Blumat Irrigation System for 8 Plants w/Pressure Reducer | Automatic Drip Irrigation Kit | No Electricity, No Batteries Required | Garden, Patio, Hanging Baskets, Raised Bed, Greenhouse

I've done three installations, one in my atrium that's permanent, and two that were rigged up to water plants while I was traveling.One of the temporary installs was in my guest bathroom shower, fed by a Blumat pressure regulator attached to an adaptor (both sold by Amazon) attached to the shower arm. For a water source, I cracked the cold-water valve open just a bit. There's a small window above the shower that supplied enough light to keep indoor plants alive for five weeks. In fact, when I came back they'd never looked better. BTW the instructions that come with the kit warn that it isn't for indoor use, although according to Sustainable Village this has to do with liability concerns rather than with the product not working indoors.The permanent install is in my atrium and, again, the plants have never looked better. You *will* have to bleed the system to get the air out. Just bleed it like you'd bleed a car's hydraulic brakes, starting at the spike further from the water source and working your way toward the source. Installation is straightforward, although fine-tuning the flow regulator on top of each spike may take you several weeks. I thought I had everything dialed in, but when I came back the Ficus in the atrium was suffering--there must have been a hot spell. I guess the lesson here is to err on the side of caution if you're going to be gone--crank up the flow to a little more than what the plant seems to need. (Or maybe the lesson is that Ficus are temperamental.)The third system was supposed to be attached to the kitchen sink faucet, again using an adaptor sold on Amazon, with indoor plants on the counter in the sort of drainage tray used under an air conditioner condenser and dumping any overflow into the sink. But given the need to fine tune the system, which would have taken my kitchen offline for weeks, I used it in my patio, with less success, although maybe pothos aren't outdoor plants :-)BTW when I got home I put all the indoor plants back in their places but left the shower and patio systems hooked up and the valves on. Several days later both of them started spouting water from the end spike. Apparently they'd dried to the point that they were signaling for water.This stuff ain't cheap. I have about $500 into three systems plus regulators. But I think it's worth it. First, you don't need to hire a house- or plant-sitter if you're traveling. Just make sure the system is installed so that water won't ruin your floors if there's a malfunction: in a shower, tub or those condenser trays I mentioned. Second, you don't need to deal with a landscaper to plumb and wire a conventional drip irrigation. You design and install the Blumat system yourself. And third, your plants will look way, way better, even if you think you're conscientious about watering.Finally, don't be afraid to reach out to Sustainable Village for tech support. They're great.

No More over watering

Worked perfectly! 8 potted plants left in porch for 10 days in hot weather…full sun…didn’t lose one! So empresses! Wish the container could be more attractive…or shaped like a big rock…or small “wooden” barrel (plastic) for 5 gals water

Set up wasn't too difficult. I found that when I fill my reservoir (even when there's still water inside), I have to make sure that all the drippers are properly set because once in awhile they will turn on full blast. Sort of tedious, but worth it because my plants are getting a steady supply of water with not much effort on my part.I connected one of the original blumat carrots to this system - the tubing is the same size as drip carrot. By original carrot, I mean the kind that feeds water to the plant from the carrot itself (not drip like this kit). So far it's working well. I sort of prefer the original carrot because the hose effect can't happen like with the dripper.

It took a bit to get all of the spikes/tubes to flow correctly, but now my pants LOVE it. I have never seen them thrive like this before.

Been using them for 4 years

This is my 3rd order from Sustainable Village, all delivered on time. I absolutely love Blumat classic system and self water system (works as advertised, outside plants survived and thriving in California temperature over 110 Fahrenheit while I was out 4 weeks), easy to install. I ordered rain barrels from different seller, Amazon screw tracking orders and attached my negative review to Sustainable Village. If I can, I would give Blumat and Sustainable Village 10 stars.For reservoir, I bought 5-gallon HDPE bucket from HD, drill a hole and installed Blumat spigot ( For the rest you just need a knife and scissor to cut a hose to desired length and connect parts. Very simple.

I purchased another kit of this in the past, and it worked well except for the tubing cracking after a while in the heat. I got some of the red silicone tubing to prevent this and then purchased the kit that is the subject of this review. I installed two of the carrots in two new pots of flowers. Since the other carrots that I had purchased worked so well, I took it for granted that the two new carrots that I installed from this kit that I just got would work as reliably. I was wrong. Although I had installed and checked the dripping in the same manner that I had in the past, the two new carrots that I installed from this kit did not work. They did not water my plants. One of the plants dried up and died, The other plant was in the process of drying up and dying, but I caught the problem in time and hand-watered it, saving it at the nick of time. I opened the carrots and found that the water in one of them had completely escaped or evaporated off, and some of the water in the other carrot had disappeared. I don't know the reason that the water disappeared from inside the carrots, since I had presoaked them, filled them up, and tightened the tops on them securely before installing them. Could they be defective carrots in this kit? I am reinstalling again. This episode is a reminder that you cannot take anything for granted, and this system is not reliable or consistent.