Blumats. Who's using them?

lusidghost

Well-Known Member
Also saucers are a pain. I used them for years while running 20% wastewater that I would have to shop vac out by the dozens every day. I use Dutch leach trays now because of my tiny pots, but if I go back to 3 gallons I’m dragging the flood trays out of storage.
 

lusidghost

Well-Known Member
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.
I use coco and everyone tries to fear monger you into keeping it well saturated.
 

LeastExpectedGrower

Well-Known Member
Also saucers are a pain. I used them for years while running 20% wastewater that I would have to shop vac out by the dozens every day. I use Dutch leach trays now because of my tiny pots, but if I go back to 3 gallons I’m dragging the flood trays out of storage.
Ah, that's another topic. I do use saucers but I'm only running 4 plants at a time. I do take my plants out to water until they're too big to do that, then it becomes a bit of a pain. I'll move to trays eventually.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I use coco and everyone tries to fear monger you into keeping it well saturated.
Yeah I've noticed that. I think coco can be fertigated multiple ways with excellent results. Some drain to waste multiple times daily keeping the coco really wet which is basically hydro just using coco instead of hydroton or rockwool. I use it closer to a soil grow as far as moisture is concerned just keeping it consistently damp. I use a low EC feed with Blumats so I never get any of the salt buildup people say occurs without runoff.
 

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
I think I'll either make little troughs with the pond liner or just cover underneath the bottom part of the tent so if it did leak it'll be contained.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Also saucers are a pain. I used them for years while running 20% wastewater that I would have to shop vac out by the dozens every day. I use Dutch leach trays now because of my tiny pots, but if I go back to 3 gallons I’m dragging the flood trays out of storage.
That's why I went to blumats. I had to find a way to do away with the runoff and I discovered blumats. Dealing with drain to waste was not going to work for me anymore. I also didn't want to rig up some pump system where I had to figure out the timing of the watering. Those can also be problematic with some drippers and plants getting more than others, etc... Blumats were the simplest solution and did exactly what I was looking for.

I haven't ran them for a year or so but I'm firing them back up here shortly. I've been switching over to organic soil but I don't have that dialed in completely yet and I have a grow that I can't take any chances with so I'm doing a salt/coco/blumat run so I'll be flying on autopilot and won't be fiddling around.
 

Bignutes

Well-Known Member
I am considering them or a SIP system. I restoring an old VW Camper and would like to go away in it when it is finished. No major trips, just long weekends. I hand water at the moment, but once Covid has died down and we can travel properly again I would like some flexibility.

I have a spare tent with some COB lights I "experiment" in. So I am going to get a couple of Blumats to run next to a home made SIP and see which suits me best. I am leaning towards a SIP as I can build one of those for next to nothing. I have a couple of Bruce Banner #3 clones that will make excellent Guinea Pigs.

I will watch this thread with interest.
sips are great, I’ve got one plant right now that drains 15 litres over 6 days and the rest take about 8-9 days to run dry
 

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
That is just it. You had one runaway. That is too many times IMHO. I cannot afford the hassle of a flooded loft.
How big of a res you plan on using that would flood your loft..lol
I have a pond liner for just in case that can hold more water than my res just in case. I also keep my res at about half for fear of a runaway but I notice the more water I put in the more head height I have the less chance of a runaway. After realizing last grow after it overwatered a few plants over a couple weeks I kept the level higher for more elevation and didn't get another overwater for the rest of the grow.
Runaways are user error, set them up correctly watch them for the first week or so adjusting them to the right level and they should be set and forget as long as you keep your res topped up
 

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
I think I'll either make little troughs with the pond liner or just cover underneath the bottom part of the tent so if it did leak it'll be contained.
That's what I did whole floor and about 5-8 inches up the wall. Good for piece of mind.
You get the red flexline?
 

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
In terms of clogging ... I have alot of emerald harvest I got for free and I'm trying to get through it would you guys mix the additives in the res? Or just run your base in the res and hand water in anything additional eg silica, molasses/sugars. I know the additives are mainly hoopla but I just gotta get through it or its gona sit around for ever. I'm more on the GH dry maxi line now.
 

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
I was looking at 14L reservoirs, feeding a 17L pot.
I'm running 12 pots 7gal so flooding would make for a koi pond in my basement. From what I understand you can catch a runaway as long as you're paying attention for the first bit. Once dialed in it's pretty much set and forget. I'm just worried about clogging on such a low pressure system.
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
So are you guys just watching your ph in the res and adjusting it as needed?
yup, i use a 17 gallon tote i fill up to 15 gallons, usually need to add 5 gallons every other day. i mix and ph my feed in a 5 gallon bucket first, add the the res, wait an hour, then check the res and adjust as needed. usually not much adjustment needed though, it's not rdwc, so the mix doesn't get thrown off that much
 
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JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
In terms of clogging ... I have alot of emerald harvest I got for free and I'm trying to get through it would you guys mix the additives in the res? Or just run your base in the res and hand water in anything additional eg silica, molasses/sugars. I know the additives are mainly hoopla but I just gotta get through it or its gona sit around for ever. I'm more on the GH dry maxi line now.
Definitely would NOT put sugar or molasses through the lines.
I think the rule of thumb is it's ok if it dilutes in water quickly and stays mixed in
 
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