Grow Mediums Twin tray Autopots watering problem?

[Quokka420]

Looking for some help with my 1st hydro / coco / autopot run.
Running 3 double tray autopots with 6 autoflowers. Coco / perlite 70 /30. Canna Coco Nutrients, consistent 5.8 pH, 2 gallon fabric pots.

Things started great, super impressed with the whole autopot / hydro setup. Moved pots around (swapped positions / different trays weekly to keep lighting even).
Did some pruning and a big reshuffle of pots.

One plant started yellowing after the move but the plant that was sharing the twin tray was looking fine. The yellowing advanced so I flushed with 7 litres of 5.8 pH'd water.
This slowed it down and I was able to get a decent amount at chop.

Weeks later and I have the last 3 plants doing a similar thing. I did a bit of a lollipop 3 weeks into flower and swapped the positions / trays. Things started going downhill pretty fast.
did a 7 litre flush per plant but things are not looking good with early death on the cards.

Is it possible that when I've swapped trays, I may have drowned them? If they are completely wicked up and full of water and I sit them in a full tray so they have double the moisture to get rid of. Is this is too long for the roots to sit in water without damage?

I've checked calibration of my pH meter & it's accurate. Res pH is 6.2

 

[Olderfart]

Take this for the wild assed guess that it is...

I think you have one of two possibilities going on. The first is lockout due to excess or unbalanced nutes due to the tendency of autopots to build up salts in the medium. Your attempts at flushing seem to be intended to deal with this. I can't advise you on details though, if you want an expert opinion, fill in the infirmary form and tag @Mañ'O'Green for some help.

The other possibility, although your plants don't look seriously overwatered to me, is that your shuffling process has soaked them too much, or has introduced junk into the autovalves and caused malfunction. Next time, turn off the irrigation before lifting pots out of an auto pot tray. That way the tray will not be over filled when you replace the pot. Having said that, I very much doubt that that is your problem. The amount of extra water in the tray due to this issue is only there for part of a cycle, and is very unlikely to cause the issue that you see. If waterin is the issue, I think you are dealing with malfunction of the valves. However, similar malfunction of multiple valve seems unlikely which takes us back to nutrients. In any case, I suggest that you check out my autopot troubleshooting thread and carefully check the function of your valves. Bottom line is that the trays need to not refill until they are almost completely empty, and they should not fill much if at all above the nut on the inlet tube. If they overfill or only partially empty, they are malfunctioning and leaving your medium too wet.

Good luck with it.

 

[idiopathic neuropathy]

@Olderfart said it so well.
Did you check/smell the base of the pot(s) for any signs of root rot since you believe they may have received to much solution? This may give a clue that a valve may have been stuck in an open position.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

@Quokka420 Welcome To AFN. Part of that looks like genetic coloring. Bottom watering Coco or any medium for that fact will create a "Salt Line" At the level where evaporation pressure equals the capillary action of the water. This is problematic on any bottom water system. By moving the pots you are changing the level in the pot where this salt line is located. Disturbing the coco changes the capillary physics. You are now dissolving some of those left behind salts and making them available to the plant. This will ruin the nutrient balance in the pot. It would be better to move the lights or even better get lights to cover the entire area.

Because you are in coco you can solve this problem by doing a good flush to drain - get rid of it all. Make sure your autopots are functioning properly. Then top feed with some balanced nutrients along with some beneficials like Mykos, and Kelp with humic acid. Then go back to running the autopots.

 

[Quokka420]

Wow thanks everyone for the warm welcome and for your input
I've done a complete drain of the system and flushed everything out. I've halved the strength of the new nutrient solution & I'll add some mykos tonight after work and check the function of the valves.

It's good to hear the changing of position (and possibly messing up the balance of nutrient / moisture content) is looking like the culprit, I was seriously running out of ideas.

Hopefully they'll make it through enough to get some reasonable results. I'll post an update a little further down the track Thanks again

 

[OzScott]

Hi all... can I just confirm again please

With autopot grows once the pot (whatever size or material it is) has been placed into the active system (nutrients enabled) ideally the pot should not be removed from its autopot base for the grow period? - it's more OK to move the autopot base with pot installed around the tent to get better light etc - but don't lift the pot from the base useless performing some action like flushing (should it be required) - is this what we're suggesting? - for risk of upsetting the pot established Salt Line level - this would explain my autopot grow 1st attempt failure

 

[Quokka420]

Hi all... can I just confirm again please

With autopot grows once the pot (whatever size or material it is) has been placed into the active system (nutrients enabled) ideally the pot should not be removed from its autopot base for the grow period? - it's more OK to move the autopot base with pot installed around the tent to get better light etc - but don't lift the pot from the base useless performing some action like flushing (should it be required) - is this what we're suggesting? - for risk of upsetting the pot established Salt Line level - this would explain my autopot grow 1st attempt failure

It happened with 4 out of 6 plants this run for me so statistically speaking I would say yes and won’t be moving them round in future.

 

[throxic]

I remove mine all the time for LST/Defoil, but I turn the valve off on the water before hand. I also will rotate them occasionally to change where the lights are hitting.