Tests: Drip vs. Handwater vs. Blumat

[Dhude]

Our current run in 3 gal handwatered pots is coming down next week. I'm going to take this chance to experiment on the next run.

The wife and I are legal, Prop215/SB420 compliant california medical patients, but it is hard to run experiments with the small numbers of plants we are allowed. Still, I think we have enough to do a valid comparison. We will run the same strain, nutes, lighting, plant spacing, and environment for all test plots. Variation will be in watering methods/frequency.


Test plot 1:
3 gal pots of coco, handwatered daily (control plot/normal method)

Test plot 2:
8" deep coco bed, auto-fed with blumat drippers

Test plot 3:
3 gal pots of coco, drip fed 3x during lights on

Test plot 4:
3 gal pots of coco, auto-fed with blumats.

What I hope to see is that the bed with blumats performs as well (or close) to the others. If it's viable without much yield tradeoff, it will greatly reduce the amount and frequency of labor required in the garden. It would be really nice if someone else took up the same experiment or something very similar at the same time for more data.

 

[Bigbillyboy05]

drip feed for the win, i got 5 on it.

SOUNDS INTERESTING, im in.

 

[Peat]

Very interesting!
Will you be running nutes thru the Blumats and drippers?

 

[*mistress*]

what is the goal of the test?

test plot 1... how much will be watered daily?

test plot 3... how much total water fed after the 3x daily?

w/ 12 plants in 3 gal containers, is there much labor to hand-watering?

also, how long will the plants be vegged for & how big when flowering initiated?

ph ranges?

enjoy your garden!

 

[Dhude]

Answering q's:

Blumats will be the tropf (dripper) style, running nutes.

TestPlot1: watered to 5-10% runoff.
TestPlot3: 3x daily to 5% runoff during lights on. No other waterings unless a need for flush shows up

All plants veg'd same amount, approx 21 days, about 24" tall.

Yes, there is alot of labor in handwatering with scrog screens or trellis in place, but the biggest issue is it needs to happen everyday (or at least every couple depending on pot size) and that doesn't let me take 3-day weekends out of town. And, I'd rather be carefully examining my plants during "garden time" instead of spending most of that time watering. Also, the 12 plant number is not the number in Sonoma Co, 100sqft canopy/30 plants each patient.

Purpose: To compare yield between the methods, and hopefully show that the blumat dripper system works on par with the others (which will allow me to put everything on blumats).

I am trying to hold as many variables as possible constant, so that the results actually have some meaning beyond random noise/variation. That's why I encourage others to do similar tests...more data provides more confidence that the variations are due to alterations of the tested variable and not statistical noise.

 

[antimatter]

the one thing I don't really like about the Blumats is you have to adjust each one individually whereas with a timer you only have to adjust the time. Blumat fittings are not universal in anyway you gotta order them.

 

[PoopyTeaBags]

im betting/hoping that the blumat wins... since i just ordered them lol....

 

[antimatter]

im betting/hoping that the blumat wins... since i just ordered them lol....

make sure you order there valves or you can downsize from 1/2" to there 8mm tubing and use 1/2" valve.

 

[*mistress*]

Answering q's:

Blumats will be the tropf (dripper) style, running nutes.

TestPlot1: watered to 5-10% runoff.
TestPlot3: 3x daily to 5% runoff during lights on. No other waterings unless a need for flush shows up

All plants veg'd same amount, approx 21 days, about 24" tall.

Yes, there is alot of labor in handwatering with scrog screens or trellis in place, but the biggest issue is it needs to happen everyday (or at least every couple depending on pot size) and that doesn't let me take 3-day weekends out of town. And, I'd rather be carefully examining my plants during "garden time" instead of spending most of that time watering. Also, the 12 plant number is not the number in Sonoma Co, 100sqft canopy/30 plants each patient.

Purpose: To compare yield between the methods, and hopefully show that the blumat dripper system works on par with the others (which will allow me to put everything on blumats).

I am trying to hold as many variables as possible constant, so that the results actually have some meaning beyond random noise/variation. That's why I encourage others to do similar tests...more data provides more confidence that the variations are due to alterations of the tested variable and not statistical noise.

actual volume of water delivered... regardless of method? 1 liter per day? 2 liters per day? 32 oz per watering?

run-off depends on media, drainage, type of container.

5-10%

of what total allowable input? size of res? water top-offs, or nute top-offs?

or is water simply poured into container because that is the routine?

what is the ph? the ec?

enjoy your garden!

 

[Wait...What?]

everyone who uses drippers should read this [in my opinion]
http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/opp2902#10

 

[Dhude]

Thanks WaitWhat, good stuff for sure. Everyone should read that document you linked.

Missy, your questions are either irrelevant to the experiment because they are held constant between groups (pH, res size, topoffs) , or unneccessary/overly complex (exact feed vols, which will change continually throughout the lifecycle of the plants, will vary with ambient climate conditions, etc) to the hypothesis I seek to test. Perhaps you can take up a similar test in your own garden, and report back with your results, although I'd prefer "real" results vs. "imaginary" ones.

 

[*mistress*]

Thanks WaitWhat, good stuff for sure. Everyone should read that document you linked.

Missy, your questions are either irrelevant to the experiment because they are held constant between groups (pH, res size, topoffs) , or unneccessary/overly complex (exact feed vols, which will change continually throughout the lifecycle of the plants, will vary with ambient climate conditions, etc) to the hypothesis I seek to test. Perhaps you can take up a similar test in your own garden, and report back with your results, although I'd prefer "real" results vs. "imaginary" ones.

dont need to experiment... already got the watering/feeding regime fully dialed...

they are very relevant, ivho... but they are your plants... so you must make that determination...

doesnt really make 'test' scientific if actual volumes of water input are not noted &/or compared...
also, how much the room dehumidifies daily will affect water intake... & thus, if the plants need to be fed next day @ same rate...

a plant in a 2 gal container will only require 12-24oz of water per day - if that. this is w/ lots of water being dehumidifed out of the room. if these variables are not calculated, 'test' is open-ended w/ no parameters...

if dont dehumidify, they may drink less...

 

[nukkumatti]

I'm will be watching man
I'm very interested bout those blumats ..thinking blumats, 20 l pots coco and vertical

 

[BevoLabs]

Quick drip system question, and didn't want to start a new thread. I just built a drip system and have used it for a week, but my plants keep getting taller.

Does the res have to be lower than the plants or am I full of crap? I built a table for the res to go under, and the plants to sit on, but I wound rather have the res outside the tent, and the plants on the ground. Can this be done?

 

[SneakySneaky]

drip feed for the win, i got 5 on it.

SOUNDS INTERESTING, im in.

Just got done doin basically the same thing, same strains same nutes, one 4x4 table was recirculating w/ drip stakes and the other was hand feed. The hand feed came out lookn a lil nicer and smoked only slightly noticibley better. The drip recirc had much much more weight. The solution? Get a cap art-dne timer and do a drip to waste, w a 1000 gph pump n 10 sites u get about 2 gallons per minute per site, so set the timer to 10 seconds 3 times a day and viola recirculating yeilds w no weekly rez changing

 

[Dhude]

Bevo, siphoning would be the potential problem, you can get anti-siphon valves. Never used them, so can't really comment beyond them being available.

 

[buddin_904]

drips!

drips will win

drippers can carefully, tediously add more solution to a pot, than you could handwatering. it naturally traps more solution inside the container than you could ever do by handwatering, given you have a well dialed dripper timer. this is the conclusion ive come to using drippers. and the growth rates are always faster and always consistient. i believe the faster growth rates attributed to, a high pressure inside the container, which easily assimlates nutrients into membrane, limiting the use of energy required to obtain energy. anyone with me on this?

 

[BevoLabs]

Bevo, siphoning would be the potential problem, you can get anti-siphon valves. Never used them, so can't really comment beyond them being available.

The system I am using is based off this:
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=126680

Basic subpump in a res, pumping through a loop of 3/8inch tubing, with 1/4" lines and drippers coming off.

Basically, with this system, could I have the plants and the bottom of the res on the ground?

Sorry for hi-jacking, just didn't want to create a BS thread and get 3 replies. Thanks for the help!

 

[Duckmang]

I'm with you B 904. I switched from hand watering to drippers on a timer. Me and the plants agree that is much better. Instead of mixing and hand watering every day I set up the reservoir and it is now good for about two weeks. The solution stays more constant and human error is pretty much a thing of the past as I've automated the whole process aside from mixing the ~ 70 gal. reservoir.

 

[krushonkush]

HANDWATER for the win! Get in there man. Rub them ladies the right way.
Its the way of the pimp hand not the pimp pump!! hahaha