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blumat for coco okay???

bearklaw

Member
just started coco yesterday and need to get some drippage going...was looking at the blumat on fleabay...thank's bear








forgot to add ...using 70 g. tank with water moving.(used the search button) .duh...blumat all over...made my own drip two year ago, but want too try blumat. just dont want to piss away 80 bucks...been gone while...Nice to bee back...happy growing all...
 
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bearklaw

Member
strarting to read the (Blumat auto watering). 218 page thread, 10 pages so far...some seem to know, but some don't...need too weed out the good from bad...
 
Hi Bearklaw,
Blumats will work perfect in coco ;)

Ive been using Blumats in coco and airpots for years now and distribute them.
Like you said, some people understand them, some dont.

I will give you some golden advice for your setup.

#1. If you are using coco, you want to have them set at maximum saturation (wetness)
One of the biggest mistakes people make with coco/blumats is having the medium too dry.
Remember that coco has perfect air to water ratio, it can never be too wet.
If the medium is too dry, the carrot will dry out and cause problems like air in the cone. Coco is hydro, not soil, so treat it like hydro. people follow the 'clinging droplet' rule on the instructions, but this only applies to soil.

#2 Always have the dripper hose at least 8cm, not shorter. Some people say that shorter gives better response, but it serves no use. Longer dripper hose means a larger drop which in turn means better penetration throughout the pot. Use of a dripper hose stake is important also. Always insert the carrot right up to the green but keep the end of the hose at least an inch off the ground or roots will grow up and into the hose.

Best way to setup for coco is:

Hand water until roots show at bottom of pot.

Insert prepared Blumat halfway between the stem and the outside of the pot and position the dripper line half way as well.

Tighten the blumat adjustment firmly, but not tight.

Water the pot slowly and thoroughly until water starts to drip from the bottom of the pot. Watering slowly will properly saturate the coco and give minimal waste runoff.

Allow the pot to sit and drain for 15 minutes.

Bleed nutrient through to the end of the main nutrient line (The larger tube from the reservoir) to remove all bubbles.

Now loosen the blumat adjuster so that nutrient lightly streams out of the dripper line.

Pull the dripper line that goes through the top of the Blumat through about 1cm and pinch to make sure it is not stuck together. This common happens as the dripper line can stick shut from the factory as they generally tighten the Blumat in production.

Tighten the Blumat slowly until it drips every 8-10 seconds (watch for about 2 minutes and count the time it takes to drip)

Check every day but dont adjust unless over flow is imminent.

If it is flooding a little, adjust the Blumat tighter by 1 increment every 3 days

If the pot feels a little dry or you would like a little more moisture, DONT LOOSEN TO MAKE THE DROPS FASTER! Just pull the dripper line out a little further from 8cm to 8.5cm and so on.

The perfect saturation would be wet with just a tiny bit of runoff, just enough runoff that it will simply evaporate in the saucer under the pot.

It is still recommended that you actually use a bucket under the pot for the first 2 grows as you will tweak with it as we all did and you will have a few floods here and there. A bucket will buy you some time to correct your errors without having a giant watery mess ;)

As a personal note, I would recommend the use of H&G Drip Clean to your mix. It's cheap and lasts a long time. Reduces salt buildup and keeps your Blumat lines clean throughout the grow ;)

Cheers!
 

Nek Minnit

New member
definitely invest in them,, once dialled u will never wanna do it any other way,, just follow everything jimmy has posted above,,haha,, and keep ur ladies on/in a flood table to contain any flooding mishap
 
Z

Ziggaro

It's the same price and less worry/hassle to install a drip system. I'm using a pond pump, digital timer, 1/4 inch drip lines, and basket stakes.
Altogether it probably cost $60 and I don't have to worry about a runaway rez nearly as much. I've heard of many instances of blumats sticking open or closed. Also remember you are using gravity to feed so you have to find a high place to put your res.
Just make sure you make an anti-siphon hole to drain back into the rez if you're using a pump--took me a couple days to figure out why my res was going so fast lol
 

flat9

Member
Questions for those blumats and coco peeps:

1) For a properly dialed vertical grow (i.e., temperature and humidity controlled), what are reasonable expectations in terms of yield?

2) I'm using Canna Coco. Should I mix my Canna Coco with perlite, hydroton, etc.? What ratio? Why?

3) Is Drip Clean necessary?
 
O

otis33

1. my blumat grow is my first to crack 1gpw
2. I sometimes have perlite, but I've read too much aeration can mess up the sensors.
3. drip clean isn't necessary, but I won't go with out it(1mg/gal)
 

flat9

Member
Hi otis thanks bro. Which grow? Link?

So you recommend straight coco and no perlite whatsoever? What veg time?

Also, I thought you ran PPKs? Not sure but I think I saw some thread on here where you were running PPKs.
 
O

otis33

I run ppks as well as blumats... and beds... and dtw in air pots:biggrin:
I don't know how to post a link, I'm not too computer savvy, but it's in my otis'vert experiment thread. I do sometimes do coco/perlite 70/30 and sometimes do straight coco. I don't know if the perlite makes a difference with blumats just don't use too much. I usually average.7-.8 gpw.
 
O

otis33

veg time varies, the blumat grow is in a stacked donut screen contraption so veg big enough that, hopefully, I can fill the screens by the end of stretch. I've also grown 5-6 footers with blumats and 2gal airpots, those were vegged for at least a month. veg time really depends on your space and set up.
 

Thachrizzy

Member
I have used the Tropf Blumat Maxi's in coco extensively. Make sure that you do use drip clean. The drip line clogs very easily.

Here are some instructions to help you along the way:

http://www.magicplant.net/img/operating_instructions.pdf

Make sure and use the Tropf Blumat Maxi, not the regular Tropf Blumat. The Maxi's are the longer ones, and they allow for sensing moisture deeper in the rootzone, rather than just the top.

Have fun, you will love these!
 

flat9

Member
Hey otis what's your ppk design? I just see the big plant ppk but the older ppk threads have no more pics so it's pretty much impossible to follow.

Which would you recommend -- blumats or ppks?
 
O

otis33

I need to add that my current blumat grow looks like it will only yield 2.5lbs, temps are getting really cold and I haven't got the space heater out of storage.... flat 9, I have and small ppk that's an older version that uses tire valve stems for the bulk head fittings, it does the job, but it is inferior to the newer high flow design with the carlon fittings and garden hose. blumats and ppk grow can both be easily set and forget as long as all the parameters of the grow are in check. I'm not getting rid of either any time soon. I'm in the middle of putting together a couple new rooms and I'm debating whether to do a4 plant 5 light ppk or a couple coco beds. I have enough blumats to do another blumat room. I'm having trouble choosing which method to run with because I see the potential in all of them. people with dialed ppk grows are killing it in the yield department. if I would pick one system and dial it to the fullest, I'd be killing it in the yield department too, but I have add, so I'm always switching it up. sorry for the ramble.
 

flat9

Member
The ramble is quite appreciated. I wanna get a consistent yield of, say, 0.6+ gpw with about a month of veg time. Is this realistic w/ good genetics?

I'm plant limited here in WA to 15, so if I expand my operation I will go the big plant PPK route a la D9 (I have made one already actually and I'm having some trouble with it -- think I didn't wash the 8822 well enough). For this run, though, think I'm going to do 8 in 2 gal geopots with this setup:

x---x
--o--
x---x
x---x
--o--
x---x

Vertically hung, start w/ just one 600 in each location and then add another 600 above it in flower
 
O

otis33

.6 is a reasonable goal, my first grow was 8 plants around a1k and I got 26 oz+a bunch of larf.
 

flat9

Member
What was your veg time Otis?

Also, for Otis and anyone else w/ experience, I just set up the blumats in 2 gallon geopots w/ straight coco, and it seems that they saturate the medium pretty well. I'm getting just a tiny bit of nutrient solution collecting in the trays below. Have a couple of questions about this:

1) Should I have more runoff, less (i.e., no) runoff, or is this about right?
2) Should I elevate the geopots above the collection tray somehow such that the won't sit in any runoff?
 

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