of growing (it's so hard lol) has gone from a 100 to maybe 25 or so.

Since my last post, I noticed a serious problem forming and signs of nutrient deficiency even though they were being fed well. Then a branch just wilted and died out of nowhere. Also had this problem last run but thankfully I didn't lose a critical amount. This time though, it started immediately entering flower so I researched it more. Verdict: Pythium or something close to it.

So I ordered up a jumbo bottle of PythOff (apparently just chloramine) and now I have a dead res! It's awesome. Seeing a huge improvement after a few days on chloromine. They're drinking twice as much which is a great sign to see. I should be free of slime issues in the res too. Haven't cleaned my res once yet, just topoffs, even before the chloramine. It's crystal clear.

So a big thank you to all the growers who've shared info. I'm nearly finished the icmag thread too lol.

Just a heads up for fellow newbies, do NOT waste your money on the dial protectors. They're so hard to get off that I pulled a firmly lodged carrot out.

Also, I got this tip from the ic thread, have one arriving any day now but its just a cheap device that will trigger an alarm if even 1 drop of water is present. If you search ebay or whatever for "water leak alarm" or similar you will see them. I'll let you know what I think when it arrives.

Nutes:
Maxigro and Maxibloom, ec 1.1 to 1.2, ph 5.9 or so. It's about 6.2ph by the time I refill.
PythOff at 0.25ml/litre
Silica at label dosage
DripClean at a little over 0.1ml/litre

Yeah those protectors suck. I wish the dials clicked instead of freely twisting, because it is easy to nudge them out of wack. I'd rather take my chances than deal with the protector things though.

 

[TrichDaddy]

Day 13 flower. Front left is the worst pyth affected.

 

[TrichDaddy]

Yeah those protectors suck. I wish the dials clicked instead of freely twisting, because it is easy to nudge them out of wack. I'd rather take my chances than deal with the protector things though.

Straight up! Yeah clicks would be awesome.

Edit: added some early root porn. This is literally a plant with root rot!

Also, forgot to mention, I've added no aeration or stirring to the res since day 1. The only time I've noticed an air bubble in the line was at initial set up. No runaways as already noted. Air is the devil. I do give the res a daily stir with a ladle though, probably not necessary.

 

[LeastExpectedGrower]

Currently away for a 10 day stretch of vacation… the Blumats are have been in place for a few months now. I haven’t had any need for a bio-clear agent, but do find that any crystallization or sediment issues were fixed with Drip Clean. Once my little bottle is gone, I’ll buy some PeKAcid and make my own. The biggest hurdle for me is getting the right strength and makeup of nutrients for a system that’s not drain to waste and is 100% full time feed.

 

[lusidghost]

The biggest hurdle for me is getting the right strength and makeup of nutrients for a system that’s not drain to waste and is 100% full time feed.

That was my problem. I couldn't seem to give them a light enough feed. I ran them for two cycles and both times the plants got cooked pretty good. I couldn't afford to have another crappy harvest, so I abandoned the blumats for a different system.

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

i quit using my blumats. the lines kept getting plugged up with snot. i added enough pool shock to my res to make me fear for my plants safety, and it still bred in my reservoir, plugging up the lines to the carrots. the res was in a dark corner, in a black tote, with a lid on it. i drained and cleaned it twice a month, no idea why i was getting so much shit growing in the lines, but almost every day i would have to blow at least one line clear of it, when the carrot would quit dripping

 

[Jjgrow420]

I find .8-1.0ec . Saturday very low EC or just water untill runoff

 

[Jjgrow420]

i quit using my blumats. the lines kept getting plugged up with snot. i added enough pool shock to my res to make me fear for my plants safety, and it still bred in my reservoir, plugging up the lines to the carrots. the res was in a dark corner, in a black tote, with a lid on it. i drained and cleaned it twice a month, no idea why i was getting so much shit growing in the lines, but almost every day i would have to blow at least one line clear of it, when the carrot would quit dripping

Some nutes just don't work well in them. I find most powder nutes I used are fine. Maxi, floraflex... There's some things you can't run through them especially if it's not a clear liquid with no bits in it. Even certain brands of.calmag bunged me up and had to switch to gh

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

Some nutes just don't work well in them. I find most powder nutes I used are fine. Maxi, floraflex... There's some things you can't run through them especially if it's not a clear liquid with no bits in it. Even certain brands of.calmag bunged me up and had to switch to gh

i use jack's 3-2-1, and added any extras manually to the pots, not into the res, all it ever had in it was the jack's solution and pool shock

 

[lusidghost]

i use jack's 3-2-1, and added any extras manually to the pots, not into the res, all it ever had in it was the jack's solution and pool shock

Weird. I didn't have that problem with Jack's, but I did when I added silicone and humic acid powders.

 

[LeastExpectedGrower]

Maxibloom, epsom, Ca/Mg, now a little liquid Koolbloom and drip clean. I’ve been draining and cleaning the reservoir weekly.

Right now I’m at 600ppm/1.2EC, but I’ve been having trouble this round with some deficiencies, so I haven’t dropped further down. I also am running Durban Poison and it’s my first try at something closer to full Sativa so that’s also an adjustment for me in feeding.

 

[higher self]

Just started using my Blumats few weeks ago. Im running Megacrop 2 part at around 300ppm-500ppm & plants are doing great with one or two finicky plants. I run a 5 gal res & usually top it off with plain water every other refill. I'm going to switch to drippers on a timer for my flower room & use blumats for veg. Like the Blumats but too pricy for me to want to expand my system using them.

 

[TCH]

All you folks using blumats, I have a question. I picked up the starter system that xtsho recommended early in the thread. I'm going to be putting some rooted clones that are in rapid rooter plugs in coco coir in little 5" square planters. They are about 1/2 gallon. Has anybody run the system in that small of planters?

 

[Jjgrow420]

All you folks using blumats, I have a question. I picked up the starter system that xtsho recommended early in the thread. I'm going to be putting some rooted clones that are in rapid rooter plugs in coco coir in little 5" square planters. They are about 1/2 gallon. Has anybody run the system in that small of planters?

Not that small no but I don't see a prob with it as long as you have room in there
Ive ran them in as little as .8gal pots and it worked fine. They're a little bit finicky, and can leave you with a headache trying to tune them proper. Ive since switched to a full on irrigation system with pumps/timers. Much easier. I keep the blumats for living soil grows and outdoor plants receiving plain water. Less chance of clogs etc

 

[TCH]

Not that small no but I don't see a prob with it as long as you have room in there

The goal is to get them set up, running, and dialed in before I go out of town on the 14th. That way my son just has to keep an eye on them. If I need to put them in bigger planters when I get back, that won't be a problem.

 

[RadioWaves]

i quit using my blumats. the lines kept getting plugged up with snot. i added enough pool shock to my res to make me fear for my plants safety, and it still bred in my reservoir, plugging up the lines to the carrots. the res was in a dark corner, in a black tote, with a lid on it. i drained and cleaned it twice a month, no idea why i was getting so much shit growing in the lines, but almost every day i would have to blow at least one line clear of it, when the carrot would quit dripping

I stopped using blumats for the raised bed also.
Installed an 2.9 gallon olla a few months back, so far so good.

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

The goal is to get them set up, running, and dialed in before I go out of town on the 14th. That way my son just has to keep an eye on them. If I need to put them in bigger planters when I get back, that won't be a problem.

you just have to watch them for a day or so when you first start using them, it's easy to flood a plant till you get used to setting them up. the learning curve isn't that steep, there's one knob to turn on each one.

 

[LeastExpectedGrower]

I don't see why smaller planters would be a problem for the system. In fact, it may be easier than having 5g pots and maybe two carrots that are cramped and overlap.

When I first set mine up, I had two 5g bags then a whole pile of other plants in .75g pots and those did more than just fine...they took over my tent.