Alright guys and gals…
Ive got a few extra dollars that are burning a hole in my pocket. Im looking at buying either the auto pots or the air cube setup…
I hope I put this in the right spot. Hopefully this will turn into a pros and cons of both from experienced users. Thanks guys and gals, yall are truly the best.
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Autopots all day!
They are the ultimate cheat code and anyone that’s ever used them properly, will agree 
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I agree with @1HappyPappy. My first time using autopots xl with soil coco mix which isn’t ideal, Barney’s farm autos and they are massive. Even using organic nutes. With ph issues and stalling my gmo is over 45in tall. Got over 300g in fabrics last run I’ll be over that easily in AP. Also the guys at AP like manny and other are always quick responding and helpful.
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Do you still need runoff in autopots, how do you handle that?
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No run off with auto pots Doc, the pot or fabric vessel sit in the auto tray that has nutrient solution from the reservoir…bottom feed set up. I’ve been using them for 3 years and have the old 2 gallon pots and trays, newer 3.4 gallon pots but the newer spring pot set works better as the fabric pots allow the roots to penetrate the bag and air prune the roots creating more root growth and larger plants. You can run 3 or 5 gallon fabric pots with the spring pot set up 
Plastic pot 3.4 gallon auto pot set up
3 gallon fabric spring pot set up
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Go with a hydroponic ebb and flow system. Using clay pebbles as medium. I love not having to worry about nutes or watering. This was my 4th grow but first in a hydroponic system. Good luck with your decision. I use green planet nutes and just follow their instructions. Change my water ever 7 days. Increased my yield by 3 times what I could do with soil.
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Duh? Whats an air cube? New terminology i think. Please and thanks.
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Just saw your post and now you have me interested in auto pot 4 xl system
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@John7
The air cube system says its a “ebb” what system are you using?
@OGIncognito thanks man. Your grow looks great. How often do you have to change the water resivour.
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I have 2 of the 13 gallon reservoirs that came with the set up but use several DIY reservoirs…17 gallon totes. I typically mix a weeks worth of nutrients at a time, usually 4 -6 gallons at a time. The trays have a float mounted in them so as the level of nutrient mix goes down from the plants consumption they auto fill from the reservoir using gravity. I’ve been eyeballing the Air Cube system for a year now and really dig the set up, ease of use and the quality of plants it produces. @AfgVet is on her 2nd run using the Air Cubes
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Mine is active grow system capable of 24 sites if comes with 12. My grow I used 8 in 4x8 tent. It was to much. Should have only done 4-6 tops. It was like a forest and grew so fast that it got out of control. Lesson learned. Anyway I have a 55gal that pumps into the reservoir. You will find once the roots hit water they will drink 30-35 gallons per week. I grew super skunk autos from ILGM. So far 6 plants yield was 3.25 pounds. Not bad for autos. Good luck dude! Would like to follow your grow to see how your doing.
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Sorry forgot to answer the question. I change every 7 days. I put two valves on the line along with a tee. All 1/2. Connected a hose to the tee and run it to a drain. When the pump kicks on it drains. Have to watch it so you don’t run your pump but a few seconds after it’s empty. I just unplug it. After I fill my drum back with nutes and water I check the ph, add pk up or pk down and get my phone to 60.
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@OGIncognito how often do you have to clean reservoirs, lines, system? Or, is there an additive in the nutes that helps keep it clean?
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I just flush the lines with H2O when I clean the reservoir and trays after each run
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Holy crap John! That looks more like an invasion! Very nice my man very nice.
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I will be cleaning after this grow with water only. The inlet to the 5 gal pots get some roots growing to them but it should be a easy fix. I’ll clean my drum with a water hose. I made the mistake with clay pebbles and didn’t wash them first. There will be dust from the process the factory uses and it was a little messy but no harm. Root zone cleaning clay is a little pain but better than buying new every grow
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@John7
Is yours a system you built yourself?
Do you have a grow journal i could checkout?
@OGIncognito
Do the float valves ever give you any trouble?
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Autopots have no waisted water from runoff or reservoir dumps, no pumps or water chillers, they have a wider PH range (5.6-6.2) even higher drifts upwards of 6.5-7ph they will still grow on.
I fill my reservoir at 5.6ph and it drifts up over a few days alot of times, I try to bring it back down once it gets of 6.2ph.
But many times it’s 6.5ph or more before I drop it nack and they dont miss a beat.
Getting the 1pot xl trays is best “imho” because they can be moved around and you can use any container that fits inside the tray.
I use all kinds from 3gal up to 7gal, plastic and fabric.
I use trash cans for reservoirs as they are way cheaper then a tank from autopots.
That’s a 31 gallon reservoir i got for $20
one this size from autopots is a couple hundred.Plus the trash can has wheels if I ever need to move it full.
Autopots useing an inert medium like coco-coir and perlite or expanded clay pebbles and synthetic nutrients is by far the easiest form of hydroponics as long as you follow a few basic rules.
- No organics!
- Water by hand from top till plants establish roots (first week or so). Once established and they are hooked to the reservoir, absolutely nothing goes in from the top!
This is very important as autopots are a “wicking hydroponics system”, meaning they wick the nutrient solution from the bottom and this builds “salts” or excess nutrients in the top layers of the media like this.
Notice the white stuff on the coco-coir and that clay pebble.
If anything gets poured in the top at this point, it’s absolutely going to cause issues if not complete lockout as it pushes the salts back down into the root zone.
I can go on and the pros all day, like they really are set it and forget it.
The only con I really see over a water only system is buying coco-coir 
It’s a good trade off imho though.
I sift out my clay pebbles and lots of the big chunky perlite and reuse it after I’ve washed it out.
That last picture is made from recycled glass and its called “buddystones”. They work the same as perlite or expanded clay pebbles but I think the company is out of business because I can’t find them online anymore. But they are easy to wash and reuse.
Check out my journal it you want to see them in action.
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I’m sorry I haven’t done a journal. My floats haven’t given any trouble yet.
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That is a cool system
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