Blumats. Who's using them?

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
@JustBlazin I setup the blumats and tomato cages and I'm going to try that idea of the buried tubes.
Ya that straw idea is pretty sweet! Bottoms of my pots seem pretty good tho without em but it's something I'll likely try next run
Just make sure those straws are about 3.5" away from the carrot min or you could get dry spots
Ya also make sure it's set up and adjusted to the three drops before you put it in the straw.
I think you want the other end of the straw as close to the middle of your plant as possible.
You think it's possible the straw fills with roots and clogs?
 

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
Ya also make sure it's set up and adjusted to the three drops before you put it in the straw.
I think you want the other end of the straw as close to the middle of your plant as possible.
You think it's possible the straw fills with roots and clogs?
I wouldn't doubt it. I was thinking to use a dripper and a straw just have the drip go down the straw so the roots can't get into the line
 

iPerculate

Well-Known Member
Ya also make sure it's set up and adjusted to the three drops before you put it in the straw.
I think you want the other end of the straw as close to the middle of your plant as possible.
You think it's possible the straw fills with roots and clogs?
I was thinking the same with the straw terminating at the center of the pot.

I'm sure that there will be a lot of roots growing near the water source, but hopefully no blockage. It would be very easy to move to straw later if there is any issues.

I give water only with this organic amended soil so I am keeping the medium consistently moist. I will mulch the top with perlite in a week or so after checking on this blumat situation.
 

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
I don't understand the need for all these additions to the blumat system.

The simplicity of it was what made me decide to use them.
Fun to tweak things around. Sometimes great ideas come from little modifications.
That's why they're so great you can do it however you want to.
 

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
Ok so first issue today
One pot wasn't dripping and started getting dry. Didn't wilt and it's not bone dry but it's dry. Likely a clog in the tube on the carrot? Ideas? Remedies?
My plan: handwater till runoff. Let stand for an hour. Reset sensor. Legit?
 

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
Also, my roots are forming mountains trying to reach the drip. Lol pretty cool to see. I'll get a pic I'm just resting my back for a few mins
 

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
So I noticed a couple of pots were on the dry side. On closer inspection I found the drippers had been getting clogged up, so the sensor was working but the drippers were starting to clog so the water wouldn't come out until the valve really opened up far. Cleaned em all and now with the filters on hopefully should remedy the issue. If it happens again I'll have to switch to maxibloom. The auto I have with maxibloom is clean no problems. My question:
Do you guys run the filters right off the res or further down the line near the pots? Would there be any diff?
 

Stuck27

Well-Known Member
I want to try them badly!! I'm using GH neuts and it's thick so I didn't want to try them until I switch to a more liquid type of nutrients. Also I wasn't sure if you'd want to add a pump if having mixed nutrients in a bucket for a bit.
 

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
I want to try them badly!! I'm using GH neuts and it's thick so I didn't want to try them until I switch to a more liquid type of nutrients. Also I wasn't sure if you'd want to add a pump if having mixed nutrients in a bucket for a bit.
I'm using up some emerald harvest which is just rebranded gh (pretty positive) As is most base nute anyways. As long as I'm just running the base nutes in the res it doesn't get bits of crud in it.
yea run it like you would any other res. I have an airstone and a wavemaker in it.
 

Stuck27

Well-Known Member
I'm using up some emerald harvest which is just rebranded gh (pretty positive) As is most base nute anyways. As long as I'm just running the base nutes in the res it doesn't get bits of crud in it.
yea run it like you would any other res. I have an airstone and a wavemaker in it.
That's what I was thinking. Keep an airstone in the resvoir. Quick question does it leave any dry spots for you? Was thinking about adding 2 per plant, one on each side. Wasn't sure if overkill but willing to see what happens
 

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
That's what I was thinking. Keep an airstone in the resvoir. Quick question does it leave any dry spots for you? Was thinking about adding 2 per plant, one on each side. Wasn't sure if overkill but willing to see what happens
It doesn't really leave any dry spots if you have a good medium. The slow drip spreads around pretty even. That being said you do need to adjust them the first week or 2. Some may not water enough I found. A quick quarter-half a bitch adjustment and we're back in business. How big are your pots? I'm in 7gal and I don't need 2. You can def use 2 but you can achieve the same result running 1 carrot and a series of drippers off the carrot. They even have something called blusoak which is a soaker line with micro pores. Runs off the carrot. Same idea as drippers but even more uniformity
 

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
The drippers always get clogged for me, and i'm running water only. Have to unscrew the plugs and clean them out every couple weeks or they stop up completely.
That's what happened to mine but it's my fault for running nutes in the res that got all cloudy and formed some bits inside, and I didn't have filters. Changed calmag to gh calimagic and good to go
 

Stuck27

Well-Known Member
It doesn't really leave any dry spots if you have a good medium. The slow drip spreads around pretty even. That being said you do need to adjust them the first week or 2. Some may not water enough I found. A quick quarter-half a bitch adjustment and we're back in business. How big are your pots? I'm in 7gal and I don't need 2. You can def use 2 but you can achieve the same result running 1 carrot and a series of drippers off the carrot. They even have something called blusoak which is a soaker line with micro pores. Runs off the carrot. Same idea as drippers but even more uniformity
Gotcha, guessing you use coco right? I'm using promix soil. Have both 5 and 7 gal. Heard people talking about clogging but I guess it's a hit or miss. Love the idea and love the adapters you can get make them longer. Just not 100% sold yet, but definitely keeping an eye on the post
 
Top