Blumat auto watering

greenmatter · Feb 26, 2012

^^^^^^ anybody????? does it sound logical?

Tyga · Feb 26, 2012

Set my blumats up last week.... Going over to see if they are doing there job! Also going to fix it to a closed loop to try and stop any air bubbles.

Tyga · Feb 26, 2012

Lookin' good in these necks of the woods..

rives · Feb 27, 2012

greenmatter said:
i have plants on two different levels so i am going to run more than one rez bucket. i will have almost a meter of drop for the upper row. running 1/2'' supply line for a 25 foot loop that should be more than enough drop right?????

greenmatter said:
^^^^^^ anybody????? does it sound logical?

First, you don't really need two reservoirs because of the two different levels of plants - one would work fine.

A meter doesn't sound like much head pressure for the length of tubing that you plan on running. If I remember correctly, there is a guide in the instruction booklet or on the blumat web site regarding elevation vs length of tubing. When I get a chance I'll see if I can find it.

greenmatter · Feb 27, 2012

^^^^^^^^

the reason for more than one res is that my grow is perpetual, multi strain and multi grow media. i could be using plain water and lucas on the same level at the same time. if that sounds like a clusterfuck, you are absolutely correct, it is, but i am use to it.

this is a long thread with a ton of information in it, so please don't think i'm arguing ...... i am really not sure i have everything memorized correctly so i am just checking

i thought that for every 5 meters/17 feet of 8mm supply line the res had to be 50 cm above the drippers.

by that math i should be good on height and distance with the 8mm supply (i think). and i am using 1/2" supply line on a loop which i thought would both drop the friction and cut the actual distance in half.

heady blunts · Feb 27, 2012

+Vibes · Feb 27, 2012

I want to service my res and lines LESS!
what if i hooked up a submersible h2o pump in the res to one side of my feed line loop, and had it turn on a few times a day. out with the old, in with the new. it wouldn't introduce air bubbles, and could possibly keep a nice stable circulated nute mix in the lines and res.

i have always been against extra mechanical help with the blumats just because gravity works so well, but i figured an air pump is the same thing, and air stones just give me reservoir sediment.

think that would be beneficial?

Slangheat · Feb 27, 2012

Maj.Cottonmouth said:
I want to be able to water from a res with a pump. No plumbing in the space.

I want to do the same thing - run the loop design from a non-elevated res with a pond pump, up to a height of 6ft where I have plants high up but cannot gravity feed. (even with 2 res setup)

I've been running the blumats for a year now gravity-feed style, and I would think that a small pond pump pushing water up and looped back down to the rez would keep the line pressurized the same as gravity... assuming I keep the water level consistent.

Continuous running pump since it loops back into the rez anyways, any so long as Im below 14 psi I shouldn't need a pressure reducer..

wish there were easy to find examples of this, I've seen a few people ask about it now... guess I'll have to just go for it my next run and live through any issues.

Maj.Cottonmouth · Feb 27, 2012

greenmatter said:
so here is the plan ........

i've got 4 control buckets from an ebb and flow system that i think would be perfect for the res issue. i figured i would build a shelf as high as possible for those and use 1/2" black poly line for a loop. the loop should be under 25 feet, and i will put a T with a drain valve at the lowest point

if i understood correctly kent systems carries 3/32 T's that i can go from the poly to the 3mm blumat supply line with and if i push the T in through the bottom of the poly line it will save me some air bubble issues.

i have plants on two different levels so i am going to run more than one rez bucket. i will have almost a meter of drop for the upper row. running 1/2'' supply line for a 25 foot loop that should be more than enough drop right?????

i know having some extra 3 mm on each plant makes life lots easier. would using as much as necessary but as little as possible be a good rule of thumb?

please throw in your two cents!!! if i am missing something please yell!!

The way I read it the res will need to be about 1 meter / 3 feet above the highest blumat to work over 10 meters / 30 feet so you should be fine but I do not know if the larger size tubing will have the same psi.

Maj.Cottonmouth · Feb 27, 2012

Slangheat said:
I want to do the same thing - run the loop design from a non-elevated res with a pond pump, up to a height of 6ft where I have plants high up but cannot gravity feed. (even with 2 res setup)

I've been running the blumats for a year now gravity-feed style, and I would think that a small pond pump pushing water up and looped back down to the rez would keep the line pressurized the same as gravity... assuming I keep the water level consistent.

Continuous running pump since it loops back into the rez anyways, any so long as Im below 14 psi I shouldn't need a pressure reducer..

wish there were easy to find examples of this, I've seen a few people ask about it now... guess I'll have to just go for it my next run and live through any issues.

A loop is a great idea, a valve on the end where it returns to the res would allow for pressure adjustment and pressure would be consistent regardless of water level as long as the pump had water. Thanks man.

Maj.Cottonmouth · Feb 27, 2012

+Vibes said:
I want to service my res and lines LESS!
what if i hooked up a submersible h2o pump in the res to one side of my feed line loop, and had it turn on a few times a day. out with the old, in with the new. it wouldn't introduce air bubbles, and could possibly keep a nice stable circulated nute mix in the lines and res.

i have always been against extra mechanical help with the blumats just because gravity works so well, but i figured an air pump is the same thing, and air stones just give me reservoir sediment.

think that would be beneficial?

I am thinking of using a pump but have it run all the time so it will create DO where it returns to the res and it also recirculates the nutes.

rives · Feb 27, 2012

greenmatter said:
i thought that for every 5 meters/17 feet of 8mm supply line the res had to be 50 cm above the drippers.

by that math i should be good on height and distance with the 8mm supply (i think). and i am using 1/2" supply line on a loop which i thought would both drop the friction and cut the actual distance in half.

Looks like your good - Heady found what I was thinking about before I could dig it up. And yes, the larger hose will definitely cut down on the internal friction in the hose.

Something to bear in mind - these things seem to respond better with higher pressures. Sunnydog has had much better results since he went to the regulator, and a while back I remodeled and raised my rez as far as I could. It is now about 4' above the drippers (I only had about 10' of 8mm hose), and had been about 30" before. I have had far fewer runaways since changing.

Canniwhatsis · Feb 27, 2012

Stupid question..... Using TROPF bluemats and a lower rez with a pump,.... can one run salt based nutes thru them?

Tyga · Feb 27, 2012

Do you guys find that you use A LOT less water than if you where hand watering.... Ive had my blumats installed for 3 days and the water level seemed to have barley dropped....but the soil seems moist which is weird.... not wet but when I stick my finger in it feels cool and moist sorta. If I watch the blumats they are dripping small amounts of water... Like a drop every 5 or 6 seconds

redbudduckfoot · Feb 28, 2012

yeah dog, way less water. i am currently running 36+ #5 pots under 5K on day 15 of flower and i am only using about 10 gallons of water a day. i use 10 gallons a day at my hand-fed 2.2K grow. so yeah, way less.

greenmatter · Feb 28, 2012

one last question before i hook up with kent systems (which is located in colorado AND has a will call desk that will deal with you in cash :jump:

)

i read about people using the 3/32" or 2.25mm barb fittings, but kent also carries 1/8" or 3mm barb fittings.

why go with the 2.25mm instead of the 3mm ? i must be missing something. does the 3mm silicone blumat line not fit over the 1/8" barb? or will the 1/8" barbs work?

and is there anything at kent that i should get so i have it on the shelf?

NorthernKronic · Feb 29, 2012

Just setup 38 of these is flower on 3 rez's (perpetual) Pretty damn stoked that I wont have to get in my small ass space any more.. Less space taken up by me, means more space for plants.. Gotta setup the last 10 I have in the veg tent tonight. Speaking of which I should go and drill that last rez right now!

-N.Kron :rasta:

ArcticBlast · Mar 1, 2012

NK, do you have a link to your setup? I'm trying to set up my perpetual with blumats too :joint:

ArcticBlast

ArcticBlast · Mar 2, 2012

I'll bump for more info :joint:

I'm building this room with 40-50 2 gallon bags on coco, i have 2 blumat patio and balcony kits. I'm trying to go perpetual, so i was thinking 2 different reservoirs, maybe 3(?), but i dont know how to hook these up... should i have 1 "carrot" in the first bag of the row, and all the drippers come off of that one? is this even possible?

here's a pic, pardon the mess, i'm still trying to clean it and arrange it the way i want it :joint:

this is a view from the veg room door

thanks for any/all help! :joint:

ArcticBlast

~Shhh~ · Mar 2, 2012

Artic Blast you will need 1 carrot per bag, the 8mm line runs from your rez to the T's that come with the kit, the T's then connect to the 3mm drip line.

Blumat auto watering

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