Hi all, ordered some blumats and am excited to set everything up but am a little worried about the EC building up in the medium since there will be no flushing for runoff. Switching from an over-the-top watering to a system that works based on the humidity of the medium looses an important aspect in coco, that of providing a minimum 20% drain. For a couple of reasons, coco that is not fed until proper runoff has a tendency to build in EC. One reason for this is the natural decay of the coco which creates a situation where extra salts accumulate. Loosing drainage means these will build up to high levels. Those accumulated salts are mostly Potassium and Sodium with a little Sulfur. They are also the main reason for the need for drainage. Another reason is that while feeding not all of the nutrients present are taken in and some bind to the coco and are more resistant than others to a simple flush of 20% runoff. A third but common reason occurs when the coco dries out leaving residual salts to dry and leave a residue. It is not advisable to do mid-grow flushes without nutrients present as it supposedly removes the buffered environment. That being said, many growers here have had some success incorporating plain or low nute flushes every 2-4 weeks to keep things in check. Maybe someone can explain this in more detail. So to try to eliminate the buildup in the coco and subsequent lockout or PH related issues, some folks using blumats advocate drip clean which is an expensive but cheap parlor trick that can be accomplished the same way by the addition of vinegar, without the overload of phosphorous. It binds up the Calcium needed in the system for balancing the Potassium give off of the medium. As for the use of the blumats it may not be the best choice for coco due to the lack of drainage, but perhaps with a more liberal water flow setting on the dial and a flood tray I can accomplish a decent automatic grow. Anyone have any advice?
I had the same question a year ago when I started using blumats. I use AN and have found that I could use 700-900ppm, 3/4ish strength, the whole time with little issue. I set the blumats to liberally drip so the coco is always wet, but I keep tightening them till there is no runoff. Takes about 2 weeks to dial in perfectly. To combat any possible build up, ever other week or so I will hand feed from the reservoir so there is excess run off. I will also flush with water and back fill with nutrient if I see any issues. I still feel like I have a little more dialing in to do, but I almost have it there. For instance I think I might see an improvement by feeding at full strength and hand feeding to excess once a week but im working up to that.
Do people have success bottom feeding for an entire grow or using an automated system such as autopots, which don't allow for any drainage? The answer is yes. The thing is, theory is one thing, but results are what really matter. The theory is that without run off coco builds up levels of different things which will prevent your plant being healthy. When people complete entire grows bottom feeding only, and use autopots and have healthy plants at the end, it puts a dent in the theory and you have to ask why. Obviously it's not as straight forward as some people think and what they say will happen actually doesn't, for whatever reason. Speak to people who use the systems and find out if they're going from start to finish without problems. I'd imagine a lot of them are.
Check out my grow in the coco section using autopots. I never even flushed until about 2 weeks out from harvest. The only thing I even did in that grow was add 5 gallons to res every monday. I think I cleaned the res maybe once when I switched to flower and I had great things happen.
[quote name='"SleeplessFool"']Check out my grow in the coco section using autopots. I never even flushed until about 2 weeks out from harvest. The only thing I even did in that grow was add 5 gallons to res every monday. I think I cleaned the res maybe once when I switched to flower and I had great things happen.[/quote] Thats great to hear SF! Its a mental thing. It feels safe to water to runoff. Did you lower nute strength at all when not using runoff?
Nope all I did was add 7g of maxibloom and then koolbloom liquid/dry. I did use drip clean through the whole grow.
Good stuff, I enjoyed this also. I have a few questions though. 1. Any issues with the auto pots? I find the blumats a little touchy sometimes, especially till they are dialed in. 2. You said you fed mex strength the whole time right? No issues? Is your coco constantly wet or does it dry out? 3. What did you think about drip clean? I've used it off an on and I'm still up in the air reguarding its usefullness.
I had zero issues with the auto pots. The only thing is you have to get new cloth inserts that you put in the pots every grow. With all the said there was really no dialing the autopots in. It was just mix nuits and then let them do there thing. I would check to make sure the aqua valves don't get stuck, but other than that theres really not much to the autopot system. I have not tried the blumats , but have done some research into them and everything I have come across is that they are very touchy until you can dialed them in. Yep, I feed max strenght from seedling to flower. One of the plants did have cal/mag issues but once i added that everything went smooth. Top of the coco was always moist not really wet through, but deffantly not dryed out. I got to say, I stand by the drip clean. When I did not add it to the rez i would get this thick salt build up on the walls of the rez that you could kind of scrap off with your fingernails. Then once I started using it it just went away. I did not even have any salt build up in the water lines from the rez to the autopots. I try and look at it like this, a bottle of drip clean don't really cost that much and you use such a little amount that it last a long time.
[quote name='"SleeplessFool"']I had zero issues with the auto pots. The only thing is you have to get new cloth inserts that you put in the pots every grow. With all the said there was really no dialing the autopots in. It was just mix nuits and then let them do there thing. I would check to make sure the aqua valves don't get stuck, but other than that theres really not much to the autopot system. I have not tried the blumats , but have done some research into them and everything I have come across is that they are very touchy until you can dialed them in. Yep, I feed max strenght from seedling to flower. One of the plants did have cal/mag issues but once i added that everything went smooth. Top of the coco was always moist not really wet through, but deffantly not dryed out. I got to say, I stand by the drip clean. When I did not add it to the rez i would get this thick salt build up on the walls of the rez that you could kind of scrap off with your fingernails. Then once I started using it it just went away. I did not even have any salt build up in the water lines from the rez to the autopots. I try and look at it like this, a bottle of drip clean don't really cost that much and you use such a little amount that it last a long time.[/quote] Sleep - your maxi bloom thread has got me really wanting to try the autopot method. I'm struggling with the hand watering and the autopots just look ridiculously easy after reading up on them. I'm hand watering in a 3gal root pouch now. I'm new so i figured hand watering would be easy. It's become a 45 min daily chore mixing and ph'ing and draining and etc etc.
I am telling you Never, it is such a simply system and it works. The only thing is they can be hard to find in the US. I can only get them online, no shop around me sells them. Will see how they last through, I am only on my second grow using them, but as of now I can see them being a permanent system for me at a hobby level of growing.
[quote name='"SleeplessFool"']I am telling you Never, it is such a simply system and it works. The only thing is they can be hard to find in the US. I can only get them online, no shop around me sells them. Will see how they last through, I am only on my second grow using them, but as of now I can see them being a permanent system for me at a hobby level of growing.[/quote] I endorse drip methods also, but for blumats. Despite the minor "touchy" issues and getting comfortable with them, they are still 100x better than hand watering. I literally could not hand water as good as they do. Since I have been using them I use roughly 1/3 less nutrients, because I'm watering as needed not on a schedule. I am also spending about 1/4 of the time I use to spend messing with nutes and hand watering. I can even leave my room unattended for 1-2 weeks if necessary (although i still like to check daily). Auto pots have my Interest though, but I won't make a big switch anytime soon since I have all the blumat gear and I've worked out a good system I'm comfortable with.
[quote name='"SleeplessFool"']I am telling you Never, it is such a simply system and it works. The only thing is they can be hard to find in the US. I can only get them online, no shop around me sells them. Will see how they last through, I am only on my second grow using them, but as of now I can see them being a permanent system for me at a hobby level of growing.[/quote] Yeah man your pics were killer. I can't wait to grow something that good lookin'. Congrats on your harvest! If you don't mind me asking, how much did the autopots plus anything you needed to use them run you? I've got my tent, lighting, ventilation and odor control already. Now I just need a good self watering setup, enter autopots.
love the autopots, messed up the first time I used them though. didn't know you had to top feed until the roots hit the bottom of the pot before you turned on the autopots this grow is much better though, will get a new diary up soon. Just set and forget, perfect for the lazy grower