4K No Trays - Blumats in Coco (LUI, LEMG, BBxLAV)

[Cheeb]

click here for this thread's gallery


Hey all

Decided to ditch the trays/reservoirs and keep things as close to barebone as possible this round.

Nothing really to say - its just coco pots on bare basement floor with 4K over them. Currently handwatered with Hesi TNT @ 20mL per Gal. This shit rocks in terms of a super simple veg formula thats clean and effective - just wish it was more concentrated as I feel like I go through it.

Will be put on blumats here shortly once they get planted in their final container.

Legends Ultimate Indica -

Lemon G (Reeferman's Love Potion)-

some other shots


- also got some more lemon g and blueberry x lavender to throw under the other 2K




Snagged up another 1K so I can bump this room to 5000w come colder weather. Going to run it bare bulb vertical when temps allow.

..Phantom Ballast 1K Dimmable - I'm liking it A LOT!
..Blumats - the only reason I'm still playing in pots w/ medium vs. straight up hydro

Questions / Comments welcome.




​

 

[dramamine]

Looks good, man... I hear good things about that Love Potion. Can't wait to see!

 

[DevilWeed]

Hey Cheeb, looking great! I spent a good part of my night looking through your other threads. Nice work all around man!

A question if I may...where do you get your Blumats? I don't mind ordering from oversees, but it would be really nice if more stores started carrying them in the states.

 

[Work2much]

It'll be nice to see you document using Blumats, I'm almost ready to take the plunge. Top drip with rings or pressurized drippers is soo easy though so its tough to change my ideal coco feed choice.

 

[joe fresh]

lookin good cheeb, ill be watching, been interested in the blumats and how to feed with them(ppm), been really looking hard but im not sure....maybe next setup....

 

[Cheeb]

setting up blumats

setting up blumats

Devil, I got deck and patio kits from both sustainable village and homeharvest (not discreet billing). I got the extra 3mm stuff from greenacres hydroponics (not discreet billing).

--

Did a bit of work and transplanted the 8 (LEMG) and the 8 (LUI) into 2 gallon nursery pots. The small 5.5 KORDs they were in previously were drying up faster then I could handwater them. A few late nights resulted in them getting a tad too dry to the point of slight limpness - never good in coco.

Got the blumats soaking and need to build a stand for the 55 gal reservoirs that'll feed the blumats. Should be fully on blumats tomorrow night. - hate handwatering.

I originally intended to use 1/2" or 3/4" "trunk" from the barrel and set it up like Lazyman, but decided to just set it up using whatever I had included in the patio kits. I DID buy a lot of extra tiny dripper hose. While its not totally necessary if you zip tie the larger tubing to the rim of your pot..having the extra tiny tubing allows you to pin the larger tubing to the floor and still have the ability to move your plants around a bit.

You dont want any tug on the tiny surgical tubing or it can kink and dry up your blumat.

..something like this.

I think in the instructions it calls for the pressure reducer when installing on a fresh water spigot or rain barrel. ??

Is it necessary with a 55 gallon drum 2 feet or so above the top of the pots?
Is 55 gallons above the blumats to much pressure alone?

Using this included tubing how high off the ground does the 55 gal barrel need to be and what are my limitations on how far from these plants it can be? I'm wanting to run 2 of these 8 blumat rings off of 1 55 gal res...each ring will come from the reservoir independently.

My other blumat experience was just a 27 gallon strong box on some sawhorses feeding 21 blumats down below and it worked great. I used nothing but the tubing included with the deck kit.

Any insight?
I guess I'm asking if its necessary to go with a pressure reducer, larger trunk off of 55 gallon barrel using kentsystems barbs for 3mm to blumats. Whats wrong with just using the 8mm off of the 55 gallon barrel. A couple of independent 8mm lines isolated per light. ??

 

[dgr]

Cheeb,
the volume of your tank has no bearing on the pressure. You'll get just under 1/2 PSI per foot about the outlet (the height of the bluemat from the floor). If the top of your barrel is 6 feet off the floor and your bluemat is one foot off the floor, you'll have 5 feet of drop or about 2 1/2 PSI -- when the barrel is full. When it's almost empty, you'll get 1/2 PSI. Your hose spigot is probably about 45 PSI.

 

[dgr]

Cheeb,
You might want to check out Lazyman's grow. He's running big with blumats. Will probably find your answers about the blumats in there.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=168101

 

[Cheeb]

thanks dgr,

Got some more pics. Blumats are in half the garden (bigger girls) - others will go into 2gal/blumats over the next couple of days.

Larger ladies (LEMG & LUI) under the far right 2K have exploded. Others 2 two lights (BBxLAV & more LEMG) are not as big but plant numbers are 13 per light vs. 8. I also have single bubba kush in between the lights.

Pics kinda suck but here they are.

res feeding blumats (left) - Lemon G (center) - BBxLAV (right)

LUI (left) - LUI (center) - Lemon G (right)

smaller lemon g (left) - single bubba kush (right)



Tomorrow will be their 1st day of darkness - flipping to 12/12.
Will also be pruning and thinning the larger bushes for better light penetration and airflow.

EDIT to self - Didn't flip till 13th.

 

[dramamine]

Man, I'm totally interested to see how the blumats do for you. They really seem like a great thing, as long as they work the way they should. People that use them seem to become big believers.... Best luck on the grow. Can't wait to see!

 

[joe fresh]

since the blumats are like a clf system(continuous liquid feed), how high/low is your ppm/EC?

 

[Cheeb]

since the blumats are like a clf system(continuous liquid feed), how high/low is your ppm/EC?

I dont have my truncheon at any blumat location at the moment so I cant say exactly, but its whatever Maxibloom @ 7grams per gallon amounts to.

I'm pretty sure it runs around 1.6-1.8 EC, but I've held steady at 2.0 EC with a bit of bloombastic added without any burn.

If I ever find myself mixed above 2.0 EC (1400 ppm)(in coco or hydro) I immediately dilute it down to 1.6- 2.0 EC. Its definitely easier in hydro because you can watch which direction the the EC and pH moves to tell me how the plants are feeding. Coco i've just stuck with what's above and ready to drench them in straight RO should I ever see something not right.

 

[Cheeb]

9 days later

9 days later

Pic Attack for those interested in the progress.

9 days later from previous pics
week 1 flower

Smaller plants going on blumats today (been busy)

Need to start stripping down and defoliation over the next week.

LEMG

LUI - blumats make em perky!

LEMG - smaller ladies - liking the structure of this variety.

BBxLAV

Lone BubbaKush - for the dome

and I present to you...

Most useful tool in my garden.

 

[mdk ktm]

I like the way you set up grows. A sweet hydro set-up, and the no maintenance coco set-up, which is also pretty damn cool. The plants look great by the way!

Just one question, do you know the complete cost for the blumats? With the extra line, reservoir, and other stuff.. I want to convert a spot to blumats and coco, so i dont have to visit everyday.. Then i can spend a little more time with my hydro bitches.

cant wait to see them flower out!

 

[down2grow]

I dont have my truncheon at any blumat location at the moment so I cant say exactly, but its whatever Maxibloom @ 7grams per gallon amounts to.

I'm pretty sure it runs around 1.6-1.8 EC, but I've held steady at 2.0 EC with a bit of bloombastic added without any burn.

If I ever find myself mixed above 2.0 EC (1400 ppm)(in coco or hydro) I immediately dilute it down to 1.6- 2.0 EC. Its definitely easier in hydro because you can watch which direction the the EC and pH moves to tell me how the plants are feeding. Coco i've just stuck with what's above and ready to drench them in straight RO should I ever see something not right.

Cheeb,

So are you running Maxibloom in bloom only? I just picked that up and bloombastic & smart pots the other day. Just gotta get my blumats now. I'll be watching! Oh and thanks for getting back to me about your reservoir on the blumat thread!

D2G

 

[Cheeb]

mdk ktm, Thanks!

I've got 43 plants in this room right now. I plan to run only 36 once I get uniform and perpetual. I tried to buy 50 blumats for $200 with no stock, so settled on the deck and patio kits. 3 12pk Kits @ 75/ea = $225. $55 for 100ft of 3mm tubing. Got the barrels long ago on craigslist for $15/ea = $30

so.. I'd say around $310 for blumat related stuff. + whatever shipping I spent to get it here. Great money spent.

down2grow,

Yes - this entire show is on Maxibloom only at 7 grams per gallon. I'll most likely toss at least on barrels worth of bloombastic in around week 5 or so and let them drink on that for a week. I'll have to see what I have left of the small 325mL bottle.

 

[raphenilweed]

I was reading up on these Blumat things, sounds pretty cool! It would be great to see these in action but maybe you can help me visualize a bit better.
So are the blumats like an automatic sprinkler solenoid valve in the way its valve stops the flow? I drew a picture to help me understand better.
Do you use Drip emitters at the end?
Is your gravity fed system working out?
Do you hand fill your res or have an automatic float setup?

 

[gaiusmarius]

ah man, sweet set up!

i'm liking those blumat watering rigs more every time i see them. i bet you'll be fine with no pressure reduction. if not just saw off a bit off the legs of the tank stand.

your plants are looking very happy. you can see them racing to suck up those 4k

one thing i notice is the scrubber placed on concrete bricks, you will notice a great improvement in efficiency by hanging it horizontally as high up as possible. less power used to get enough exhaust to keep things cool.

great thread, can't wait to see them budding...

 

[mdk ktm]

mdk ktm, Thanks!

I've got 43 plants in this room right now. I plan to run only 36 once I get uniform and perpetual. I tried to buy 50 blumats for $200 with no stock, so settled on the deck and patio kits. 3 12pk Kits @ 75/ea = $225. $55 for 100ft of 3mm tubing. Got the barrels long ago on craigslist for $15/ea = $30

so.. I'd say around $310 for blumat related stuff. + whatever shipping I spent to get it here. Great money spent.





Thanks man, thats most likely what i will do at the next spot. Are the growth rates anywhere near your pvc stadium?

 

[Cheeb]

raphenilweed,

sounds like you've got it. Blumat is just a ceramic cone that allows a pinch valve to open above when the pot starts to get dry. That picture is down right awesome by the way. Nice work.

gaiusmarius,

thanks! Glad you like it. I'd definitely rather have it hung horizontally, but passed on it here. The ceiling in this spot is really thick plaster and lathe. I had a hell of a time finding studs (with really long ass screw) to hang the lights and just didnt want to go there with this big ass filter. House is a rental and I've already took a nice few pancake size chunks off while missing studs, ect.

mdk ktm,

Not sure about the growth rates - I think they may be similar. The coco can hang pretty good, but I havn't really been around enough to really dial the stadium. Once I get a few of the stadium grows under the belt I'm sure It'll surpass my coco runs.