greentrich
Member
Some Info....Long Post
Some Info....Long Post
I need to preface this by saying this is a looooong post...fair warning. In my defense though, I could write a damn novel with everything I've learned. These are just the cliff notes.
Ok, upon the request of at least one member to share my thoughts and experiences thus far with blumats...I thought it would be nice for those who are curious (and like to read) to post some info and thoughts I have so far:
First, a little background of my growing history. I haven't been at this for too long, only a couple years. On top of that I only grow a couple times a year. So in doing the math, you can figure out that this is my fifth grow. Point being is I don't consider myself too experienced and by no means an expert. I grow in a tent, and all of my previous grows have been hand watered. Which as I'm sure some of you know, can be a pain: Mix your fertigation solution, take the plants out, water them, put them back in, etc. At this point (5weeks) I would be spending at least 1.5 hours in my grow room every night. By the end...a solid 2hrs in there. Well having a family, that's not too cool. Get home from work, disappear for a couple hours, eat dinner go to bed. All the while the kids wondering where daddy is. Not very stealth. Not to mention the inconsistency for the plants caused by this method. I have read about very successful grows done by handwatering, but they were always watered multiple times a day. I can only afford one a day. I would always end up with one or two plants with phantom problems that were very difficult to diagnose, treat, and try to get to recover...if it ever did at all. Maybe I'm not that great at handwatering with my limited experience, but at this point...it absolutely does not matter as I will NEVER be going back.
Now on to this grow. Keep in mind this my first grow with any drip system, a res, and smart pots. With that being said, I pretty much had to trash any prior knowledge and experience I had with coco moisture levels. The only thing that has stayed static in this grow are all but one of the current strains, brand of coco, and nutes. I even added an air cooled hood to this, and bumped my flower light from a 400w to a 600w (still use a 400 for veg).
First, I can't stress enough how easy this grow has been. Not only easy, but efficient as well. I have ZERO waste of water and nutes. No runoff, no tossing out extra water I don't use...nothing is going to waste. I am growing some Indys and Sativas. Like I said above, I normally have an issue with at least one of my plants, and can usually count on at least one of the Sativas being one of the problem plants. I can also count on them to rear it's ugly problematic head by now. Well I'm looking, and I haven't found any issues so far. This is a completely problem free grow right now...which is unheard of for me. With that being said, we all know the different requirements of Sats and Indys. Well blumats help with that. The Sats I grow are picky little motherfuckers. So for them to be getting only what they need is stellar. The Indys get what they need to...all at different rates. But it's ok, blumats support them unlike any automated system I've seen others use. Normally when I read/observe a grower that has Indys and Sats, they need two separate drip systems for the different requirements. If they don't have two systems, then they have to supplement something somewhere. Not so here...one system covers them both. I do have canopy issues with height, but that's no fault of the blumats or pots I'm using...that one is allll me
.
I do have to admit I have a small plant with what looks like a MG def. However...this is my fault and know it, and I knew it would happen. It was a late germ'd seed and was waaaayyy too small to put in a 2g pot. But I did it anyway because I wanted to learn what to do, see if I could diagnose and treat it properly. If I lost it, I didn't care as it would have left me with 5-7 plants that would have no problem getting me through my next grow (this is all personal btw). Now I have to say this was the easiest fix I've ever done. I recognized the issue, applied a fix I had learned, and not only did it recover, but it actually healed some of the damage done from the def. This NEVER happens to me. Normally if I can fix a def, the damage stays and new growth is great. But my plant actually healed some of the damage. The rest of the plants...a picture of perfection.
On to some good points: Blumats. Blumats are nothing short of THE SHIT! The constant moisture and nute level achieved by these is phenomenal. They only get what they need, and don't get anything they don't. My coco tells the drippers when to drip, as opposed to a pump on a timer that waters your plants no matter their condition. This could lead to over/under watering, stacking nutes, etc.... A whole list of issues that I can think of, and I'm not even THAT experienced. I don't even need to mention the time saved by not handwatering. Actually, ya I do. I have not spent more than a half hour in my grow room...20 min of that was spent oogling over my plants. Normally I'm in there about 15 min...10 of which is still spent oogling over my plants and ACTUALLY ENJOYING MY GARDEN!!!! Kids don't wonder where I am, they don't even notice I'm not around. My wife absolutely loves it. These last two points may not pertain to everyone, but might to some. My nightly regimen goes like this: check the PH of the res, adjust if necessary..takes 2 min. Fucking done. That's it. Every Sunday morning I clean my res, which is almost empty by then. That takes 15 min to clean, wipe down, re fill, add nutes, balance, bleed the lines out to eliminate possible bubbles in the lines. A fucking monkey could do this, he just wouldn't enjoy as much as I do. My plants are so much more robust and stronger then they have been before. I can't imagine not using blumats.
I know this is a blumat thread, but I need to include a couple points about smart pots here. These things are crazy cool. If you haven't used them yet...you need to. My root structure in these is insane. So much lateral branching is going on that combined with blumats, it really is the most efficient grow I've done so far....nothing is wasted or just sitting in the medium. If it were...I would be experiencing some lockouts I'm sure. I don't want to spend too much time on them, so if anyone has comments or questions regarding smart pots, just hit me up outside of this thread.
So where are we? Oh ya...blumats. I have a 10g res that is now getting filled with 6g. Even then I'm doubting the 6g's ability to make it through the week. It's looking low already and I might have to fill early. I can also say that the water loss is NOT from evaporation as my EC has been very consistent. If water was evaporating, then my EC would be climbing and I'd have to babysit my PH. Well it's not, and I don't. On Sunday I leveled my EC out at 1.33. As of this morning (Wed) it's at...1.39. Last night was the only time I had to balance the PH. Even then I didn't have to, but I wanted to. My initial PH balance was 5.79 on Sun, last night it was 5.85. I brought it down to 5.8 even for the hell of it. I could easily let it go without it hitting 6.0. I'll let it run the rest of the week w/out balancing it. My guess is it ends up at 5.9. Still don't have to babysit shit, my grow is officially running itself. With the exception of some mild defoliating, it's hands off.
Some stats of my grow:
Number of Plants: 8
Coco: Botanicare Readygro Moisture Formula
Nutes: Botanicare PBP, Cal/Mag+, Silica Blast, some LK.
Res: 10g...using 6g of that, probably won't make it seven days anymore.
Temps 77 night/79 day
RH 55% solid
Smart Pots, DripClean, 400W veg/600W flower, SS2 air cooled hood, 3'x4'x7' tent.
If you made it through this whole post, I commend you. I know it's long. But I didn't want to include this info w/out giving some background of myself so the reader knows where I'm coming from and so everyone understands I'm not a pro and how easy this can be.
I also need it to be known that I didn't do this all on my own. Slowandeasy has been helping and mentoring me through this whole thing and assisting in my learning curve via ICmag. If anyone is fortunate enough to have him help, consider yourself real fucking lucky. Dude knows his shit and is a wealth of knowledge and experience. Granted,,,,he and I have some differences in our setup, but he got me up and going with basics and has continued to support and cheer me on.
Thank you to those who took the time to read this uber long diatribe. I hope it helps at least one person out. Any questions out there, I will happily assist to the best of my ability.
I have a need to pay it forward.
Thank you readers.
Most of all...thank you Slowandeasy for your continued support and assistance.
GT
Some Info....Long Post
I need to preface this by saying this is a looooong post...fair warning. In my defense though, I could write a damn novel with everything I've learned. These are just the cliff notes.
Ok, upon the request of at least one member to share my thoughts and experiences thus far with blumats...I thought it would be nice for those who are curious (and like to read) to post some info and thoughts I have so far:
First, a little background of my growing history. I haven't been at this for too long, only a couple years. On top of that I only grow a couple times a year. So in doing the math, you can figure out that this is my fifth grow. Point being is I don't consider myself too experienced and by no means an expert. I grow in a tent, and all of my previous grows have been hand watered. Which as I'm sure some of you know, can be a pain: Mix your fertigation solution, take the plants out, water them, put them back in, etc. At this point (5weeks) I would be spending at least 1.5 hours in my grow room every night. By the end...a solid 2hrs in there. Well having a family, that's not too cool. Get home from work, disappear for a couple hours, eat dinner go to bed. All the while the kids wondering where daddy is. Not very stealth. Not to mention the inconsistency for the plants caused by this method. I have read about very successful grows done by handwatering, but they were always watered multiple times a day. I can only afford one a day. I would always end up with one or two plants with phantom problems that were very difficult to diagnose, treat, and try to get to recover...if it ever did at all. Maybe I'm not that great at handwatering with my limited experience, but at this point...it absolutely does not matter as I will NEVER be going back.
Now on to this grow. Keep in mind this my first grow with any drip system, a res, and smart pots. With that being said, I pretty much had to trash any prior knowledge and experience I had with coco moisture levels. The only thing that has stayed static in this grow are all but one of the current strains, brand of coco, and nutes. I even added an air cooled hood to this, and bumped my flower light from a 400w to a 600w (still use a 400 for veg).
First, I can't stress enough how easy this grow has been. Not only easy, but efficient as well. I have ZERO waste of water and nutes. No runoff, no tossing out extra water I don't use...nothing is going to waste. I am growing some Indys and Sativas. Like I said above, I normally have an issue with at least one of my plants, and can usually count on at least one of the Sativas being one of the problem plants. I can also count on them to rear it's ugly problematic head by now. Well I'm looking, and I haven't found any issues so far. This is a completely problem free grow right now...which is unheard of for me. With that being said, we all know the different requirements of Sats and Indys. Well blumats help with that. The Sats I grow are picky little motherfuckers. So for them to be getting only what they need is stellar. The Indys get what they need to...all at different rates. But it's ok, blumats support them unlike any automated system I've seen others use. Normally when I read/observe a grower that has Indys and Sats, they need two separate drip systems for the different requirements. If they don't have two systems, then they have to supplement something somewhere. Not so here...one system covers them both. I do have canopy issues with height, but that's no fault of the blumats or pots I'm using...that one is allll me
.I do have to admit I have a small plant with what looks like a MG def. However...this is my fault and know it, and I knew it would happen. It was a late germ'd seed and was waaaayyy too small to put in a 2g pot. But I did it anyway because I wanted to learn what to do, see if I could diagnose and treat it properly. If I lost it, I didn't care as it would have left me with 5-7 plants that would have no problem getting me through my next grow (this is all personal btw). Now I have to say this was the easiest fix I've ever done. I recognized the issue, applied a fix I had learned, and not only did it recover, but it actually healed some of the damage done from the def. This NEVER happens to me. Normally if I can fix a def, the damage stays and new growth is great. But my plant actually healed some of the damage. The rest of the plants...a picture of perfection.
On to some good points: Blumats. Blumats are nothing short of THE SHIT! The constant moisture and nute level achieved by these is phenomenal. They only get what they need, and don't get anything they don't. My coco tells the drippers when to drip, as opposed to a pump on a timer that waters your plants no matter their condition. This could lead to over/under watering, stacking nutes, etc.... A whole list of issues that I can think of, and I'm not even THAT experienced. I don't even need to mention the time saved by not handwatering. Actually, ya I do. I have not spent more than a half hour in my grow room...20 min of that was spent oogling over my plants. Normally I'm in there about 15 min...10 of which is still spent oogling over my plants and ACTUALLY ENJOYING MY GARDEN!!!! Kids don't wonder where I am, they don't even notice I'm not around. My wife absolutely loves it. These last two points may not pertain to everyone, but might to some. My nightly regimen goes like this: check the PH of the res, adjust if necessary..takes 2 min. Fucking done. That's it. Every Sunday morning I clean my res, which is almost empty by then. That takes 15 min to clean, wipe down, re fill, add nutes, balance, bleed the lines out to eliminate possible bubbles in the lines. A fucking monkey could do this, he just wouldn't enjoy as much as I do
. My plants are so much more robust and stronger then they have been before. I can't imagine not using blumats.I know this is a blumat thread, but I need to include a couple points about smart pots here. These things are crazy cool. If you haven't used them yet...you need to. My root structure in these is insane. So much lateral branching is going on that combined with blumats, it really is the most efficient grow I've done so far....nothing is wasted or just sitting in the medium. If it were...I would be experiencing some lockouts I'm sure. I don't want to spend too much time on them, so if anyone has comments or questions regarding smart pots, just hit me up outside of this thread.
So where are we? Oh ya...blumats. I have a 10g res that is now getting filled with 6g. Even then I'm doubting the 6g's ability to make it through the week. It's looking low already and I might have to fill early. I can also say that the water loss is NOT from evaporation as my EC has been very consistent. If water was evaporating, then my EC would be climbing and I'd have to babysit my PH. Well it's not, and I don't. On Sunday I leveled my EC out at 1.33. As of this morning (Wed) it's at...1.39. Last night was the only time I had to balance the PH. Even then I didn't have to, but I wanted to. My initial PH balance was 5.79 on Sun, last night it was 5.85. I brought it down to 5.8 even for the hell of it. I could easily let it go without it hitting 6.0. I'll let it run the rest of the week w/out balancing it. My guess is it ends up at 5.9. Still don't have to babysit shit, my grow is officially running itself. With the exception of some mild defoliating, it's hands off.
Some stats of my grow:
Number of Plants: 8
Coco: Botanicare Readygro Moisture Formula
Nutes: Botanicare PBP, Cal/Mag+, Silica Blast, some LK.
Res: 10g...using 6g of that, probably won't make it seven days anymore.
Temps 77 night/79 day
RH 55% solid
Smart Pots, DripClean, 400W veg/600W flower, SS2 air cooled hood, 3'x4'x7' tent.
If you made it through this whole post, I commend you. I know it's long. But I didn't want to include this info w/out giving some background of myself so the reader knows where I'm coming from and so everyone understands I'm not a pro and how easy this can be.
I also need it to be known that I didn't do this all on my own. Slowandeasy has been helping and mentoring me through this whole thing and assisting in my learning curve via ICmag. If anyone is fortunate enough to have him help, consider yourself real fucking lucky. Dude knows his shit and is a wealth of knowledge and experience. Granted,,,,he and I have some differences in our setup, but he got me up and going with basics and has continued to support and cheer me on.
Thank you to those who took the time to read this uber long diatribe. I hope it helps at least one person out. Any questions out there, I will happily assist to the best of my ability.
I have a need to pay it forward.
Thank you readers.
Most of all...thank you Slowandeasy for your continued support and assistance.
GT
