Not sure its for me, im 70 years old, grow in a 5x5 gorilla and im use to being able to spin the 5 gallon pots around for whatever until the time comes to put up the net. I should have purchased the xl which is a 6 gallon pot but got the next size down 3.9 gallon. Im concerned about the roots getting into the feed tube and clogging cause at 70 years old, 6 foot 6, 275 lbs im not going to be able to easily work on this when the plants start growing up, i have all the stuff thats suppose to prevent roots getting that far but not sure i want to risk it. Another concern is I’ll be using jacks 321 (first time) and the holding tank is 12 gallons i believe, do the nutrients stay good for as long as it sits in reservoir? Any words of wisdom would be appreciated. So far ive had 5 successful grows in fabric pots, not sure if the system will make it easier for me or more difficult.
I did my first run this grow in Auto pots I am amazed on how they work A+ in my book, as far nutes I use AN and it been a bit of a pia, I belive its mainly my water, hardwater but with that said I have used dehume water and still get build up, its grainy so I figured it was calcium, my pots, lines and res need cleaned every other week or they plug, going to try Jacks next run this winter and see if there is a difference.
Now yes the 3.9 gallon pots are plenty in my book, and no have not root problems at all but use the copper sock that comes with them.
Any doubts on how they grow plants here is my 2 tents, autopots and soil, all different strains but all planted the same time, and flipped the same day,only difference besides the medium, and nutes all same age.
Happy frog and lotus nutes 5 gal fabric bags
Autopots AN nutes 3.9 gal fabric bags
The HF 5 gal pots are in a 2x4 tent and autopots in a 3x3
My last grow was using autopots for the first time, the 3.9 gallon pots (4). I use ProMix as my medium, and that run I used Advanced Nutrients like @Bentstick did. I also bought the air domes and a pump and had that running lights-on. Incredible growth! So much that I should have flipped them sooner! I only dumped out the old dirt from them last week, and all around the air dome was a layer of root web, but the roots don’t grow down into the “pool” of water or feed lines. But I did get a bit of slime buildup in the lines, I had to clean them once during the grow. Not too hard to do if you have your shutoff at the tank, you can take the floats out of the pots and clean them out pretty easily and quickly.
I would only mix a 5 gallon bucket of food up for them at a time and them pour it in the res, would last 3 or 4 days. If I ever went away for a week, ya I’d fill it up to the top, the girls will drink lots if given it. The medium stays damp, so you don’t get a true wet/dry cycle, but with the air pump I knew I was getting lots of air to the roots anyways. The humidity in the tent did rise, altho the run I’m doing now is high humidity and not using the autopots this time (clone run started in the cellar while the autopot ladies were upstairs in the tent). Next run will be in the autopots again tho!
I had 1 seed not make it (actually a couple), so this was a tent of 3 plants, got the same yield as when I ran 4 in regular pots. But they looked much healthier thru the grow and it was a lot less work when it came to feeding.
It is amazing how much they drink when available 24/7, mine are at about 7 gals every 4-5 days now
I use a ebb and flow system and mine drink about 35-40 gallons per week for 8 plants. I change out the left over water every 7 days. I know some top off but it would be a bit harder to know what nutrients are left in the previous weeks water. Your plants look awesome congratulations on your grow. I’m sure your yield will improve with auto pots. I’m considering buying those for vegetables
Sweet, thanks
Beautiful, thanks