Live Stoners Blumat questions to anyone with knowledge.

[kraster]

I'm growing three Expert seeds Caramello autos in coco with a 600w HPS in 16L smartpots.

I'm entering the 4th week of flowering and everything seems to be ok.

I'll be going away in two weeks for a week and in advance I bought a blumat kit for watering with a 47L res. At the moment the plants are taking about 5L a day combined, give or take a litre.

Are blumats suitable for coco?

How long does it take to get them dialled in?

Should I use the L connector at the end of the line?

Should I use more than one carrott per pot?

Should I get a bigger res?

How do they handle nutes? The nutes should be pretty light by that stage?

Any answers to these questions would be great.

 

[Ozone69]

Are blumats suitable for coco?

I've only used them in soil, but I've read that they should be compatible with coco. With the little I've used coco, my personal concern would be that it seemed pretty airy when I played with it. I'd be curious how that might affect the cone's moisture retention. If it was more soil consistency and less the fibrous, chunky kind of feel that I saw with coco I'd be less worried about it.

How long does it take to get them dialled in?

Once you're used to how they work it goes quick. Day or two of mostly monitoring things. First time using them I probably fiddled with the setting for a week or so until I got it right. Same on current grow where I changed up the setup a little with drippers and such, took a little longer to get 'em where they needed to be set.

Should I use the L connector at the end of the line?

I do, but just because I found it easier to plug off the little 3mm nipple fitting on the end then to try and come up with a plug for the 8mm main line. I use a short piece, maybe an inch or two, or the 3mm line that I've tied into a tight little knot as plugs on the fittings I'm not currently using.


Should I use more than one carrott per pot?

For that size pot I personally wouldn't. If you want the dripping more spread out, they make some distributed drippers that you can run more than one off a single cone.

Should I get a bigger res?

I run a 5 gallon bucket that maybe has 3 gallons of water in it at the level I try and keep it topped up to. When I've got two plants going in heavy flower, I'll need to add back in a gallon or two every day to keep up with them. 3 plants for two weeks may be pushing it with 12 gallons (from my rough L to gal conversion). I did find it was nice when I went out of town once, though, because I could just have my housemate pour some water in every couple days and didn't have to show him how to hand water, etc...

How do they handle nutes? The nutes should be pretty light by that stage?

I've only run straight water, so really can't talk to this much. I would think as long as they don't gunk up the lines too much they should be fine. I'm pretty sure in hydro stuff there are additives to help keep lines clear that may be worth looking into if you're really worried about it.

 

[kraster]

Are blumats suitable for coco?

I've only used them in soil, but I've read that they should be compatible with coco. With the little I've used coco, my personal concern would be that it seemed pretty airy when I played with it. I'd be curious how that might affect the cone's moisture retention. If it was more soil consistency and less the fibrous, chunky kind of feel that I saw with coco I'd be less worried about it.

How long does it take to get them dialled in?

Once you're used to how they work it goes quick. Day or two of mostly monitoring things. First time using them I probably fiddled with the setting for a week or so until I got it right. Same on current grow where I changed up the setup a little with drippers and such, took a little longer to get 'em where they needed to be set.

Should I use the L connector at the end of the line?

I do, but just because I found it easier to plug off the little 3mm nipple fitting on the end then to try and come up with a plug for the 8mm main line. I use a short piece, maybe an inch or two, or the 3mm line that I've tied into a tight little knot as plugs on the fittings I'm not currently using.
View attachment 796855

Should I use more than one carrott per pot?

For that size pot I personally wouldn't. If you want the dripping more spread out, they make some distributed drippers that you can run more than one off a single cone.

Should I get a bigger res?

I run a 5 gallon bucket that maybe has 3 gallons of water in it at the level I try and keep it topped up to. When I've got two plants going in heavy flower, I'll need to add back in a gallon or two every day to keep up with them. 3 plants for two weeks may be pushing it with 12 gallons (from my rough L to gal conversion). I did find it was nice when I went out of town once, though, because I could just have my housemate pour some water in every couple days and didn't have to show him how to hand water, etc...

How do they handle nutes? The nutes should be pretty light by that stage?

I've only run straight water, so really can't talk to this much. I would think as long as they don't gunk up the lines too much they should be fine. I'm pretty sure in hydro stuff there are additives to help keep lines clear that may be worth looking into if you're really worried about it.

Thanks so much for this excellent response. I really appreciate it.

I'm only away for a week. (The way I worded it was confusing, sorry!) So (roughly) 12 gallons for a week should be ok?

I'm also thinking of maybe going water only. By the time I go away it'll be the 6th week of flowering so it might be time to flush anyway.

I've read up a bit on using the Blumats with coco and it mirrors your response.

One thing I read said that you should up the drip frequency from the drippers compared to soil.

I'll do a trial run for the next week and see how it goes.

 

[epenguin]

Hey Kraster,

you got good service there, but can I kindly point out this post from above. Cheers

Hi chums,

This area below is for you newbies, lurkers, Superstars or whoever, to say hello and and let us know a little about yourself. We love to welcome you.

If you have a general question regards Autoflowers, please post in the General Autoflower Discussion section.

Or in Live Stoners.

You will get a better and speedier answer that way

Thank you my friends......see you soon............eP.

 

[kraster]

Sorry, EP.

My bad.

 

[epenguin]

No need to apologise my friend, just trying to point you in the right direction...... eP.

 

[4tokin]

I'm growing three Expert seeds Caramello autos in coco with a 600w HPS in 16L smartpots.

I'm entering the 4th week of flowering and everything seems to be ok.

I'll be going away in two weeks for a week and in advance I bought a blumat kit for watering with a 47L res. At the moment the plants are taking about 5L a day combined, give or take a litre.

Are blumats suitable for coco?

How long does it take to get them dialled in?

Should I use the L connector at the end of the line?

Should I use more than one carrott per pot?

Should I get a bigger res?

How do they handle nutes? The nutes should be pretty light by that stage?

Any answers to these questions would be great.

Blumats are good for coco in smartpots.
The dialling in is as good as you are at reading your plants needs. Get to know the weight of your pots wet and dry and keep the towards dry without drying out.
I would not have it at the end of the line, stay a couple of inches up and fit a tap to the end of the line so you can bleed any air out of the lines.
I carrot per 16L is about spot on.
Stick with the res you have. It can be increased later if need be.
Stay away from organic nutes as they tend to clog lines.
Run an airstone in your res for good measure.
A layer of hydroton on the coco will slow evaporation at the top of the pot.

Good luck with it.