I just ordered some from Planet Earth Hydroponics, $39.95 for the 100' roll and $5 for shipping. I ordered it Sunday evening, was notified by UPS that it had shipped by 11:30 on Monday.
Blumat auto watering
- Thread starter sunnydog
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- blumat drippers irrigation watering
I just ordered some from Planet Earth Hydroponics, $39.95 for the 100' roll and $5 for shipping. I ordered it Sunday evening, was notified by UPS that it had shipped by 11:30 on Monday.
BorkBorkBork
Member
Here's a tip that may be useful to others.
My setup is a loop design, single outlet from my res (10 gal sterilite tub) that tee's off creating a loop, drain with on/off at the end.
I struggled with air in the feed tube, as well as "gunk" in my plain water res/feed line. The tank would start clear, but after a refill or two, I would start getting air in the line, and when I would drain it, this "gunk" would come out, and is most likely what was causing the air in the lines.
After my last run I sterilized the rez AGAIN, but I decided to go ahead and line the outside of the tank with reflectix. The difference is night and day.
I'm past the halfway point in this run, and so far, NO air in the lines, and NO gunk.
I don't know if it's the light (was not in direct light by any means) or the temperature, but it was a good decision to insulate the res, that's for sure.
My setup is a loop design, single outlet from my res (10 gal sterilite tub) that tee's off creating a loop, drain with on/off at the end.
I struggled with air in the feed tube, as well as "gunk" in my plain water res/feed line. The tank would start clear, but after a refill or two, I would start getting air in the line, and when I would drain it, this "gunk" would come out, and is most likely what was causing the air in the lines.
After my last run I sterilized the rez AGAIN, but I decided to go ahead and line the outside of the tank with reflectix. The difference is night and day.
I'm past the halfway point in this run, and so far, NO air in the lines, and NO gunk.
I don't know if it's the light (was not in direct light by any means) or the temperature, but it was a good decision to insulate the res, that's for sure.
frikn squirrel
Member
I've decided to take the plunge and there's one thing I can't figure out:
Does anybody have problems keeping their ph stable?
I have been mixing up a gallon of water to an acceptable ph and monitoring the drift. My ph out the tap is about 8.5... 175ppm. I adjust it to 6 and within 3 days it is back up to 8.5!
I've never used a reservoir before, but it seems to me that this drift would cause all kinds of headaches unless the reservoir was completely drained and refilled every day or two max.
Is there something I'm missing? The ph down I'm using is citric acid.
Does anybody have problems keeping their ph stable?
I have been mixing up a gallon of water to an acceptable ph and monitoring the drift. My ph out the tap is about 8.5... 175ppm. I adjust it to 6 and within 3 days it is back up to 8.5!
I've never used a reservoir before, but it seems to me that this drift would cause all kinds of headaches unless the reservoir was completely drained and refilled every day or two max.
Is there something I'm missing? The ph down I'm using is citric acid.
When I was still trying to adjust my pH, I ran out of the pH Down that I was using and tried lemon juice. I wound up with exactly what you are experiencing. Since then, I have stopped trying to diddle the inbound water and add dolomitic lime to my soil, occasionally checking the runoff to make sure that I am in the correct range.
*edit* I don't know if the addition of the lime would be enough of an adjustment for you - my inbound pH is around 7.3. Hopefully somebody with a higher pH water will chime in.
*edit* I don't know if the addition of the lime would be enough of an adjustment for you - my inbound pH is around 7.3. Hopefully somebody with a higher pH water will chime in.
frikn squirrel
Member
Thanks for the response Rives. I've tried mixing up a killer organic soil before and had great results quality wise, but yield wise not so great. When I used the same soil mixture with ph adjusted water my yields were significantly better.
I don't really want to get into the debate of organics and PH, all I know that in my personal experiences, with my high ph water, my plants have done better when water was ph adjusted, regardless of the grow method.
I've been eyeing GH Lucas formula for this run because it's simplicity attracts me, can anybody who is using this chime in on how stable GH nutes are? I'd also love to hear other people's experiences with keeping a stable rez ph!
I don't really want to get into the debate of organics and PH, all I know that in my personal experiences, with my high ph water, my plants have done better when water was ph adjusted, regardless of the grow method.
I've been eyeing GH Lucas formula for this run because it's simplicity attracts me, can anybody who is using this chime in on how stable GH nutes are? I'd also love to hear other people's experiences with keeping a stable rez ph!
frikn squirrel
Member
My apologies if so Rrog, I was just trying to prompt some discussion. Let me link it back to blumats.
Blumats use reservoirs, which requires a stable ph to be effective. I'm just looking for people to share their experiences with maintaining consistency in their reservoir which is obviously a key component to the success of the blumats. As I have shared, I'm making the switch to Blumats, but right now when I mix up nutrient solutions I can't get them to stay in the range they need to be for more than 2 days. It seems to me that this would cause some huge problems when using blumats and coco, as coco has a specific ph range for it to function effectively. I'm looking for suggestions from the community on ways to avoid ph drift.
Are most people using RO water (which I assume provides one more control?) or are they just letting their rez dry up completely and refilling it every day or two to make sure the ph is where they need to be? Do you guys even worry about the profile of your nute solution after you dump it into the rez?
Or is this an uncommon problem?
Blumats use reservoirs, which requires a stable ph to be effective. I'm just looking for people to share their experiences with maintaining consistency in their reservoir which is obviously a key component to the success of the blumats. As I have shared, I'm making the switch to Blumats, but right now when I mix up nutrient solutions I can't get them to stay in the range they need to be for more than 2 days. It seems to me that this would cause some huge problems when using blumats and coco, as coco has a specific ph range for it to function effectively. I'm looking for suggestions from the community on ways to avoid ph drift.
Are most people using RO water (which I assume provides one more control?) or are they just letting their rez dry up completely and refilling it every day or two to make sure the ph is where they need to be? Do you guys even worry about the profile of your nute solution after you dump it into the rez?
Or is this an uncommon problem?
If that's the case then it would seem a lime application would make pH balancing the water to 6 a waste of time. Regardless if you are running water with a pH of 6 or 8, you'll still get a soil around 7.
I have heard many times before that the soil, the lime and microbes all take the pH where it wants to be regardless of the pH of the water.
I have heard many times before that the soil, the lime and microbes all take the pH where it wants to be regardless of the pH of the water.
I had always believed this to be the case, that is why I suggested it to FS in the above post. However, I got curious and just tested it. Perhaps it works differently when it is mixed into soil, but I just took a glass of tap water (pH of 7.1) and added a pinch of Espoma lime that I had ground up. The pH jumped up to 9.4!
Does anyone know if this works differently when mixed in soil? I thought that it was supposed to "buffer" things, bringing it either up or down as needed to find neutral.
For me, getting the pH adjusted automatically is critical to using the blumats - my reservoir automatically refills, and since I am frequently gone for up to 10 days at a time, the system has to work with straight tap water.
About pH'ing water with Blumats, with or without Organics? Yes absolutely! Everytime we water our plants they are getting small amounts of Ca, and Mg carbonates which are essentially liquid lime. Over time these will build up to levels to cause media pH to drift upwards if you haven't been neutralizing the alkalinity along the way.
As for D. Lime. I get better results when I dont add additional. I periodically have to use an Urea based fertilizer to reduce media pH and thats even with me pH'ing my Res down to 5.8-6.0. D. Lime can be overdone in your media, and using it without pH'ing your water is asking for trouble. Generally though, it'll settle into a pH range of high 6's, to low 7's, but can increase over time to 8 if over-limed. And for a soil-less media, the equilbrium range is too high, and I think people should be using less of it to begin with.
As for D. Lime. I get better results when I dont add additional. I periodically have to use an Urea based fertilizer to reduce media pH and thats even with me pH'ing my Res down to 5.8-6.0. D. Lime can be overdone in your media, and using it without pH'ing your water is asking for trouble. Generally though, it'll settle into a pH range of high 6's, to low 7's, but can increase over time to 8 if over-limed. And for a soil-less media, the equilbrium range is too high, and I think people should be using less of it to begin with.
wisco61
Member
Before a bunch of people go out and buy pH up and down....... most people who do organics do NOT pH their water. Yes some do, as evidenced here, but it is by no means universal or accepted as fact.
Regardless, this isn't the place to debate it, the organic soil forum is over that-a-way.
Regardless, this isn't the place to debate it, the organic soil forum is over that-a-way.
Dave, very interesting. How are you measuring the media pH? Just curious, as I'd like to look at mine.
I had understood from a particularly epic thread here on ICMag that trying to adjust organic soil (with full microbic complement) was futile. The author was trying to move media pH to around 6 and could not get much away from 7. I believe he attributed some of this to the micro-herd. This would be consistent with your observing a settling in around 7.
Anyway, off-topic. I'll do as Wisco suggests and ask in the Org Soil forum.
I had understood from a particularly epic thread here on ICMag that trying to adjust organic soil (with full microbic complement) was futile. The author was trying to move media pH to around 6 and could not get much away from 7. I believe he attributed some of this to the micro-herd. This would be consistent with your observing a settling in around 7.
Anyway, off-topic. I'll do as Wisco suggests and ask in the Org Soil forum.
I disagree to some extent. It obviously doesn't impact just the organic people, and it has been shown repeatedly that the blumats function best with no additives in the water. Seems a bit like having a car forum that doesn't discuss engines.
I measure pH in two ways. I either use a lysimeter to suction soil solution directly from the rootball and test it that way, or I use the NCSU Pour-Thru Method. Pour-Thru is probably how most people test pH via run-off, but inaccurate results can be obtained if not done correctly. Pots should be saturated, allowed to drain an hour, then pour enough distilled water over the top to force out 50ml of leachate. Test that, and thats the NCSU method.
I dont know how much of an effect microbial herd has on media pH, but in my experience organic media tend to have higher pH. What methods did this person use to lower his pH? If all he did was pH down his water, that wont lower an already existing pH, but it will help reduce or prevent pH from increasing depending on how much alkalinity is neutralized. If you pH down your water to 4.5 all alkalinity is neutralized, and your water source wont affect pH anymore. And its safe to water plants with water this acidic in case any one is wondering.
Anyone wanting to up their knowledge about media, pH, etc, etc, I suggest this. Its a great read and worth the money.
S
Señor Chang
pliable silicone feed-line
pliable silicone feed-line
I'm a Blumat user and have been for almost a year.
I am in need of more of the 8mm feed-line and was thinking of an alternative.
I am already hip to the Kent Systems modifications but was thinking of going in another direction.
I have seen air-line for aquarium pumps with soft silicone tubing.
Would it be feasible to source a similar item but with an inside diameter that would accommodate the T's and such that come with the blumat?
I would think some pliable silicone tubing with maybe a 6mm or 7mm inside diameter would do the trick.
Has this been considered by anyone else?
The reason for me changing it up is that even a slight alteration in the placement of the 8mm line seems to cause an increase or decrease of flow from the drip-line.
I'm wanting feed-line that is more cooperative with my movements inside the tent.
I'm already looking for a source and will report back on what I find, as well as my success with it.
pliable silicone feed-line
I'm a Blumat user and have been for almost a year.
I am in need of more of the 8mm feed-line and was thinking of an alternative.
I am already hip to the Kent Systems modifications but was thinking of going in another direction.
I have seen air-line for aquarium pumps with soft silicone tubing.
Would it be feasible to source a similar item but with an inside diameter that would accommodate the T's and such that come with the blumat?
I would think some pliable silicone tubing with maybe a 6mm or 7mm inside diameter would do the trick.
Has this been considered by anyone else?
The reason for me changing it up is that even a slight alteration in the placement of the 8mm line seems to cause an increase or decrease of flow from the drip-line.
I'm wanting feed-line that is more cooperative with my movements inside the tent.
I'm already looking for a source and will report back on what I find, as well as my success with it.
