Advanced nutrients with autopots

[Oilcan fire]

Has anyone used the advanced nutrients Sensi line with autopots. I’m switching to autopots and recently restocked my fertilizers. I plan on using a submersible pump in the reservoir? Or any recommendations for fertilizers with autopots

 

[BII]

What problem(s) with your nutrients and reservoir do you anticipate such that you need a submerged pump? And won't a submerged pump add heat to the reservoir, with lower temperatures preferred?

When I did Autopots for a few grows, I never used any pumps. I was using Adv. Nutr. Connoisseur (step up from Sensi) nutes. Just stir the reservoir daily, and have good reservoir output filters to protect your piping.

 

[Olderfart]

Has anyone used the advanced nutrients Sensi line with autopots. I’m switching to autopots and recently restocked my fertilizers. I plan on using a submersible pump in the reservoir? Or any recommendations for fertilizers with autopots

The other thing you will want to keep in mind is that with sub-irrigation, nutes tend to build up in the medium, so your EC/PPM levels may need to be lower than what you have been used to. Good luck with it.

 

[BII]

The other thing you will want to keep in mind is that with sub-irrigation, nutes tend to build up in the medium, so your EC/PPM levels may need to be lower than what you have been used to. Good luck with it.

Along these lines, if using sub-irrigation (bottom feeding) it is good practice to occasionally empty and wash any residue out of your bottom containers.

 

[Olderfart]

Along these lines, if using sub-irrigation (bottom feeding) it is good practice to occasionally empty and wash any residue out of your bottom containers.

I gave up on autopots for salt nutes indoors. I just use the autovalve setup for outdoor vegie mischief in soil in summer, water only. It works reasonably there, but I never managed to get it sorted with indoor grows. I now use top irrigation contolled by a timer as suggested on Cocoforcannabis.com, and it works better for me.
Others here make subirrigation work, but I got tired of fighting nute buildup and having to fix it by flushing.

 

[BII]

I gave up on autopots for salt nutes indoors. I just use the autovalve setup for outdoor vegie mischief in soil in summer, water only. It works reasonably there, but I never managed to get it sorted with indoor grows. I now use top irrigation contolled by a timer as suggested on Cocoforcannabis.com, and it works better for me.
Others here make subirrigation work, but I got tired of fighting nute buildup and having to fix it by flushing.

You shouldn't (have to) flush AutoPots, with it best to not disturb the natural buildup of nutes/salts near the surface. I used AutoPots for multiple grows in past years and never flushed. Similarly, with automated top feeding, you are getting buildup of nutes/salts at the bottom of the pot. Do you bother to flush that? Why-Is it actually needed? Do you use Advanced Nutrients' products (the subject of this thread), and if not do you think that may be related to whatever problems you encountered with bottom feeding?

For multiple grows now (using Adv. Nutrients pH Perfect base nutes and sometimes 2-part MegaCrop) I've been doing sub-irrigation (bottom feeding) once daily simply adding feed to containers holding my pots (coco/perlite) and letting the pots suck up the water. I only give the amount of water the pots will suck up in a few minutes (no excess sitting around perpetually, as with AutoPots). I do this without ever doing any flushing, and don't reuse the coco. I'm sure there is significant buildup of nutrients/salts in the upper portion of the pots, but that's not where the roots are, and they will stay there if not disturbed (flushed downward).

 

[Olderfart]

You shouldn't (have to) flush AutoPots, with it best to not disturb the natural buildup of nutes/salts near the surface. I used AutoPots for multiple grows in past years and never flushed. Similarly, with automated top feeding, you are getting buildup of nutes/salts at the bottom of the pot. Do you bother to flush that? Why-Is it actually needed? Do you use Advanced Nutrients' products (the subject of this thread), and if not do you think that may be related to whatever problems you encountered with bottom feeding?

For multiple grows now (using Adv. Nutrients pH Perfect base nutes and sometimes 2-part MegaCrop) I've been doing sub-irrigation (bottom feeding) once daily simply adding feed to containers holding my pots (coco/perlite) and letting the pots suck up the water. I only give the amount of water the pots will suck up in a few minutes (no excess sitting around perpetually, as with AutoPots). I do this without ever doing any flushing, and don't reuse the coco. I'm sure there is significant buildup of nutrients/salts in the upper portion of the pots, but that's not where the roots are, and they will stay there if not disturbed (flushed downward).

I expect that I would have eventually done better with Autopots if I had persisted, but I chose to try something else after the hassle I experienced, and after noting that even peeps on here who use them successfully still run into issues once in a while even given their general success. I never tried the subirrigation technique that you describe, I had not heard of it in detail before. My initial interest in autopots was largely due to the automated fertigation they promised, I wanted to avoid having to hand water, and I needed to be able to leave the grow for a day or two without risk.

As to the issue of nute buildup lower in the pot with top irrigation, that is handled by watering to >10% runoff. I have cut up root balls on multiple top irrigated plants since using the tech, and I have always seen dense healthy fine roots right to the bottom of the pots, so I do not get nute buildup. My pots are suspended in the air, so there is never any accumulation of nutes in a saucer. Also, since I use distribution plates over the top of the pots, the surface coco never dries out, and also contains healthy roots right to the surface. Arguably, top irrigation wastes nutes and water, but neither of those are an issue for me. Since I have set it up, I have not had nutrient buildup issues in any of the 30 or so plants I have completed with top irrigation, and my yields are good, ~150-200g/plant even though I typically do not grow large strains, and my pots until now are only a bit more than 1 gallon in size. Good enough for me, consistent, and no hand watering.

My plan for my next grow is to increase the size of my pots to larger air pots, and set up a self drainage system for runoff. Sadly, that may not happen this year because my Seedsman order seems to be lost in the mail, and replacement seeds cannot get to me in time for the grow and process window available before I leave home in the spring. If by some miracle they show up in the next couple days, I may still go ahead, but if they don't, I have enough product in the freezer to keep me afloat until next fall.

 

[BII]

...I never tried the subirrigation technique that you describe, I had not heard of it in detail before......

My bottom feeding is stupidly simple: just add water (but not excess) to the container holding the pot; essentially the same as dunking the bottom 1-2 inches of the pot in feed water for a few minutes. Somehow I do fairly well not doing any draining-to-waste or flushing.

You mention next using larger AirPots. Perhaps consider extending their height. I securely bolt onto the base (by overlapping a row of the protrusions) another say 6 inches to increase the height-to-base ratio, add more media/soil volume without increasing the footprint/tent space used, increase the air-exposed surface area, etc.

 

[Olderfart]

My bottom feeding is stupidly simple: just add water (but not excess) to the container holding the pot; essentially the same as dunking the bottom 1-2 inches of the pot in feed water for a few minutes. Somehow I do fairly well not doing any draining-to-waste or flushing.

You mention next using larger AirPots. Perhaps consider extending their height. I securely bolt onto the base (by overlapping a row of the protrusions) another say 6 inches to increase the height-to-base ratio, add more media/soil volume without increasing the footprint/tent space used, increase the air-exposed surface area, etc.

That my gro buddy is an excellent idea, and I may well do exactly that. I have enough pot sides to increase the height of all the pots that will fit into the drobe, so I am ready to go.