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Blumat Newbie Gotcha!

TychoMonolyth

TychoMonolyth

Boreal Curing
I'm new to Blumats

I was going away for 3 weeks and decided to get Blumat Jrs to do the watering for me. I had culled 2 Autoflowers from 4 seedlings. Since there was a possibility that the trip could have been extended another 2 weeks, I decided to use a large reservoir (20lt water jug). A month before I left, I installed the Blumats to test and they were working perfectly. When I left, plants were booming.
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When I got back, my plants were dry as a bone and my Blumats were just sitting there and the water reservoir was still near full. I put both plants in the shower for a good re-hydrating. The big one pulled through, and the runt never came back. I examined the Blumats and they seemed fine. I decided to wash it all out and put it away. When I cleaned the feeder line, I put the line to my mouth to blow out any water. A a couple snakes of slime dropped out. Line was plugged with algae.

In hindsight, before I left, the water in my reservoir looked a little cloudy (slaps forehead - If I had changed it, I would have pretty big plants by now).

The lesson:
Keep the water/nutes fresh.


The question:
How often should you change the water? Does adding liquid nutes affect the water refresh schedule?

My thoughts are once a month. Is that too long to wait?
(btw, I'm using a 1 liter bottle now. lol)

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AgentPothead

AgentPothead

Just this guy, ya know?
I don't know, but I feel like using whatever hydro people use to keep their reservoirs algae/gunk free would probably be a huge boon to blumats.
 
big315smooth

big315smooth

mama tried
Veteran
I had a similar plan tycho i found it hard to travel out sometimes without being chained to the grows. i thought about building a gravity fed slow water drip system using old hydro tubes and equipment.
 
TychoMonolyth

TychoMonolyth

Boreal Curing
I like drip systems but I've read about a few systems that "ran away" and flooded. I love the idea of a bullet proof drip system though. I think one key is to use a good supersoil and have ONLY water in the reservoir. No Nutes.

When it comes to larger reservoirs, I think AgentPothead is onto something.

I have to look this up.
 
Rodehazrd

Rodehazrd

Well-known member
Hey there Tyco
If you keep them moist with the blumats and then hand feed to runoff on top of that would that be an issue? I read somewhere its better to feed a wet plant as it gets better distribution.
I use 30 gal totes with 8" water in the bottom one and a netpot cut in the inner one. I usually let the water level drop a little before top feeding. Depending on where in the stretch it is I can be gone easily 14 days without harm. Just not the first weeks of stretch then they take several gallons a day. I keep an air stone in the bottom pot between two 6"sanitary tee's. I am trying other containers and watering systems but always seem to come back to this system.
 
TychoMonolyth

TychoMonolyth

Boreal Curing
I decided to not be so lazy and switched to 1 liter clear water bottles that I top up once a week. I switch out the bottles and wash them out with bleach because green algae grows in them after two weeks. It's been working great so far. I have them in a hot supersoil so I don't have to feed them.

The plant was reversed (sts) and has since finished producing its pollen/flowers and seeds but I decided to keep it alive and it started revegging. Strange. Never seen an auto reveg, but I've never let one go for so long either.

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TychoMonolyth

TychoMonolyth

Boreal Curing
Update:
Being the cheapo that I am, I picked up some fake blumats from Amazon. I mean 12 carrots for $23 canadian pesos was a deal I couldn't resist.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B074YSW7HB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
61b09ExiX6L._SX569_.jpg


I had one reservoir above one plant, and another plant was just above the reservoir. The top plant was and is still taking up water as it needs it, but the bottom plant just siphoned off the whole reservoir. Good thing I had a tray under it.

These imitation Blumats are fine as long as the reservoir isn't sitting way your plant.

I'll try to lower the reservoir and see how low it can get before it stops taking up water.
 
Fitzera

Fitzera

Active member
I'm going to suggest that using a clear jug as the reservoir was the problem. Ive never had clogged lines due to algae as I use a black garbage can with a lid. I also run 2 air stones just to make sure it cant somehow get anaerobic. I've gone away for weeks without problems on my return.
 
PurplePotion

PurplePotion

Member
I’d suggest giving the standard Tropf Blumats a try; I’ve heard more complaints than praise from those using the Jr’s or the knock-offs. Setup an elevated 5gal bucket for your res (build a small shelf up high or put on floor above; think you need to be at least 3-5’ above the drip points). The Tropf Blumats are adjustable as well, which those do not look to be.
 
Fitzera

Fitzera

Active member
PurplePotion said:
I’d suggest giving the standard Tropf Blumats a try; I’ve heard more complaints than praise from those using the Jr’s or the knock-offs. Setup an elevated 5gal bucket for your res (build a small shelf up high or put on floor above; think you need to be at least 3-5’ above the drip points). The Tropf Blumats are adjustable as well, which those do not look to be.
Click to expand...

I cant quite tell but it looks like they work by siphon? Hard to tell without seeing them in person...Tyco, how does that version work?
 
Brother Nature

Brother Nature

Well-known member
The little 'carrots' are porous so when the soil dries out around one it 'sucks' the water through the pores. I use them to keep my indoor plants from drying out, but have also used them in a small PC grow to good success. They don't work well with added nutes though as the pores tend to clog, also found a small elevated res works best as the water cycles through before the alge grows in it. Using them for Auto flowers is a pretty cool idea too, hadn't thought of that.
 
Fitzera

Fitzera

Active member
Brother Nature said:
The little 'carrots' are porous so when the soil dries out around one it 'sucks' the water through the pores. I use them to keep my indoor plants from drying out, but have also used them in a small PC grow to good success. They don't work well with added nutes though as the pores tend to clog, also found a small elevated res works best as the water cycles through before the alge grows in it. Using them for Auto flowers is a pretty cool idea too, hadn't thought of that.
Click to expand...

Are you speaking about the knock offs? So rather than functioning a little valve, these actually dispense water through the ceramic? A wick and syphon system? I would be hesitant with a raised reservoir for a system like that.

Which leads me to think you're explaining how the blumats work...hence my question. I dont see an outlet on the knockoffs
 
Brother Nature

Brother Nature

Well-known member
I was talking about the Blumat Jr's, but the knock offs look to work exactly the same, the ceramic carrot is just a different color. No valves or drippers involved, just gravity. I'm only speaking from limited experience, but never had an issue with a raised res when I use them, but by raised I only mean just above plant level. Helps the soil mix stay more consistently moist, which is what I needed for the PC grow as the mix was very airy.
 
Fitzera

Fitzera

Active member
Thanks for the explanation. And now thinking about it I realize the ceramic prevents it from siphoning anymore than can be pulled through. Duh lol
 
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