AC Infinity wicking bases

[Serf]

I purchased the 4 pack of XLs on black Friday and plan to use them soon. Surprisingly, for them being around so long there aren’t many if any good videos on using them. I understand the gist of it. Top water till there is an established root system or you see roots out the bottom of bag. Likely when leaves reach beyond the pot?

Once established you can put your nutrients into the reservoir and begin bottom feeding. (Or the bases can be used purely for collecting runoff if using soil with top dress amendments, or top feeding liquid nutes)

Amazon.com : AC Infinity Self-Watering Fabric Pot Base XL, 4-Pack...

I couldn’t find a real dedicated how-to, QA, or guide threads here or really anywhere. Maybe this could be used as the go to thread on the product and it’s discussion.

I’ll be using promix organic garden mix. Mine is 80/20 peat/coir but I added 40% perlite. Using 3G fabric pots on the XL for extra res volume. Plan to use Jacks 4:2 formula.

Which fabric pots are best for this product? (I’ve seen some say that the ACI branded fabric pot bases are almost hydrophobic on these)

How often do wicks need replaced?

Do you run 2 wicks for smaller pots? Could you run more than 2?

Do you let the reservoir wick till almost empty then rinse and put in new?

Top off with plain water/ro?

Top off with nutrient mix?

Do you actually need to flush now and again?

How often to test pH/ppm?

Air stones or small circ pump to keep the solution moving?

Add beneficials to res? (Great White, Hydroguard, Orca, Recharge, etc)

Any advice or noob mistakes to avoid would also be nice. I’m sure others can come up with more questions too.

[CC_Mo]

AC INFINITY SELF WATERING POTS 10 WEEK REVIEW WEEK 1 OF FLOWER plus explaining the 2gal small plant

YouTube has a few, sorry if you’ve already seen these.

[Serf]

I have watch this video, more a review than educational. It’s not a bad video but they are using more soil and top feeding. So not how I’d be using it but still valid for those who do grow his way. I didn’t see any updates but didn’t look that hard on his channel. I wonder why videos are so sparse, maybe I’m overthinking this.

I am considering adding float valves into each base and making it more like an autopot setup but still using wicks.

[Serf]

Should be able to fit one of these in there threaded into the top plate.

Could even possibly install the AQUAvalve5 from autopots into it. Their valve is only 3" tall

[CC_Mo]

Man you ain’t kidding. I did a deeper dive for basic info and struck out.
Not trying to come off as crass, but I’d return these & try autopots. There IS tons of info available & everyone here that uses them loves them.
Again, not trying to be a butt about it, just thinking out loud.

[Serf]

Yeah there is nothing on them and I think they have been around 2 years now. I’ve considered returning them. If anything I’d be using them for indoor veggies if I didn’t use for cannabis.

I plan on ordering autopots 4 pot setup but can’t decide between the geopot or bucket version. Bucket would prob be less frustrating not dealing with cleaning fabric pots. That and I only plan on using soil-less mediums.

[NooKS]

I actually use these autopot bases and have no issues.

Use the rope thats provided, this just soaks the water into them and provides it upward through the hottom of the fabric pots.

I put my nutes directly into the pot base as well which is easy as hell because i have the 1gal water bases. All of my nutes are setup for ml to gal.

The only thing i run into it is that i add water every few days in mid to late veg and every day or other day in late flower.

[CC_Mo]

If you’re needing autopot info, I typed in “autopot” , one word, at the top of this page in the search & tons of info/threads pop up from users here. It might take a bit to go through it all but I bet any questions you have will be answered.
@Dman1969 , can you tag some users to help this growmie out with questions?
Sorry to bother you again, just trying to help him succeed.

[Serf]

I normally grow hydro but since doing the grow off here I need to do more than my one large plant. This was the cheaper alternative to expanding my hydro setup. Figured this thread might help others using these or considering them.

[Dman1969]

You ain’t bothering me one bit brother. I know @OGIncognito used autopots He may know a few others.

[Serf]

I don’t want this thread to turn into an autopots thread but more so people breaking down how they use these wicking type bases. Vivosun offers them too. Not to say it can’t be discussed, but not the primary discussion.

[Serf]

Ordered an autopot geopot 4 pot setup. So im going to use these for veggies and herbs. If i kill those no big deal. Once i get around to using them ill post about it here and what i find out.

Still would like to hear others input on using these.

[Serf]

Im going to try this out with 3 or 4 fabric 3 gallon or smaller pots. Might need to adjust the wicks out one more hole but i came up with it while stoned just now. I wove it through as a single length then cut the loops underneath.

Oh, i could even drill other holes to have more grids then you could feed a lot of 1gal pots.

[DankyMcSkunkbud]

This is one Blue Dream auto on an AC Infinity self watering base. It’s in a 3 gallon fabric pot in a 2x2x4 tent with a couple cheap lights. I used miracle grow 18/18/21 tomato food and Scott’s Super Bloom for roses. Fed and watered through the base and the wicks worked perfectly. Got 6 Oz of bud off it at harvest. To sum up, I’m a fan of those bases and plan to use them on my indoor grows.

[Strungthru]

Ac infinity 5 gallon bases for mine! I have three running with fox farm trio! Im almost through week 6 of flower time on these Strawberry Cough trio!

[Qubaca]

Thank you for the information. Do any of you have any advice for top dressing with these. I Have fish H. and build a flower dry amendments, and castings, I want to use once the ocean forest is getting tapped. I also use EM 5 biweekly as a foiler spray and rice husk as mulch I just transplanted into 5 gal from 3 gal after a slow recovery from a premature topping. Was in happy frog now in ocean forest both with 2 cups of castings per pot and MyR. on roots. I know I need to keep watering and dry back until my roots reach the bottom. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Scljrl]

Hey growmie!!

Using the AC bases here as well. Like them.

Main thing is to make sure the soil your watering and don’t have to high a nutrient level, which is a bit trickier. I do a slurry test of the soil and roll with that. Same type of fox farm/ Perilite mixture as others.

I top dress sporadically, leaving the fabric container on the base soaking up moisture while top dressing. I leave mine dry out really well and watch the plant, but i also start my grow in Solocups and transplant with a big root ball which really helps with these bases imo. When you do the transplant the roots are almost at the moisture level that the bases send into the pots, so it’s maybe a week until i stop top dressing.

I have noticed you need to be careful of the nutes you use, as some tend to clog the wicks faster than others. Organic fish stuff I’ve had some issues with but nothing crazy bad. I replace wicks every/every other grow just to make sure everything is in working order.

Hope this helps. And Good luck!!

[Qubaca]

Thank you for the info. Much appreciated.