Jarofunk
- 293
- 43
Howdy Gorcs,
I'm a Tropf Blumat newbie but here are my notes:
1) Make sure you get Tropf, not Blumat Jr.
2) I almost lost a plant due to a clog in the 3mm feed line. I "massaged" it loose and all is OK now. I'm currently using Veg+Bloom RO/Soft but I get a lot of "fines" in the bottom of the reservoir. I just ordered some Jack's last night.
3) A single, standard Blumat works well in up to a 3 gallon pot (so I'm told by users). The fabric pots are most popular, I've got good sized veg plants in 1 gal smart pots right now. It depends how deep your pots are as to whether to use the Maxi model.
4) People report trouble with bubbles in the lines but I haven't seen it. I have a shutoff valve at the end of my run to bleed (clear out) the line.
5) The 8mm supply line is too hard to work with, I'm changing to .224 silicone. (This and other stuff is at SustainableVillage).
6) The proper assembly of the Blumat units must be done under water. Use a disposable 3ml pipette to squirt out all the little bubbles that hide in the green cap. ($5 for a hundred at Amazon).
7) There is a monster thread at icmag about this--filter for posts from "rives".
8) The ceramic cones do not clog but they must be kept wet. I was afraid my clogged one had dried out too much during Xmas but it seems fine.
9) People report runaways but I suspect the units were not properly assembled. I have my smart pots in Botanicare hydro trays and I do have some intermittent runoff. Properly dialed in, there is no runoff.
10) I use an elevated reservoir and gravity. If you don't want or need a constant nutrient feed, people are very happy using the pressure reducer for plain tap water. Some people use washing machine leak detectors to shut off the water supply in an emergency.
11) My current nutrient regime in a 10 gallon reservoir, for every 3 gallons of fill or add-back: 3ml GH pH down (my tap is something over 7), 1 level tsp Veg+Bloom, 3ml H&G Drip Clean, 3ml 29% H2O2 (because I was getting algae once a week and now I don't).
12) I need to get back to work on my flower room.
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