Blumat auto watering

[skyview]

Horizontal Blumat Maxis

Horizontal Blumat Maxis

About a week ago I posted about Roland Weninger's suggestion to use Blumat Maxis horizontal to reduce the number of carrots needed per pot. He thinks with this method just one Maxi will be enough for up to a 45 cm pot (15 gallon, 18" diameter) - half the normal recommendation. I set one up in a 5 gallon Smart Pot (see pictures) and plan to transplant into a 15 gallon to try this out.

So far so good, in fact an unexpected advantage: because of extreme day vs. night temperatures here, I've been moving plants inside to outside. With several of the other pots, this made me recalibrate the Blumats and I had two run-aways. No problem with this one though, maybe because the sensor being under the root and weight of the plant, the connection between potting mix and sensor wasn't disrupted?

 

[rrog]

Interesting. Why choose that position in the 15 gallon pot? I would have thought more central.

That's a maxi carrot, right?

Any sealing or precautions when cutting that hole?

Sorry for the barrage of questions.

For the larger group- is it common to use multiple carrots in one pot? I've only used one maxi carrot per 7 gallon Geopot with three drippers. I guess the thought is that you'd need two carrots when you get to a 15 gallon pot? Given the mediums we use, it would still seem to me that one maxi carrot with maybe 5 drippers could do this?? Am I deluded here?

 

[skyview]

I'm using the distribution drippers so it should centralize the water flow.

Yes, a Maxi carrot.

I didn't cut any of the fabric out, just made an X cut so the fabric would surround the carrot. No leaks or anything.

The standard Blumat sizing diagram recommends using two carrots when you get to a 10 gallon (16") pot but still only one if you use the 5 drippers. 3 (without drippers) are recommended when you get to a 20" 21 gallon pot. Roland thinks for a 100 gallon pot (38" x 20," 96 cm) you can get by with 6-8 per pot with this method. These numbers are based on capillary action in soil mixes though - it changes with different potting mixes.

 

[rrog]

"...with 6-8 per pot with this method."

You're meaning drippers, right? One carrot and 6-8 drippers

I'm finding it hard to understand why one carrot in this orientation will replace multiple carrots placed vertically (normally). The maxi carrot gets you pretty deep.

Sorry that I'm not following the logic, so I appreciate the patience.

 

[skyview]

No problem, I don't understand it very well either. It was suggested by the Blumat inventor, Roland Weninger though so I thought it would be worth trying out!

He meant 6-8 carrots in a really big pot 20" deep with a 38" diameter. It would be less than that with drippers.

 

[rrog]

So a 100 gallon pot could be outfitted with 6-8 carrots, I guess assuming one dripper per carrot. Whew.

Well, I'll be curious what you discover. I'll be flowering in 15-20 gallon pots inside, but still plan one carrot and 5 drippers and see what happens. I have highly accurate Tensiometers to measure and monitor.

As a side note, is the fabric pot resting fully in that terra cotta tray? I always have air circulating under the fabric bottoms.

 

[skyview]

I think you can use less carrots in coco mixes. I asked Roland about that and he sent this diagram that I think shows the different capillary action between soil and coco. ("Einheitserde" means soil.) Temperature also seems to really influence the difference.

And thanks for the airflow suggestion - I'll do that.

 

[rrog]

Intuitively I would have thought that with our mixes of peat / coco bases you would not need more than 1 maxi carrot and however many drippers. The thing that hangs me up is the apparent need to measure moisture at so many points (carrots) when our soils wick so efficiently and uniformly, especially with constant drip.

Again, not doubting anything being presented. I'm just not seeing the need for the horizontal orientation or the multiple carrots. My problem.

 

[skyview]

I'm very curious about maximum pot and plant size with numbers of Blumats. What's the largest pot size people have had success with just one Maxi? With 2 and 3?

In large pots with the horizontal Maxi, it would be sensing the moisture at a deeper level than if it was vertical - at the bottom of the root ball where I would guess the water is used most quickly. I think the need for multiple measure points is more of a factor in soil mixes. With peat/coco bases, it's probably mainly about getting enough water to the plant during hot and high growth/flower times. Some people might also want to use Multiple Maxis if they are using thicker nutrients and worry about the drippers clogging more easily than the carrots.

 

[skyview]

To clarify Roland's suggestion for 100 gallons pots, he meant 6-8 if carrots planted vertically, 3-4 if horizontal (in soil mixes).

 

[rrog]

I'm just growing soil, so I have no distribution of nutes to worry about.

Some (Sunny) have commented that they don't feel a Maxi is even necessary. So all in all, I'm still thinking that a single maxi carrot with many drippers could do the job given the mediums we use. That's just an opinion.

 

[skyview]

You've given me another idea to experiment with! Let's compare notes.

 

[rrog]

This really is an issue that needs to be addressed. More and more are going large pots indoors, especially with soil, given its recycle-ability.

 

[skyview]

I had another discussion with Roland this morning and asked him some of the questions that rrog brought up.

He said it's fine to use distribution drippers instead of adding more Maxis but in larger pots he still recommends using at least two for "safety." I questioned him about what he meant by safety and he said as a precaution, a back-up. Although it rarely happens, sometimes a piece of perlite, junk, or - most-likely - algae can clog a carrot. Something could fall on the 3 mm line or it could get pulled and pinched. Having extras makes it more likely that the plants won't dry out too much if something unexpected happens.

Another consideration is how much pressure the system has. The Blumat specs assume a pressurized system with close to 15 psi. With that, they say that a 3 mm line can go up to 3 meters and have 5 distribution drippers. In gravity systems with much lower pressure, those limits will decrease.

 

[rrog]

Very cool of you to check back with the Doc. Having a second as a back-up makes sense if the system isn't monitored somehow.

The pressure is a good point also. I have been running from well water = under pressure. I use the Blumat pressure reducer. I also use an electronic shutoff in case of an overflow.

 

[skyview]

rrog - that electronic shutoff sounds very useful. Would you please post details about it?

 

[rrog]

http://www.amazon.com/Floodstop-Was...2331676&sr=8-1&keywords=washer+water+shut+off

I used 1/2 of this set. It's threaded for hose, so this is the one.

There are sensors that detect a drop of water. can daisy chain them together to handle many pots. There's an audible alarm, and you can connect an X-10 controller to alert you via text if the alarm triggers.

I put each plant(s) in a metal sheet metal tray that I make. To contain the water.

All in all, it's very efficient and worry free.

I use these sensors to actually measure the soil moisture level: http://www.irrometer.com/sensors.html#irro I use the MLT's

 

[cody2white]

right on. you posted exactly at 4:20 lol. and great idea.

 

[rrog]

That's funny!!!

 

[skyview]

Way back in this thread, there's a discussion about using the Blumat moisture meters to do part of this and they recommended 120-150 mb in veg, 150-180 in flower. Are those the ranges you keep or something different?