I was just curious if anyone is running floraflex or diy set up for soil… currently contemplating doing similiar setup as in link https://youtu.be/KpKshxKPJ-A
Only issue i see is, i use lots of ssts in veg n flower and that might clog up the pump or lines or am i just overthinking this any feedback would be helpful ?
I’m looking forward to seeing what people have on the go, im just in the process of setting up an irrigation drain to waste for my soil grow. It’s basically going to be a pump in a 50 gallon drum pumping through a drip system without the drip tips to allow better flow, I will try 15 minutes every other day and adjust to my plants needs. I cut my dirt with 30% extra perlite so I’m not worried about over watering too much.
My local grow shop has been hyping these lately and says he uses and loves them Das Original - Blumat Classic
They make another one called the patio kit. Basically like drip but no pump. The reservoir sits up off the ground and those carrots as they call them sense soil moisture and drip until it reaches the desired moistness you’ve dialed in.
I have t used them but read a lot in them and seem to work. My pots aren’t big enough to fit the carrots. I’m gonna do like your original plan. I’m gonna use a smart outlet so I can set the watering more precise.
Here’s the thread I read for the info!
I built a drip system for the farm it’s as big as a football field. Micro irrigation is exempt from the “don’t water your plants” rule when water levels are low. The greenhouse runs on a drip as well. When I am super lazy I can install a timer to water the plants for me, but usually I just let it rip for 15min a day. Out in the wide world on the farm I let the drip system drip away for a few hours depending on how dry it is. It’s a really low and slow system that runs off gravity. The greenhouse and farm are all organic, I use alfalfa meal, bone meal, blood meal, greensand, earwig shit. etc. The drip components are varied and fit together kind of like Legos. I just made a drawing on paper then sourced all the components. Drip emitters for single big plants, soaker hoses for rows, and mini sprinklers for the strawberries and other patches of plants like garlic.
Forgot to mention, always make a loop out of your system to equalize pressure.
I started making one. I never got it finished but going to find more parts to finish. I have a bad back and even elevated it is had to water.
I bought the 6 carrot with 5gal pail. It didn’t have enough parts to work. It showed the way to set it up one way but It didn’t have anything to shut off the second whole in bucket. If you did a close lope there wasn’t a way to shut off.
I had this same complaint… You can get more but it shouldn’t be your problem to deal with. They use the standard 1/2” poly tube drip systems use and the respective barb fittings.
I loved my Blumats, when they worked, which was a good 95% of the time… honestly I should go hook them back up!
Weird. I haven’t actually seen one doing it’s thing but my local grow shop guy swears by them and he’s a straight shooter. I never have enough going at once to be too concerned about throwing some water on them.
My big “watering investment” was an electronic pump. I get RO water in the big water cooler bottles and this thing fits right onto neck of the bottle. She’s a little slow but you touch the button and it pumps for a minute and shuts off. Hoping it will fill a gallon exactly in that minute so I can just walk away from it while it’s filling.
The instruction show an open line 
The loop is for if your using a pump so it’s going to all outlets at same time creating equal pressure. For the blu mats it’s always under constant pressure from the tank being higher and the carrots just slowly releasing water. So you don’t need to loop these.
Was a youtube that @ReikoX linked to KIS organics podcast. Was listening to one of them about a 50% increase in production and how they achieved it. They claimed a 17% increase in dried product from Blumats. Soil was consistently at the proper moisture level. Takes the human element out of it and is reliable. People have things come up, get sick, forget, over/underwater.
Claimed they saved labor too…otoh hempy buckets are cheaper and just include a ‘reservoir’ if only a plant or two
Thanks for the info. I had watched one of their videos and it was open.
In one of the threads I read they suggested running a little extra at the end with a cap or valve to clean lines if ever needed. I may have forgot some of the finer points also.
They look like they’d work great. I’d love to see you put them in action!
Got my new drip system hooked up and working well. Fill the barrel outside, quick click connects, pump on digital timer to come on for 10 minutes every 2 days
1/4 inch line going to pots is it connected to a 1 inch or 3/4 all the way to pump im guessing and what kinda of pump are you using for how many plants ?
Vivosun 800gph in a 12 gallon bucket (soon to be 50 gallon barrel). instead of drip tips I have flow adapters on the ends to keep constant flow to the tips furthest away. 14 plants but thats more than I would like in there, I would ideally do 9 plants. Or 12 smaller plants, those ones are about 4.5’ tall
Do you get some slack with the extra piping and can move them about without resetting the whole system? I am like @nefrella on this point I like to be able to move the pots around a little. Having to reset the system everytime you move a pot and worry about random flooding events is pretty much a deal breaker.
Perhaps a catch pan with a shut off solenoid rigged to close the inlet line in case of runoff would work. Hi level float switch and a column off to the side in a drain maybe? Switch down inlet open…pan floods break circuit.
