Anyone using blumats in coco?

[somelad]

This is the water tank connector that comes with the kits,  the dripper hose is 3mm

[MindSoup]

On 09/03/2021 at 3:32 PM, tokenroll said:

The thing that puts me of using say ecothrive soil for example or similar is pests unless those soils are bug free, this i have no idea about.

 

A healthy microherd and good soil will make pests a thing of the past geez in fact it will be less of a problem than with coco or whatever else, you can use predator mites etc once you stop poisoning their environment.. I'm a big advocate for organic/living soil/no till. The results speak for themselves, then you start factoring in cost, man hours, environmental impact, it just makes sense, its the future of all farming IMO. 

 

Have a watch of the living soil film (soil health institute) on the tube and watch kiss the earth (nedflix) and check out build a soil on the tube also. Give it a try, you won't look back.

 

And don't worry you wont end up with bugs everywhere, for one their all tiny and on top of that they want to be in the soil. All my houseplants have multiple predator/beneficial bugs in them and I never see them unless I scrape back the surface.  

 

As for organic feeds, I've been putting through filtered and diluted comfrey tea for about 4/5 weeks with no issues at all, just keep your res light proof (I also don't use an air stone cos I don't have space, that might make a difference)

Edited March 11, 2021 by MindSoup

[MindSoup]

On 10/03/2021 at 4:35 AM, grower951 said:

Anyone care to link some diaries with blumats I can have a nose at?

Check out blackpoolbouncergrows mate. Growinggold uses them too and so do I (signature threads). 

[MindSoup]

3 hours ago, grower951 said:

Can anyone direct me on how to ensure the res and piping are completely leak proof, is there any pics on here for a complete noob with a setup guide?

Rolling green acres on the tube. 

[MindSoup]

Also if anyone is considering blumat, also look at blusoak, for larger pots or living soil beds it looks like a winner. 

[tokenroll]

Put a little clam or use zip ties on  each tube connection if your worried.

[MindSoup]

Just now, tokenroll said:

Put a little clam or use zip ties on  each tube connection if your worried.

The tubes and fittings push together so tight you have to cut the tubing off a lot of the time, plus there's very little pressure on the system, the only place its gunna be coming out is the dripper. 

[zeroG]

Mine should be here, zonMaknobs have disregarded my prime account again. If I could be bothered I ass on about it - I'd rather toke a bowl...and have. Two, to make sure.

 

Im interested in how high my res will need to be above the carrot tops? im in a loft space, and the sides are low - and space is 'used' hence the need . Ive also got the AutoPot 57L res - I think, its off the old 2 pot set, with the additional 2 8L pot so it s a 4, ill need to check the pre-drilled hole diameter, but otherwise Im going to buy one of those 60L UN food barells. Its food grade for about 25quid delivered, plastic is tough, and its about 650mm high, x 400 wide. Im Hoping to dial in a weeks worth of water when i get it going, thats the main idea for me anyway...

 

On averge for the last 4/5 grows ive topped out at 2L of water per plant, per feed, per day...mostly 1.5L looking at my records anyway, in veg every few days and then same everyday in flower, 4 plants - when I get the veg period right anyway...rough math says I would need 56L...looking at my Autopot res...shabang, kerching...I could always take up to 16L off depending on flights and departures cause if Im leaving suitably to the lights, I would water before I went, and same when I got back, I recon its dooable... Ive also forgotten about plants before, and left then 2 days with out a drink , retuning to a floppy mess...and rehydrated them back to normal, juts a bit extra calMag to help the dry coco lockout

 

Im the first brit to the top of the first snow in Val Thorens later this year - if its allowed, anyway. Ive got fuck off cabin fever. So I'll need fuck off blumats in grow room to counteract it!

 

Told you you this would turn into a top thread

 

Wicked!

 

PS; please answer my question after my digression...

 

 

[MindSoup]

1 minute ago, zeroG said:

Im interested in how high my res will need to be above the carrot tops?

They recommend 3 foot or more but the bottom of my res is is about an inch higher than the carrot and they're working fine. I'm only running 2 though, you might need a bit more height if your running a lot, or a bigger res to put more weight behind it. 

 

Edit. You can also get a pressure reducer which allows you to hook them up to the mains if you don't need to put nutes through them. 

Edited March 11, 2021 by MindSoup

[zeroG]

@MindSoupyeah i need to put food through them, im in coco. 3ft will be a struggle, , thats almost my height - not quite, but im about 5.5ft topout...Might have to look at one of these camper van flat resevoirs. or a tall thin one to get the weight in the water drop...hmmm better have a think about that...right now im only looking to use 4, but with 12 at my disposal, i may do a sog with 12 at some point...thanks for the heads up.

[MindSoup]

I'm sure it will be fine, my res is like 2L and about 30cm tall and it runs free down to a few inches from the bottom (as low as i let it get) the sensors have heaps of adjustability so you'll just need yours a bit less tight than someone with a higher res and they might be open more of the time from the slower flow. 

 

Edited March 11, 2021 by MindSoup

[crticalcontent]

@zeroG. They don’t need to be that high at all. I’ve ran some in the loft connected to a slimline Waterbutt. I had the waterbutt on an mdf base which was lifted up by a brick either side and then the normal waterbutt stand. Done me very well, the pressure from all that water is enough. 

[zeroG]

Cheers for your experience I was planning to run the big pipe quite tight to keep what little height I can generate, but ive just looked at my autopot res, and the outlet is about 10mm from the very bottom, i cant run the risk of the pond pump runnming dry, so Im looking at a different solution, maybe it'll have to be an airstone stuck to the bottom and not a pump...the one I got is perferct too, its only 2"2 - f-ing A! So just maybe a better resevoir, just found a camper van 60L for about 40 quid, food grade, that would keep me a week

 

This is my first autofeed so just one more question (with an appendix for now), how often do I need to agitate my coco nutes when they're PH'd? And about how long will that mix last, if I have enough if you get what I mean, general shelf life after mix I suppose is more accurate? Bloody soil growers eh?

 

...and is there any danger of salt buld up? I use silicon too, and I get a build up of that in the bottle lid, and in the runoff bowl...wouldnt that get trapped in th ceramic of the carrot and build up like limescale?

[blackpoolbouncer]

@zeroG fuck an airstone. Bung that hole up and make one an inch higher.

 

as for salt build up, anywhere it could build up is always wet. No chance for any salts to build up anywhere. Same reason water pipes don't get limescale internally but taps and shower heads do.

You get salt build up when a solution dries out.

 

With a circulating pump the feed mixed up is good for a few days, perhaps up to a week imo, maybe more. But your not gonna be filling a res up with a weeks worth of feed. 

Id suggest a couple days max. This limits the volume of water thats gonna flood the tent should a dripper decide to go haywire and you don't notice it. 

 

Generally when this happens, your checking every day so the most that makes it on the floor of the drip tray is usually half a litre or so. 

 

Big tank is fine, still worth checking each day just to make sure dipper aren't clogged or need adjusting. 

They rarely do though tbf

 

[lildaveham]

This is my tank it sits roughly half a meter above my living soil pot. Its outside the tent as i only have a small amount of space.

It is an autopot tank and the blumat tubing just about went in the rubber hole at the bottom after i used a hairdryer to heat the rubber.

 

 

Edited March 12, 2021 by lildaveham