@Nicky I figured I would just start a new topic, so it seems like every 3 to 4 days I’m having to turn my system off and suck all the pans dry with using soil even with LOTS perlite. I think I might just have to turn the system off and top feed now because they are in flower. Also I have notice with the plastic pots they tend to hold the water in more than the fabric pots for obvious reason. But I like the bigger 6.6 plastic pots for more root growth, so I think next run I will try to just use coco with perlite and plastic golf balls in the bottom. I will be using the aqua canna line up for nutrients and suggestions?
What type of soil or medium are you using?
From what I understood you want to use coco coir with about 20-30% perlite when using auto pots.
But Nicky will get you squared away
Good luck
I’m about to pull the trigger on auto pits here very soon and hopefully will be using them fir my next grow
I recently received a handy AutoPot “how to” booklet with my last order. Answers just about any question an AutoPot user might have.
One of the points they made was NOT to top feed/water your pot once the system has been running for awhile. They say there is a gradual buildup of salts in the upper layers of soil and top feeding will release these salts and can potentially cause issues.
They have a technique for adding extras to the feedings by turning off the valve for 12 hours and feeding through the tray.
You still use the fabric pot with the plastic auto pots. Should be a root sheet you put in the bottom of the auto pot to keep the roots from growing through the bag and into your Aqua valve
Are they showing signs of over watering with the leaf structure?
You can manually turn your valve on to water them and turn it off an hour later, I would not top feed.
The autopots are meant to keep the water in the tray 24/7 however the amount of water changes, soil really sucks the mosture up though and holds onto it so running 50% perlite is a must.
I only ran two grows like that and realized soil was a hassle, as you are noticing now.
The larger 6.6 plastic pots are nice and they do need root control disks but I’m sure your using them.
Plastic holds water better and using soil the larger pots are nice, fabric pots will increase humidity which is why many Commerical growers use plastic.
Coco is far superior, switch to Jack’s nutrients as soon as you can but if you already have liquid stuff then it will work fine.
Coco grows should be fed with a silica addative, my favourite is Agsil16H because it’s agricultural quality, dirt cheap, and never expires.
Grow tek and advanced nutrients also make decent ones but any liquid nutrient is expensive.
Ok ya I am using canna coco nutrients so I went ahead and got the canna coco plus that has been buffered, for my next run that way the nutrients aren’t gonna be causing problems. Yes I use the copper disks in all my pots plastic or fabric and I also us the air domes but use air stones instead of the cheap rubber hoses they provide. Ya they are showing signs of over watering after about 2 to 3 days of the system on. I have a 50/50 mix of perlite and soil right now, but it’s just absorbing the shit outta the water.
This is directly related to soil holding moisture and the reason should be mixed with perlite.
It is mixed with perlite 50/50 almost 40/60 perlite
Bottom feed only, you gotta let them struggle a little until the roots get to a point where they feed themselves but it well worth it
Mind you, I kill plenty of plants trying to find the right point of the plants are big enough to self root into the new planters or death
They were in 5 gallon fabric pots before I transferred them to the 6.6 plastic pots, so needless to say they were well rooted before I flipped them to flower, so next run I’m gonna gonna switch everything to coco and go that route
Best of luck, it seems like if you are in quart containers and well rooted you can transfer into autopot system without actually turning system off and on with coco
I use the 6 1/2 gal plastic as well, I don’t change coco and just dig one plant out and replace with new one
We I cut out tap root atleast
No im soil, was in regular 5 gallon fabric pots and setup my auto pots and transfer them into 6.6 gallon plastic pots with soil. I’m saying next run I’ll have to switch to coco and try it out. Because with soil even with 50/50 soil perlite it still gets over watered
That’s too bad sorry to hear that
Did you try to fill first few inches with hydroton? Clay pebbles?
I did that when I ran soil in same pots. I think it allows for better drainage
Ya I put the air domes in and covered the domes with clay pebbles and then soil ontop
Soo… I had this same concern… thing… Happening to lovely little grow of mine… let’s get things started off by stating: Autopots 3.9 something gal PLASTIC pot
Air domes on the bottom with my air tubing running up the corner of the square plastic pot. Covered the entire bottom with some coarse perlite only to expose the tippy top of the blue dome. Then dumped in SOIL. (HAPPY FROG) ended up transplanting a couple autoflower sour diesels… they grew well for what I “vegged” them for… HOWEVER I do remember after the 2 week period after transplant and then turning on my Autopot system. Once I noticed they were soaking up the water I turned on the air pump/air domes. And I NEVER ONCE unplugged that air pump… I remember that soil was BUBBLING like a swamp! So wet! And bubbles could be seen and heard! I contemplated turning off the reservoir and I can’t remember if I did or not. Wild to see the plants grow in it really!
So thought I’d share that with ya. Bubbly Swamp Bud
Ya I leave the air pumps on non stop in hopes to speed the drying of the soil out along with giving oxygen to the roots
I just can’t remember if I throttled the feedwater to the trays or flowered them out the entire time with that bubbly happy frog wet soil… wish I was better help.
I grow in auto pots exclusively and after my first run of soil and using the air domes, I switched back to coco and haven’t used the air domes since then. Considerable difference in growth and yield using coco
yeah, I think you would do much better with coco. don’t think you would be having those issues with coco flooding out the way that soil is. I am on my first grow using coco and I have never had to throttle the water valves due to the medium flooding. in all probability you would see a much better performance from your plants also. i am gonna post a couple of pics to show a difference in my first grow in ffof and my current grow in coco. it’s not exactly apples to apples but close enough. these plant pics were about 10 days difference in there grow cycle. the second pic will be the one in coco and 10 days older in life than the first pic being in ffof.
as stated, not exactly apples to apples but I think you can see the difference in growth. both pictures represent plants grown under the same lighting conditions with HLG lamps.