Blumat auto watering

[Ez Rider]

I would think that size upper reservoir would work fine if you are running the pump that frequently. I run 4 gallon buckets for the upper rez, but the lines plumbed into them reduces the volume somewhat. I don't usually go over 6 plants, but even when they are pretty big my rez only drops a few inches and it gets refilled twice a day. Runaways can drain it in a hurry, though.

I was just able to check, and the last adjustment seems to have done the trick. The pots I can reach are nice and heavy, and there doesn't seem to be any additional runoff in my trays I'm still going to put saucers under my pots though. I'll get the saucers and a pump later today. I had to order the bulkheads, so I wont get the dual res up this weekend. Probably just as well, the saucers will be a chore, all by themselves. On the bright side, I'll be able to accurately gauge the moisture content(weight) of each pot as I work.

I'm pretty sure I'll be ok with a 3.5 gal bucket. I'll be pumping 15min/hr. Unless there's a runaway, I can't imagine even 32 small/mid plants going through the whole 3gals in under an hour. The small upper will also help minimize waste in the event of a runaway(I hope). The 3.5 bucket, when full, will be light enough to hang from the roof of the tent without any reinforcing, which is a big plus. A 5gal bucket is just a little too tall for my needs.

 

[Folate]

What are peoples thoughts on moisture levels of the pot?
Sometimes when dialing in, I'll lift an airpot that is noticeably lighter than one that is clearly saturated. The lighter weighted pots plant looks just as good. I'm sure there are factors to consider, like EC and ph when playing around with moisture levels.
Does anyone have any links to discussions on this topic?
Folate

 

[Dave Coulier]

What are peoples thoughts on moisture levels of the pot?
Sometimes when dialing in, I'll lift an airpot that is noticeably lighter than one that is clearly saturated. The lighter weighted pots plant looks just as good. I'm sure there are factors to consider, like EC and ph when playing around with moisture levels.
Does anyone have any links to discussions on this topic?
Folate

The only time the media should be saturated is when installing the blumats. If your media is still saturated days after installing and dialing in, then there is too much moisture.

As you use blumats more you'll quickly learn the right moisture levels. You're already noticing pots/plants that are lighter look just as good and healthy as the saturated ones, so shoot for that level of moisture Id say without allowing total saturation to occur.

If you can squeeze the media on the top of your soil, and you see dripping water, its too much. If theres water pooling in the saucers, its too much.

If you really want to be more exact invest in a Tensiometer. I use an Irrometer LT model myself. I love the thing, and it helps to take the guessing game out, but after using Blumats so long, I dont feel its truly necessary, but I like to have it to confirm Im doing things right.

 

[sanjuan]

What are peoples thoughts on moisture levels of the pot?
Sometimes when dialing in, I'll lift an airpot that is noticeably lighter than one that is clearly saturated. The lighter weighted pots plant looks just as good. I'm sure there are factors to consider, like EC and ph when playing around with moisture levels.
Does anyone have any links to discussions on this topic?
Folate

I've noticed my one gallon smartpots can be surprisingly light and the plant doesn't seem to mind. I don't run to almost saturation (anymore) but I like to feel some heft when I lift them. I ran a scrog grow and didn't do the lifting test during the last month; the pots were lighter than I would have expected but each plant averaged a 1/4lb of bud.

If you see a visibly wilted plant, you're too late--the cone has probably had water sucked out and it needs to be reassembled.

I tried the Blumat digital tensiometers in a grow using 3gal smartpots. There is quite a range of numbers published and the meters didn't seem consistent between the plants so I didn't think they were worth the bother; I went back to one gallon smartpots.

 

[Mr. Roseberry]

Can some one give me the run down on how to setup distribution drippers? How far apart should they be? How many per sensor for a gravity fed system? How close the first one needs to be to the sensor? How far can a sensor be from the 8 mm feed line? I know when setting a normal sensor you want a drop of water to hang from the 3 mm drip line but what about with the distribution drippers?

Thanks

 

[Chevy cHaze]

Hi Mr R,
The further away they are from the sensor, the wetter the medium will get before the moisture reaches the sensor.... You can use one or a couple... more will give you a more even distribution of moisture though.
In the end with blumats the flow of water will be stopped when the moisture has distributed through the medium from the dripper to the sensor which picks up the water and the increasing inner pressure of the sensor closes the valve....
I would say per sensor, one dripper is enough, at least I never needed more...
I think you would set the sensor without the satellite drippers, it sets the level of moisture in the medium , if you split the output of water to two exit spots it will not make a difference

Hope this helps a bit and good luck buddy

 

[Ez Rider]

I added the saucers under my pots yesterday,, and this morning I was able to locate the 1 runaway. Unfortunately, due to the excess water in the tray/ resulting high RH, I appear to have a little bit of powdery mildew going on. Nothing crazy, just a few random spots on the leaves. I've never dealt with this before. Am I screwed? What do I do? I need to head to work now, but would appreciate some guidance. I've only got time for so many threads.

 

[rives]

I battle low humidity, so I've never had to deal with PM. I know that Krunch recommended Eagle 20 for it in early veg, link to his thread below. There is lot's of discussion about various methods to control it.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=161425

 

[Ez Rider]

I battle low humidity, so I've never had to deal with PM. I know that Krunch recommended Eagle 20 for it in early veg, link to his thread below. There is lot's of discussion about various methods to control it.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=161425

I think the PM is a result of too much runoff in the trays , coupled with too many plants in the tent. The GIGANTIC leaves on the sourbubbles don't help either. I need to lollipop the plants, and possibly thin the herd out some. I picked up a product called "Immunox". Basically, it's a more diluted form of eagle 20. 1oz/gallon instead of 2ml. The active ingredient(Myclobutanil) is the same. It comes in a 16oz bottle, so it makes 16gals for ~$17 OTD. My garden store recommends it as more economic/practical for small growers than the eagle 20. Although they sell it as well.

All I can say about the saucers is...BRILLIANT! None of the saucers are overflowing anymore, but I am still getting some runoff in a few. I'm down to 1/2 arrow adjustments on those. Maybe another day or 2, and I'll be completely dialed on the blumats. Next round, I'll try your method of adjusting just to a clinging drip, instead of dialing them back 2 arrows.

I picked up the last of my dual res parts along with the Immunox. I'm hoping to get it up and running this weekend. I'm opting for a 10gal rubbermaid tote as my upper, but I'll plumb it so that it overflows at ~4.5 gals. My gorilla tent's roof should support the weight with a thin piece of plywood under the tote, to bridge the roof supports. The gorilla tent has a VERY strong roof.

Thanks Rives, for all the excellent advise/info. I hope to pass it on

 

[rives]

I missed it before, but if you are moving as much as "arrow adjustments", that is usually way too much. Normally moving the cap one or two of the little hashmarks at a time works out better. They are sensitive little bastards!

 

[Marlo]

What are peoples thoughts on moisture levels of the pot?

Been thinking about this quite a bit lately... in soil grows.

Are you guys running blumats in soil leaning towards more or less saturation? I'm assuming it is less saturated than a coco grow would be, but I'd like to hear from some of you guys.
I have been lightly watering my veg'n plants on a daily basis to keep the soil moist (to mimic blumat's consistent moisture). No runoff, just watering a cpl oz's a day. The plants were growing rapidly and I noticed my roots look better than ever. Big fuzzy white roots coming out the bottom of my 6" pots. The fan leaves however were showing some signs of overwatering. So I let the pots dry out for a day and a half. The pots were lighter, but not dry. I did notice however, many of the 1/2" roots that were sticking out of the bottom of the pot had dried up and died. Not cool. So I'm going to be aiming for a happy medium between the two.

I have already added more perlite to my organic soil mix to get more air to the roots since the blumats will keep the soil consistently more moist than my normal grows. I'm guessing by the looks of my roots, they like it alot. But I'd like to hear what you soil + blumat users are doing.

 

[Lapides]

Been thinking about this quite a bit lately... in soil grows.

Are you guys running blumats in soil leaning towards more or less saturation? I'm assuming it is less saturated than a coco grow would be, but I'd like to hear from some of you guys.
I have been lightly watering my veg'n plants on a daily basis to keep the soil moist (to mimic blumat's consistent moisture). No runoff, just watering a cpl oz's a day. The plants were growing rapidly and I noticed my roots look better than ever. Big fuzzy white roots coming out the bottom of my 6" pots. The fan leaves however were showing some signs of overwatering. So I let the pots dry out for a day and a half. The pots were lighter, but not dry. I did notice however, many of the 1/2" roots that were sticking out of the bottom of the pot had dried up and died. Not cool. So I'm going to be aiming for a happy medium between the two.

I have already added more perlite to my organic soil mix to get more air to the roots since the blumats will keep the soil consistently more moist than my normal grows. I'm guessing by the looks of my roots, they like it alot. But I'd like to hear what you soil + blumat users are doing.

I try to open the drippers up as far as they'll go without 'running away' on me.

So I tend to stay on the wetter side of things. I grow in beds and not containers, so I'm sure your mileage will vary.

 

[4tokin]

First BM run

First BM run

Wow that was an epic 200+ pages.

Here is my effort.


600w HPS


Number 2 smart pots with coco. I use a layer of balls on top to stop the top layer of coco drying out and also a layer of balls in the bottom of the smart pots which helps with lower pot drainage and helps stops the girls getting wet bums.
With the coco I am finding a firm pack to be beneficial and with moisture content I tend to go the drier side of moist. What I aim for is a damp stain under the pot not wet. Also I found this moisture meter I find it helps in the dial in stage it is also good to compare the different pots moisture contents.


Rez's are rez's. Next run I will be down sizing my rez's considerably as I am using way less nutes than with hand watering so I now dont need so much capacity.


With my rez over flow pipe I filled it with aquarium filter stones. It seems to have solved any slime/ gunk build up in the rez's

Aeration at the base of the overflow.




So far I am happy with the simplicity and performance of the blumats.
One thing no one has mentioned is the green/environmental benefits using blumats. That is if there is no run off there is minimal nutrients escaping into the environment. Something that bothered me as I would use 44 gallons a week with the run off going into the environment.

 

[Dave Coulier]

4tokin, welcome to the world of Blumats. They're amazing.

I must inform you that putting hydroton balls in the bottom of your container to improve drainage is actually an old myth that wont die. It actually is doing more harm by reducing your soil volume, which results in your perched water table taking up a larger volume of your media as a direct result.

While it seems like water would drain more freely since you have larger pore spaces among the hydroton balls, but the reality is, the capillary action of your media is > than that of the hydroton balls. As a result, the water/moisture doesn't want to move from a higher zone to a lower zone unless completely saturated.

Ditch the balls on the bottom, and use more media. Besides were not seeking any drainage with Blumats. Were searching for that perfect moisture content that doesn't involve drainage.

 

[4tokin]

4tokin, welcome to the world of Blumats. They're amazing.

I must inform you that putting hydroton balls in the bottom of your container to improve drainage is actually an old myth that wont die. It actually is doing more harm by reducing your soil volume, which results in your perched water table taking up a larger volume of your media as a direct result.

While it seems like water would drain more freely since you have larger pore spaces among the hydroton balls, but the reality is, the capillary action of your media is > than that of the hydroton balls. As a result, the water/moisture doesn't want to move from a higher zone to a lower zone unless completely saturated.

Ditch the balls on the bottom, and use more media. Besides were not seeking any drainage with Blumats. Were searching for that perfect moisture content that doesn't involve drainage.

Hi Dave
The bottom balls was just something that developed after years of trial and error. It certainly worked in my situation as I always had unhealthy yellow roots at the bottom of the pots, with the balls nice and white. But having said that I am willing to adapt to the intricacies of new grow styles.

 

[Dave Coulier]

Hi Dave
The bottom balls was just something that developed after years of trial and error. It certainly worked in my situation as I always had unhealthy yellow roots at the bottom of the pots, with the balls nice and white. But having said that I am willing to adapt to the intricacies of new grow styles.

Im glad you've had better results using them, but once you get used to the blumats you'll see they're no longer needed. The bottom of your pots will be loaded with lots of white fuzzy roots if you get the moisture level correct. Best of luck with em.

 

[4tokin]

Im glad you've had better results using them, but once you get used to the blumats you'll see they're no longer needed. The bottom of your pots will be loaded with lots of white fuzzy roots if you get the moisture level correct. Best of luck with em.

Its funny that you raised the issue as I am trailing using plastic mesh under the pots instead using the balls to achieve the same result with the benefit of the extra grow media.
If you look at the second pic you will see the mesh under the pots. I cut the bases out of the plastic crates they deliver bread in.

 

[Ez Rider]

I missed it before, but if you are moving as much as "arrow adjustments", that is usually way too much. Normally moving the cap one or two of the little hashmarks at a time works out better. They are sensitive little bastards!

I'm finding this to be true. Once I get close to adjusted. if I go a full arrow I get either a runaway or a dry pot, depending. About 1/4 arrow is the smallest movement I can judge. Still fine tuning. I'm tempted to hand water all the pots to saturation, then adjust to the clinging drip, like you do. At the moment, about 1/3 are just right, 1/3 too wet, 1/3 too dry. I got overzealous with my initial adjustments I think. I did a small adjustment yesterday while I was lollipopping. I noticed that the "just right" pots are all developing root mass under the drip. I'm using my 10gal tote as a stand-alone res for the moment. The ph of PBP drifts up as it sits, and running a smaller res/daily refills seems the easiest solution at present. I'm still looking at the dual res set-up, but I need to keep the ph of the feed more stable. It quickly drifts up to 6.5+(5.8 start) if I leave 30+gals sitting in the res.

I was able to defoliate and spray Immunox for the pm...we'll see how it works. Still having a little trouble with high rh's, but the weather has been extremely humid.

 

[4tokin]

Still fine tuning. I'm tempted to hand water all the pots to saturation, then adjust to the clinging drip, like you do. At the moment, about 1/3 are just right, 1/3 too wet, 1/3 too dry.

Being my first run I am feeling your pain.

Getting the coco wet enough to keep the plant alive is one thing but the hard part is finding that sweet spot that provides the right level of moisture with the right nutrient load.

I am finding a flowering plant likes a wetter medium than a seedling so for a while I was stuck on the dry side of where I needed to be. At lights on I would check the pots moisture levels. For those that where on the dry side I used a small watering can and slowly water the plant where it drips from the blumat until I get a touch of run off. Once this was achieved let the pot sit for half an hour to settle then adjust the blumat to cling/slow drip.
After a week or so I am now down to the small line adjustments.

At this point they have all sufficiently recovered to looking half decent after some abuse while dialling in. At this point I look to the healthiest plant and use it to bench mark the moisture levels for the others. Adjusting drip rates up or down to suit.It looks like I am finally getting into the rhythm of these things.

 

[VirginHarvester]

Question: If I wanted to grow but also needed to be gone on business for as many as 5 days at a time are blumats predictable and effective? I realize it could be a bad idea for other reasons(power failure, fire, etc) but if I had to, would blumats work? My only other option would be to soak the soil and that could cause other problems.