Hope everybody’s having a great day ! I need advice on a automatic watering system. Planning on going out of town for 5 days and will need to water once in between. 4 plants, 7 gal. Fabric pots. This is also a tent grow. And if it matters at that point should be about 5 weeks into flower. Thanks in advance
I water every 3rd day. If I had to go 5 days I wouldn’t worry about it.
I’ve played around with watering practices before. What I’ve found is that underwatering really only slows growth so long as the underwatering doesn’t occur a lot.
IMHO, I would just give them a good soaking and call it a day (or 5 days) and not worry too much about it.
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Yeah I also normally water every 3 days. I was thinking with plants in flower they might need a drink in between. This would be something new for me I’ve never needed to leave during a grow.
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If I had to go any longer I would probably ask a friend or family to stop by and pour in a gallon or 2 of straight water. I don’t think 5 days is pushing it too far if you give the pots a good soaking.
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OK , a good slow soaking to run off The morning I hit the road. Thanks
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You might expect some drooping when you get back and possibly some more drooping when you water again for the 1st time after you get back. It should resolve in a few hours.
Enjoy your trip.
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Thanks , I can deal with drooping I just don’t need dead.
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Maybe time to consider an Autopot system?
I consider an auto-watering system as a requirement for my plants. 
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I think MidwestGuy has you set.
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@kellydans I just had a thought. It may be helpful to cover the top of the pot with a towel or something similar to help prevent loss of moisture to evaporation from the soil while you are gone.
The only risk would be the development of some type of mold on the soil surface since you’ve restricted airflow to the pot. However, since it is only a few days, a couple spritzes of dilute peroxide when you get back would be a good insurance policy. Don’t overdo the peroxide though, as it kills beneficial soil microbes.
Just a random thought I had.
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@MidwestGuy I think that is a good idea. I have a couple fabric pots in the garage still has the soil where I grew lettuce this summer. I can lay a couple of wet rags across them the next few days an see what happens. I still have a few weeks planning ahead.
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What brand automatic watering system are you looking at ?
I bought the smallest, cheapest Autopot system for my 2’ x 3’ tent.
It only has 1 valve for 2 pots. Bigger more expensive systems have 1 valve per pot.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00139NDWE?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details
Plants grow 50+% faster in these Autopots. Seriously.
Then if you need to go away for a week? No Problems.
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That’s a nice affordable setup.
Best $100 investment you can spend on your plants.
Paid back your 1st better harvest!
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I know this is an old post but relevant to my question, so hoping some of you will respond. I’ve ordered one of these auto watering systems, get it tomorrow. My question is if ph is an issue with the long term storage of the water? I have noticed ph goes up over time, faster when aerating… how do you guys handle that?
If you are talking an AutoPot system, the choice of nutrient line is important. Multi part nutrient lines don’t work so well.
Many forum members use jacks 1-2-3 which is clean but I don’t know if pH issues are a long term problem.
I use a line called Ionic. Three parts, grow, bloom and pk boost. To RO water I add cal-mag and the one or two nutrients and call it a day. No pH adjustment, no fluctuations, no messy containers, no screwing around.
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Thanks. I don’t have RO. I use charcoal filtration. Filtered water here is about 7.3 ph. I use ph down to get it to about 6.3. An hour later it’s back to 6.6. In 3 days it would be toxic on the alkaline side. I’m growing organic so I’m only adding cal mag and fish shit.
All I know to do is take it down to 5,7 or so. Hopefully by the time the timer runs it will be in a good range… anybody have a similar problem?
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