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BluMat self watering systems for soil(indoor) garden

DnkTnk

DnkTnk

New member
I had been looking through the forum to see if anybody has used any of the BluMat line of products for automated watering in soil. There is a great thread on a DIY self watering system but no one chimmed in who had used the Tropt BluMat sensors. I have an upcoming vacation and have been getting tired of hand watering my small perpetual grow (small T5 veg tent and 3'x3' LED bloom tent w/ 3 ga fabric pots). I have ordered the medium deck/planter starter Kit w/ bucket revisour from BluMat for the flower tent and a few of their junior sensors (that self water by wicking h20 from a nearby container) for my veg space. The whole thing seems simple and straight forward to use and set up... we'll see. Once I receive my order and get the system set up I'll post back my comments and pictures. In the meantime, if anyone has experience with this system Id love to hear your thoughts!
 
I am assuming it would be connected to a reservoir with pH'ed water. What about nutrients?
 
Yea w/ a 5 ga bucket as reservoir. Distilled water and super soil. I'll add hydro guard to the water to stay safe, the only other thing I might add is CaMg.
 
I received my shipments with BluMat self watering kit and the jr sensors. I think I'm going to work in the sensors with my perpetual cycle and not install all at once, rather each time I transplant and transfer a plant from veg to bloom tents, I'll install blumat sensors into the pots as they go in bloom. I have two in bloom that have only been in there a week so I will probably put sensors in those to start and then new plants that come in as others finish. My main concern is the system draining the reservor completely out while I'm away from grow. I've read that if your not paying attention to detail, you can accidentally cause the system to run out all its water ie if you get air in the lines and don't bleed them or adjust the sensors by too large a margin at a given time. The journey begins...
 
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I may do a small test prior to adding system inside the grow, but also going to get a flood table for my tent floor to be safe. I still need to go over all the literature again and see how many shut off valves and quick disconnects I may want to order before starting install. Sooner then later though...
 

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Okay, I finally got all the parts and supers I need and will be setting up the system in the next week or two. I had been waiting on a large thick flood tray for my tent floor to protect against any run outs of the system. I'm hoping to avoid ever doing that but wouldn't install the system with out full on flood protection for the floor. Install pics to come...
 
Well the first thing I've learned that I would recommend is buying your BluMat system/products from Sustainable Village. You can order directly from their website or through Amazon. I've bothered them more then a couple times with questions and asking for input. Each time they responded to my emails with significant amounts of usefule info and advice, they'll even help you design your entire system with all the correct additional parts needed.

Since i have a perpetual grow I was worried about plugging pots/plants/sensors in and out of the system while it was functioning but they make several different styles of shut off vale/quick disconnects that really can make any system plug and play. The last pre-installation issue I have before putting it in is buying some vermiculite or peat moss. I run a lot of perlite in my soil mix and apparently if large or numerous pieces of the perlite touch the sensor it'll make it think it's dry, so S.V. recommended filling a small hole I make in the soil with moss or vernaculite to bury the sensor in to kinda shield it from the perlite. Okay next post will have some installation action.
 
I'm in for the ride sounds to good to b true, u could run 2 different tanks with a auto switch to alternate feedings My 2 cents
 
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It's coming... slowly but necessitity dictates soon. I received and put in the flood tray/floor to protect from any runaway. I had to saw off the lip around the tray to get it to fit flush. I'm going to install the sensors/water line/reservoir this week. They say to water your medium on consecutive days right before setting the sensors in. Going to start that process tomorrow and apply a small portion of moss/vermacuite to bury the sensors in...
 

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A month later, here we go... pre install complete. Final install underway. More detail to follow. Sorry for the wait.
 

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And now we're cooking with fire. BluMats installed in my perpetual LED bloom tent, one sensor per 3 gallon fabric pot. I'm going to closely monitor these first few days and adjust the sensors accordingly to release the right amount of moisture to keep the girls happy. I have different strains in different stages of bloom so I'm sure each will have their own needs. If necessary I'll even install a 2nd sensor in the pots. Installing them was not as daunting of a task as I made it out to be. All the prep and research had me well prepared for that part so I hope I'm keen on tuning them in this week as well. Again I recommend SustainableVillage.com if purchasing any blumat system, great help and advice. I'll keep active on this thread with updates now that I've installed the system...
 

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So far so good, spent the first week adjusting the moisture level up and had to exchange out a pot that had finished for a freshly flipped one. Just turned off the valves at quick disconnects, unplugged the old pot and plugged in the new one, opened the purge valve after tuning new sensor and that was that.
 

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