Blumats defeat the purpose of hempy. If you need to automate a hempy get a AutoPot valve and diy. You could also RAISE your hempys and do a Ebb no FLO style set up where you flood only the res in the bucket but the drain is at the same height so once you flood and cut the pump off, you leave a full res.
The reason I dont think this is good is because watering from the top is ideal. Now if you were to COVER the top of the bucket with plastic, then you just have an earthbox modded out with a hempy style. Then you just water down the tube. This is easy to automate with with a float valve and a control bucket. But this leaves water in the res constantly wich could be bad.
Sorry for the rant, but bluemats are a waste if you want hempy style. But Blumats themselves are awesome from what Iread.
The reason I dont think this is good is because watering from the top is ideal. Now if you were to COVER the top of the bucket with plastic, then you just have an earthbox modded out with a hempy style. Then you just water down the tube. This is easy to automate with with a float valve and a control bucket. But this leaves water in the res constantly wich could be bad.
Sorry for the rant, but bluemats are a waste if you want hempy style. But Blumats themselves are awesome from what Iread.
Lowman
Member
Thanks...thats what I figured.
Earth boxes are a little different than Hempys because of the raised platform for the medium to rest on and a completely medium free rez. I made a couple of hempys with the earth box raised bed....and it worked fine. I just didn't see an improvement over a regular hempy with the rez full of coco.
First let me say that I don't own any Blumats YET but I definately plan on getting some in the future.
...and if you check in the K.I.S.S. thread i linked to a couple posts back you will find growers using Blumats with coco hempys.
It's true that adding Blumats goes against the spirit of hempy-style growing but the way I understand it, YOU are in control.
First, yes, they operate through gravity so you do need to elevate the res, at least above the plants being watered. ...and the way I understand thier function is that there are two seperate parts to a Blumat, the senser head and the dripper head and you get to set the dryness level the sensers need to sense before triggering the drippers AND you get to set the length of time the dripper head drips. ...so you determine WHEN the drippers drip, AND for how long.
Which is, I believe, why they do in fact work quite well with coco hempys.
Peace, SOG
What? I hope you mean Perlite.
SOG- but if you leave the valve open long enough to fill the res, then the medium would always be over saturated. I'll have to read that thread, cause I dont see how they'd work together in a way that is MORE effective than just regular hempy. You can go 4days without watering in a 5g bucket. That's pretty hands off to me.
Lowman
Member
No...I mean coco. Not amended with anything either. If your plants are thriving....the plants drink up the rez pretty quick. It's a total myth that you can't fill your Hempy from top to bottom with coco. I have run side by sides with lava in the rez and perlite in the & straight coco in the rez. Coco all the way.
I really hate cleaning crap away from the coco at harvest time to reuse the buckets.
G
Graham Purwatt
last week i was ready to cuss lowman for telling me this but i waited and this week i will back him up 100%,coco all the way.you do need well established roots before transplanting to larger buckets.i transplanted some clones from perlite solo cup hempys a week and a half ago into 2 gallon buckets with piece coir in the res and fine ground coir the rest of the way.it took them about a week to get right but they are now thriving as good as my coco hempys did with silica stone in the res. i also believe that this will space out my watering schedule by an extra day hopefully.thank you lowman
It is indeed a pain the arse. How big are your vegging plants when you put them into the hempy buckets and how often do you water?
Lowman
Member
I transplant my clones from conventional 4" pots to hempys when needed. I don't really feel it makes a big difference as to the size. I just water a little(100 - 200ml) around the base of the baby in the new Hempy every day until the roots hit the rez. When they explode...they are there.
All I can really say is Thank You
. This makes total sense too. Just water less untill they are well established... Adding another DAY inbetween watering is like finding a $5 in your pocket every morning. 
Its been about a week now & these are working better in my coco hempys than they did in my promix buckets .
I empty the catch trays every day & theres allways about a quarter inch of runoff in the tray , so i know they're set so that i get runoff . the initial set up was easier too , i just saturated the bucket let it sit for 12 hrs & put the blumats in the buckets set the drip line so that a droplet hangs & left it alone . i didn't have to readjust it at all . the promix buckets ... it seemed like i was adjusting them constantly .
so yeah i'm gonna say the blumats work great in hempys ... coco hempys anyways . chunky perilte to the runoff hole & straight canna coco to the top .
the growth i got in promix buckets was fantastic with the blumats hooked up compared to hand watering ... i can't wait to see if this happens with the coco hempys . the coco is just so much better than promix as far as a constantly wet medium goes . & as long as i keep the runoff going i should have no salt build ups .
first off,
this is my first hempy run and so far i am overstrained with growth.
well that' s more a strain issue but only to bout 60%...
already had 2 strains before and growth just exploded also with these two..
as said before, i also added an airstone to 2 of those buckets rez.. just to compare..
there is a insignificant stronger growth in the aerated buckets..
the stems are thicker and stronger aswell as hight.. but not too much..
girls are in flower since 15 days now and i reached already the capacity of my tent, never had this issue before in coco ..
hope the main strech is over but i am afraid its not..
strains are
Casey Jones
Chiesel
TrainWreck
those 5" cuttings were transplanted into hempy cups and veged for 12 days then transplanted into 3gal buckets, 100% perlit in the rez and 50/50 coco/perlite above the rez
12 days after putting RW cube in cup....
Biggest plant on the right is the CJ with airstone in the rez
the bigger one in the right corner is TW with airstone in the rez
overview
nice evening !
opi
this is my first hempy run and so far i am overstrained with growth.
well that' s more a strain issue but only to bout 60%...
already had 2 strains before and growth just exploded also with these two..
as said before, i also added an airstone to 2 of those buckets rez.. just to compare..
there is a insignificant stronger growth in the aerated buckets..
the stems are thicker and stronger aswell as hight.. but not too much..
girls are in flower since 15 days now and i reached already the capacity of my tent, never had this issue before in coco ..
hope the main strech is over but i am afraid its not..
strains are
Casey Jones
Chiesel
TrainWreck
those 5" cuttings were transplanted into hempy cups and veged for 12 days then transplanted into 3gal buckets, 100% perlit in the rez and 50/50 coco/perlite above the rez
12 days after putting RW cube in cup....
the bigger one in the right corner is TW with airstone in the rez
overview
nice evening !
opi
I'm new to hempys myself and I also have experienced growth more vigorous than i'd expected.
All I can say is that it is better to LST or supercrop than to let them grow into the light.
Peace, SOG
Lowman
Member
Coco specific is always a good choice...but non coco nutes will work just fine as well. Just make sure there is adequate calcium and mag in the formula. Gh micro and bloom at 6/9 per gallon works great.
Thanks Lowman...
I beleive I wont have problems with Cal/Mag.. my tap water is hard as a rock(.66 EC). Actually I gonna start using a Ozone Generator to bubble my water to get rid of chloramines and other contaminants.
What about some additives? Do you use any urself? I am planning to try Hygrozyme and maybe some late flower booster for a kick, lets see
Cheers
I beleive I wont have problems with Cal/Mag.. my tap water is hard as a rock(.66 EC). Actually I gonna start using a Ozone Generator to bubble my water to get rid of chloramines and other contaminants.
What about some additives? Do you use any urself? I am planning to try Hygrozyme and maybe some late flower booster for a kick, lets see
Cheers
Lowman
Member
I have cut right back on the additives lately. I just did a whole run with nothin but the base nutes and silica. Finished up really nice. The colas were not as large as they have been in the past....but I also fed at 40% strength due to my .6ec water. The total Ec at feed was 1.2. I will up the ec to about 1.7 on the next run...and see how that does. Then I will start adding additives after the ec is dialed in with my shit water.
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