Grow Mediums School me on Autopots

[DTOM420]

Looking at taking a new job that will seriously cut into my free (grow) time and I’m thinking about giving Autopots a try. They would at least take some of the daily worry about watering off me. Besides, they just intrigue me. Lol! So, I need some advice on what to get and what to think about. I’ll be running them in either my 5x5x80” tent or my 4x4x80” tent under LED lights.

I’m thinking I want to run fabric pots rather than the plastic pots. I’ve got some 3 gallon and 5 gallon Radicle bags but I may try some of the new Rain Science bags just because they’re a sponsor of AFN. Is this a better option than the standard plastic pots? Are 5 gallon (12” diameter) bags the only bags that work with the Autopot system and do you need to get the XL Autopot bases in order to run bags? OR, is there a way to run 3 gallon bags - can you put the (3 gallon) bags into a square standard Autopot base? What are my options here?

Medium: Am I better off running a coco-perlite medium than a good soil or a peat-perlite mix? If you normally run a coco mix, how does a grower go about flushing the medium to prevent buildup, since this is a bottom watered system? Do you pul the pot, stick it in a bucket and flush it from the top and then return it to the tray?

Treating individual plants: How do you do it? Let’s say you have a 4 pot system and one plant is particularly hungry. With the whole system run off a single reservoir, how do you dose that single plant with the nutrition it needs?

Buying options: Are there any AFN coupon codes for Autopots? I’m either going Nile to run 4-5 plants at a time. Is the 12.4 gallon reservoir big enough for 5 plants? Is there anything special/unique about the Autopot reservoirs or can I just build my own res out of a 55 gallon drum and a bulkhead fitting, which would give me a big res at a much lower price.

Sorry for all the questions and thanks to those that reply!

 

[DTOM420]

Really? Nobody is running Autopots that can share some info?

 

[bushmasterar15]

I haven't tried running any fabric pots in the autopot trays. But they do have their new system that uses them. I'm running the 15L/3.9g pots and on the 12gal res I get about 7 days till needing refill for 4 plants. The tray base is the same for the small pots, regular and XL.

Running coco I haven't had to flush, I do use drip clean in the res to help stop any buildup in the lines.

 

[TempNameTBD]

Wilma do a kit that uses fabric auto pots. I am picking up a Wilma soon and heading that route but going to mod it into DWC. Found a great thread on wilma mods.

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[Tombsy]

Really? Nobody is running Autopots that can share some info?

I run Autopots, but after getting some funkiness in the res with megacrop, I started to hand water in the trays. I am home most nights and don't mind going to the room and doing it. Takes 5 mins for 14 plants. No problems, bigger plants will easily empty reservoir in half a day.

I still have the valves to fall back on it I go on vacation. In that case I will run maxibloom. I have used the system with maxibloom on a few occasions and it runs nicely.

 

[blue]

Looking at taking a new job that will seriously cut into my free (grow) time and I’m thinking about giving Autopots a try. They would at least take some of the daily worry about watering off me. Besides, they just intrigue me. Lol! So, I need some advice on what to get and what to think about. I’ll be running them in either my 5x5x80” tent or my 4x4x80” tent under LED lights.

I’m thinking I want to run fabric pots rather than the plastic pots. I’ve got some 3 gallon and 5 gallon Radicle bags but I may try some of the new Rain Science bags just because they’re a sponsor of AFN. Is this a better option than the standard plastic pots? Are 5 gallon (12” diameter) bags the only bags that work with the Autopot system and do you need to get the XL Autopot bases in order to run bags? OR, is there a way to run 3 gallon bags - can you put the (3 gallon) bags into a square standard Autopot base? What are my options here?

Medium: Am I better off running a coco-perlite medium than a good soil or a peat-perlite mix? If you normally run a coco mix, how does a grower go about flushing the medium to prevent buildup, since this is a bottom watered system? Do you pul the pot, stick it in a bucket and flush it from the top and then return it to the tray?

Treating individual plants: How do you do it? Let’s say you have a 4 pot system and one plant is particularly hungry. With the whole system run off a single reservoir, how do you dose that single plant with the nutrition it needs?

Buying options: Are there any AFN coupon codes for Autopots? I’m either going Nile to run 4-5 plants at a time. Is the 12.4 gallon reservoir big enough for 5 plants? Is there anything special/unique about the Autopot reservoirs or can I just build my own res out of a 55 gallon drum and a bulkhead fitting, which would give me a big res at a much lower price.

Sorry for all the questions and thanks to those that reply!

Hey there! Just saw this.

There's a mega thread and loads of info about autopots here https://www.autoflower.org/threads/setting-up-your-auto-pots.53151/

The guy to talk to in one of his threads is @pop22 - He knows pretty much everything there is to know about them and makes his own bits.
I use them and love them .. but only use the supplied parts (plastic pots etc)

Hope this helps

Blue ^_^

 

[pop22]

Hey just saw this! I'd suggest ordering just an Aqua Valve and cover, buying or making a reservoir, and using a tray. Then you can use any size fabric pot you want auto pot sells some large trays, but they are a bit pricey. Hard to find them online though.
The standard pot tray's opening is only 8"x8" , the XL tray in a bit wider but I doubt it could hold much bigger than a 3 gallon fabric pot.

 

[Dichoti]

The 5 gallon rain science bags are too wide to fit in the xl base. I was going to use mine until I figured that out.
There's a smartpot version of autopots out now, fyi.

 

[TempNameTBD]

Wanted to jump on this thread, I want to stick to using Organic nuits and soil and was torn between the Auto Pots and Wilma System.

Then I found this.. Octo Pots they are passive the bottom of the soil goes into a net pot and sits in water, as the roots go down and hit the they take on a change and become hydro roots, the plants get water from these roots and nutes from the soil. I was think on of using this container

Then cut hole in bottom of my super roots pot and glue in a net pot and it will end up like this



Or slightly bigger container..

Basically trying to DIY this.

I was thinking of maybe using wilma res as a giant version and using 6-8 11l pots.

What are peoples thoughts..

Planit do a res and a spare lid that's light proof but can't find a price for them anywhere. @pop22 @woody

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