MindSoup Posted February 28 Author Share Posted February 28 3 minutes ago, lildaveham said: 3 days Blimey, I thought 24hrs was being thorough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned The Head Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 I find it an essential tool when setting the moisture level at the beginning of a cycle but then it usually becomes redundant. Things I’ve learnt: Don’t put it too close to soaker hose / dripper. It needs topping up every day or two if you want to retain accurate readings. If you start seeing the moisture level slowly running away - say 20mbr per day then it is the moisture meter. Even down a millimeter at the top of the carrot will start causing this. Also try to use an area you haven’t been sticking it recently - poking holes causes better drainage and thus less accurate readings. If I’m making a change now I’m nudging it the smallest amount I can rather than the half turn they recommend. Hope that helps 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted February 28 Author Share Posted February 28 4 minutes ago, Ned The Head said: Also try to use an area you haven’t been sticking it recently Yeah I'm starting to run out of those . Nice one for the tips dude, hopefully I can get this one to hold tight for long enough to get everything set and then like you say I won't really need it. Both irrigation carrots and the sensor carrot are getting an overnight soak in pre boiled water and then I'll set them all up tomorrow with fresh soil around them and go from there. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted March 1 Author Share Posted March 1 (edited) Reset the meter again. Inspected the o ring for damage, pre boiled and cooled the water to stop bubbles forming, soaked for about 18hrs, definitely didn't over tighten it. Put it in the bed making sure there was no pumice or anything else around it and it was about half way down in the soil. Left it over night and it's got an air bubble in it again! Sending it back, I'll stick with the Ecowitt, might not be as accurate but at least it fucking works . Edited March 1 by MindSoup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lildaveham Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 Iirc air bubbles in the moisture meter are not a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazeytones Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 The issue I've had with the moisture meter isn't related to bubbles but the water level dropping. I think @lildaveham is right and it's not as much of a concern with the meter as would be with the carrots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted March 1 Author Share Posted March 1 Water level dropping/having an air bubble, isn't that the same thing? . I can't understand how it could work with an air pocket TBH, goes against my understanding of the laws of physics. Air being compressible would have to affect the readings. Yesterday it was full, today the water level in the tube had dropped about 3mm. It was reading 250mbar when my finger and ecowitt were both telling the soil was on the damp side, even when I dug down to that level. wether or not it's faulty or I'm being a melt I don't know, but I can't be arsed with it any more, too much of a faff, and I'm disturbing roots digging around all over the place. Ecothrive have offered a return on it so it'll be getting sent back. I forgot to mention I already have one that a friend gave me, I only bought this one because the other had this same issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slippy One Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 Are these supposed to make the carrots ‘smart’? I’m tweaking the carrots every few days depending on if I see slight runoff or dry drays.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted March 1 Author Share Posted March 1 It just tells you the moisture level of your soil so you can dial them in perfectly, but I doubt the optimal level for soil will be anything like that of coco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leafsta Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 I've just ordered the ecowitt wh51s and the WiFi gateway, so keen to see how they work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted March 1 Author Share Posted March 1 IME they work as intended and they're pretty reliable. They just don't measure the moisture content in the best way, the Blumat sensor (when is works) is measuring how hard the plant have to suck to get the water from the soil, the ecowitt just shows the total percentage, depending on the composition of your soil the same percentage of moisture content might not equate to the same amount of required sucking power from the plants. Or something like that anyway . They're still far more useful in my eyes because of the fact they actually work consistently. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazeytones Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 Well atleast you can get it sent back and get your money back. I got one when I switched to no till for a bit of reassurance but when I was buying my soil I asked Ben at indoor organics and he said there was mixed reviews on them and the blumats and that's why he doesn't sell either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted March 1 Author Share Posted March 1 (edited) Yeah the guys at ecothrive are pretty cool, super helpful. TBH I don't really like Blumats, they're a necessity for me because I'm away from home alot, if I wasn't I'd just hand water and if I had the headroom I'd probably be using a SIP with an aqua valve. Edited March 1 by MindSoup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazeytones Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 It's not something I've looked into much, but why would you need much head room? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted March 2 Author Share Posted March 2 Because a sip would be taller than my bed and I already only have 80cm from soil to ceiling . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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