I’m through my first grow with soil and Jacks and looking into an auto watering system. I will be doing some periodic traveling this Spring and would like to minimize the burden on my GF to have to water and feed my plants. I’m typically gone for 4-6 days and she would take on the duties
I was looking into the Autopot XL 6.6 gal but if used, I expect I would have to move to Coco and have no experience on the differences other than watering more often, etc…
I have also looked at AC Infinity’s self watering pot base, which I guess I would still be able to use soil.
A couple of questions I would love to have opinions on:
If I go AutoPots, should I go with the system with the plastic 6.6 gal pots or perhaps the 5 gal fabric pots (pros and cons)?
Are there any major changes using coco and Jacks vs soil and Jacks?
If I go the autopot route with plastic pots, do you recommend the air dome, I hear it is not necessary using fabric pots?
Has anyone had good results using AC Infinity’s Auto watering bases?
Any recommendations on brand of Coco, hoping to stay away from anything that may harbor pests…
Ive had way better reults with coco and jacks vs soil and jacks. Cannot help on autopots but here is my thoughts…having a reservoir with pump and halos is way cheaper then autopots. Plus constant runoff is better then no runoff…ever! People have good luck with them but runoff has to be better imo. Bad part…your woman would have to wet vac the saucers daily. More of a preference vs how much work. Canna coco is the brand alot of us here use. They have dried bricks and bags that are already expanded. I like the bricks to ensure no pest. Atleast ive never had any. You could also just feed enough to nothave runoff the days your gone so its worry free.
Have you looked into using SIPs (small ones like GroBuckets, or larger ones like some of the Earthboxes)? Growing in them in organic soil is pretty easy and the plants can be left for a while without topping off the reservoir again, especially depending on the SIP’s reservoir size, and the stage of the plant.
If you’re good with the ongoing management of your environment and related details, it is easy growing fwiw:
Coco is great. Watering daily is no big deal. In fact it eliminates a lot of issues caused by wondering if its time to water or not. Just do it every day. With Distilled or RO water Jacks land on 5.7 or 5.8 pH without any further adjustment needed. You should obviously check your own mix though. Growth is fast and lush. Problems are few to none. So because it is basic I don’t think there would be any problem teaching someone how to do it. The formula never changes. The doses can be measured with measuring spoons instead of a scale to simplify it even more. I taught my wife how to do it in 5 minutes before my knee surgery and she took over for several weeks.
With autopots, though I have never used them, I would think you would have to check the PPMs and pH levels and adjust them daily. So it seems easier to me to teach how to do a simple mix and water rather than a maintain scenario.
Just my thoughts, others may have better ideas.
I use this as its easy to find locally and without shipping added I get it for about 14 dollars a brick. Just hydrate with some calmag added to the water and its buffered. Its not that hard.
I have the old plastic autopots and the new spring pot system. I like the results from the spring pot system where the fabric pot is exposed for better root pruning and use 3 gallon fabric bags for these
I see a lot of negative reviews on the XL or Spring pots due to the main reservoir leaking and spilling water all over the tent. Can you comment on your experience, or what you may have done to overcome this issue?
That seems more like a user error, I’ve never had a res leak. The plastic pots don’t allow air to flow through the vessel (pot) like the spring pot set up. I get bigger plants and yields with the spring pots.
The auto pots are used in veg and flower. I transplant the seedling from the solo cup around 14-20 days above ground to fabric pots and top feed for 2 weeks then I turn the system on.
