Keeping it simple - Coco + Blumats

[Daveindiego]

On this most recent grow using Blumats for 5 plants, I used a 3 gallon reservoir that I only had to add to once beyond the weekly refreshing during the entire grow.

 

[Blalack55]

Ah ok, that's the info I was looking for. As said I don't have a few foot height to play with given the container location, only 1 foot. But if the carrots work just like a free flow pipe then that's fine as I've been using the same singular res setup only with custom halo drip hoses. They do the watering slowly over an hour period or so.. but they won't keep a constant moisture level over the days like blumats, with obvious added bonus.

Would you say the volume of water is sufficient for every other day fill ups (roughly 3 gal pots). I read they use less water with blumats so hopefully. Also any concern of the 5L volumes sitting over the 2 day duration?. they will completely out of light and direct heat.

I had to fill my 5gallon res about every 3-4 days at first than almost every day or 2 when got bigger and I used 4 3gallon smart pots the fabric ones, hopefully it helps you I wish I had more experience to help but 5L res will be good at first but you will be filling it every day when they get bigger

 

[Flowki]

I had to fill my 5gallon res about every 3-4 days at first than almost every day or 2 when got bigger and I used 4 3gallon smart pots the fabric ones, hopefully it helps you I wish I had more experience to help but 5L res will be good at first but you will be filling it every day when they get bigger

Yes that's helpful, thank you.

I'm hoping to attach my existing pipe (1/2") directly to the carrots small intake pipe with a barb reducer. Any idea what size reducer the carrot pipe would require?, assuming all tropf are the same fittings.

 

[nate_mac]

No I don't reuse coco. I'm growing in three gallon fabric pots and by the time the plant is don't it's just one big ball of roots that gets chopped up and tossed in the garden. I haven't had any clog but I go through and squeeze along the length the 3mm lines about once a week in case anything's building up. I have had a couple runaways where they kept watering but I think that was due to factors caused by me and not the design of the system. In other words I didn't set the flow properly.

Anyway, blumats might not be for everyone but I'm extremely happy with the system. There is nothing wrong with a timed drain to waste system. I just didn't want to deal with the waste and when I found out about blumats I thought I'd give them a try. Now I don't know how I grew without them.

Do you still use this system?

 

[xtsho]

Do you still use this system?

Yes but not all the time. And now I do reuse the coco. But I mix it in with fresh. Excellent results every time.

 

[nate_mac]

Yes but not all the time. And now I do reuse the coco. But I mix it in with fresh. Excellent results every time.

So in 2020 you would still suggest this system?

 

[XtraGood]

Yes but not all the time. And now I do reuse the coco. But I mix it in with fresh. Excellent results every time.

Use anything to break down roots?

 

[mattman089]

Use anything to break down roots?

I've been wondering how to break down roots as well recently in order to recycle the soil

 

[xtsho]

So in 2020 you would still suggest this system?

Yes I would suggest this system if it fit your needs. There is not a one size fits all. It works great for what I'm doing. For smaller grows they work great. I wouldn't use the carrots on a larger grow but I would use the same basic system with a capillary mat instead. There is much you can do with gravity and absorbent material with regards to irrigating plants. In fact I'm likely going to try using a capillary mat system and fabric pots of coco.