Blumat auto watering

[lowbrow]

with a quick meal break, it took me 3.5 hrs to water all the plants, set the rez, insert two blumats for 5gall. dial in the initial level and check in 24hrs....i have a feeling i will be checking again to make sure there are no major drips...

wrapped around my 3x3 tent...i have them up about 4 inches up in loose twist ties,

These are great pics! I remember when I first read this thread about a year ago, I always wanted more pics of the lines during setup. The plant pics are always fun too, just seeing the results but it was hard for me to visualize the parts fitting together. I think these pics will help some new blumatters see the simplicity.

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I always soak mine with the caps off. Turn the spike vertical while it is submerged and tap it - bubbles get trapped under the plastic ring where it mounts to the ceramic. Also, Rrog came up with the notion of taking a syringe and forcing more water into the holes inside the cap while holding it submerged. This, in particular, has helped me with trapped air bubbles.

Thank you for this. After finding a couple more empty carrots (and a couple with visible bubbles inside), I've decided to start over and resoak and recap everything. I definitely wasn't capping them tight enough. Probably all of them went a quarter or half a turn tighter. It says this in the manual but I was too gentle on them.

Looking thru the green plastic, I also noticed tiny air bubbles (almost like champagne carbonation) inside carrots that have soaked overnight. This is after I took great care in capping them. Maybe my tap water just comes out super oxygenated? They seem to condense and come out easily enough just by jamming my pinky finger in there and working around the edges where the ceramic meets the plastic, as you indicated.

Just a couple things that might help any other noobs out there!

 

[sunnydog]

Hey Sunny, is there any disadvantage to making the hose sticking out of the blumat longer than 8 cm? I have some that way and they seem to be working OK.

It can work.....I've done it. But those frequently are the ones with issues. The instructions are pretty specific on this, so , I do it. No issues for a long time now.

TIP- cut a soda straw to the proper length and use it as a template. Learned this gorilla growing!

 

[sunnydog]

These are great pics! I remember when I first read this thread about a year ago, I always wanted more pics of the lines during setup. The plant pics are always fun too, just seeing the results but it was hard for me to visualize the parts fitting together. I think these pics will help some new blumatters see the simplicity.

----


Thank you for this. After finding a couple more empty carrots (and a couple with visible bubbles inside), I've decided to start over and resoak and recap everything. I definitely wasn't capping them tight enough. Probably all of them went a quarter or half a turn tighter. It says this in the manual but I was too gentle on them.

Looking thru the green plastic, I also noticed tiny air bubbles (almost like champagne carbonation) inside carrots that have soaked overnight. This is after I took great care in capping them. Maybe my tap water just comes out super oxygenated? They seem to condense and come out easily enough just by jamming my pinky finger in there and working around the edges where the ceramic meets the plastic, as you indicated.

Just a couple things that might help any other noobs out there!

Some tiny bubbles are NOT a show stopper. When I first started using these, the store guy said to fill them to the line above the carrot. They worked for a whole outdoor season this way. I think air will just make them work a bit sloppier, as air will compress,water won't.

 

[FlowerFarmer]

Hey Sunny, is there any disadvantage to making the hose sticking out of the blumat longer than 8 cm? I have some that way and they seem to be working OK.

The longer the 3mm hose the less responsive the carrot will be. I've ran them all the way opposite side of the pot like lazyman and I've ran them the stock 8cm length.

IF your in a well wicking media like straight coco it shouldnt be a problem however if you are in a "looser" more aerated media you might have problems with run-away blumats when extending the 3mm past the carrot.

I've tried them both ways and cannot decide which I like more. I don't get run-aways.. but when they are short (8cm) I sometimes tend to get sideheavy pots (in 2 Gal)...as if one side it a lot heavier then the other which contributed to tipping in small pots w/ vertical lighting. The opposite side of the pot (while may have moisture down deeper) seems to me to be too light and dry.

Run them longer and you've got a less response carrot..which may or may not be ideal depending on how you've got them dialed. Media can stay too wet as your blumat is not accurate and takes longer to "feel" the moisture to pinch shut.

So.. I do a combination of both and play around with the drip spot and line length until I feel its a good spot for overall good moisture in the pot. Typically longer then 8cm, but not all the way across the pot as lazy does.



In regards to your guys' bubble comments.. I typically fill and cap while submerged under water the whole time.. and then soak for 24hrs before use. Sometimes I might see a few bubbles near the green cap, but I've never had a problem with run-aways or dry-ups.

 

[lowbrow]

Some tiny bubbles are NOT a show stopper. When I first started using these, the store guy said to fill them to the line above the carrot. They worked for a whole outdoor season this way. I think air will just make them work a bit sloppier, as air will compress,water won't.

In regards to your guys' bubble comments.. I typically fill and cap while submerged under water the whole time.. and then soak for 24hrs before use. Sometimes I might see a few bubbles near the green cap, but I've never had a problem with run-aways or dry-ups.

This is good to know. I still took care in getting the little bubbles (hopefully) out, and they're soaking again, full and capped.

I also filled and capped completely underwater, using a 5 gallon bucket.

If these little bubbles aren't the culprit, I'm looking at 'poor ground contact' (per the manual), and again, poorly screwed together. They were all screwed looser than they could have been, but still seemed sealed.

It is possible there are air bubbles in my soil. When you mentioned it after my initial setup, I went back and packed everything pretty tightly, but that's no substitute for doing it right the first time. I've since repotted 8 more younglings into 1-gallon pots, and taken the time to pack my soil around an empty 3 inch container--the same size I'm transplanting from, then fitting the root ball tightly. These aren't on blumats yet but will be pretty soon.

As always, thanks for the attention and advice

 

[sunnydog]

This is good to know. I still took care in getting the little bubbles (hopefully) out, and they're soaking again, full and capped.

I also filled and capped completely underwater, using a 5 gallon bucket.

If these little bubbles aren't the culprit, I'm looking at 'poor ground contact' (per the manual), and again, poorly screwed together. They were all screwed looser than they could have been, but still seemed sealed.

It is possible there are air bubbles in my soil. When you mentioned it after my initial setup, I went back and packed everything pretty tightly, but that's no substitute for doing it right the first time. I've since repotted 8 more younglings into 1-gallon pots, and taken the time to pack my soil around an empty 3 inch container--the same size I'm transplanting from, then fitting the root ball tightly. These aren't on blumats yet but will be pretty soon.

As always, thanks for the attention and advice

It will work........

 

[ak-51]

when the number of pots changes evach time...what do i do with blumats on the feeder that wont be used?

I remove the drip line and replace it with a ~1.5" section that I have tied a knot in.

Hey Sunny, is there any disadvantage to making the hose sticking out of the blumat longer than 8 cm? I have some that way and they seem to be working OK.

I like to run mine short, but I run 2 per 2 gallon pot.

 

[InstantKarma]

I always soak mine with the caps off. Turn the spike vertical while it is submerged and tap it - bubbles get trapped under the plastic ring where it mounts to the ceramic. Also, Rrog came up with the notion of taking a syringe and forcing more water into the holes inside the cap while holding it submerged. This, in particular, has helped me with trapped air bubbles.

It seems that when screwing the cap on underwater, the last quarter turn or so builds up a slight amount of water pressure in the Blumat body against the diaphragm. I feel that letting them soak after screwing together allows this additional pressure to equalize out through the ceramic cone.

Otherwise, putting them straight into the media after screwing them together with a small amount of extra water exerting force on the bottom of the diaphragm will throw off your settings once the pressure is relieved by the additional water being forced out of the cone by the elasticity of the diaphragm.

You can see this happen if you take the brown adjuster screw as well as the dripper hose completely out and note the position of the white needle in the hose hole in the Blumat cap. After screwing it together under water, the white needle will be raised up slightly. After letting it soak, it will be back to the original position.

 

[budman678]

i want to take the ladies out of the tent every 7-10 days or so and really inspect them.

can i simply, pull out the blumats and stick them in water, play with the plants and then "plug" em back in? i also want to pull them out and give them a nice tea occasionally. can i pull the plugs, saturate the medium and plug em back in?

i assume it takes into account the moisture level and will adjust accordingly when i plug em back in

 

[ak-51]

can i simply, pull out the blumats and stick them in water, play with the plants and then "plug" em back in?

My gut feeling is that it will screw with them too much to do it repeatedly without recalibrating them. Of course if you're checking them every day it shouldn't be a huge issue anyway.

 

[budman678]

i am still getting used to this

 

[silver hawaiian]

budman

Couple things. For starters, don't even take the sensors out or muck with 'em AT ALL - just water in your tea like you normally would. Once the plant has gobbled up all of that liquidy goodness, the sensors will return the pot to their predetermined moisture level.

If you're adamant about taking out your plants to inspect (I'd just suck it up and learn to live without it), your approach about taking out the sensor and sticking it in a glass of water is halfway there, I think. If that's the plan, make sure you remember which sensor came from which pot.

But, I really think your best option is to learn to live with 'em on leashes. It seems like you ought to have enough length on the drip lines that the pots ought to have some range of motion while still connected.

And remember, while they're still connected, you could always move the ones in the doorway out of the tent (while keeping 'em connected) to give yourself some room to work/eye-hustle..

ak51 is onto it.

I promise. You'll barely miss your old worry-wort inspection needs.

 

[sunnydog]

budman

Couple things. For starters, don't even take the sensors out or muck with 'em AT ALL - just water in your tea like you normally would. Once the plant has gobbled up all of that liquidy goodness, the sensors will return the pot to their predetermined moisture level.

If you're adamant about taking out your plants to inspect (I'd just suck it up and learn to live without it), your approach about taking out the sensor and sticking it in a glass of water is halfway there, I think. If that's the plan, make sure you remember which sensor came from which pot.

But, I really think your best option is to learn to live with 'em on leashes. It seems like you ought to have enough length on the drip lines that the pots ought to have some range of motion while still connected.

And remember, while they're still connected, you could always move the ones in the doorway out of the tent (while keeping 'em connected) to give yourself some room to work/eye-hustle..

ak51 is onto it.

I promise. You'll barely miss your old worry-wort inspection needs.

:

Relax............ Listen to Silver Hawaiian!

 

[budman678]

:

Relax............ Listen to Silver Hawaiian!

this just came to me...

i have my feeder hose running around the perimeter secured by zipties....if i cut the zip ties...i can pull them out in a big line, still connected to the feeder hose....equal tea for everyone!!!!

i believe this will work JUST fine...

thanks for helping me see outside the box...diff perspective...

 

[silver hawaiian]

budman

Glad to help see the light - but I hope you're not feeling emboldened to take the frickin' carrots out.

Mine is set up so that there's a stretch of feed line running across the front of the door. When I really need to get to the back of the garden (note: far less often than I used to think), I'd just sort of "unwind" the feed line out the door, and take any connected plants out the door to make space.

Yours seems similar.

What I mean is, you ought to be able to figure out a way to finagle it so's you can move each plant around to do your required inspectin', .. On their leashes still, WITHOUT f*ckin' with the sensors.

 

[NorCalZero]

If you are using 2 gallon smart pots, can you use the jr. or is best to use the regular size blumats....The jr. said something about drawing water up only 12 inches that was kinda confusing, I assume they meant to keep your solution at least 12 inches deep? And if you use coco is 1 blumat per pot fine? Thanks for any replies.

 

[joedogsong]

The juniors are not the ones you want to use. The juniors "leak" water out of the cone and not out the drip line. Stick with the regulars

 

[sunnydog]

Don't

Don't

i am still getting used to this

Leave the carrots in. Since I've been doing low-till, I have many carrots not removed for 2 cycles, and a few on their third. On most, the little adjustment knob is barely visible, as the roots seem to pull the B/M deeper in! It seems the more established the B/M becomes, the better they work.

I have never grown with Air/Smart pots. But I just don't see how much more root development is possible!

So, the bottom line is remove the carrots as little as possible, as they ultimately function intimately with the roots.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

The juniors are not the ones you want to use

You got that one right......

 

[Cali MedPatient]

The longer the 3mm hose the less responsive the carrot will be. I've ran them all the way opposite side of the pot like lazyman and I've ran them the stock 8cm length.

IF your in a well wicking media like straight coco it shouldnt be a problem however if you are in a "looser" more aerated media you might have problems with run-away blumats when extending the 3mm past the carrot.

I've tried them both ways and cannot decide which I like more. I don't get run-aways.. but when they are short (8cm) I sometimes tend to get sideheavy pots (in 2 Gal)...as if one side it a lot heavier then the other which contributed to tipping in small pots w/ vertical lighting. The opposite side of the pot (while may have moisture down deeper) seems to me to be too light and dry.

Run them longer and you've got a less response carrot..which may or may not be ideal depending on how you've got them dialed. Media can stay too wet as your blumat is not accurate and takes longer to "feel" the moisture to pinch shut.

So.. I do a combination of both and play around with the drip spot and line length until I feel its a good spot for overall good moisture in the pot. Typically longer then 8cm, but not all the way across the pot as lazy does.



In regards to your guys' bubble comments.. I typically fill and cap while submerged under water the whole time.. and then soak for 24hrs before use. Sometimes I might see a few bubbles near the green cap, but I've never had a problem with run-aways or dry-ups.

Cool. I've got them close to 8cm now. I have 5 gallon pots of botanicare ready grow moisture formula, which is pretty much coco with some perlite. I have the carrot halfway between the stem of the plant and the edge of the pot. That puts the end of the 3mm line right near the stem, so they should get even water. The plants are loving them so far. Finally got my pressure system finished yesterday, and my plants look extremely happy after 10 days of blumat watering. Thanks Sunny, Flower Farmer, AK51 and everyone who has contributed to this thread!!