Thoughts on a new room design, input pls.

[bobblehead]

im struggling to get my head around the blumats.
not how they work, how they plumb up.
from what i read they have 3mm and 8mm fittings.
nobody in the real world uses them. Everyone else uses 13mm (1/2") and 19mm (3/4") fittings and hose. And 4mm for drippers.

I have 3 setups each with a light 4 pots and 8 blumats. There is no way the 2 packs of 12 plus stuff are going to service that. For a start i only get 2 tank fittings but i need 3. And i cant get my head around how it all works.

Every forum i read craps on about what strain and how many lights and what brand fan or additive they use, but i cant find a decent resource about pure blumats and how to wire them up.

Frustrated.

lol... you haven't looked hard enough... Cause it's all right in front of you. I use 1/4" flexzilla air hose, which is close enough to the 8mm feed line but more flexible... and I get the fittings to go from 1/4" to 1/2" tubing up to the elevated res...

 

[St3ve]

lol... you haven't looked hard enough... Cause it's all right in front of you. I use 1/4" flexzilla air hose, which is close enough to the 8mm feed line but more flexible... and I get the fittings to go from 1/4" to 1/2" tubing up to the elevated res...
]

Hey bobble.. you can get a double barb from home depot that has a 1/4" barb on one side, and a 1/2" barb on the other. No thread's or anything else. Just slide the hoses on and you're done.

Not that it will help you now.. but for next time. They are near the PVC fitting's but they are single bagged hanging up near the RO supplies.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

ive never seen 1/4 inch (8mm)? hose anywhere in aus
god knows where i can find flexzilla air hose from
i do struggle with converting mm to inches still too, its just not used at all over here.

Bookmarked the blumat thread cause thats what i need.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=111046&page=3

I do 5-7 gal. pots with one unit.

Any bigger, you'll want two per.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=111046&page=12

On 5g pots and bigger I'd use two for even coverage.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

Still cant get my head around it. The 12 pack box of blumats says :

http://www.blumat-shop.de/Tropf-Blumat/Sets/Tropf-Blumat-Set-for-3m---in-the-original-box-.html

Included in delivery:

12 Tropf-Blumat
7 m water supply tubing
1 elbow connector
1 end piece
1 branch connection
1 T-branch connector
1 hose union
1 elevated tank connection

it doesnt seem to have nearly enough stuff to fit out 12 blumats. It doesnt even mention ANY 3mm hose, nevermind the 12 adaptors to go from 8mm to 3mm. Something just doesnt add up here. I guess i have to wait until it arrives and work out what im missing then. Damn frustrating.

 

[FlowerFarmer]

Just order the kit and set it up. You'll figure it out.

You get short pieces of 3mm dripper tubing for the carrots themselves.
You get 8mm line to come down from your tank to your plants. The tees that nipple off in 3mm barb are included.

Read the blumat thread in regards to setting it up easier w/ more flexibility. Its really just using larger 1/2" tubing or whatever instead of 8mm stuff and teeing in for the 3mm tubing with kent systems tees.

Or visit the auto part store with the 8mm fittings that come with the kit and do something like bobblehead did.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

Woot the Smartpots arrived today, all 12 of them. Size 7 is a bit big for the drip trays, but they will fit.
Once the blumats get here im ready to rock!

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

Hey does anyone have an opinion regarding the LED T5 replacement globes for cloning?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-LED-...01911?pt=AU_Lighting_Fans&hash=item2a1ac45917

Its a standard T5 fitting with 120 LEDs in a fixture that is the shape and size of a T5 globe, giving the same light with less watts and more importantly, less heat.

I figure if people are trying to grow with LEDs i should be able to at least clone with them? Light spectrum 5500k - 6000K

 

[420ish]

i use cheap ebay ufos for cloning and veg.they might stink for flowering but work great for vegging!

 

[DHF]

Here`s the thing about rootin cuts.....You`re growin roots and not foliage so low light rules , but.... 80 degree temps along with 80% relative humidity all but guarantees 100% success in any medium used....

My GrowBro`s on the left coast that sell cuts to the clubs by the 10`s of 1000`s use mega 4 light 40 watt T-8 shoplites over mega 10 x 20 flats with mega cut numbers FTW.....simple.... babyshit....and cheap....

Less is more.....DHF.........

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

Awesome. I used to clone under a 130w CFL and always struggled with it

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

Yay

Yay

Blumats arrived today. Took 22 days from Germany to Australia.

Here is a list of what is in the 12 blumat box, which i couldnt really find anywhere.

7.25 Meters of 8mm hose. I can understand why people suggest 1/4" Flexzilla air hose, but this stuff is adequate, and you can buy more from the shop if needed.

12 Blumats. Each one comes with 12cm of 3mm hose and a Tee for connection to the 8mm hose. I strongly agree with people who suggest buying more 3mm hose, as 5" really isnt enough when working with pots. Im thinking 1/2 meter per blumat would be better.

a few 8mm fittings. A tank fitting, an elbow, a Tee, a 8mm-3mm corner (for end of line) a 8-8-3 tee, and a joiner.

I would suggest working with any standard 1/4" or 1/2" hose as much as possible and moving to the 8mm and 3mm as needed. For every 8mm Tee you use, you will HAVE to buy another 8mm-3mm corner, and you have 2 more 8-8-3 tees than you need.

All I am waiting for now is the clones ... the one thing i didnt think i would have trouble with ...

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

I took a ride this afternoon, found a retic place that stocks 8mm (1/4") retic. Got a 13mm - 8mm adaptor (1/2" - 1/4")

Then i went to an auto parts store and ordered some 3mm hose. Im not sure if it will be soft enough to work with the blumats, but im going to find out

Point is, its all available locally if you look hard enough. You just gotta get the blumats themselves.

EDIT : and doing an ebay search for 3mm hose, there is HEAPS of silicone hose in the right size, they call it vaccum hose
If you are in Aus, check out : http://stores.ebay.com.au/Asi-Facto...d=318533959&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1581&_pgn=1
And if you happen to come from one of the three countries in the entire world that doesnt use the metric system look for 3/25"

DOUBLE EDIT : it seems the 3mm auto hose is 3mm ID (Internal Diameter) and i need 3mm OD (Outside Diameter) so i have the wrong stuff Just get the 3mm hose from the shop when you buy the blumats.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

grrr its been 5 weeks since i asked a "friend" to get me some clones, and its still gonna gonna gonna, but no delivery.
ended up ordering some new seeds, thats all im waiting on.

 

[bobblehead]

I can understand why people suggest 1/4" Flexzilla air hose, but this stuff is adequate, and you can buy more from the shop if needed.

As far as I know, I'm the only one recommending flexzilla... Although Krunch and DHF have made mention of it... Anyway bro, I'm running a lot more than 12 blumats. I have 18 for my veggy garden alone. I needed to source 8mm tubing for my 100 bulk blumats... and rather than go with the expensive rigid stock tubing... I got very flexible air hose. No different than what you're referring to with the 3mm tubing.

 

[Tropical Rain]

As far as I know, I'm the only one recommending flexzilla... Although Krunch and DHF have made mention of it... Anyway bro, I'm running a lot more than 12 blumats. I have 18 for my veggy garden alone. I needed to source 8mm tubing for my 100 bulk blumats... and rather than go with the expensive rigid stock tubing... I got very flexible air hose. No different than what you're referring to with the 3mm tubing.

where did you buy the blumats in bulk?
TR

 

[bobblehead]

where did you buy the blumats in bulk?
TR

Sustainablevillage.com they come in boxes of 50... Buyer beware, when i ordered 100 i cleaned them out and some were backordered for a week i think? Anyway, great customer service over at sustainablevillage.... They got me what they had to get started, and then sent out the rest of my order.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

i think if i was doing it again i would try them, the postage from germany takes forever

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

Further information regarding hoses and blumats.
The blumat people measure thier hose in OD (outside diameter) and this is essentially useless.
Most people / systems measure hose in ID (inside diameter) which is the size of the hole rather than the size of the hose.

The main black feed hose is called 8mm hose. It has an ID of 6mm. It doesnt really matter how thick the hose is, as long as it can flow the right amount of water and fit all the fittings.
I got some 6mm ID silicone hose in australia from ebay thats used for car fittings. They call it vacuum hose. It comes in all sizes and lengths. I suspect it is pretty much what Bobble refers to as Flexzilla

http://stores.ebay.com.au/Asi-Facto...97216019&_sid=318533959&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

The smaller brown feeder or dripper hose they call 3mm hose. It has a 1mm ID. This is much harder to find. As well as getting the ID right you have to get the OD right as well so that it fits inside the blumat carrot. It also has to be soft enough to close then the carrot tries to close it. I strongly recommend using the stuff from the blumat shop here. The only other option i found came from india, and that will cost as much to get here anyway.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

Here is the veg cab dry but finished with the blue silicone hose. It is a much thicker hose than the standard black plastic, and much softer. It may be too soft to hold onto the plugs and may need clamps. We will see.

Notice how the black hose sticks up rigid but the blue flexes about easily. Also half of those carrots have a 30cm long brown hose on them to make life easier to move them about.

Edit : I noticed that 100gramoz edited my message. I guess i broke some rules without knowing. Seems to be regarding linking off this web page. Sorry bout that, wont happen again.