How do you like the Blu-mats? What’s your setup? From what I understand of them you don’t need any type of pumps to move the water so I’m assuming you just have your water tank above the carrots and your good to go? I hate having to water so these seem like the way to go. Looking good in here !
Thanks! Here's to another long ass winded reply lol:
I freakin love blumats; they are definitely the way to go. Require no power but the reservoir bucket (or diy storage vessel) needs to stay topped off for even distribution because it is just gravity fed. The drip flow sorta slows down a bit as the water level gets low. It can be a bit tricky at first to dial in the proper drip but once it's set you can pretty much forget it as long as the bucket NEVER runs dry. If any air gets in the system you have to bleed it off again like the brakes on an old car. The carrots can also dry out and need to be soaked and re-filled every so often; they passively regulate the drip flow +/- when functioning properly. One carrot will water a 5 gal pot very well; I'm getting away with only 1 carrot per 10 or 7gal but two probably is better. I still hand water if the pots feel light maybe every 10-14 days or so.
One issue I found was when I raised up the reservoir bucket there was no room to fill it up again due to a low ceiling. Employed a small pump to move water from a source bucket to the res. Drilled a hole in the lid and put in a patron cork float glued to a wood dowel, and white tape over the tip indicating low/full levels. I can put it on a recycle timer for daily fill ups but it's overkill unless I'm on vacation. Nice to have watering on auto pilot but it's also as easy to forget all about it. Sometimes I don't look at my plants for days.
Hey Richard, do you have to reduce the watering amount in the last weeks of flower to avoid root rot?
Thanks for posting your detailed reply's!
No but do I pull the carrots out in the final few days before chopping just to conserve water and begin drying them out. Root rot is not an issue if you use fabric pots; any excess water runs off onto the floor. I thought that a constant drip would cause problems too but it's actually not constant; the drip flow varies depending upon how much moisture is present in the root zone. The blumat carrots sweat moisture through the terra cotta and this opens or closes the drip flow valve slightly thereby controlling the drip flow somewhat. The roots suck up moisture from the carrots. That's why the system gets so out of whack if it goes dry & the plants can get dried out real fast.
