SkyRider Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 Just now, zeroG said: everyone loves a gadget Even better a gadget that's relatively cheap and works well. Can't remember the exact price, but with the 12 sensor kit, autopot res, distribution drippers and accessories, I'm about £70 in for a system that will water my entire flower room. Very happy with the price. Went up to check on the plants tonight and the distribution drippers I had set up had already been watering a bit, so I think I have them dialed in better for my living pots now. Very pleased with them so far. The big test for me will be in a weeks time when I leave the room and plants to fend for itself for a week. Should be interesting to see how it looks when I come back. Hopefully everything will still be alive 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbillybob Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share Posted March 23, 2021 ive been thinking about this watering system a lot, and the only downside i can think of, is that, compared to watering by hand, the coco wont be taking in as much oxygen to the roots as it would if they were watered conventionally, because a dripper is more of a continual soak than a drench. the drench would probably pull more air to the roots just bu the way its applied. im just thinking out loud here, not getting my excuses in early, in case you were wondering why the random post.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeroG Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 Theres a lot in that @badbillybob because the air transfer through the coco draws a lot of fresh oxygen in to the root area directly, and if youve been bubbling it as well, you see results almost immediately... Have the folks who have used Blumats extensively mentioned yield drops by comparrison to hand watering? Probably not... Who in the thread is a veteran user? What do you think guys? ...as a counter attack, if youre agitating your res, then some airiated solution wil be dripping in, but its hardly an event with a dripper, its almost a non event by design! Ive been thinking about my hobby as well to be honest. I only have a few plants. If I dont have any watering to do on a daily basis, its a fairly crap hobby - apart from a pot-up event, or a trim, theres not a lot more to do than water...Maybe I'll have a go with these, dial them in and learn how they roll properly - and then whip them out and go back to hand watering, until I need a hiliday, and rack it back up again...use it as I always intended, holiday cover!! I am enjoying the new equipment aspect of it, and you never know it might make a real difference? I remember reading an autopot diary years ago, and the feller just said that with water/nutes in the pot all the time, the plant never asks for water or food - its almost like chipping your car, no more peaks and troughs, just a flat average thats better than the worst, but not quite as good as the best - across the board. %tages say take it Today will be the test for me, 1st day im planning not to water..., and I also think its going to cost me one of these soil moisture sensors Blumat make, 35 nicker arent they? unless somone else has a bright idea to test for moisture without lifting a 20L pot, with nearly a 2m2 canopy on the top What woiuld be the correct moisture percentage anyway? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbillybob Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share Posted March 23, 2021 (edited) they reckon between 80-120% as the goal, so im assuminig its about 100% optimum. i got mine set up today, built a shelf for the res to sit on, its about 5 ft off the ground, but i can still see into it, im 6 ft 4. potted up the rest of my coco plants and filled the room. i havnt added water yet, and i only managed to tip one of the buckets over while leaning on it to get the feed pipe on. CAn you guess where i got the mop buckets from? hahaha, they didnt have any normal ones left, i must have bought them all the last time... B&Q are useless cunts too, thier website said they had garland trays in and when i went to get them, oh nothing, fkin great, what a waste of petrol..... heres some pics im gonna zip tie the feed line to the pots to stop it flopping about all over the place. Havnt filled it with water cos mr and mrs noseybastard next door are in their garden Edited March 23, 2021 by badbillybob 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
growinggold Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 (edited) I do love your mop bucket pots. Just remember with your resi mate you will need to pout La of water at that height so be careful with the power. It doesn't need to be that high of you want to make it little lower /easier to pour/fill. Ah read again 5ft isn't that high Edited March 23, 2021 by growinggold 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
growinggold Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 Oh yeah on that one in bottom left try stretch that dripper line to otherside plant so plant is in the middle of the carrot and dripper to get max pit coverage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 (edited) 48 minutes ago, zeroG said: Theres a lot in that @badbillybob because the air transfer through the coco draws a lot of fresh oxygen in to the root area directly, and if youve been bubbling it as well, you see results almost immediately... Have the folks who have used Blumats extensively mentioned yield drops by comparrison to hand watering? Probably not... Who in the thread is a veteran user? What do you think guys? ...as a counter attack, if youre agitating your res, then some airiated solution wil be dripping in, but its hardly an event with a dripper, its almost a non event by design! Ive been thinking about my hobby as well to be honest. I only have a few plants. If I dont have any watering to do on a daily basis, its a fairly crap hobby - apart from a pot-up event, or a trim, theres not a lot more to do than water...Maybe I'll have a go with these, dial them in and learn how they roll properly - and then whip them out and go back to hand watering, until I need a hiliday, and rack it back up again...use it as I always intended, holiday cover!! I am enjoying the new equipment aspect of it, and you never know it might make a real difference? I remember reading an autopot diary years ago, and the feller just said that with water/nutes in the pot all the time, the plant never asks for water or food - its almost like chipping your car, no more peaks and troughs, just a flat average thats better than the worst, but not quite as good as the best - across the board. %tages say take it Today will be the test for me, 1st day im planning not to water..., and I also think its going to cost me one of these soil moisture sensors Blumat make, 35 nicker arent they? unless somone else has a bright idea to test for moisture without lifting a 20L pot, with nearly a 2m2 canopy on the top What woiuld be the correct moisture percentage anyway? Use fabric pots if your worried about oxygen levels in the soil. Water has a lot of oxygen dissolved into it that releases over time into the soil though, Like the little bubbles on a glass of water left on the side, you can enhance this with a bubbler in your reservoir. I test my soil moisture with my finger, sure you can fixate on some optimal number, but to me thats not what growing is all about, its as much an art as a science, besides who says the sensor hasn't gone faulty or was inaccurate to begin with. Optimal conditions never ever happen in nature and yet plants thrive everywhere, even the middle of a concrete path. You have to remember, these are designed for soil, where in a lot of situations having a constant moisture level is advantageous, it keeps the micro herd healthy and happy, which helps them feed your plant, manage PH and kill off any pests. The old wet dry cycle idea comes in when your using artificial nutes. They kill everything in the soil anyway so that side of things is redundant. By allowing a plant to dry out it can trick it into speeding up it metabolism, which can be advantageous if you can keep up with the feeding just right, but the faster you go the harder you crash, tortoise and the hair type thing. Edited March 23, 2021 by MindSoup 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeroG Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 - Im not concerned necessarily @MindSoup - but I like to consider everything, 'as you do'...(you being general, not personal ) I was just thinking out loud as they say, but thanks mate X You understanbd the 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeroG Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 ...basics of soil and watering well ..Blumat also design systems/layouts for weed and coco, for larger grow ops, dont they? using soakers as well as long dripper lines, maybe i mis-read? Wet/dry doesnt really work with coco. Its kinda gotta be moist all the time otherwise its a lockout city...its hydroponics, although its coco - the media is inert, it s a fully salt based feeding regime in the media. The style of grow resembles soil, but thats about as close as it gets technically... I love the luxury of your space @badbillybob - room for a shelf 5ft up! - Its like youre in a warehouse... can you tell me a bit about your space, without being too specific obviously? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbillybob Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share Posted March 23, 2021 (edited) yes, sure, its in a shed i built last year. its made from 3x2s and lining boards on outside and osb on inside, floor is 22mm t&G sheets, i cordoned off an area for the room about 2.5 by 2.4 ish i cant remember exactly, and the other area is where the res , all the electrics, a water butt and my little 120x 60 tent is, the extracts for the hoods and fan are to the back of the shed, which sits about a foot from the house wall. the low wall is 2.2m and the high one 2.4 (inside heights). roof is osb, felt and profile metal sheeting. it cost a few quid in materials, but it better constructed than any shed you will buy to be honest. My only regret is not insulating the walls and floor/roof, but i just couldnt afford it (if you have seen the cost of insualtion you will see why). I was actually planning having it as a workshop, but well, i can resist everything but temptation..... it works well enough, or it would if my plants didnt keep getting root issues in hydro.... Edited March 23, 2021 by badbillybob 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeroG Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 ace build! - nothing like a potting shed I would love the luxury of a space that size, how much light in total do you run? That would be my problem, lots of space and I woul keep filling it with lights, I got a bit carried away 6/7 years ago, and ended up with so much weed my wife said I couldnt grow any more until I worked thru 75% - not another seed hit soil for nearly 5 years. I never broke stride, and I had an oz left when I harvested my first Tangielope last march - I was thinking of taking up microgrowing, but then LED and coco came along... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hempire Road Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 (edited) I have got a box of 12 in the cupboard i want to start this summer. I want to do a 2 plant scrog under 2 screens. Vegged under 2 400 watt mh under each plant for 2.5 - 3 months. How would the run off process be dealt with ? Just flush through manually on a Sunday? I'm also using canna nutes which have high salt content running through the narrow tubes? I was thinking of getting 2 connections so I can just take them out and bleach them over night and clean them , the other line can then be used in meantime? I will be following the set up process on this thread as handwatering coco is a full time job at times. How are we dealing with run off ? Or do you just maintain a high EC within the medium? Edited March 23, 2021 by Hempire Road Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbillybob Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share Posted March 23, 2021 (edited) i dont know about those who have run these before cos im a blumat virgin, but i think i will just hand water every week or two till run off. i read somewhere that salt build up was an issue if they didnt. i set these up tonight, got the hanging drip and knocked it back 2 triangles. hopefully it will work, but im still waiting for my filter to arrive, will see how it looks tomorrow res has about 25 litres in it, at 1.4ec (i over did it, im used to dosing 400 litres, not 20 odd ha ha. ) ph is 5.6 im running 4 x 600 hps in here, 3 in aircooled hoods and one open reflector @zeroG, and a 240 led board. Edited March 23, 2021 by badbillybob 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lean Bear Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 good luck man, reckon you'll need a bigger res! I tend to give mine a top watering every week, with a tea or just plain h20. May find 2 diamonds a bit dry, tend to find 1 to 1.5 , but obviously depends on size of plant etc. I would say try and leave them for 3 or 4 days once set if you can, as you think theres nothing going on, then come back next day and the res is almost empty 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 (edited) 12 hours ago, zeroG said: Wet/dry doesnt really work with coco. Its kinda gotta be moist all the time otherwise its a lockout city Yeah I understand Coco actually becomes water repellent when it dries out, which can also be said for peat soil to an extent, once the pots dry out the water just starts running through and watering becomes a bit tricky. But with coco you would normally have/ get away with much more of a fluctuation than would be ideal with an organic soil grow, the microbes love a nice constant level of moisture. You can always hand water from time to time, if you want to flush nutes or get some fresh air into the pot. Hope they all work well for you mate. I found it hard to trust mine to begin with, constantly checking them all the time, and I'm only running 2 . I haven't seen anything from blumat about using them with coco or any coco specific products tbh, but I haven't been looking either. There isnt a whole lot of accessible info on the IME, they seem to like the generic picture guides that always leave me with questions. Edited March 24, 2021 by MindSoup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now