Blumat Drip Irrigation with Super Soil?

Is Blumat Drip Irrigation worth it with Super Soil?

  • Yes

    Votes: 8 72.7%
  • No

    Votes: 2 18.2%
  • Maybe

    Votes: 1 9.1%

  • Total voters
    11
High,
I plan to have 16 plants in 7 trade gallon pots(5 actual gallons), 8 in flower & 8 in veg, growing in Stepwell Super Soil.
I feel like the automation of watering is not really needed...
Other than the fact Blumat Irrigation automatically waters when the soil reaches a certain dryness.
That way it takes the guess work out of the equation, especially for someone like me who works full-time.
Wondering what y'all think? Is it worth it or nah? Thanks for your input in advance.
Happy Growing!
 
Blumat user for a year or so now. I'm a big fan, but, it's not 100% automated, it does take some adjusting and dialing-in to get working really well, but it does work great for super soil and coco etc. as long as you are aware it's not totally set and forget.
I've used them with great success for just over a year...
You won't be disappointed, as long as you set them up right and dial them in correctly
Once you got blumat you'll never go back
Oh wow, that's great to hear responses so quick. The main selling point is that they monitor the moisture levels and water accordingly.
My only concern is, how do I top dress with the irrigation set up? Usually I put the plant on a bar stool and top dress one at a time but from what I've heard it's not ideal to mess with the irrigation set up once it's up and running. Appreciate the input from both of you! Thank you.
 

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
Oh wow, that's great to hear responses so quick. The main selling point is that they monitor the moisture levels and water accordingly.
My only concern is, how do I top dress with the irrigation set up? Usually I put the plant on a bar stool and top dress one at a time but from what I've heard it's not ideal to mess with the irrigation set up once it's up and running. Appreciate the input from both of you! Thank you.
I just take a tbls of dry amendments mix with a little ewc and plop it right under the dripper.
So when I set them up I dig a hole where the waster drips to give me room for my top dress
 

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
Yes you don't want to fiddle with them to much cause if the carrot gets loose in your pot it will think your pot is dry and just keep watering and not stop until your res is empty.
Here's the most epic thread on blumats, it's where I gained most of my knowledge on the subject
 

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
I
Awesome, thanks for the tip!
Have a few grow journals up where I'm using them.
I went all out and bought the shut off valves for each 8 mm line and also each pot. So I can take a plant out of my system if I want and put it back without having to reset my system. Same with my res I could take it off without resetting my blurts cause I have shut off valves on any line coming from my res. Just have to purge the system after hooking it back up.
* pro tip from that thread, if you use the 3mm shut off valves so you can take a plant out get a white out pen and mark on your blumat where it's set so when you put it back in you can set it back to the exact same spot, as after you put it back in you have to get out any air you left in you line cause you unhooked it
 
I

Have a few grow journals up where I'm using them.
I went all out and bought the shut off valves for each 8 mm line and also each pot. So I can take a plant out of my system if I want and put it back without having to reset my system. Same with my res I could take it off without resetting my blurts cause I have shut off valves on any line coming from my res. Just have to purge the system after hooking it back up.
* pro tip from that thread, if you use the 3mm shut off valves so you can take a plant out get a white out pen and mark on your blumat where it's set so when you put it back in you can set it back to the exact same spot, as after you put it back in you have to get out any air you left in you line cause you unhooked it
A lot of what you say I don't understand right now. All the separate parts confuse me, wish they had kits.
To be honest, I'm relying on my local store that has them to tell me what I need cuz I find this really confusing.
All I need is the drip irrigation for 8- 7 gal plastic pots x 2 and I already have 2- 55 gal reservoirs
 

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
A lot of what you say I don't understand right now. All the separate parts confuse me, wish they had kits.
To be honest, I'm relying on my local store that has them to tell me what I need cuz I find this really confusing.
All I need is the drip irrigation for 8- 7 gal plastic pots x 2 and I already have 2- 55 gal reservoirs
What country you in?
Canada
U.S.A
You can order a kit with 12 I think
 

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
A lot of what you say I don't understand right now. All the separate parts confuse me, wish they had kits.
To be honest, I'm relying on my local store that has them to tell me what I need cuz I find this really confusing.
All I need is the drip irrigation for 8- 7 gal plastic pots x 2 and I already have 2- 55 gal reservoirs
Feel free to ask about anything that's confusing you
 

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
A lot of what you say I don't understand right now. All the separate parts confuse me, wish they had kits.
To be honest, I'm relying on my local store that has them to tell me what I need cuz I find this really confusing.
All I need is the drip irrigation for 8- 7 gal plastic pots x 2 and I already have 2- 55 gal reservoirs
You need to be able to raise your res at least three feet in the air, that's how to gravity system works.
Or you need to get the pump system if you can't raise your res that high.
Or you can get the pressure reducer that comes right off your tap and you don't need a res at all
 
Feel free to ask about anything that's confusing you
Yeah I'm from Canada so I'd be ordering from Black Swallow. The owner is really nice.
It will be difficult to raise the res 3 ft high so I'll need a pump system.
If you don't mind me asking what parts do I need for 8 plants in 7 gallon pots ? I'm guessing it'll be about $150 for 8 plants?
The flower area is 4 x 8 and they'll be in 4x4 flood table to catch any run off. Thanks again for being so helpful, I really appreciate it!
 
I grow in SS and vote against.
Not because they dont work, they do.
The fact they can and will runaway removes the benefit in my mind for your setup.

I like being hands-on too. Time in the garden is good imo.
I appreciate another perspective on this. What do you mean by "Runaway removes the benefit"?
Isn't it possible to set it up so that there isn't any runoff or will that happen either way with Blumat?
Since I use dry amendments I try to avoid runoff as much as possible, max 10%.
 

ComfortCreator

Well-Known Member
I appreciate another perspective on this. What do you mean by "Runaway removes the benefit"?
Isn't it possible to set it up so that there isn't any runoff or will that happen either way with Blumat?
Since I use dry amendments I try to avoid runoff as much as possible, max 10%.
It seems that no matter how well they are managed, there WILL be one or more that runaway at some point.

SS is so easy when done right...water and watch. I would hate to mess it up by overwatering and messing up the mix (by diluting the SUPER part of the soil).

I am not setup for a multi gallon runoff into the pot saucers. So....I ain't up for the risk, that's all.
 

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
Yeah I'm from Canada so I'd be ordering from Black Swallow. The owner is really nice.
It will be difficult to raise the res 3 ft high so I'll need a pump system.
If you don't mind me asking what parts do I need for 8 plants in 7 gallon pots ? I'm guessing it'll be about $150 for 8 plants?
The flower area is 4 x 8 and they'll be in 4x4 flood table to catch any run off. Thanks again for being so helpful, I really appreciate it!
I'm also Canadian
I ordered my blumats from blackswallow but I ended up ordering a bunch of stuff off the sustainable village because blackswallow doesn't have all the products that the American site does unfortunately.
Like if you look on the American site you could by a system with the pump and 5 gallon bucket included. But it's not available at blackswallow. They only have the 12 set kit and the 40 set kit.
If you get from black swallow you will have to figure out what pump to buy and how to hook it up.
Ok I just looked at the blumat pump system and it's for like 50 plants and is super expensive, I'm going to assume you don't want to spend 1000 so your going to have to rig up a system to work for you, you have 2 options
1. Buy the right size pump Rig up to the pressure reducer somehow, sorry I'm unfamiliar with doing this and you'll have to do some research to figure out how to get it done, I'm 100% sure it's talked about in the thread I posted about blumats.
2. Buy a home depot bucket that you can raise 4-5 feet and use this res to feed blumats. Then buy a pump to fill your top res from your bottom 55 gal res and have it turn on every half hour or hour. Just have to run a overflow hose that run from top res back down to bottom res for overflow, just make sure the overflow hose a fair bit bigger than your hose filling the smaller top res.

Those 12 carrot kits come with everything you need but the 8mm hose they provide is stiff and hard to work with so I bought like 50 feet of the red superfluous hose it works way better. I also bought like 50 feet of the 3mm line because the blurts only come with like a 8 inch piece and it makes it so you can't move your pots around. So if you buy extra 3 mm hose you can have 1-3foot pieces coming off your blumat so you can move them around a little.
I saw the American site sells a deluxe 12 pack that has the red superfluous hose instead of the shitty stiff black stuff, it also comes with two tank connections so you can run your system in a loop so you get more consistent pressure and if there a kink or blockage on one end they still get water from the other.
If I was you I would get the deluxe 12 kit from sustainable village.
Plus three shut off valves, some extra 3mm line, 8mm line.
If you get the 12 kit from black swallow then get 1 extra tank connector as well.
Optional to make life easier.
3mm quick connects for each pot so you can take them out if you need to without having to reset your hole system
8mm quick connect just a couple if any, def 3mm more important.
Extra T of both sizes are good to have incase you want to change layout in the future.
 

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
It seems that no matter how well they are managed, there WILL be one or more that runaway at some point.

SS is so easy when done right...water and watch. I would hate to mess it up by overwatering and messing up the mix (by diluting the SUPER part of the soil).

I am not setup for a multi gallon runoff into the pot saucers. So....I ain't up for the risk, that's all.
So you used them? How long did you use them for?
Yes you are right they can runaway but if you set them up right it's very rare.
Been running mine for just over a year and I've come into my tent a few times to see one with a small puddle under it, I just adjust or fix what problem caused it and all's good again.
Most I ever saw on my floor was a couple litres but I check mine everyday.
In total I've probably had a pubble under about 5 times. But sometimes I see a small puddle and it's already stopped watering so I just dial it back a little and all's good
I also put a pond liner at the bottom of my tent in case of a major runnaway
 

myke

Well-Known Member
Coming from a hydro back ground I know all about runaways lol. I’d suggest a 4x2 tray to put your plants in. Have a bulkhead drained to a bucket. This way a runaway is no big deal. Good luck
I went to sips with organic soil seamed a little more forgiving.
 
Top