I'll be putting these into use within the next week, as soon as I transplant... pics of the setup will be taken and posted here.
Tropf Blumat Unboxing + Instruction Manual
- Thread starter GrnMtnGrwr
- Start date
I'll be putting these into use within the next week, as soon as I transplant... pics of the setup will be taken and posted here.
Hehe I just picked up 150 of these yesterday, plus a few hundred meters of 3mm tubing. I ended up getting a bunch of 3/32" black plastic barbed tees from Kentsystems.com for $0.22 each, two blumats per tee and waay cheaper than ordering fittings from Rambridge!
If your Hydro shop doesn't carry them, Tradewinds distributing out of Sacramento is the West Coast wholesaler for Tropf Blumat stuff.
If your Hydro shop doesn't carry them, Tradewinds distributing out of Sacramento is the West Coast wholesaler for Tropf Blumat stuff.
D
dunkybones
I've been curious about these puppies for awhile. I subscribed to this thread, Good luck , Green Mountain.
Blckbrd, you don't want the juniors, those ones water through the cone, not the line.
The valves have to be filled with water and then soaked overnight to activate them, then pushed into an overwatered medium. Then they will start working. If they dry out they have to be pulled and reactivated again. I'm planning on adding some drip-clean to my reservoirs to help keep the tiny 3mm tubing clean and free-flowing too.
The only other system I know of that is demand-based is a wick system, which I don't think would be practical for large grows. Not that the Blumats are entirely practical either, but I've designed my reservoirs around them.
The valves have to be filled with water and then soaked overnight to activate them, then pushed into an overwatered medium. Then they will start working. If they dry out they have to be pulled and reactivated again. I'm planning on adding some drip-clean to my reservoirs to help keep the tiny 3mm tubing clean and free-flowing too.
The only other system I know of that is demand-based is a wick system, which I don't think would be practical for large grows. Not that the Blumats are entirely practical either, but I've designed my reservoirs around them.
Blckbrd
Member
Thanks Lazyman. I like the way the juniors feed in that I could have a large container near and higher than say 5 or 6 plants in 3 gal containers and just run the feeder lines into the container.
The larger pressure-fed Blumats look like they have to be rigged to a faucet and that would just be feeding them plain H2O. How are you planning on pressurizing your nutrient feed? Or am I missing something .... can the larger blumats function on the "siphon" principle?
The larger pressure-fed Blumats look like they have to be rigged to a faucet and that would just be feeding them plain H2O. How are you planning on pressurizing your nutrient feed? Or am I missing something .... can the larger blumats function on the "siphon" principle?
Yep, both valves feed on the same gravity fed system, but the juniors water through the cone, so you can't really use nutes without clogging them. The Regular tropf blumats water through a 3mm surgical tube and are less prone to clogging. You should only need one blumat per container until you hit about a 8-10 gallon pot of soil/coco.
If you don't want to use a reservoir you can use their pressure reducer and an inline fertigator like Farmtek sells, but that will take a good amount of dial-in and several units for adding in any multi-part nutes. I would maybe try it with Floranova diluted a bit in the 3 gallon unit and use an inline sediment filter after it, so it doesn't clog up the lines.
If you don't want to use a reservoir you can use their pressure reducer and an inline fertigator like Farmtek sells, but that will take a good amount of dial-in and several units for adding in any multi-part nutes. I would maybe try it with Floranova diluted a bit in the 3 gallon unit and use an inline sediment filter after it, so it doesn't clog up the lines.
Blckbrd
Member
Nice. Thanks! This looks awesome ... just what I need. I'd prefer the reservoir & am thinking having a small submersible pump running in there would keep it mixed properly.
One per container/plant, huh? If the cone is the moisture sensor and if each of the containers/ are essentially equal, would one blumat regulate feeding two or three containers?
Doesn't look like there are a lot of vendors - I found "Sustainable Village." Any others you'd recommend?
Nevermind ... I overlooked EBAY - duh!
One per container/plant, huh? If the cone is the moisture sensor and if each of the containers/ are essentially equal, would one blumat regulate feeding two or three containers?
Doesn't look like there are a lot of vendors - I found "Sustainable Village." Any others you'd recommend?
Nevermind ... I overlooked EBAY - duh!
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Yeah you can use a submersible pump, I prefer air pumps/stones to circulate the reservoirs though.
Yep you can configure the system to use one blumat as a sensor and use multiple drippers off of it, but I'm told it doesn't work as well and to avoid it. One blumat per pot please.
Yeah I've heard sustainable village carries them, there are also some knockoffs on amazon (search autowaterer) I got mine from my local hydro store via Tradewinds distributing in Sacramento CA. I ordered a bunch of 3/32" plastic barbed tees from kentsystems.com for $0.22 each, they fit the blumat tubing a little snug (2.4mm tee vs 2mm hose) but not too tough at all. This is about 1/4 the price you'd pay for the real BLumat 3mm tees, they are ridiculous!
Yep you can configure the system to use one blumat as a sensor and use multiple drippers off of it, but I'm told it doesn't work as well and to avoid it. One blumat per pot please.
Yeah I've heard sustainable village carries them, there are also some knockoffs on amazon (search autowaterer) I got mine from my local hydro store via Tradewinds distributing in Sacramento CA. I ordered a bunch of 3/32" plastic barbed tees from kentsystems.com for $0.22 each, they fit the blumat tubing a little snug (2.4mm tee vs 2mm hose) but not too tough at all. This is about 1/4 the price you'd pay for the real BLumat 3mm tees, they are ridiculous!
Exactly, couldn't be cooler, and every plant gets exactly as much water as they want, you just set the overall moisture level in each pot and the valve maintains that forever. If you want to make it so you can go on vacation and the girls never run out of water, check out my reservoir automation thread in my sig. It doesn't even require power either, so still good for outdoor ops if needed.
Thanks for all the info Lazyman! 
