Blumats

I'm not aware of a blumat thread on this forum and i think we need one. I started using them a few weeks ago. Installed them 3 days before I left for 8 days, and came back to plants that grew more than if I was there hand watering. It really got my attention on how effective these are at delivering nutrients. I'm in coco as well, so for me to see increased growth rates, well I'm impressed. You can see the 8 day difference in these pics. I think more people need to be aware of these things, from the convenience to simply better performing plants. Hopefully this thread will spark some interest, I love sharing things that can help anyone improve their garden. And for anyone handy with some simple diy, there's better res options than buying the complete kit. It will save you 40 bucks anyway. Let's get a blumat discussion going. Especially if you have been using them for a while and have tips and tricks that can help people new to them.

I went on vacay a couple weeks and was looking into these.

Only thing that stopped me was the mention that you're supposed to put them in before starting your grow, is that correct?

I guess I thought it would hurt the roots stuffing them in there at 6 weeks flower...

I'm intersted in trying them my next grow and looking forward to hearing others input ITT.

Awesome man , thanks for the info!

Thanks for tagging me @hotrodharley. I almost deleted this, but I see it's been inactive for about three weeks over there. If this one doesn't take off I'll start posting over there too simplify.

mattman089 said:

I went on vacay a couple weeks and was looking into these.

Only thing that stopped me was the mention that you're supposed to put them in before starting your grow, is that correct?

I guess I thought it would hurt the roots stuffing them in there at 6 weeks flower...

I'm intersted in trying them my next grow and looking forward to hearing others input ITT.

Click to expand...

I installed mine at transplant. However I'm sure you could just stick em in to your pots if your plants are happy. If I'm staking plants I don't do it until I see the need, which is usually too late to do it at transplant. I am a firm beliver that super happy plants don't get stressed as bad or as easily though.

I also discovered that their kit with the res is $40 more for really just a 5 gal bucket and two 8mm bulkheads. The bulkheads are 4 a piece and a bucket is just a couple bucks too. You can achieve the same thing with the parts listed and a 16" piece of clear tube to view res level.

Any idea how those drippers work with earth juice?

And then there is the risk of floods, lol. Most have tents with pans in the bottom that will hold well over 5 gallons. If not i would improvise something until you get the system dialed in some. I had a flood and I'm pretty certain it was because I had the drip tube extended too far across the pot from the sensor/carrot. What I think happened was the post became too saturated before the sensor registered. Might be a good idea to start off with the flow dials turned back quite a bit and the drip tube short. It's easily extendable with just a pull.

Hank Mardukas said:

Any idea how those drippers work with earth juice?

Click to expand...

Not sure. I'm using mega crop and it has some organic elements in it. No issues so far. I also put 170gph pumps in the reservoirs to keep everthing mixed up well. And I'm running hydrogaurd too, I think anytime you're running a res you need to be running bennies or sterile to combat anything bad from populating the res.

Hank Mardukas said:

Any idea how those drippers work with earth juice?

Click to expand...

It's not a drip head either, just a small open ended tube.

macsnax said:

It's not a drip head either, just a small open ended tube.

Click to expand...

Gravity fed? Bucket need to be higher than the 'drippers'?

Hank Mardukas said:

Gravity fed? Bucket need to be higher than the 'drippers'?

Click to expand...

I'm running mine gravity fed. You can setup pumps and timers if needed though.

mattman089 said:

I went on vacay a couple weeks and was looking into these.

Only thing that stopped me was the mention that you're supposed to put them in before starting your grow, is that correct?

I guess I thought it would hurt the roots stuffing them in there at 6 weeks flower...

I'm intersted in trying them my next grow and looking forward to hearing others input ITT.

Click to expand...

Just noticed you said 6 weeks flower. I don't think I would do that at 6 weeks either.

macsnax said:

Not sure. I'm using mega crop and it has some organic elements in it. No issues so far. I also put 170gph pumps in the reservoirs to keep everthing mixed up well. And I'm running hydrogaurd too, I think anytime you're running a res you need to be running bennies or sterile to combat anything bad from populating the res.

Click to expand...

That's why I had the idea of using an aquarium sponge filter in an organic Rez. That way the Bennie's have somewhere to set up shop. I'm sure it's already been done but I haven't found a thread talking about it yet.

That actually sounds like a pretty solid idea. As long as it's not floating around to where it could clog something, I only see benefits. I think I'll give it a go myself, great idea.

Hank Mardukas said:

Gravity fed? Bucket need to be higher than the 'drippers'?

Click to expand...

I need to take a picture of my res. Its behind my tent so kinda hard to get to.

I use a pump with the pressure reducer. On 24 hrs. If you have a larger pot, you can use extra drippers on 1 carrot

T macc said:

I need to take a picture of my res. Its behind my tent so kinda hard to get to.

I use a pump with the pressure reducer. On 24 hrs. If you have a larger pot, you can use extra drippers on 1 carrot

Click to expand...

You running organic?

macsnax said:

You running organic?

Click to expand...

I am. No till with tap water

T macc said:

I am. No till with tap water

Click to expand...

I was thinking so. I envy that and in the future I think I'm going to do half my plants in a living soil. I've been trying to figure out how to do this with my nute mixes. Everything I'm coming up with right now isn't very practical indoors, lol.

This is a picture of my blumat res. It's a 5 gallon bucket with a float valve connected to the sink. Pump to reducer to pots.

I passed on blumats before cause I didn't have anywhere to hang a bucket of water. So I came up with this in hope that it would work

macsnax said:

I was thinking so. I envy that and in the future I think I'm going to do half my plants in a living soil. I've been trying to figure out how to do this with my nute mixes. Everything I'm coming up with right now isn't very practical indoors, lol.

Click to expand...

I like organic soil cause it's just easy. I dont get into the teas and all. I top dress instead and use innoculants every once in a while. My soil could use a touch up now after running for 2 years.
Are you thinking of implementing your nutrients with an organic soil? Or do you mean separating water res from nute res?