Grow Mediums Reservoir temp??

[ReNN]

Hey guys,

I was trying to find out what temp an autopot reservoir should be. Does it need to be chilled or is room temp good enough? The way I understand the autopot system, it might not help anything if the res was chilled as it only lets so much water out when needed. Hope some of you experienced growers can help me out. I want to try out autopots for a future grow so researching all I can. I plan to have the res outside the grow area in an ambient temperature of 70-75°f.

 

[bushmasterar15]

I've done two indoor grows so far with autopots. I have my res outside the tent during winter rooms ambient temp was 65-75F and spring/summer 70-85F
You'll enjoy the ease of growing with autopots, I want to say it's almost like a Ronco commercial set it and forget it. Well make sure your res stays full. Here's pic from 1st and 2nd grow.

 

[ReNN]

Sweet! Thanks bro

 

[HemiSync]

Hey guys,

I was trying to find out what temp an autopot reservoir should be. Does it need to be chilled or is room temp good enough? The way I understand the autopot system, it might not help anything if the res was chilled as it only lets so much water out when needed. Hope some of you experienced growers can help me out. I want to try out autopots for a future grow so researching all I can. I plan to have the res outside the grow area in an ambient temperature of 70-75°f.

You will be fine. I have never messed with my reservoir temperatures and I have autopots inside and outside. My basement ranges from 65-80 depending on the time of year and after about 10+ autopot grows temperature has never been an issue. My greenhouse ranges from 55° to 110°F and I have no issues with that reservoir either. I put in five gallons of nutrients at a time and it never stinks or gets stuff growing in it. I have a five gallon bucket in the woods hanging from a tree acting as a reservoir for a tray with Easy2GO autopot module feeding my girls out in the woods. No problems there either.

DWC requires your water temps be around 65°F for maximum oxygen saturation since your roots are essentially drowning without that oxygen infused water. With autopots your roots are in a growing medium which allows your roots to get oxygen, so your water temp is not your biggest problem. I hope that helps I just got home from work and I’m a little buzzed.

 

[ReNN]

Awesome.....thanks for the info guys. Also, was wondering your opinion on how to switch over to autopots. Right now I'm in a soil mix for my grows. I was thinking about switching to a top feed (hand water) Coco/perlite for my next grow to get the hang of Coco before going to the autopot system. What's your guys opinion on that plan. And great job on your set up and grows. Beautiful, health plants guys!

 

[HemiSync]

Awesome.....thanks for the info guys. Also, was wondering your opinion on how to switch over to autopots. Right now I'm in a soil mix for my grows. I was thinking about switching to a top feed (hand water) Coco/perlite for my next grow to get the hang of Coco before going to the autopot system. What's your guys opinion on that plan. And great job on your set up and grows. Beautiful, health plants guys!

I’ve given up on coco/perlite for autopots. Too many deficiency issues, especially calmag. I run all my autopots with a 70/30 soil mix/perlite and have far fewer nutrient and pH issues. I’m not the only one here that has switched, Pop22 has switched to a soil/coco mix at 70/30. Soil is just a much more forgiving medium and buffers much better than coco.

If you have your autopots already and have the space, I suggest about three weeks before your current grow finishes you plant your seeds/seedling in your autopots and start watering them in. It takes three weeks of growth before you can hook them up to the reservoir and this will give you a 3 week headstart on your next grow.

 

[ReNN]

What kind of soil are you using? I've been using happyfrog promix hp at 60/40. Not really happy with the happy frog lately.

 

[HemiSync]

What kind of soil are you using? I've been using happyfrog promix hp at 60/40. Not really happy with the happy frog lately.

I mix my own using garden soil, multitype compost, and perlite in equal amounts by volume. Add in some mycorrhizae and water down with recharge the let it set for a couple days. Then I add Mega Crop, calmag, and sugar candy at the recommended doses and fill my pots up. It’s the same thing I amend my vegetable garden with and works great. Much cheaper than those overpriced specialty soils. My local box store was just clearing out all their big bags of garden soil, potting soil, & compost for around $2 each for a 1-2 cubic ft bag.

 

[puffer1958]

Hey guys,

I was trying to find out what temp an autopot reservoir should be. Does it need to be chilled or is room temp good enough? The way I understand the autopot system, it might not help anything if the res was chilled as it only lets so much water out when needed. Hope some of you experienced growers can help me out. I want to try out autopots for a future grow so researching all I can. I plan to have the res outside the grow area in an ambient temperature of 70-75°f.

I believe that it's a good idea to use a pH stable simple non-organic nutrient, I personally like Cultured Solutions A/B Veg/Flo trans and mid bloom boost with no ripener and with their UC Roots for funk prevention and will also mitigate temp concerns over 75-77f, if I need to raise pH for any reason I do so with silica and lastly I use aquarium wavemaker/circ pump(I just got 2 on Amazon for $11a pair) to keep the nutrient solution mixed but also mitigate surface scum by keeping the surface aggitated/moving scum-free this problem is very difficult to avoid in any set of variables, nutes, temps, pH, anti slime products, etc. If you use an airstone in your res it can effect pH as per autopot and personal experience. Using an airdome their is aeration and keep res levels in proportion with amounts that are used by the plant, (as in do not fill a 12.4 gal res for 1 plant that's using 2 gallons a week). Summertime I use a chiller with my res be them rdwc,dwc or autopot.