Hey everyone, I’m just getting into growing here, and am wondering what everyone’s favorite auto-irrigation system is for indoors. Blumat’s seem to be a mainstay, but are there any new options in the scene which are more advantageous?
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Bluemats are super slow. They never really allow the media to dry out. I would just invest in sensors, valves and controllers. There are a few good threads going. Specifically the crop steering thread.
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TrolMaster Aqua-X and Netafim drippers
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I love mine w straight coco with near zero runoff. I do ok with em. I’m team blumat.
I would recommend the open sprinkler controller vs the trolmaster aqua x, cheaper and endless customization.
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will def be looking into this. so many netafim drippers to choose from, would a 1’ stake be sufficient or do you prefer the rings?
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this looks intriguing, however it seems like it only works with binary moisture sensors vs trolmaster’s variable moisture sensors
My preference for coco is 1gph netafim drippers running 15 minutes 3x a day in veg, sometimes dropped down to 2x in flower on a shitty hard-set timer since those never break. Make sure you’re running drip cleaner, too. Ghetto drybacking
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No moisture meter? Wouldn’t the volume of water necessary change as the plant matures?
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Know your room. Love your room. BE your room. If you’re not checking your rooms 3-4x a day and noting all those things while you’re in there a trolmaster will only do so much. You giving the pots (or cubes) a quick pick-up to see how heavy they are tells you just as much
It helps to have those for sure, but if you know what your plants crave (Brawndo, duh) and when they crave it but the essence behind it is that you’re keeping your pots just dry enough that it’s a cunthair away from your leaves weeping and causing damage so they’re eating up those nutes like no tomorrow so you’ll have no arguments from me in that having a trolmaster will make things way easier. BUT. Either way, you’re looking in the right direction as if I was going to try to set up a user friendly room i’d use a trolmaster if there’s just so many plants I can’t keep track. If there were under 200-300 plants I’d be just as comfortable with my caveman trolmaster. Keep in mind i’m a nerd that wanted to go to MIT when he was a kid so I want to juice up every single thing I possibly can with electronics but some things are better off stupid because I don’t trust sensors to not fuck me when I need them to work the most is I guess what it comes down to the most for me. Not saying I wouldn’t recommend it big time as it’s fucking awesome but I am a wary, crotchety old man who doesn’t like dadgum numbers
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The fine red cunt hair is the smallest unit of measure.
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does it come with moisture, temp, EC, PH sensors/data logging along with irrigation control ?
No it does not that is only to control the 24v irrigation valves, everything I’ve read about the trolmaster moisture/ec sensors is they are garbage like most of their sensors.
I use the meter group teros 12 sensors with the zl6 data logger, they are supposed to be the most accurate sensor available now.
@SubstituteCreature these sensors are much more then guessing when your media is fully saturated vs completely dry, there’s a few instances that you would want to dry back to almost wilting but if you are doing that often it will lead to bunch of issues.
@acreativeusername your dripper gph size will all depend on your media volume, I use 2x .3gph netafim pressure compensated drippers per plant. But for bigger pots 2 gallons plus I would go with .6 or the 1gph. The slower the feed the less channeling you will have, but if you are running big pots you don’t want to go to small.
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I know what sensors do. Appreciate it.
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oooof those teros 12 sensors are pricey from what i’m seeing. Is there a decent alternative, or would you say they’re worth the money?
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@Medicine.grower is correct that the Trolmaster WC sensors are garbage. I use the Teros 12’s as well.
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For me personally they are worth the money, the other option I see others use are grow link controller and sensors.
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You can use teros 12’s with the trolmaster?
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As someone that been growing for almost 20 yrs The aroya/ meter group meters a real game changer. They’re accurate and built much better than the trollmaster. Pair the meter with the open sprinkler controller like @Medicine.grower and your setting yourself up for successful consistent rounds back to back.
Buy it once cry once, it’s your call.
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No, you need a separate data logger for the Teros 12’s.
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