This Deck and Planter Kit allows you to incorporate a greater number of sensors at a more economical price point. A pressure regulator is included, which permits you to tie into your current 3/4" threaded tap pressure system. If you wish to run this off of a gravity fed water system, then you must order the rain barrel/gravity tank connector separately. Can easily be added to in order to customize to many other configurations.
The Tropf Blumat system is great for watering balcony boxes, planters, hanging baskets, and row crops. It fulfills the needs of the plants on an individual basis, regardless of their location, light levels, or plant type. Blumat systems save your plants from excessive and improper watering. Tropf Blumat systems are ideal for plant groupings that require consistent moisture, such as vegetable gardens, bushes, flower beds, grow bags and greenhouse containers. Not only do your plants receive the right amount of water, slow and consistent dripping ensures that your plants receive warmed water, avoiding shock.
This Deck and Planter Kit is a great way to start your customized irrigation system. The flexible system can be expanded to include up to 500 drippers.
Other Applications:
10 m in total of planter boxes (10 boxes each 100 cm long)
4 m² planted bed (ca. 80 middle size plants)
40 single pots up to ca. 20 cm in size (when using more than one Blumat per pot, reduce number of pots accordingly)
40 single plants in a greenhouse such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers
Kit Contains:
40 Tropf-Blumat with 20 cm drip tubing + T-connector piece
15 m water supply tubing black 8 mm
2 angle connectors 8-8 mm
2 end pieces 8-3 mm
2 branch connectors for tubing 8-8-8 mm
2 tubing connectors 8-8 mm
1 pressure reducer with Garden Hose Attachment
Deciding how many Tropf-Blumat are necessary
For watering planter boxes, use the rule of thumb: 4 drip locations (Tropf-Blumat) per 100 cm box length (box width- 20 cm), 3 drippers for 80 cm. For wider troughs (such as 100x40 cm), usually 6-7 Tropf-Blumat are enough, depending on the size of the plants – also see bed plantings.
For watering in pots, every plant / every pot should have 1 Tropf-Blumat. According to the pot size, 1 Tropf-Blumat is enough for pots up to ca. 20 cm in diameter, for pots up to 40 cm use 2 Tropf-Blumat, up to 50 cm 3 Tropf-Blumat.
The size of the plant is also an important factor and sometimes the needs of a particular plant species plays a role when deciding on the number of Tropf-Blumat needed. Large Containers such as planting tubs, for example, should often have fewer drippers in order to avoid overwatering.
For bed plantings, 2 plants (the size of typical summer flowers such as geraniums) require 1 Tropf-Blumat (plant spacing ca. 20-22 cm), when planted closer together (about 15 cm), 1 Tropf-Blumat is enough for a group of 3 plants.
Connection to tap water
The required pressure reducer fits a standard water faucet with ¾ inch outer threading. The water faucet must be kept constantly open for operation of the system. If the water tap is to be used for a garden hose in addition, then it is practical to use an optional 2-Way-Branch Connector, this allows for the watering functions (hose or Tropf-Blumat) to each be used separately. The pressure reducer sets the pressure at 1 (0.8) bar, the pressure from the water source should not exceed 6 bar. It is also possible to connect to a house tap with less upstream pressure. For normal upstream pressure of 4-5 bar, the pressure reducer can handle about 250 Tropf-Blumat units over a length of 60 m. It is important, that the pressure reducer be stored over winter protected from frost, or for the purpose of winter operation, that the water connection is located in a frost-free cellar.
