Thoughts on a new room design, input pls.

[FlowerFarmer]

Sucks to hear you're still have trouble with blumats.

Might be your environmental issues throwing them off. If you say its getting really hot in there its possible that the pot dries too quickly for the blumat to accommodate. Ends up opening up full stream and not shutting down once the pot is saturated? Media not wicking fast enough to keep up with you're high heat/low RH maybe.

You are not extending the 3mm line much past the 8cm recommended are you?


I had a few run-aways myself this last reload. Typically blumats work flawless for me with no run-aways or dry-ups, but after doing my normal ritual (drench, dial to cling + 1.5 arrow or so) I returned to the room the next day with water on the ground. I'm blaming this on setting blumats up in fresh coco/fresh transplant.

Normally I've handwatered for a bit before going automated so I usually am shoving the carrot into well rooted coco as opposed to fresh out of the bag transplants. That is my only thought as I havnt changed the way I do things.


Despite my success with blumats I crave recirculation as well. I'm not even sure PPK is my answer after reading about painstakingly screening/washing turface and tinkering around with pulse saturation times. I'm sure its no sweat really, but I'm still lured back to fast flow SWC/NFT or similar. Ebb&flow is also pretty effortless.

I'm sick of transplanting..sick of media.. and would like to get back to popping a clone in a plant site and letting water culture do its thing. What I give them is what they get.. none of this noise about cation exchange, accumulated nutrient, etc.

I'd hate to get back into a (roots submerged) water culture system and then deal with root rot pythium, but interested in trying this EWC tea route as opposed to running a sterile system. Flood and drain is really where its at, but lots of stone if running buckets..and increased plant numbers if not.

decisions..decisions.. Going go PPK in my tree room. Will likely rig up a flood and drain table (no media, just clones supported by cups/neoprenes) for remote horizontal spots.


Ultimately something like Heaths orange fast flow SWC setup is where its at, but I'm not doing the plant numbers thing. Wonder if I can rig up an Ebb bucket setup to operate mediumless...or at least with minimal media such as using a net bucket lid with very frequent floods (say 30min flood ever 90 minutes).. roots just suspended in air. Might not be as redudant as PPK, but with good pumps and a UPC for the pump they can operate pretty smoothly.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

im measuring the 8cm line correctly, im getting overly OCD about these bastards after all the issues ive had. My 2 big plants have one looking perfect and one with yellow leaves on the bottom 4.5 weeks in. I can tell the difference just looking at them. But there is no room to get in there and fuck about with the blumats because its so cramped. And because ive got 2 blumats in 1 pot how to I know which one is the problem blumat? Its just frustrating. And I know that a coco pot sitting in a pond of 3 inches of nute formula is not good.

On an aside ive always been a fan of www.kelp4less.com nutes and love the ultimate mix of organic goodies for hydro (fulvic humic ammino acids and kelp). They have now come out with complete fert dry nutes packs :

http://www.kelp4less.com/product-category/nutrient-packs/

and the early bloom pack : http://www.kelp4less.com/shop/early-bloom-pack seems to be perfect for what I need. Its NPK is 6-18-18 but it has all sorts of extra organic goodies built in like tons of cal mag fulvic humic silica amminos, myco kelp molasses and the like built in. A true 1 stop shop. Not the cheapest (especially sent to aus) but simplicity on a stick. Im going to have to try it.

EDIT : I went in crawling around on hands and knees after lights off. Waited till the lights cooled so I didn't burn my naked ass off. Sure enough one of the big plant pots was dry as fuck too. So that's 2 dry flowering pots and a flooded veg tent. And you know that adjusting the flowering blumats will lead to another flood. That's how blumats work.

EDIT : I went in after lights off and crawled around on my hands and knees. Lights were cool so I didn't burn my naked ass off. Sure enough the one big plant was dry as fuck as well, so its 2 plants with dry roots as well as a flooded veg tent. And of course adjusting the dry plant will lead to a second flood, that's how blumats work.

 

[bobblehead]

Giving up blumats was the best thing that could have ever happened to me... lol

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

Giving up blumats was the best thing that could have ever happened to me... lol

you went back to plain old DTW coco didn't you ... simple and straight forward. I think when I change it will be something recirc without coco, but DTW coco was good to me back in the old days.

 

[FlowerFarmer]

Dave, I know I might have spewed this info around before, but if its any help here is my system for setting up blumats. I'm sure you know this/are doing this, but perhaps any of it will be of help.

- I run elevated reservoirs (both 55 Gal barrels 4' off the ground and other smaller reservoirs constant pressure fed from a lower barrel).
- I use 1/2" trunk tubing with the Kent tees route...running 1 blumat per 2 gal fabric pot with the 3mm roughly at the factory 8cm recommendation.
- I drench the shit out of my Atami straight coco until run-off and then grab my blumats which have been soaking (cap off) in RO water. I fill them up (using the same water their soaking in) making sure to turn then every which way to allow bubbles to escape and then I cap under water.
- I'll then stab my blumat into each drenched pot and slip the 3mm through, but leave the knob wide open. I then run back to my res and open the valve to let the water flow.. let them spit and sputter for several minute and then dial to cling + 1.5 arrow. Although in fresh coco (not heavily filled with roots) I'm thinking I'll now go cling + 2 arrow. Maybe this is where I've avoided a lot of the problems others have.. most of my setup have been into rooted coco..which already have root established to handwatering in veg.

Thats it.. works for me pretty well thank god.

Check the threads under the brown nut to ensure the threaded part hasnt split away from the cap. I've found 10 broken caps that could potentially not pinch the brown tubing closed all of the way.


I know you're likely doing all this, but just thought I'd throw it out there in case you might be missing something.

Ultimately bobble is right.. if they arent working for you repeatedly might be best to move on to timed DTW or something more reliable.

They work for me, and I am even looking to move on..at least start looking that direction. I just personally hate having to give each one specific attention to get them setup. Stabbing a drip stake into a pot or plopping a plant into a system just seems much nicer to my lazy ass.

I can't setup my blumats without making a mess... and it takes me a bit of time.

 

[FlowerFarmer]

damn double post

 

[DHF]

Dave, I know I might have spewed this info around before, but if its any help here is my system for setting up blumats. I'm sure you know this/are doing this, but perhaps any of it will be of help.

- I run elevated reservoirs (both 55 Gal barrels 4' off the ground and other smaller reservoirs constant pressure fed from a lower barrel).
- I use 1/2" trunk tubing with the Kent tees route...running 1 blumat per 2 gal fabric pot with the 3mm roughly at the factory 8cm recommendation.
- I drench the shit out of my Atami straight coco until run-off and then grab my blumats which have been soaking (cap off) in RO water. I fill them up (using the same water their soaking in) making sure to turn then every which way to allow bubbles to escape and then I cap under water.
- I'll then stab my blumat into each drenched pot and slip the 3mm through, but leave the knob wide open. I then run back to my res and open the valve to let the water flow.. let them spit and sputter for several minute and then dial to cling + 1.5 arrow. Although in fresh coco (not heavily filled with roots) I'm thinking I'll now go cling + 2 arrow. Maybe this is where I've avoided a lot of the problems others have.. most of my setup have been into rooted coco..which already have root established to handwatering in veg.

Thats it.. works for me pretty well thank god.

Check the threads under the brown nut to ensure the threaded part hasnt split away from the cap. I've found 10 broken caps that could potentially not pinch the brown tubing closed all of the way.


I know you're likely doing all this, but just thought I'd throw it out there in case you might be missing something.

Ultimately bobble is right.. if they arent working for you repeatedly might be best to move on to timed DTW or something more reliable.

They work for me, and I am even looking to move on..at least start looking that direction. I just personally hate having to give each one specific attention to get them setup. Stabbing a drip stake into a pot or plopping a plant into a system just seems much nicer to my lazy ass.

I can't setup my blumats without making a mess... and it takes me a bit of time.

All about where your head`s at cuz I assure all here that blumat`s dialed are killin it for the big boy`s and they`ve never had more "me time" in the real world cuz of the "ease" of little to NO maintenance once the cones are dialed........that said......

With age comes patience and wisdom....Dialage takes time......DTW works since that`s what I ran with my coco setups for several yrs , but.....

It was waaaay more bells and whistles than a constantly topped off dialed gravity fed upper rez with overflow to provide constant and consistent down pressure on the cones at each individual plantsite once they were dialed down to each monocropped environmentally dialed grow areas.....period.....and Bobbles.......

You know you`re my boy , but Dawgin out blumat`s cuz you weren`t onsite to dial their ass at a remote site seems kinda lame in my book , but ....

I`m glad yas`ve found yer sweetspot , and wish the blumat debate could go away........why ?........

Nuff said.....DHF.............

 

[bobblehead]

You know you`re my boy , but Dawgin out blumat`s cuz you weren`t onsite to dial their ass at a remote site seems kinda lame in my book , but ....

I`m glad yas`ve found yer sweetspot , and wish the blumat debate could go away........why ?........

Nuff said.....DHF.............

I don't doubt that the blumats work for some people... FF has been a big advocate for them, and even he admits they require a lot of individual attention.

It's not a big deal... Really.. They work, I have them in my veg at the other grow. I'm using 6" net pots with one carrot, a porous mix of coco/perlite, and some straight coco. Both work.

However, Dave needs someone to give him a push to do something more reliable... because Dave's environment isn't dialed, and as has been experienced by many blumat users, wild swings in temperature and RH% cause runaways and dry-outs. It could be that Dave is doing everything right to set the blumats up, but to no fault of his own, they just won't work in his environment. Until Dave gets everything else under control, he should go with a tried and true watering system that doesn't need so much attention to detail.

My watering system has 1 additional part, a battery powered solenoid. I've been running them for over a month now. Hopefully they keep trucking for another year and then some. 1/4" open ended drip tubing doesn't get clogged... and each drip stake doesn't need dialing. Time is a factor in an absentee grow, as you know. This is about Dave though... I'm just looking out for his best interest... and with 100F temperatures, he needs to make a change.

am I a little biased? sure. Blumats left me bitter after a few hundred gallons on the floor and $$$$ in dead plants... It's my own fault for jumping in head first. I take responsibility for not sticking with DTW and only running blumats in 1 room to test them out.

Anyway... Do you have pondliner on your floors for when those tents overflow Dave? I would hate for your floors to warp.

 

[FlowerFarmer]

I really see it both ways.

Blumats are awesome. The plants explode once they are on the carrots. Something about that even moisture level maintained 100% of the time. Everything gets what it needs independently.. that hog gets her juice... her slower sister only takes what she needs. Gravity.. no electricity/pumps/timers and other bullshit. Its nice and simple...I love that aspect of it.

If they work for one.. it really doesnt get any easier.... once they're setup. Let me make it clear that I do not spend a lot of time dialing my carrot..tweaking it or what not like I hear a lot of people doing. I set them up according to the instructions and walk away.

My hang up is the setup/reload..it does take me a bit of time, and it is a hassle. On top of that it needs to be done quickly, precisely at the moment I'm needing to trim/offload, trash-runs/transplant & move plants, etc, etc. Down on my knees dialing each carrot on a wet floor due to their recent drench sucks. Harvest time is busy busy and can be overwhelming. At least for me trying to do all this after work. So the blumatting of the reload gets pushed back.. I end up hand watering in the meantime..further leaving me no time to do other tasks needing done.. and the cycle continues until I catch up and spend the time to carrot up. Ya feel me?

I'm not setup for lots of run-off so I make quite a mess and likely that is a bit of my lack of enthusiasm for continuing with them. I love the simplicity of some bulbs hanging, pots on the ground..being fed from above very minimally, but in reality one really does need the means to deal with all of the run-off during setup/or when needing to flush. The way I do it is hilarious..

Oh.. and I hate being on my knees transplanting all these coco plants.. hauling bags and all that not fun stuff.

I also do a ton more shopvaccing and tidying the grow room since I've been in coco. I like the lab like setting of a water culture setup...no coco crumbs anywhere.. But I'm kinda OCD like that.

..am I whining now? haha...ah fuck it. I gotta go blumat my rear 2 circles now that I've got enough RO made up for all of my upper barrels. I'll throw some shots up in my circles thread of the disaster my room likes like during a blumat setup.



Whatever you do Dave.. Keep blowing it the fuck up.

 

[hotboxes]

I really see it both ways.

Blumats are awesome. The plants explode once they are on the carrots. Something about that even moisture level maintained 100% of the time. Everything gets what it needs independently.. that hog gets her juice... her slower sister only takes what she needs. Gravity.. no electricity/pumps/timers and other bullshit. Its nice and simple...I love that aspect of it.

If they work for one.. it really doesnt get any easier.... once they're setup. Let me make it clear that I do not spend a lot of time dialing my carrot..tweaking it or what not like I hear a lot of people doing. I set them up according to the instructions and walk away.

My hang up is the setup/reload..it does take me a bit of time, and it is a hassle. On top of that it needs to be done quickly, precisely at the moment I'm needing to trim/offload, trash-runs/transplant & move plants, etc, etc. Down on my knees dialing each carrot on a wet floor due to their recent drench sucks. Harvest time is busy busy and can be overwhelming. At least for me trying to do all this after work. So the blumatting of the reload gets pushed back.. I end up hand watering in the meantime..further leaving me no time to do other tasks needing done.. and the cycle continues until I catch up and spend the time to carrot up. Ya feel me?

I'm not setup for lots of run-off so I make quite a mess and likely that is a bit of my lack of enthusiasm for continuing with them. I love the simplicity of some bulbs hanging, pots on the ground..being fed from above very minimally, but in reality one really does need the means to deal with all of the run-off during setup/or when needing to flush. The way I do it is hilarious..

Oh.. and I hate being on my knees transplanting all these coco plants.. hauling bags and all that not fun stuff.

I also do a ton more shopvaccing and tidying the grow room since I've been in coco. I like the lab like setting of a water culture setup...no coco crumbs anywhere.. But I'm kinda OCD like that.

..am I whining now? haha...ah fuck it. I gotta go blumat my rear 2 circles now that I've got enough RO made up for all of my upper barrels. I'll throw some shots up in my circles thread of the disaster my room likes like during a blumat setup.



Whatever you do Dave.. Keep blowing it the fuck up.

You see This is all the things I debated before I just said fuck it and built a PPK to test out, before I was going to buy a starter kit of blumats then started looking for parts to extend all the lines and parts to do so and I was in the hundreds already for 6 to 8 plants max it just isn't economical for me. not to mention all the freaking runaway's flooding ppls floors and drowning plants thinking to myself thats all I need is to come home to 50gallons of feed water all over my basement. I have a drain in the floor but still thats not the point. virtually $$$ going down the drain. Even with just the wick set up of the ppk a plant could virtually sustain for how ever long the feed lasted then if you have a add back rez the options are endless no more floods, drowned plants, or $$$ going down the drain pun intended. for me on a extreme budget it was just a no brainer. But that is me I am sure there is tons of people unlike me with tons of $$$ to just throw around and just as much time to sit and babysit something like that. I look at everything as time is $$ cuz if I have to take a day out of trimming to dial a watering system more than the time I spent setting it up other than regular maint.,( because you guys are the only ones that see anything) Its costing me time and ultimately $$$. Again this is me but if you evaluate your life like this you could cut out the BS and get down to business. sorry for the rant Dave A little medicated at the moment.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

I run elevated reservoirs (both 55 Gal barrels 4' off the ground and other smaller reservoirs constant pressure fed from a lower barrel).

Check. Top res is 60 litres with 180 below that fills it 8 times day.

I use 1/2" trunk tubing with the Kent tees route...running 1 blumat per 2 gal fabric pot with the 3mm roughly at the factory 8cm recommendation.

Check. Im using 1/4 inch tubing and either 1 blumat per 3gal or 2 blumats per 7 gal pot. 8cm exactally as measured every install.

I drench the shit out of my Atami straight coco until run-off and then grab my blumats which have been soaking (cap off) in RO water. I fill them up (using the same water their soaking in) making sure to turn then every which way to allow bubbles to escape and then I cap under water.

Check. Exactally like that.

I'll then stab my blumat into each drenched pot and slip the 3mm through, but leave the knob wide open. I then run back to my res and open the valve to let the water flow.. let them spit and sputter for several minute and then dial to cling + 1.5 arrow. Although in fresh coco (not heavily filled with roots) I'm thinking I'll now go cling + 2 arrow. Maybe this is where I've avoided a lot of the problems others have

Check. Same deal. I also have a plastic thingy keeping the end of the 3mm hose off the coco cause I heard that could be a cause too.

I can't setup my blumats without making a mess... and it takes me a bit of time.

Check, I make a shitload of mess every turn over. Takes ages to clean up after.

All about where your head`s at cuz I assure all here that blumat`s dialed are killin it for the big boy`s and they`ve never had more "me time" in the real world cuz of the "ease" of little to NO maintenance once the cones are dialed........

no doubt at all. that's why I didn't give up easily and ive been fighting these things for months now.

I`m glad yas`ve found yer sweetspot , and wish the blumat debate could go away........why ?........

and yet the blumat debate doesn't go away ... why?

However, Dave needs someone to give him a push to do something more reliable... because Dave's environment isn't dialed, and as has been experienced by many blumat users, wild swings in temperature and RH% cause runaways and dry-outs. It could be that Dave is doing everything right to set the blumats up, but to no fault of his own, they just won't work in his environment. Until Dave gets everything else under control, he should go with a tried and true watering system that doesn't need so much attention to detail.

I have run 4 full crops now and have 3 more in various stages. I have not had a single crop not experience some sort of problem. Ive tried to fix them, ive tried everything I could. Ive run different medium experiments, ive started threads about blumats and how to fix them, im at my wits end. They aren't working for me.

Anyway... Do you have pondliner on your floors for when those tents overflow Dave? I would hate for your floors to warp.

I have tents with a 3 inch deep waterproof floor liner. It has to flood deeper than that to get out. Then its a concrete floor. I haven't had a flood big enough to get out past the room into the hallway yet ....

Blumats are awesome. The plants explode once they are on the carrots. Something about that even moisture level maintained 100% of the time. Everything gets what it needs independently.. that hog gets her juice... her slower sister only takes what she needs. Gravity.. no electricity/pumps/timers and other bullshit. Its nice and simple...I love that aspect of it.

does the growth explosion of the blumat when its working cover the damage done when a plant dries out for 2 days and nearly dies?

My hang up is the setup/reload..it does take me a bit of time, and it is a hassle. On top of that it needs to be done quickly, precisely at the moment I'm needing to trim/offload, trash-runs/transplant & move plants, etc, etc. Down on my knees dialing each carrot on a wet floor due to their recent drench sucks. Harvest time is busy busy and can be overwhelming. At least for me trying to do all this after work. So the blumatting of the reload gets pushed back.. I end up hand watering in the meantime..further leaving me no time to do other tasks needing done.. and the cycle continues until I catch up and spend the time to carrot up. Ya feel me?

yeah I do, its a crazy day once every 4 weeks.

EDIT : and yes the flower tent that had a dry pot is now flooded as well as the veg tent. I called it

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

On an aside ive always been a fan of www.kelp4less.com nutes and love the ultimate mix of organic goodies for hydro (fulvic humic ammino acids and kelp). They have now come out with complete fert dry nutes packs :

http://www.kelp4less.com/product-category/nutrient-packs/

and the early bloom pack : http://www.kelp4less.com/shop/early-bloom-pack seems to be perfect for what I need. Its NPK is 6-18-18 but it has all sorts of extra organic goodies built in like tons of cal mag fulvic humic silica amminos, myco kelp molasses and the like built in. A true 1 stop shop. Not the cheapest (especially sent to aus) but simplicity on a stick. Im going to have to try it.

I was curious to hear what people thought about this

 

[bobblehead]

does the growth explosion of the blumat when its working cover the damage done when a plant dries out for 2 days and nearly dies?

No need to beat up on FF dude... I think if FF had PPK's and blumats, he'd pick PPK's... Probably why he's testing them now.

The way I feed DTW... My plants never dry out. I start with one irrigation, and increase it up to 6, 1 every 2hs, if needed. Normally 1 every 4hs for a total of 3 irrigations is enough.

Runoff is cheap... Cause hell, I was already putting nute solution on the floor with the blumats. Even now, if I was going to use blumats and I didn't have cement floors with drains... I would set up some sort of a drain system in case the reservoir got emptied... Cause cleaning up after that is some bullshit. Whether your reservoir is 30 gallons or 300.

 

[Weed Killer]

Cause hell, I was already putting nute solution on the floor with the blumats

With my blumat’s I thought about saving myself some time by mixing the nutes and just pouring them on the floor

 

[FlowerFarmer]

does the growth explosion of the blumat when its working cover the damage done when a plant dries out for 2 days and nearly dies?

lol... no that'd be a negative.


I just reset my circles room. I was going to do things as usual, but my pots where drenched yesterday so I decided to just stab the blumats in and dial to a little less past a cling. I'm curious if I'll have the same success this way as apposed to dialing the day I drench. I was able to setup a lot cleaner this way.

As DHF (or someone) might have mentioned before. With blumats the ideal setup would be still on a tray or way to grab that run-off should something run-away....and then use a condensate pump to send it back up to the res. No waste. Really no negative to a run-away aside from having to get to it and tighten down a hair. That is my trouble.. if a run-away happens later in the game...its very difficult for me to get to some areas of the garden. I've been very lucky/blessed to say the least.


I havnt made any PPKs yet, but my next tree grow will be. No bones about it I'll give you my opinion of PPK vs. Blumats as I'll be running both at the same time..just ease of operation and maintenance from my point of view. Reading through again I wasnt yet familiar with all of the painstaking rinsing/screening needed with the turface. That doesnt sound fun...and the consensus seems to be constantly changing. I believe D9 said future grows with the wide upper container he'll be going back to well washed/screened turface only as opposed to washed unscreened turface with rice hulls. Besides the floor dry I wonder if there is any superior (and easier) alternatives out there. Luckily I'll only be doing it with 7 trees, but washing/screen and dealing with enough for lots and lots of plant sites seems like it could be a pain. I havnt ever seen turface or worked with it so this is merely speculation. I'm curious how it acts in veg before I get to PPK. Can it be easily handwatered for a few weeks under a T5 before going into the PPK room or is a similar smaller setup required for veg.


PS - I don't really consider this debate for blumats. If they work for you great.. They are awesome. If one doesnt think so then obviously they should find a method that better suits their situation.

I'm really digging bobbles elevated gravity fed with a solenoid. I can see putting that to use in a few spots where I'd rather just avoid the whole blumat thing altogether. Still gravity...still no electricty required.. and the plants get fed without worry of dry-ups or other problems. So long as the solenoid doesn't fail and you dial the proper watering schedule it seems like an excellent way to go about it. I'm going to try this on a remote double wide tent setup.


Run all the methods! This is why growing is so fun. Literally endless methods and innovative ways to get to harvest.

I'm a straight water guy myself, but then again HERE I am growing in coco. There has to be a reason for that.. and I believe it is because I'm more consistent in getting a crop to finish every single time despite issues I may have had. I'll likely be revisiting some form of water only/medium-less hydro shorlty to make sure I'm making the right decision.

My last grow in Ebb buckets I lost an entire crop due to a drain pump failing (or rather air-locked) while I was away for 3 days and everything drowned. While one might lose a plant to a dry up or something on blumats, I've never seen anyone lose an entire garden...unless of course its a res issue or failure to have enough water supply. That alone says something.. Bobbles gravity thing is great.. unless that solenoid/timer fails and remains closed.. then he just lost everything.. Blumats are great for this reason. I cant find a way where someone could have total crop failure as there really is no place in the system for mechanical failure. I can handle losing a plant or so.. Losing an entire garden while dishing out $$ for e-bills would be a hit.

PPKs get around this through the use of wick in addition to the top feed. This is good. I'm a fan of any redundant system.

Redundancy is KEY!

 

[bobblehead]

There's nute solution sitting in the 5 gallon buckets that my bags drain into in the event of a solenoid failure. Same backup plan as the PPK. I just keep sending fresh nute solution through instead of recirculating it.

It's a good thing Freds told me to build a bunch of smaller rooms... in the event I do lose a crop, I won't lose everything.

 

[FlowerFarmer]

So in your 5 gallon buckets.. you've got some lava rock and then your fabric bags sitting on top. The roots are growing out of the smart pots and down into the run-off solution or do you have some kind of wick up into your media.?

This is kinda what I've got going in my tree room with some new totes to deal with my run-off. My plants are an inch or so off the bottom on foam board plants, but when I water heavily the totes don't drain fast enough and the plants sit in a bit of water until they fully drain...or if say directly on the bottom would constantly be sitting in a inch or so of water (likey results in water logged roots correct?)

I'm not sure if this is good or will lead to problems. It did get me thinking that I essentially have a PPK already.. minus the tailpiece. I realize this has something to do with keeping the root zone above the perched water table, but provided that bit of run-off that the smart pots ultimately sit in gets rotated every hour out during the next top fed pulse cycle....wouldnt it essentially be working the same?

 

[bobblehead]

My bags sit 2-3" above the runoff solution. It stays at that level, and the plants never sit in runoff. The lava rocks act as a wick... A poor wick... But a wick. Like I said, it's only a 2-3" gap, so they don't have to pull the water up far... The rocks stay moist. Some have a bit of algae... Which is just in the air cause in MI you're never more than 5 miles from a major body of water, and that's a fact.

Roots can pull moisture right out of the air... So yeah, I think it has something to do with keeping moist air around the roots and the roots seek out what they crave... I feed for one minute every 2-4hs once I'm in full swing. Fuck the runoff. It's cheap. My plants always get fresh pH balanced nutes. Anytime the roots dry out too much, my plants don't yield right. I also run a porous mix, so I can get away with watering more often than straight coco.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

No need to beat up on FF dude... I think if FF had PPK's and blumats, he'd pick PPK's... Probably why he's testing them now.

never beating up on FF, the mans a legend. I hate that it came out that way.

There's nute solution sitting in the 5 gallon buckets that my bags drain into in the event of a solenoid failure. Same backup plan as the PPK. I just keep sending fresh nute solution through instead of recirculating it.

SRGB said something similar as his recommended setup and it caught my eye. That's my next short term mod. Each smarty in its own bucket on rocks. He suggests only watering once a day like this

 

[bobblehead]

you're correct, SRGB was one of the people I consulted while designing my feed system. Smart person, and very helpful.