Blumat

I have seen on some forums people using these blu mats and saying they are a great simple and efficient drip irrigation.
They use a gravity fed system. The cone acts as a sensor and releses water when dry and stops when the when moist. No run off etc.They are not cheap. But i have found these that look the same in all ways any one had any experience
here are the cheaper ones. Called tender water spike

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=290922915446

here the blumats

http://www.blumatshop.at/index.php/blumat-fur-zimmerpflanzen/tropf-blumat.html

Any one at all!?

I used a blumat system but stopped. It works great in theory. I had issues every now and then with it overwatering and thus overflowing the pot and drain pan. But my main issue was that once using nutes (was using Fox Farms) they would get...icky. PH was hard to control as well.

With that said, all in all they work. I devised a drip system that I prefer, you can find it in my journal. I do use my blumat for other plants when we go out of town.

GrowinDad said:

I used a blumat system but stopped. It works great in theory. I had issues every now and then with it overwatering and thus overflowing the pot and drain pan. But my main issue was that once using nutes (was using Fox Farms) they would get...icky. PH was hard to control as well.

With that said, all in all they work. I devised a drip system that I prefer, you can find it in my journal. I do use my blumat for other plants when we go out of town.

Click to expand...

Ok. Cheers bud!!
I jave got my self a irrigation system just trying it out on my 2 mothers first. I was planning a drip to waste for the ease and simplicity. No ph flux etc.
but I was thinking drip to NO waste like the BLU MATTS.
Did u find salt build up etc. Is that why your ph was hard to control?
Im using CANNA in COCO .

My blumat fed out of a 5 gal bucket. I had the bucket in the tent which was a mistake temp-wise. So in the morning I could add a gal of ph 6.5 water/feed into the bucket. But since it doesn't get used immediately, as it sat, the PH changed and nutes would separate into a goo even with a water pump and airstone in the bucket. So Unless you keep adjusting, it was a prob. Obviously hydro growers figure this out somehow....

If dojng this sort of thing, get some Drip Clean from Home and Garden. It prevents some buildup.

I used these once when I had to go out of town for three weeks. I had two in each medium-sized pot (soil), but should have had more. That said, they worked as advertised. I gave a heavy feeding before leaving, and then used RO water with the Blumats. I was having some serious heat issues then, though,and the plants stretched way out, so you need to be sure that everything else is in order for them to be really effective.

Bumper cars. I want to use these with aerated teas and air pots. All organic coco and soil. How many do you put in a 5G pot? Where do you want it to drip exactly? BJs...I mean rep for help.

Two would work for a 5 gal. Three if you want. But I had issues with fox farm nutes coagulating, getting gross, etc. You can not let them go dry, not there must water in the probes all the time. it caused them to clog on me which was when i added drip clean. but the place I got the, from told me they are not really intended for use with organics.

Also, I had an air stone and a pump in my bucket and still had the issue.

I emailed them and I'll let you know their reply. I don't see why it wouldn't work with organic soil. I think I can just use water and top dress when needed instead of the tea.

I use blumats but just took them out because i had to move my tent recently and have been too lazy to set them back up.
They are great for vacation and are like having your shit on autopilot.

Theres a big blumat thread on ICMAG with some good info.

I used two per 5 gallon smart pot in organic soil indoor.

FYI...You should never put anything other than clean water in your reservoir. Top Feed only...I recommend you get the quick shut-off valve so you can turn the blumats off when you want to feed.

briggzo said:

I have seen on some forums people using these blu mats and saying they are a great simple and efficient drip irrigation.
They use a gravity fed system. The cone acts as a sensor and releses water when dry and stops when the when moist. No run off etc.They are not cheap. But i have found these that look the same in all ways any one had any experience
here are the cheaper ones. Called tender water spike

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=290922915446

here the blumats

http://www.blumatshop.at/index.php/blumat-fur-zimmerpflanzen/tropf-blumat.html

Click to expand...

Those ebay knock-offs are not the same as blumats. The ebay ones water through the ceramic cones, the blumats actually drip from a line and gets released when the soil gets dry.

kaloconnection said:

I use blumats but just took them out because i had to move my tent recently and have been too lazy to set them back up.
They are great for vacation and are like having your shit on autopilot.

Theres a big blumat thread on ICMAG with some good info.

I used two per 5 gallon smart pot in organic soil indoor.

FYI...You should never put anything other than clean water in your reservoir. Top Feed only...I recommend you get the quick shut-off valve so you can turn the blumats off when you want to feed.

Click to expand...

Finally an answer I wanted.

I meant the tea with organics, not the soil...

The drip lines are pretty small so you dont want anything in your reservoir that will clog up the lines nor do you want any soluble nutrients that could crystallize on the ends of the drip line.

As far as placement of the blumat's goes, you want the water to drip a little more than halfway between the edge of your pot and the stem of the plant. You want your roots to grow and search for the water. Hope this helps...its actually pretty easy and foolproof.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Blumats, as well as several grows can be found here: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=111046

Am I getting over hyped about air pruning with consistent moisture via blue mats? I could use teas if I filter out the organic mat'l and turn the valve up.