Black Swallow Living Soils has put together convienient Blumat Irrigation systems for the 4-Plant Grower. This kit is designed for growers using 10-15 gallon pots of living soil.
Tropf-Blumat is a fully automatic plant watering system which functions without the need for a timer. Each Tropf-Blumat is both a sensor and a dripper and reacts to the soil moisture content. If the soil becomes dry, the pressure in the Tropf-Blumat goes down, causing a valve to open and watering to begin. When the soil is sufficiently moist again, pressure in the sensor goes up and watering is stopped. Each Tropf-Blumat reacts completely independently. Therefore the plants are watered individually, according to whether they are thirsty and come rain or shine.
The 4-Pot System for 10-15 Gallon Pots includes the following items:
Connection to an elevated reservoir tank (Gravity Feed)
The connection onto the elevated tank (spigot with hose) should be mounted towards the bottom of the tank, about 5 cm above the tank floor (12 mm bore hole). The elevation of the tank should be at least 70 cm above the watering level (top of pot) to the bottom of the tank, in order to produce the necessary minimum pressure. Overly low pressure can result in clogging of the tubing. The tank can be purchased at a local hydroponics or hardware store to meet individual needs. It should be impenetrable to light and should be cleaned occasionally.