Look into blumats, they need no power. And they work in coco or soil
“Blumat”
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Yeah, I’m running a clients greenhouse with a partner… And its funny to watch him run circles around the grow doing this and that mixing… ph… etc. For the coco.
Me: I have the plants on a 45 gallon tank with blumats. In a water only soil grow, just top ammended and with a mulch. 
ITS SO EASY!!.
I’ll just water in a tea every so often and do a little building and maintence on the greenhouse.
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Those Blumats are pretty cool.
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Great tip. Many people use them and they are cheap and passive… I haven’t tried them. Do you think there are any disadvantages when you don’t do full wet → dry cycle?
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I actually think its an advantage for the blumats, especially if you run coco (hydro) or living soils, neither are supposed to go dry.
If running a single blumat per pot, it will have a wet side and drier side, I just water in compost tea on the opposite side. To make a wet dry cycle.
I think the aeration effect is enhanced if you run smart pots or airpots. I am ok with regular pots because I’m trying to control moisture for the microbes.
It does have a strange way of making roots act, they will pile up under the dripper. If you are irrigating from a single point.
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Those Blumats look very interesting. Do you think there would be harm in the roots piling up with a single dripper or could you move the dripper around the pot to water evenly?
The root pile seems not to be harmful or degrade quality. The blumat output can be spread out with distribution drippers as seen in the top picture. Or you can add multiple blumats to the pot.
You can move the dripper around if you want to. But I dont move it. I’m running them in 10 gallon plastic pots with top mulch and they are working awesome.
Apologies from getting off topic from wick, I just thought blumats were the best solution for no power irrigation.
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This information is very useful.
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Very useful :). I really just want an easier way to water than my current bucket and pail method lol and the larger resevoir should make measuring nutrients easier
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I am sure we can help you out.
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blumats are the bomb. get the maxi ones for pots above 20 gal
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Hello GrowerGoneWild, could you please share more pics and tips for tropf-blumats? Do they have tendency to clog? For 2 or 3 gallon pots, how much blumats would you recommmend? Anything I should be aware of before trying to setup it? Thx!
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I dont have problems with Blumats clogging, I just use plain water for organics, and for hydro we have used it with Canna in Coco with no problems related to clogging. Just use products that dissolve easily. I’ve used them for awhile now and they dont clog. But its possible, the discharge tube is small, (3mm). Its part of your daily garden duties to walk around and look to see if they are dripping.
A small “carrot” for 2-3 gallons in coco is what we are running right now. But for the bigger pots we are running the “maxis” as shown in the picture, those are in 10 gallon organic soil grows.
I think 1 blumat per pot will do it, but you can add more drippers if desired. They have distribution drippers if you want more than one part of the pot wet. Or you can add multiple carrots to the pot. But in reality 1 will do the job.
The setup is easy, open the carrot, by unscrewing the top fill with water, then soak the unit in water for 1 day before use. Insert the carrot, connect the hose. Water the soil and when its fully wet open till you see a drop then turn 1 arrow to close it. You just have to kinda try out different settings to get it right. I set it wetter for coco.
In my opinion I still handwater, the “drip” only wets a small portion of the pot.
If you have problems with fungus gnats it can make an environment ideal for them. They will always have a moist spot to go to.
The hose can kink easy, make sure the 3mm hose does not get twisted up after plants are moved around.
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Got it… Thanks for info! It sounds tricky, but I’ll ask if I run into something…
So this one is the maxi one (longer version)
And this one is the “carrot”
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I have the maxis in 10 gallon soil and the carrots in 2 gallon coco in smart pots.
Irrigation labor is reduced with these things, we still handwater the coco, but not nearly as much.
the point of coco is to keep it moist all the time blumats do a pretty good job of this.
The maxi in soil is set and forget, I also use mulch on the top to keep the moisture from evaporating off, I will still water in a tea to keep the pot evenly wet.
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OK Thanks!. Is it pH neutral or should it be buffered in particular pH for 24 hours before use…?
I dont know if its PH neutral… Never checked.
The point is to have the ceramic cones soaking in water to get them conditioned so they can sense moisture correctly. I just use plain water.
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@LemonadeJoe how did those blumats work out for you?
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They work well man