another site im on has a plethora or information on the Topff Blumats. if you dont know what they are, is a gravity fed drip system. no pumps or any of that shit. pretty much a "set it and forget it" type system. ive been using them for almost 2 weeks now and love them. havent read anything or anyone using them on GC yet. this is my setup. 1000w hps, 4x4 tent, 4x4 table, blumats.
I've read about them on other forums, but they seem to be difficult to find in the states. Where were you able to find them (if you are in the states)?
i found them at my local hydro shop but i have heard people are having a hard time finding them. just search for their site on google or something. their very simple. ill take a few pics of my rez and what not so you can get a better idea.
ill just explain how i have mine hooked up. my rez is 40gal. the black tubing is what runs into my tent (1st pic). i ran that around the perimeter of the tent, and wherever i had a plant, i just cut the tubing and insert the fitting that runs to the actual dripper (2nd pic). each dripper has a little brown dial on top so you can adjust the drip rate that you want (3rd pic). check their website and hit me w/ any questions you may have
Are you running airstones in your rez? I've heard of these, but can never find them in the states. They make different styles, the one you have is the Tropf Blumats. I can find the blumat jr's, but they do not have the dial to adjust drip rate. EDIT: What size pots are those in post #6? 6" square pots? UPDATE: Found them, Superior Growers just started to carry them. I have a local Superior Growers shop about 25 miles away that I frequent to for specialty items. Never ordered online, but they are pretty good. http://homeharvest.com/dripirrigationtropfblumat.htm
ill have to check. their either 6'' or 9''. ive had these pots for awhile but ill be totally switching them out for either all smart pots or all airpots. im thinking all 1gal for veg and 3 gal for flower. ive just heard that they work better but i have had no problems with these white square pots. i just love the blumats because you dont have to hook up a bunch of pipes and whatnot or have timers and pumps running all the time. their gravity fed and pretty hands off. i just drain the rez every monday and check ph and ppm everyday just to see how their eating/drinking. sometimes i do miss the closeness i feel to my ladies when hand watering. but these will really give you a sense of freedom. oh and the airstones question. i dont have an airstone in there. ive heard that sometimes the bubbles from them can cause some nutrients to bond 2gether w/ the oxygen. i just have a little pump, from an old water fountain statue that was going to the garbage lol. it keeps the water churned up pretty good. alot of people will run a "dead rez" but i dont want anything gunking up on me
I use blumats in coco and love them. I'm also on that "other" site, Blumats are the bees knees. I don't think I'll ever go back to handwater again. **Edit** I'm running it deadres style with HG's Drip clean.
It doesn't seem to with coco. I'm running it with 100% coco right now and the plants are so happy. (I am too) I can go and spend time enjoying my plants rather then mixing solutions up every day.
viking is right. if your worried about the entire pot not getting wet enough you can always turn the drip rate up. thats one of the great things about blumats. you can adjust the drip rate for whatever suits your situation. i also run drip clean but still like to have that pump in there to agitate everything. how big is your rez viking? i have a 40gal, but only running 10 at the moment. mine drains in about a week so every monday ill dump it and mix up new nutes. what nutes are you running in yours? i have h&g coco a/b, drip clean, roots excel, top booster, bud xl, shooting powder. what kind of ppm/ec are you @
I'm running Canna A+B + Drip Clean right now. Going to eventually switch to the Maxibloom KISS system. My sunleaves TPS meter lists it at 550ppm but it's kind of a junky meter. I have a great Hanna combo meter but have to go buy the calibration fluid this weekend before I start using it. Right now my plants are beginning flower so I'm running about 10ml of A and B per gallon which is giving me happy green plants with no signs of deficiencies. I have a 30 liter res which gets changed about once a week.
i noticed tonight that i may have to prop the end of a dripper hose up a little farther than it hangs because i have some curious little roots forming on top of my coco trying to reach for the dripper. thats nothing but a great sign though
just a couple pics. that little pump keeps things churned up pretty good. like a mini fountain of goodness for the ladies. its getting to be a jungle in there. their stretch is all done with, now its time to start packing on the buds. threw in a couple pics of those curious little roots.
So how do you handle salt buildup in your medium? Are you dripping enough for some constant run off? If so, how are you handling your run off. I am really interested to see your process. Currently, with hand watering, it is some what difficult. I have a bad shoulder and lugging around these 5 gal plants weighing 50lbs wet is painful. Since I run off 10-20% a normal saucer just won't do, and even with a saucer, the medium would just wick it up over time. Some would evaporate of course.
^ I hear ya, I have to empty my saucers almost everyday which is certainly a real chore. I do however sit something under my pots so they are raised above the saucer, allowing them to fill up without having the bottom of pots submurged in the runoff. Another idea which I will try to save labor is to find a cheap water pump and simply suck out the water with a hose. Or glue pipes into the saucers and connect pipes together into the pump so it's a matter of a flick of a switch.
i dont deal w/ salt buildup in my medium. i use house and gardens Drip Clean. you only use .4ml per gal and it works wonders. you water w/ it all the way through veg and flower and u shouldnt have to worry about salts. these things are a bit different than other drip systems. that cone that you put in your medium w/ the dial on top..... that gauges whether the medium needs more drip...or less drip. it controls it by itself. ok.... say if you were to buy these blumats, you need to water your medium very well. fill the cones w/ water and submerge them in water for about an hour. once you hook everything up, insert your cones into the medium, you set it w/ that dial to where it just BARELY drips. when the medium starts to dry out, that little dripper will open up to allow it to drip more and saturate the medium. the wetter the medium gets.......the less it will drip. that little brown drip tube is specially made. its some type of surgical tubing. but its the ONLY kind you can use w/ this system. thats what makes it able to "clamp" itself off if the medium is watered enough. you can actually set the drip rate to whatever you want really. mine personally is set to drip....drip.....drip.....drip instead of drip................drip..............drip if that makes any sense lol. bring on any ?'s you guys have. ill try my best to help as much as i can