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Mr Piggy
Guest
A rose by any other name.
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BigBuddha
Guest
[video=youtube;wHhZeeTrfs0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wHhZeeTrfs0[/video]
Edit: I'd like to make it clear that I don't know for sure if the airpot system harms autos. It's just a long-term hunch that I'm working through at the moment, but it could also be because of a much higher requirement for nutes.
As a comparison.. using batmix + 10% wormcasts + 10% perlite.. in a 15ltr round pot I can complete an auto grow start>finish with maybe a need for some light bloom feed towards the end.
Using a 15ltr airpot (same medium), I actually need to start feeding after 3 weeks, even in batmix with extra wormcasts!!
So, I've done that side-by-side twice now and the same happens. The buddha grown in the airpot needs more than I can get into it with organic nutes. Using mineral nutes helps but I haven't mastered the combination of all this yet.
All those extra roots means a higher need for P & K, so it's also possible that using airpots and autos is best done with a lightmix soil and mineral nutes from the off. That's something I'm currently testing so I'll report back on that.
I don't want to put anyone off using airpots just because I haven't figured out the balance yet in my own groom, and I'm sure loads of others manage it perfectly well.
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mydanksstank
Guest
thats the vid i learned form haha 
but yeah soundsl iek your 50 steps ahead of me on this airpot mastery thing. thats pretty amazing that airpots change the dynamic of nutrients as much as it does bigbuddah do you see these as the future of soil so to speak??
but yeah soundsl iek your 50 steps ahead of me on this airpot mastery thing. thats pretty amazing that airpots change the dynamic of nutrients as much as it does bigbuddah do you see these as the future of soil so to speak??
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BigBuddha
Guest
thats the vid i learned form haha
Gotta be honest mate.. about 2-3 weeks ago I transferred all of my houseplants into them and there's already a noticeable difference in plant-health and canopy growth. All the trees at the Olympics are being housed in airpots too.
I can grow a plant in a 3ltr airpot to the same size as a 10ltr round pot. It'll take in more food than the round pot and will allow a quicker turnaround on the wet/dry cycle. I'd never bother growing a photo girl in anything else from now on.. and I REALLY want to get it right for autos too becuse I reckon it can really payoff.
However, cannabis is already a fast grower and sucks up shitloads of nutrients so adding an airpot to a hungry auto seems to mean a need for lots of instantly accesible food, which I strongly suspect rules out truly organic nutrients.
It's become a bit of an obsession really because I've seen the MASSIVE difference they make to photo girls, and I've seen amazing veg growth from my autos in them.. truly kick-ass.. but just before they start to flower they just fizzle and look starving hungry all the time. Then it's a fighting battle trying to get them to feed.. but with organics that's never really worked for me so far. I'll make a thread on my mineral nutes/airpot/autos experiement in a few days.
Christ I do whittle on about this.. sooory
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Mr Piggy
Guest
I'm confused as to how the air-pruning action of the air pot differs from the smart pot. I understand the theory of the cones vs the mesh of the smart pot and how that would potentially allow for more soil to be used in an air pot vs a smart pot due to the large air exposure of the fabric mesh. I can see the cost benefit of that in a large scale application like a nursery, but only if the pots were the same cost. I wonder if there's enough of a difference for small scale growers like us.
In other words, would a home made smart pot that carried a liter more of soil than an equivalent air pot have any difference in final results? Also would there be a point at which the size of the pot would give better results to the open air system of a smart mesh vs a restricted air pot?
Now look what you did, I'm obsessed with something about growing when I should be doing homework.....again.
In other words, would a home made smart pot that carried a liter more of soil than an equivalent air pot have any difference in final results? Also would there be a point at which the size of the pot would give better results to the open air system of a smart mesh vs a restricted air pot?
Now look what you did, I'm obsessed with something about growing when I should be doing homework.....again.
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fullauto
Guest
I made a half assed one for my 32oz. comp grow by just drilling a kazillion holes in a 32oz. wonton soup container-all around and the bottom as well. I know it doesn't have the ribbed inside like the real ones but i have to believe it somewhat worked as the pineapple express i have in it hit 19" high and almost the same in diameter. Every hole in that container has root showing and none came out of them so i'm assuming it worked and airpruned them. If that works this well i'd love to see what a real one does.
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BigBuddha
Guest
It occurs to me that even if DIY jobs don't have the conical shapes of airpots, the holes will still act to help get fresh air deeper into the soi as it dries out & will help dry the medium quicker >>> that means we can get more nutes in quicker. So, while you don't get the full airpot funcitionality, it stands-to-reason that you still get some benefits from well-holed pots, and surely at least some of the feeder tips will get dehydrated at those airhole points?
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Cave Dirt Cody
Guest
New dro plan. Not trying to replace my DWC just fooling around and see if I can make things a little easier on myself.
Materials
1 3 liter airpot(of course you can use any pot)
1 reservoir(the bowl in the pic holds 2 to 3 liters)
2 pieces of 1/4" nylon rope( mine are about 18")
1 5"x5" nylon screen
1 air pump(tetra15)
2' to 3' air line
1 air stone
Ran the rope at angles through the pot.
Put the screen in the bottom of pot. Ran the 2 pieces of nylon rope through the screen out the bottom of the pot.
put the wicks in the rez.
Run the airline into the rez, add airstone, and attach to pump.
The medium will be 50% perlite, 40% vermiculite, 10% wormcastings.
FloraNova nutes
The strain is undecided.
or tier
Feeding from the bottom is the only way to go with an airpot. IMO
Materials
1 3 liter airpot(of course you can use any pot)
1 reservoir(the bowl in the pic holds 2 to 3 liters)
2 pieces of 1/4" nylon rope( mine are about 18")
1 5"x5" nylon screen
1 air pump(tetra15)
2' to 3' air line
1 air stone
Ran the rope at angles through the pot.
Put the screen in the bottom of pot. Ran the 2 pieces of nylon rope through the screen out the bottom of the pot.
put the wicks in the rez.
Run the airline into the rez, add airstone, and attach to pump.
The medium will be 50% perlite, 40% vermiculite, 10% wormcastings.
FloraNova nutes
The strain is undecided.
or tier
Feeding from the bottom is the only way to go with an airpot. IMO
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BigBuddha
Guest
That's a pretty cool litle semi-hydro mod that inspires cascading streams of rivulent thought careering through my mind 
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Cave Dirt Cody
Guest
I knew you would like it. I put that little set up on hold since I moved. But I am back in my comfort zone again and ready to give it another go. It works like a charm.
