A little blumat confusion

[slowandeasy]

The reason for two thru hull adapters is that I'm following the diagram on post #477 on page 32 to create the loop. Sunny mentions putting a T at the res, so if I only run one thru hull, after my shut off valve I'll use a T. Then run the 8mm hose in a loop. Am I getting that part right? If that's the case I'll only get one extra thru hull adapter and gt two extra T's. My set up is a 10x5 flower room so that's at least 16-20ft of the 8mm. I'm just getting the extra 3mm to use 2-3ft per pot just so I can move them around easier if needed. I'm using 5 gallon smartpots in flower. One blumat per would be ok, right? Sustainable Village seems to have the patio kits for cheaper and I'm getting the extra 3mm hose from Green Acres.

D2G

I was going to suggest a T. No need for 2 thru hull adapters really. 1 Blumat per Smart pot is cool. It is better to have extra hose, you may need it in the future. My set ups are in tents, so I do not need much extra line. Green Acres was where I got all my stuff a long time ago...but they upped the prices big time on the Kit. But they offer all of the additional parts, which is cool. Good luck...you will love them.

 

[down2grow]

I was going to suggest a T. No need for 2 thru hull adapters really. 1 Blumat per Smart pot is cool. It is better to have extra hose, you may need it in the future. My set ups are in tents, so I do not need much extra line. Green Acres was where I got all my stuff a long time ago...but they upped the prices big time on the Kit. But they offer all of the additional parts, which is cool. Good luck...you will love them.

My veg girls are actually in a tent(dr150). So do you keep your res in the tent? My tent never gets hotter than 77f. I'm just trying to figure out a way to get the 8mm tube inside without cutting a hole in the tent.

Ok well looking at the tent now. I can actually fit the tubing into the 6" intakes on the bottom sides.

Thanks Slow!
D2G

 

[slowandeasy]

My veg girls are actually in a tent(dr150). So do you keep your res in the tent? My tent never gets hotter than 77f. I'm just trying to figure out a way to get the 8mm tube inside without cutting a hole in the tent.

Ok well looking at the tent now. I can actually fit the tubing into the 6" intakes on the bottom sides.

Thanks Slow!
D2G

Exactly, I stick mine threw the intake. If you have a tent you can just run a circle around the inside of the tent. You can use the corner pieces or just warm up your tubing so it bends better. I tape mine to the corner posts of the tent for support.

All of my rez are outside of all of my tents. No need to waste space on the inside. I have my buckets set on top of another bucket. I use 7 gal black buckets set on top of empty 5 Gal buckets. This is plenty high enough and will feed my girls for 4-6 days if filled depending on plant age and size. Hope this helps

 

[Green&Gold]

I'm in love with these Quick and easy setup, the dial in period was absurdly short. The plants love them. Superfast growth. Beautiful glossy leaves. I'm running multiple strains, PBP, no additives, and so far no major issues. I'm preparing to order more carrots direct from the manufacturer. The only thing that sucks is the limited availability.

 

[ninjagaiden]

Quick question for you blumat users.

How do you change the water in the resevoir without making a mess? Seems like you have to disconnect the feed line which can lead to excess water in the res/hose spraying everwhere.

Might sound sad, but this is the only thing holding me back from getting blumats

 

[slowandeasy]

Quick question for you blumat users.

How do you change the water in the resevoir without making a mess? Seems like you have to disconnect the feed line which can lead to excess water in the res/hose spraying everwhere.

Might sound sad, but this is the only thing holding me back from getting blumats

Put an airstone in your res. Top off as needed. When it gets really low I give it a quick cleaning. At the end of every harvest I clean everything really good. I use GH nutes, drip clean, airstone, and lightproof res. Nothing gets funky and I just top off with full strength nutes every few days.

 

[rives]

Get one of the valves that fits the distribution tubing and put it at the end of the line or "T" it in if you are running a loop. You can drain the rez and purge off the air bubbles that sometimes accumulate.

 

[ninjagaiden]

thanks all

 

[Green&Gold]

My Rez is very low-tech. Injust have the 8mm hose in the giant-bucket, I wedged the end of the hose into a giant s-hook, and hang that from the ceiling, so gravity is still working for me.. Clean it out, and refill when necessary and replace the 8mm hose in the bucket.

 

[deepcover]

hey guys great thread. i run a stadium and the thing is each plant uses up water at different rates because of distance from light and height in room. been running peat hand watered but its a huge PITA and often plants get too much or too little water, its very hard to judge without lifting every pot up and that gets annoying.

what do u all think of running 1 gal Air Pots , coco, and H&G coco line with blumats in a stadium? seems pretty foolproof to me. cant have any runoff due to room design!!!!

 

[slowandeasy]

hey guys great thread. i run a stadium and the thing is each plant uses up water at different rates because of distance from light and height in room. been running peat hand watered but its a huge PITA and often plants get too much or too little water, its very hard to judge without lifting every pot up and that gets annoying.

what do u all think of running 1 gal Air Pots , coco, and H&G coco line with blumats in a stadium? seems pretty foolproof to me. cant have any runoff due to room design!!!!

Would work fine, but your res has to be higher than your plants...just keep that in mind. Good luck.

 

[dunkydunk]

hey guys great thread. i run a stadium and the thing is each plant uses up water at different rates because of distance from light and height in room. been running peat hand watered but its a huge PITA and often plants get too much or too little water, its very hard to judge without lifting every pot up and that gets annoying.

what do u all think of running 1 gal Air Pots , coco, and H&G coco line with blumats in a stadium? seems pretty foolproof to me. cant have any runoff due to room design!!!!

Two things -- Your rez has to be higher than your highest plant, and sooner or later a blumat is gonna overflow, at least during the calibration phase. Not a lot, but you will need something to catch the occasional run off, at least a saucer or something.

 

[mooseknuckle]

i've read that putting a small water pump in your rez,is better for dissolved oxygen,than an airstone,and quieter,google flooming

 

[Lex Dysic]

Very informative thread...thanks to all!!

There was mention of using tap water pressure instead of raised reservoir to feed the Blumats. This might be a very handy idea for stadium/vert growers.

I know there are siphon assemblies that be used to blend in premixed nutes to water flow.
They usually have a fixed mix ratio...unless its a real high dollar metering unit....so the premix could be formulated to provide the proper ratios delivered to the plants. I'm fairly certain a pressure reducer valve/check valve arrangement would be needed. Other issues would be pH adjustment...if your tap water is way out of whack...that would have to be accounted for in the premix. However, I suspect that after some tinkering this could be a alternative to using a raised reservoir.

You guys are really selling me on the smartpot/coco/BM combo....I'm looking to setup in a vert arrangement to get the most of my lamp wattage. Hopefully will be getting started in next couple months.

Take care.
Lex

 

[dunkydunk]

I finally set up a full grow with the Blumats, 25 plants under 3 600's, 20 in smartpots and 5 in plastic pots. I set the rez outside the room to conserve space. I installed an inline filter to prohibit little flecks from colgging up the works. It's only been about a week, but so far so good.

I used to have just one plant on a Blumat, my mother plant, and I found it a little temperamental. Seeing 25 working at once has given me a better understanding of how they behave. They are a little bit like steering a boat, if you make an adjustment, you have to be patient to see the result.

I'm a fan.

 

[dunkydunk]

Has anyone else noticed a need to change their nute strength with the blumats? I'm using drip clean at 2 ml per 5 gal., but I think I see a little nute burn. I'm using the same rate of 770 ppm that I've been using with my drip system, where it shows no ill effects.

 

[mugenbao]

I'm a fan.

Me too!

I love my Blumats so far. I've only been using them about a week myself, but so far I'm very impressed.