Slippy One Posted April 21 Author Share Posted April 21 (edited) The Ren is doing her thing in the coco/beanstalk. Still no idea what to expect but stretch is nearly over after 9 days 12/12 so no more threading through the screen. Blumats have been left alone with occasional hand tap watering this time. Not quite perfect no run off dampness, but I’m only adding 200-400ml before seeing runoff every 2/3 days so a lean carrot setting that works well this cycle. Anyone still struggling with Blumat carrots, ease back, keep it simple with tubes etc, keep the largest res you’ve got above 1/3 levels, don’t bury the carrots too deep, don’t touch after setting them up (I see Blumat do valve protection covers). Manually watering seems to help the carrots cycle, and it’s reassuring to see them stop dripping after a manual watering, it indicates everything is still working without air bubbles. Manual assistance means you can set them with a hanging drip, and turn them another few millimetres for a lean calibration. Also means my res is still 80% full after 2weeks so far. go go beanstalk pellets and easy growing Edited April 21 by Slippy One 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 (edited) 9 hours ago, Slippy One said: I see Blumat do valve protection covers Yeah they're well handy. Are all your carrots on a loop as well? That really helps keep them in check. I've had a lot less issues since I changed from having them inline to T-ting them off one loop. That and adding multiple drippers for each carrot. Edited April 22 by MindSoup 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slippy One Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 @MindSoupyes, one same loop, running 2 carrots instead of 4. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 Yeah nice that should definitely help. If you get the caps just be careful taking them off, the clip on quite securely and it's easy to pull the carrot up with them. I'm not sure if they're available in the UK, but sustainable village do Blumat drip rings which look perfect for your application. I saw them on one of Build a Soils recent videos 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slippy One Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 After this cycle, I’m shutting up the indoor shop for the summer and will definitely be buying one of those rings, plus valve covers. The carrots will be repurposed for outdoor duties, might even buy one of those Blumat mains reducers and do away with a reservoir completely outdoors. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 Yeah I think the mains adapter might be a shout. Obviously indoors there's the worry of a catastrophic runaway, but ironically I think the constant pressure wil actually make it a lot less likely you'll have one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slippy One Posted May 14 Author Share Posted May 14 Quick update on the Ren in flower, all going well although I noticed she was starting to look pale in the centre so added a pinch of magnesium. Didn’t fix it, turns out she was getting 1300 PAR in the middle on setting 8 and getting too much light, so I lowered it to 1100. This time I’ve had the Blumats running amazingly well. The trick is to use them as supplementary watering, dialled down to accommodate my hand watering. When done correctly, and not watering for 2 days, lets me increase the drips in tiny amounts, which is kind of the reverse of how I previously set them. The hand watering is no stress and I can let the Blumats do their thing now they’re reverse tweaked. 3 weeks left. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 (edited) Looking lovely dude. Have you ever considered an aquavalve? Could potentially make your life easier... E2A I feel like we might have had this conversation before . Edited May 14 by MindSoup 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinwalker Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 Been following your thread a while and keen to automate my process a little more too. Im going to give the beanstalk pellets a run, which I'm looking forward to. I was under the impression roots didn't like sitting in constantly wet soil but have a good water then dry up daily? Rather then a more constant soaking especailly sitting wet during their night cycle. Yours seem to come out nicely though, maybe this idea I have is wrong..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slippy One Posted May 14 Author Share Posted May 14 @MindSoupnot me but I’m going to continue using blumats after finally having success after 4 cycles. @Skinwalkergood luck, don’t forget to tag me in your grow if you do a diary, otherwise go for it! I’m happy to break my new ‘reverse’ Blumat tweaking in more detail but my best advice is to make sure you plumb in a drain first, that way you’ll avoid mopping up if the carrots runaway on ya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 But surely if you're having to water by hand that's not really very successful? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinwalker Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 Are you using the Aquavalves mindsoup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slippy One Posted May 14 Author Share Posted May 14 20 minutes ago, Skinwalker said: I was under the impression roots didn't like sitting in constantly wet soil but have a good water then dry up daily? Rather then a more constant soaking especailly sitting wet during their night cycle. Yours seem to come out nicely though, maybe this idea I have is wrong..? Coco coir is different than compost in that fully soaked coir is the ideal water/air ratio, so keeping it damp is mandatory on established root systems. You can let coco dry out a bit when very young or transplanting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinwalker Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 Ah good to know. I was thinking of doing a little diary for this one so will let you know when i get it going Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 (edited) 32 minutes ago, Skinwalker said: Are you using the Aquavalves mindsoup? Not myself at the moment, but I think I will be in the future, I have a mate testing a Tray 2 grow and another who had great success with their good 2 go/ holiday watering system. I've found Blumats to be great when they work properly, but that only ever seems to last for so long. The Aquavalve seems primitive in comparison, but with simplicity comes reliability. For what Slippy is trying to do (and most other applications) they seem like a better solution than the Blumats from where I'm standing. As for soil staying wet, the wet dry cycle is something that a lot of people utilise/recommend and it definitely has it's benefits and advantages, but if you can keep you soil (not Coco) in the optimal moisture range you never have to let it dry out, in fact when growing organically and relying on the soil life to make nutrients available it's actually optimal for the soil to stay moist. The wet dry cycle is more of an oversimplified way to help people who struggle with overwatering, but it does also have a certain crop steering effect as it can increase the plants rate of metabolism when done right. Edited May 14 by MindSoup 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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