Or the poor man’s choice, with simple automation,…
Just connector the pump to a starter…
Then connect the NO connection of the limit switch 1 (top one) to the stop button of the starter, connect the NO connection of the limit switch 2 (bottom) to the start button of the starter…
Now close the loop by interconnecting the common terminal of the both limit switches…
Now take drip outlet with your required flow rate and feed the plants drop by drop…
Whenever your secondary reservoir runs empty the pump should start and fill it and when it’s full the pump should cut off…
It is recommended to have airstone in both reservoirs if you are running nutrients…
If you have not tried blumats yet then get them! No sense working yourself to death watering or getting off schedule. Blumats, get em, dial them in, word!!
They are life savers but you must dial them in. Runaways are real but I have a tray in my tents to prevent mess. It helps to bleed feed line a few seconds every week or 10 days as well. I use their 5gallon bucket reservoir about 3-4 ft off the ground for gravity feed. Been using them a few years.
Run @ pH 5.9 with 10% runoff into a tray the size of your tent’s inner footprint. Wet your soil and dial them in and I bet you can walk away for 2 weeks at a time. Thank us later.
I also have used these for 3-4 years with Gaia green mixed with promix. Only feed tap/dehumidifier water and top dress under my drip feed about every 2 weeks in flower. They work great when dialed in. I really love the set and forget
My only problem has been gunk building up in my lines and clogging. I unhooked everything this past run and noticed alot of gunk in the black 8mm to 3 mm connectors and pretty much all the black connectors. I soaked everything in vinegar to help clean them out and am hoping they work better than my last grow where they clogged alot.
I hadn’t taken them apart since I first started using them so now I know to keep on top of them. I also bought the filters to filter from my res, they help but should really clean them every couple weeks just to be safe.
Anyone know something that would help get rid of the gunk building up in my lines?
I think for organic hydroponic systems where chlorine isn’t suitable for keeping algae from growing in the lines, they sell enzyme solutions that people use to clean out dead organic matter in their lines to solve the problem that way. I haven’t used them so I can’t review any specific one.
In non organic situations small amounts of peroxide work well but that’s not good for your microbes obv.
where he says that enzymes are redundant in organic situations, which makes sense, your microbes are also producing cellulase, etc, and eating the gunk. The difference here I think is that the blumat reservoir is not connected to the root/soil/media biome like a conventional hydroponic system, so your microbes don’t have access to your lines to eat up the gunk. Maybe the enzymes are not redundant in this case?
Can’t all our organic grows have Hydroguard ran through a system like this. Hydroguard contains bacillus, a natural bacterial root inoculant. Its essentially organic then, right?
Thoughts?
The question is whether the bacteria can establish a colony of those bacteria in the reservoir and if they can break down whatever’s forming in the lines on their own. One of the problems here is that unlike conventional hydroponics systems, the water from the blumat lines isn’t in contact with the root area of the plant where the bacteria establish colonies and you’ve got that rich microbiome. My instinct is that the hydroguard is probably more effective at getting the bacteria to live where the roots are than in the lines, but if you’ve already got it it won’t do any harm.
I do got it, because I’ve tinkered in DWC. But with living soil in the root zone we are aswell attempting to keep the entire thing moist. Why do you think Hydroguard wouldn’t make it/live with it?
I think it would live as long as it could compete with the rest of whatever’s living in your soil. I think I misunderstood and thought you were suggesting hydroguard to correct the line clogging issue. Just to inoculate your soil with the microbes it’s probably fine, though if you’ve got a really vigorous microbial colony it might not be able to out-compete the existing microbes. I just don’t know if it’ll help with the clogged lines or not.
I was suggesting it as a one clogging resolution! Lol
This stuff is strong, but I’d like to think that my living biome in my lower soils is stronger, and would just use it as food.
Hey, if it works for your hydro setup it’s probably worth a spin, I guess the blumat feed system isn’t constantly feeding, so hopefully they get a chance to establish. The only reason I was initially not sure is a lot of hydro systems recirculate and they are in contact with the root zone, so the microbes that colonize the roots are recirculating through the system, and the blumat system is a one-way drip feed from a reservoir separate from the growing medium.
My situation is not complicated. I only run water through blumats. When it’s time to feed I use a pump sprayer to add nutes etc. lines stay clean and function flawlessly as long as they are dialed in properly and main line is bled every week or 10 days.
It’s a living bacteria I think. If it lived in the reservoir, it’d live in the lines, dripper or carrots I would think. H202 will kill Hydroguard. It will also clean that stuff as well, but a living soil can’t take much at all before there is damage. Other than taking everything apart to clean with h202, rinse, and reassemble…Hydroguard could be an option.
I might try this someday.
