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Blumat auto watering
- Thread starter sunnydog
- Start date
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- Tags
- blumat drippers irrigation watering
I'm having an incredibly hard time keeping my reservoir clean. I'm not running anything in it but straight tap water and ph down. I wrapped the reservoir completely in black trash compactor bags to block out the light, but yellowish algae eventually creeps in and smells nasty. I'm using H2O2, but it's a temporary solution at best, and I'm worried about it corroding the tubing.
I could really use any advice you guys have, thanks!
I could really use any advice you guys have, thanks!
It's bacteria from the tap water, that is why I top off my res with water from my fishtank. The beneficial bacteria destroy the pink slime that your noticing, (I know you said yellow, l bet it'll be pink as it gets thicker)
Kit Kat
Member
It probably won't corrode, but it might block the dripper line. I threw an airstone in my straight water res and that seems to keep it clean.
Interesting observation! I've observed the same thing. The first time I scrubbed everything out was after about 6-8 months. After that, I've just let the goop sort of build up and accumulate, with no ill effects. Plants not hurting, lines not clogging..
However!
For years, I've run the following through my blumats:
SM90 @ 5 ml/gal
ProTeKt @ 2 ml/gal
Ful Power @ 18 ml/gal
..and haven't ever had a clogging issue. And that's during this 12 + months of no scrubbing of the rez.
I recently ran out of Ful Power and had some Ful Humix on hand & decided to see if it's an even swap. I used the Ful Humix at 1/4 tsp/gal.
No good! Clog city. The rest of this run is basically considered hand watered, in terms of my level of attention..
The Ful Humix is likely best worked into the medium prior to planting, and next to that, is best hand watered in. No good in the lines!
However!
For years, I've run the following through my blumats:
SM90 @ 5 ml/gal
ProTeKt @ 2 ml/gal
Ful Power @ 18 ml/gal
..and haven't ever had a clogging issue. And that's during this 12 + months of no scrubbing of the rez.
I recently ran out of Ful Power and had some Ful Humix on hand & decided to see if it's an even swap. I used the Ful Humix at 1/4 tsp/gal.
No good! Clog city. The rest of this run is basically considered hand watered, in terms of my level of attention..
The Ful Humix is likely best worked into the medium prior to planting, and next to that, is best hand watered in. No good in the lines!
So this is my first post here I am about a 100 pages into this thread and will finish it but I would like to order my blumats soon and had some questions.
- How many blumats do I need for a 15gal and should I use maxi's?
- Are people still having trouble with the slave drippers with just H2O?
- If not how many drippers should I use per 15gal pot?
- I grow all organic amended soil and I just use plain water is the pressure reducer still the best option for this type of grow?
- Is the 8mm line the best to get for the main line?
- I have a 15 ft gap between on side of flower/lights and the other side would it be best to just do 2 main lines with 2 reducers or should I just do 1 long run?
- I have 32 plants in 15's and about the same in 1 gal pots and was just going to buy a fifty pack of blumats and fifty of the maxi blumats plus a 100m roll of the 3mm tubing a bunch of t's and drippers and a pressure reducer. I was going to get everything else from local shops, should I get anything else from blumat or is getting everything else locally ok?
- Is this the best place to buy the stuff? https://blumatsystems.com/
-Am I forgetting anything?
Thanks in advance for any help and sorry for being one of those people who asks questions that have probably already been answered before finishing the thread.
- How many blumats do I need for a 15gal and should I use maxi's?
- Are people still having trouble with the slave drippers with just H2O?
- If not how many drippers should I use per 15gal pot?
- I grow all organic amended soil and I just use plain water is the pressure reducer still the best option for this type of grow?
- Is the 8mm line the best to get for the main line?
- I have a 15 ft gap between on side of flower/lights and the other side would it be best to just do 2 main lines with 2 reducers or should I just do 1 long run?
- I have 32 plants in 15's and about the same in 1 gal pots and was just going to buy a fifty pack of blumats and fifty of the maxi blumats plus a 100m roll of the 3mm tubing a bunch of t's and drippers and a pressure reducer. I was going to get everything else from local shops, should I get anything else from blumat or is getting everything else locally ok?
- Is this the best place to buy the stuff? https://blumatsystems.com/
-Am I forgetting anything?
Thanks in advance for any help and sorry for being one of those people who asks questions that have probably already been answered before finishing the thread.
I think I waited too long to up pot this one!
Blumat kept her fairly happy tho.
Blumat kept her fairly happy tho.
O
otis33
So this is my first post here I am about a 100 pages into this thread and will finish it but I would like to order my blumats soon and had some questions.
- How many blumats do I need for a 15gal and should I use maxi's?
- Are people still having trouble with the slave drippers with just H2O?
- If not how many drippers should I use per 15gal pot?
- I grow all organic amended soil and I just use plain water is the pressure reducer still the best option for this type of grow?
- Is the 8mm line the best to get for the main line?
- I have a 15 ft gap between on side of flower/lights and the other side would it be best to just do 2 main lines with 2 reducers or should I just do 1 long run?
- I have 32 plants in 15's and about the same in 1 gal pots and was just going to buy a fifty pack of blumats and fifty of the maxi blumats plus a 100m roll of the 3mm tubing a bunch of t's and drippers and a pressure reducer. I was going to get everything else from local shops, should I get anything else from blumat or is getting everything else locally ok?
- Is this the best place to buy the stuff? https://blumatsystems.com/
-Am I forgetting anything?
Thanks in advance for any help and sorry for being one of those people who asks questions that have probably already been answered before finishing the thread.
definitely use maxis for a pot that size 2, maybe three, I would get either 1/4 black poly with the bent 3/32 tees or, what looks too be even better is this house called flexilla available ash hardware stores it's tough looking, but very flexible... and the fittings fit perfectly, so no ordering from kent. the pressure reducer would be your best bet for your situation and I think that you'd be ok with one big run. enjoy your blumats.
Flexzilla the garden hose or are you guys using the air hose for water? And I should get more maxi's over slave drippers?
Thanks for the reply.
I've done a couple runs in big smart pots, want to say they're 20 gallons, first run I used a single maxi and 4 dripers. Worked fine, but I noticed that the plant had only populated the top 12' or so of the soil with roots, and the bottom of the pot was nearly devoid of root structure.
Second run, I used a single standard and 5 dripers, again great results in the canopy, but again no roots in the bottom of the pot!
And yes, even with the standard it was wet all the way thru!
Top foot of the soil was plum full of roots,
Soil in The bottom of the pot had next to no roots in it
Not that it was a small plant either!
Your mileage may vary if using plastic containers.
Second run, I used a single standard and 5 dripers, again great results in the canopy, but again no roots in the bottom of the pot!
And yes, even with the standard it was wet all the way thru!
Top foot of the soil was plum full of roots,
Soil in The bottom of the pot had next to no roots in it
Not that it was a small plant either!
Your mileage may vary if using plastic containers.
I use root pouches which are just a different brand of fabric pot and the 15's are only 16in deep anyway and soil only goes to like 14in so I don't think I will have a problem with that. My goal is 8oz plants right now I am averaging just a little over 7 with no CO2 and I think with the blumats and my new CO2 gen I should be able to reach my goal.
Should be able to achieve that, the plant from those pix gave me 7.9 in jars dry with no CO2, light feedings and a ph lockout thanks to the city messing with water chemestry for the winter months!
I can't seem to get that video to work so I'm just going to post the link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0ifuOzshJc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0ifuOzshJc
I've carefully cleaned everything with bleach, and I'm still having massive problems. I just can't understand how my reservoir is getting so disgusting with just straight water with no additives! Even if I add bleach, the water gets gross within about 48 hours. This is a so annoying I might have to stop using the blumats. Can anyone help? Thank you so much!
Put a fishtank filter in your res and let it cycle a few extra days, if you insist on changing the water and cleaning everything, don't clean the filter.... I added some "prime" to my res last time I was having a bad bacteria bloom from a couple tap water top offs. Helped knock it back down to a manageable level.
BTW, how do you have your res setup? You have SOME kind of circulation in there right?
BTW, how do you have your res setup? You have SOME kind of circulation in there right?
Try dropping a pump in the bottom of the res with the jet facing up to cause a ripple on the surface, it's called flooming it will increase the dissolved oxygen levels in the water while causing a constantly moving water surface to stop algae build up.
