Blumats or Autopots ???
- Thread starter cyat
- Start date
My boyfriend bought the Blumats, used them for a short time, then set another grower up with them. He has a very high opinion of them....his name is PoopyTeaBags if you want to ask him in detail. That's all I could offer
I use Blumats, and am very happy with them, only been using them for a few weeks so far but have had no issues, I imagine that the more soluble nutes could run through them with no problems. If the nutes settle out of solution than I am not sure how well it would work. Although you could possibly have some sort of mixing system in your res. I use them for water and them top feed with my bloom nutes. Just my 2 cents. Never used autopots.
I use the ones shown here : http://www.planetearthhydro.com/products/Tropf-Blumat-Self%2dWatering-System.html
I use very small pots for them, a little over 4 inch square, just doing the micro thing right now. I have found from reading the blumat thread that setting the dripper hose shorter then recomended has worked for me. Many will say that the blumats wont function in these small of containers but they are for me. Will see how well they do in 5 or 6 more weeks when my first full run is done. As far as I am concerned though they are a lifesaver. I often have a wierd schedule adn do not get to my plants as much as I should, these things have saved me from worrying now.
I use very small pots for them, a little over 4 inch square, just doing the micro thing right now. I have found from reading the blumat thread that setting the dripper hose shorter then recomended has worked for me. Many will say that the blumats wont function in these small of containers but they are for me. Will see how well they do in 5 or 6 more weeks when my first full run is done. As far as I am concerned though they are a lifesaver. I often have a wierd schedule adn do not get to my plants as much as I should, these things have saved me from worrying now.
Nice, thanks Miss B!
ask him to add his 2 cents if you can
He'll be in here later, Cyat...he's watching a movie. I can maybe lure him into the office with a bowl, lol
CecilGreenLeaf
Member
I have a friend that has tried both of these systems with coco. And right now the autopots are doing much better then the blumats did. Im not sure where his problem was coming from, but the blumats would flood his tent once or twice a week.
There's a third choice and its cheap n easy, top feed drip. I had the blumats at the counter ready to buy but I thought I'd save some money, time and buy a $15 digital timer and reuse the pump I already had.
I originally had two emitters per plant and then I made a ring around each plant from 3/16 ID tubing and put small slits that would face down every 2 inches. You'll need to make something to hold them, which can be a 2-3 inch long piece of wire/hanger with a loop at one end to go around the drip tube and just stick the other end into soil/coco. These rings are connected to a T that goes to the 1/2 supply tubing. You can also put a control valve after the pump in line with the 1/2 supply to slow the flow. This takes a couple hours to build but is pretty inexpensive and allows complete control. I have mine pumping from a 55 gal res in the adjacent room. Fill it once a week and just check to make sure all are dripping.
Equipment Needed:
$15 digital timer
200-600 gph pump.
1/2 black tubing
3/16 ID tubing
drip emitters, if not making the ring
Reservoir
I used to run 1.6 EC DTW with lots of runoff but lately have cut back to 1.2 EC and no runoff. Every couple weeks I will flush with pH'd water and 1/2 tsp/gal cal mag since in coco. I do this from the res and just let the water drip until res is near empty.
I originally had two emitters per plant and then I made a ring around each plant from 3/16 ID tubing and put small slits that would face down every 2 inches. You'll need to make something to hold them, which can be a 2-3 inch long piece of wire/hanger with a loop at one end to go around the drip tube and just stick the other end into soil/coco. These rings are connected to a T that goes to the 1/2 supply tubing. You can also put a control valve after the pump in line with the 1/2 supply to slow the flow. This takes a couple hours to build but is pretty inexpensive and allows complete control. I have mine pumping from a 55 gal res in the adjacent room. Fill it once a week and just check to make sure all are dripping.
Equipment Needed:
$15 digital timer
200-600 gph pump.
1/2 black tubing
3/16 ID tubing
drip emitters, if not making the ring
Reservoir
I used to run 1.6 EC DTW with lots of runoff but lately have cut back to 1.2 EC and no runoff. Every couple weeks I will flush with pH'd water and 1/2 tsp/gal cal mag since in coco. I do this from the res and just let the water drip until res is near empty.
