Hey my journals are not good man. My grows up to now have been pretty amateur hour. But I'm learning and getting better. Which you are looking to do too. Some people say I over think things but its the best way to go if you really want to improve your game. So learn, learn and learn. And expect some errors along the way. There are some very helpful people here so I would start looking out for their posts and hit them up with questions.
Did you get the 4-pot kit with the one pots with trays and valves? Comes in a big box. If you got yours in Canada, that is the best package the importer brings in. They dont bring in all the products either, like the smart pot version, which sucks. But at least you can get them here.
I recommend getting some Home and Garden drip clean to put in the reservoir mix you'll end up making after day 20. Drip Clean is supposed to prevent clogs.
These are some autopot tips off the top of my head. Some are mine, some come from others who already been down this path. And there is more info on the autopots board. Lots of info. Very valuable.
Get a good compressor for the air dome and you can use it to flush the lines too if they get any build up.
Use RO water instead of tap water.
Mix your nutes up a day ahead and let it sit and check the PH for drifts up and adjust if required. And get a digital PH pen with a good simple calibration.
Check your trays to make sure they have water every day. If you get a clog somewhere one way to catch that is to do the daily rounds and make sure all the trays are working and contain fluid.
If you have multiple pots on one res, get more of the shut off valves and put one in front of each pot so you can turn each one off or on. Its a nice to have, not necessary really.
Clean your trays and lines with something like water with CLR after every grow. And rinse well. And blow the lines out with air.
Get extras of the silicon bits for the trays. I lost a couple. And they are cheap.
Use coco. maybe 100% of 90% with 10% clay balls hydroton.
Don't mix heavy amendments in with your grow medium. Avoid the temptation to add things like earth worm castings. If you're using coco (Canna coco bricks are available in Canada and are nice -- you don't have to rinse them before use.
Also avoid using sugar or carb based nutes in bloom phase because they will clog the autopot system.
Thank you for the tips.. I am listening .. I purchased the 4 - 3.9 gallon pot system .. I got at a really good deal ,,, most places are wanting 250.00 for the system and I purchased mine for 150 on a black Friday special .. I have been looking at the autopots for a couple of months...... I just purchased 20 of those silicone things because I am good at losing things.. LOL .and I just ordered some drip clean as well.. I will look into RO system down the road .. I live where right next to lake superior we have some of the best tap water there is so I am going to have to stick with that for now .. I downloaded the water specs from our city … I am definitely going to use coco already purchased canna brick .. through my research I thought they were good quality bricks …I purchased the PH and EC metres we calibration fluids for both …. . I am also an aquarist so I am going to use one of my air pumps for the lines .. I have a good one with 4 valves on it .. I also just ordered 4 shut off valves …OMG this is getting me sooooooooo anxious to start .. But I know I have to wait … I don't think starting now and then having to go away 2x's before xmas will be good for the plants.. I will let you know when I start growing and I will take pics etc to start a journal .. Again thank you for all your help and getting me ready for when I start growing .. …