-Mike Weeks-
Growing organically has always been a passion for us, and we love learning and teaching the best methods to do so. Since it’s cold, and none of us are really spending much time out in the garden, I thought I would bring you to one of our off-site, indoor hemp gardens, because there’s plenty of action happening there. I have been practicing a gardening method known as “no-till”, a term well-known in the outdoor gardening community, but there are ways to apply this to an indoor garden as well. This blog post will cover a method that can be applied to indoor or outdoor soil beds and containers.
In no-till gardens, we do our best not to disturb the soil and allow Mother Nature to take over. This practice stems from understanding that ‘living soil” is a delicate web of organisms that, if kept in balance, will allow nutrient cycling to happen very naturally and efficiently. Turning over or tilling the soil can damage mycelial networks and microbial colonies, causing the soil to have to rebuild what was already established. In no-till practice, we add compost or amendments as needed to the top of the soil, similar to how a forest layers in nature.
It’s important to consider both moisture and oxygen level in the soil in order to promote plant growth and health. There are plenty of things that can keep oxygen available to the roots. I add worms to my containers, and they move their way through the soil, creating tunnels, aerating, and eating decomposed food sources, which then becomes food for the plants.
Controlling soil moisture is essential for this system to work. It is true that some plants like to dry out before being watered, but if you are trying to establish a living soil, keeping the biology thriving is dependent on a consistent moisture level: not too dry, and not too wet.
Blumat is the irrigation system I use to control moisture because it offers all of the solutions to do just that. From the moisture measuring device, to the drippers and lines that deliver water, Blumat makes it possible to create something that will work in just about any garden.
For now, I grow in 15 gallon Smart Pots and use 2 Blumat Carrots to control each container. A Maxi Carrot (about 9” long) is placed in the center of the pot near the stalk and delivers water to the middle of the pot, while a Standard Carrot is placed a few inches from the outside of the container and has a series of drippers that make a ring around the pot, delivering water to the outer part of the container.
My setup is a gravity system, meaning that no pump is needed. I have a Hydrologic Water Filter and Float Valve that keeps my reservoir full (currently a Brut trash can), so the Blumats receive a constant supply of water at a low pressure. Each carrot has a dial on the top to allow for a set desired moisture level.
If I wanted to set up my Blumat system outside in the raised beds, I would use the same carrots, but I would attach them to Blusoak Drip Tape, which is easier for covering large areas. I will cover this set up in spring when we all move back outside.
I can get away with mixing a few supplements in my reservoir, such as Mammoth P or Epsom Salt, but it is not recommended to run heavy liquids that could clog the system. For this reason, many growers use the no-till method and just top dress with something like Roots Organics Uprising Blends, or even your own mix of high quality amendments. If you want to occasionally water in some liquid fish or compost tea, mix it in a separate tank and hand water it into the soil with a watering can. Your Blumats will detect the increased water and not allow water to flow through the dripper until the soil needs more.
If this sounds like something you want to try, but have questions, please drop us a message from wherever you are, and we will be happy to help you design a system that works for you!
David Manning says
I’ve had my system for some time now I only use it once. Now that I’m all no till I’m set it up to go away but if things work out I’ll leave it and just cut it off to give a tea. I think i set it up wrong this time. I have the main carrot then have the tied in to the drippers 2 of them. My question will that work. I see you have the carrot with the drip tube facing the stem. Thats the way I had it before. It look like you have the drippers on a separate line. If thats the case I will have to order tubing for the drippers. Please let me know if that will work? If not then what I can do is place a carrot on each side of the plant.
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ashley says
Hi David,
Would it be possible for you to send us a photo of how you currently have your carrots/drippers set up so we can better advise you whether your set-up will work? Thanks!
Washington Soares says
Hi! I have a fabric bed (2.5×2. 5×1.5) where I do cannabis organic no-till indoor gardening. I have bought 4 Maxi blumats and 12 drippers (3 for each blumat). I have installed recently, but I do not know if The blumat system is working correctly. Since I installed it, the top soil is always very dry. As I intend to have a living soil, I think having the top too dry is not good for the life chain that lives around. Do you feel the same in your soil?
I think that this might be happening because plants are very small/young over here now, and the Maxi’s check the humidity level in the bottom soil. I do not have the misture meter! I imagine that at the bottom the humidity level is good so the blumats are not watering the soil. I have already loosen up 2 arrows in each blumat. Still looks very dry at the top! I am manually watering the top soil now, but I did not expect I would have to do it when I bought the blumats.
ashley says
Hello! Mike in our Asheville store has the following response to your question: I agree that you want good consistent moisture throughout the soil. It is key to keeping your soil flora thriving. You can put up to 5 distribution drippers per carrot, but there are many factors to consider. It could be that the growing mix is simply too light on the top and adding a mulch or more compost could solve the problem. You can also start by adjusting the maxi carrot to release a little more water. I utilize my Blumats as a life line, and I also find myself hand watering the top of the soil from time to time. Try sticking your finger down into the bed to see what depth you are hitting moisture. That should be telling. If you hit a good bit of moisture a few inches down, you’ll know that you just aren’t getting the wicking that you need for the top of the soil. In addition to the drippers, Blumat makes a drip tape called Blusoak that allows more drip sites for a given area. Hope this helps!
Jeff says
I have blumate drippers in 3 gal fabric pots my question is can I just remove stem when done and put new plant in without disturbing carrot can easily remove 3 drippers ? Also I use good earth dry amendments..base and boost . Thank you in advance
ashley says
Hi Jeff,
You could try that, but I think that 3 gallon is a little small to practice the regenerative approach. I have been working with 15 gallon pots for a while and i think that may be the smallest I’m willing to try. The roots just consume too much of the soil space in a 3 gallon. Cheers — Mike at Fifth Season Gardening
Jay says
Hi Mike
I was wondering about watering Thresholds…
When do you start AND stop irrigation according to your Blumat Digi-Tensiometer ?
What are the Numbers ?
For Instance, just like Blumat Company, KIS Organics promotes 80-100mbar (in the Top 3 Inches of the Media) which seems pretty dry to me. It does not give a Hint about the moisture Level in the Center of the Root Zone (a few Inches Deeper)…
A few Studies suggest to keep potted Plants in the “easy available water” Range idealy between 10 and 50mbar at Root Depth Center aroundf 6″-8″ deep while Moisture Tension up to 100 mbar is already considered as “sub-optimal” hence light Water Stress.
Does that also apply to Cannabis, which eventually can handle a light Drought better then Overwatering ? ! ?
Should i water close to saturation ?
How much dry back would be appropriate or even beneficial ?
Kind Regards
Jay
brian says
Thanks for your question Jay. We reached out to Ryan in our Greensboro store for your question. His response is below. Hope this helps and good luck!
I personally have never used those digital Blumat Tropf systems before only used the carrots. From my research it looks like the Tropf meter should be set between 100-200 mbars for fruiting and flowering plants.
Dryback is more important when using coco, but if they are in soil I would allow at least a day or two for any dry back.
Warren says
Hi. I also grow organically in 15 gallon pots. I have a couple of questions.
First, I have 4 or 5 pots running at a time. Using one reservoir, how high up above the pot surface does the reservoir need to be to run on gravity alone, using drippers the way you designed your system? Can I run on gravity from a single line feeding all the drippers in all the pots? I can’t run from the tap as I need to pH my water.
Second question is that I hear the term “dry back” used by commercial cannabis growers as a desirable event, even on-coco organic growers. That seems inconsistent with the blumat approach, which is designed to supply a constant source of moisture on demand. I guess the question is whether dry back is really desirable for cannabis; in that case you’d want to use only deep carrots, right? It sounds like you think moisture on demand is ideal for your setup, right?
brian says
Hello and thanks for your questions.
As far as how high to set your reservoir…each system is a different and a little tinkering may be required to dial it in. The important height is from your reservoir to the carrots themselves. Generally, we’d recommend starting with the reservoir about 18″ higher than your carrots. If you’re happy…great. If it’s a little dry, move your reservoir up to increase flow. The opposite is true too. If you’re running 4-5 pots simultaneously, you’ll want to ensure that your carrots are all at the same height. Otherwise you’ll get differences across the system.
Dry back is simply letting the soil dry a bit in the flowering stage to stress your plants and increase yields. Optimal dry back intervals and levels will depend upon the genetics of your plant. If you want to do dry backs with your Blumat system…it’s easy enough to add a shut off valve(s) on the line(s) prior to the carrot(s). Generally, we just let the carrots do their work!
Best of luck and we hope this helps!