Blumat watering system
- Thread starter Leeski
- Start date
foreverflyhi
Well-Known Member
Yes huge problem with them. They will make you lazy. I'm the worlds laziest gardener bcuz of these blu mats. (Being sarcastic, kinda)
My only advice is for larger areas, use water pressure as oppose to gravity.
You can get by using the small ones. However the smaller, the less depth it will be able to censor, you can combat this by increasing pressure, or just use them as top water feeders to keep top soil moist, you just have to water by hand once a week.
Dont use chemicals or anything that can crust up the inside of these little hoses. Blumats are really water only.
Also upgrade with the drip extension for larger diameter coverage.
My only advice is for larger areas, use water pressure as oppose to gravity.
You can get by using the small ones. However the smaller, the less depth it will be able to censor, you can combat this by increasing pressure, or just use them as top water feeders to keep top soil moist, you just have to water by hand once a week.
Dont use chemicals or anything that can crust up the inside of these little hoses. Blumats are really water only.
Also upgrade with the drip extension for larger diameter coverage.
Last edited:
Richard Drysift
Well-Known Member
Its true; they make you lazy. Been using the blumats in my perpetual flower room for almost a year. It can be tricky to set the proper amount of drip at first but once it's dialed in it is pretty much automatic. One problem is you can forget about watering and allow the system to run dry if you don't keep the reservoir bucket topped off. I still water by hand about every 10 days or so much as needed. If the system gets air in it due to a low water level you will need to go around and re-soak the carrots and reset all the drip valves. You gotta kind of bleed off any air bubbles in the system like the brake lines on a car.
Try to keep the feeder lines at an even height to keep the flow constant. Moving the plants around can kink up the hose; you may need to spin the T-connectors to improve flow. I had to zip tie a few of the hoses on place to keep the height even. The reservoir bucket must be elevated above the carrots for gravity feed. I have employed a pump with a hose to another source bucket to fill up the reservoir because the low ceiling in my basement prevents me from pouring more water in the bucket directly. I can even put it on a timer for vacation time.
I use at least one carrot for a 10g pot but 2 is probably much better. If you use fabric pots it's virtually impossible to overwater with blumats. Any excess water just runs off. It has happened more a couple times where I thought the flow was set correctly yet I come home to find there are puddles on the floor and the res bucket empty.
Try to keep the feeder lines at an even height to keep the flow constant. Moving the plants around can kink up the hose; you may need to spin the T-connectors to improve flow. I had to zip tie a few of the hoses on place to keep the height even. The reservoir bucket must be elevated above the carrots for gravity feed. I have employed a pump with a hose to another source bucket to fill up the reservoir because the low ceiling in my basement prevents me from pouring more water in the bucket directly. I can even put it on a timer for vacation time.
I use at least one carrot for a 10g pot but 2 is probably much better. If you use fabric pots it's virtually impossible to overwater with blumats. Any excess water just runs off. It has happened more a couple times where I thought the flow was set correctly yet I come home to find there are puddles on the floor and the res bucket empty.
friedguy
Well-Known Member
I'm still testing this, but I'm using 1 regular carrot and 1 maxi carrot in a loop connecting to 3 drippers in a 10 gal fabric pot with supersoil (coir). If either carrot senses it's dry it will drip out of the drippers. I'm also using RO from a pressurized tank with a 1/4" 1 bar pressure reducer connected to the sensors, so I don't have to worry about filling any rez or keeping line length the same or periodically bleeding air or anything like that. All drippers drip evenly. I have a seedling growing in a 12oz solo cop that will be going in the fabric pot Saturday. I'm hoping to get lazy too. Good luck.