Rural Buddha Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 Just now, zeroG said: Shoot fellers, this is getting complicated now... @NezAI have to have the lid off my res, to keep my nutes mixing with the wee pump i have...Theres a cable so I cant close the lid, and I wasn't going to butcher my lid, or tank top edge...pressure?, surely the water drop weight creates its own pressure? @Rural Buddhaand 20% perlite too..., did you create a pure coco 'pocket' for the sensor? Earlier in the thread we discussed perlite, and some folk said the contact was interrupted by the perlite, which lead to 'complications'...Im gonna have a read through your diary my friend. No pocket zeroG, didn't see that or forgot about it. If the Blumats doesn't work properly I'll pull them and go back to hand watering and make a pocket next time, I didn't plan Blumats when I started this Air-Pot grow. I think Blumat were talking atmospheric pressure rather than tank/water pressure. I wonder if a too well fitting lid might cause a vacuum - unlikely I think. I too have a small pump to keep the nutes mixed and have the lid ajar because of the cable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NezA Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 The rationale behind my thinking is a few posts back in here @zeroG if you set them up with the lid off and you keep the lid off it won't cause an issue. I set mine up with the lid on so when I left it off I think that difference in pressure from the extra airflow was enough to cause a runaway. The system is incredibly sensitive so it is possible I guess. Anyway it's just a suspicion I'm still learning about these things so it's all speculation on my part. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeroG Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 @NezAits all speculation and conjecture my friend - I found the best use was to support the system, some days the units worked falwlessly, i would walk in and see drips galore, wet coco, heavy pots...all good brah!... next day i would walk in and nothing, nada, nish, not a drip of solution to coco to the point of powdery dry medium at times and I'd have to jug out the solution from the res to the pots by hand... Some days it was like having a dog and chasing the postman and barking at the garden myself... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rural Buddha Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 1 hour ago, zeroG said: ...... barking at the garden myself... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rural Buddha Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 48 hours from installing the Blumats and girls looking OK. As per the instructions I gave the pots a good watering, run-off around 15%, then set the drip knob as per instructions. I was expecting some drop in the tank as the girls drank but none occurred in the first 36 hours. Girls looking OK, perhaps a daily feed wasn't necessary, though they usually looked a bit droopy when they had their late evening feed and were perked up by the morning. This morning as the coco was looking a bit dry on top I fiddled around with the drip setting so that a drip falls around every 10 seconds - some drippers faster or slower - the 3rd (last) dripper on Shorty needed to pulled up higher to get it to drip at all. The feed tank has dropped by around 2lt in the last 9 hours or so, I'll leave it like this and see how it goes. Skinny Shorty 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rural Buddha Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 84 hours after installing Blumats. Girls still looking OK, not drinking much from tank though and coco looking dry on top. I check every 3-4 hours to see if the dripper are dripping - sometimes they are, sometimes not. The feed in the tank is now a bit old so am considering alternatives to such a large tank taking so much space when it may be bigger then needed - it can hold 35l but I only put in around 12l. I don't drink tea, I try not to drink too much coffee so my 'staple' drink is Ribena (I'm a big kid ). I have kept a few empty 1.5l bottles for various uses so had a look to see if I could use one or more as feed tanks. The Blumat tank fitting fit perfectly in a Ribena bottle lid! I found the 'bottle knot' on several websites and YT and eventually got my head around tying it - perfect for the job. Now I'm thinking to hang the bottle(s) outside the tent so the feed doesn't cook, it should warm enough as it passes through the pipework inside the tent so the girls don't get cold drinks. Just got to work out a way to hang the bottle up, thinking hooks in the ceiling once I've worked out where the joists are. Comments and suggestions very welcome. Closed bottle to test if cap is water tight, seems to be. Bottle also has hole in bottom (now top) to be able to fill and also to avoid creating a vacuum as bottle empties. Skinny Shorty 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rural Buddha Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 144 hours (6 days) since installing Blumats. Girls look OK but still not drinking much, getting a little concerned about this but if they're looking OK then they should be OK - shouldn't they? They're at week 8 of growth, flowering since week 6. Coco well dry on top, drippers dripping fresh mix now with Plagron Green Sensation, CANNA A+B, Plagron Sugar Royal plus some CalMag still. I'm beginning to think that Blumats are good for when you have to go away for a few days (a week?) to ensure you came back to live plants, maybe better to still hand water when not away. I'll keep up with just the drippers unless/until the girls start to look as if they're suffering. At the rate I'm (not) using feed the savings would be a lot - perhaps more than half at this moment. Maybe the size of pots they're in - 20lt Air-Pots - the girls can find moisture from the soaking I gave them when installing the Blumats. Skinny Shorty PiCam 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonerwizard Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 Here’s a pic of the root growth at the top of my pots You can see there’s sort of a web of roots formed around the dripper. This is the pot that’s repeatedly had roots growing out of the side of the pot. I like these pots as you get what I call a root sponge as the grow weblike inside. I can’t wait to see what they look like when I crop them. I have only had the odd issue here and there. Normally my own fault. One was letting the res run out and then over compensating when I bleed the system. The other was when I linked a drip line and starved a pot of feed. I turned the tap to let it run into the pot. Went for a smoke and forgot about it they just sat in a paddling pool for a few hours and humidity was at 70% for a short while. They by no means fool proof but once you find the sweet spot they are good. Wizard 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonerwizard Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 What’s peoples thoughts on flushing time when using blumats? In coco I normally do 7 days but with these having no runoff should I extend the flush? Wizard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NezA Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 @stonerwizard I did a week plain water with salt / chemical based nutes (Intense Nutrients Dirt range) in compost and it was fine. Ash burns nice and clean, no crackles or fizzes taste is spot on (even better than my previous organic run to be honest) not sure how much will be applicable to coco though. Perhaps someone with experience closer to your situation will chime in although I think out of all the active members you might be the only one who's actively posting who's managed to make these work in coco. What I'm saying is you might have to take one for the team 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonerwizard Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 @NezA I think you might be right. Most others have ripped them out I might try 10-14 days just to make sure. I have been thinking about why they have worked for me and not others. What I have noticed is when the canopy grew over the pots and cooled it down under there they didn’t dry out as quickly. Maybe if someone has a warm room they might need a bit of topping up to begin with. Also I think when setting up for coco again, once I get the drip holing on the end of the dripper I’ll leave it there. Wizard 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeroG Posted May 18, 2021 Share Posted May 18, 2021 On 16/05/2021 at 3:56 PM, NezA said: ...I think out of all the active members you might be the only one who's actively posting who's managed to make these work in coco.... 2nd to that! and its going away season, my camper van is packed and i can have 3 days a week away on a normal week, holidays at least a week, if not two...Im gonna have to look at something a bit more robust for week long automated feeding - for 2 weeks i hit the kill switch, np, and for 2 weeks in coco, double NP - soil can take a soaking to droop overwatering and be left a week no sweat light on, maybe 10days at a push in a bigger pot... Im gonna have one more go, and then Ill keep them for my dream 12 x 8 x double height green house... Im glad this thread continues 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbillybob Posted May 18, 2021 Author Share Posted May 18, 2021 i did a fair bit of reading on these before pulling the pin. From what i saw, most people were flushing these out by hand to get rid of the salts in coco @stonerwizard. im glad they worked for you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonerwizard Posted May 18, 2021 Share Posted May 18, 2021 @badbillybob That doesn’t sound like a bad plan to be honest. I’ll put a good few litters through them and have just plain water in the tank. Wizard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
420Ted Posted May 19, 2021 Share Posted May 19, 2021 Hi everyone gonna give these ago iv read the instructions and read through this so just want to triple check gonna soak for 24 hours making sure when I screw em up there's no bubbles in when I put them in the coco I open them up (starting from the last one) tighten up till the drip hangs and then tighten up a further 1.5 arrows hope thats right 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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