Grow Mediums XL Autopot, KIS Organics

[n0onekn0w5]

Hi all,

About to start my first grow next week, thought the best way to ensure success would be to get the help/support of this community along the way.

Equipment, gear, etc

• 2.5x2.5x5 (Hydropolis 2x2+ tent)
• Spider Farmer SF 1000
• AC Infinity T6, Phresh 4x12 Carbon Filter
• Autopot XL, 1 module (also have the 2 regular size module for future, smaller grows)
• KIS Organics Biochar
• Mephisto Gear (going with Mango smile this run)

My plan is to go organic, only feed tap water into my res (dechlorinated for 24 hours). Automate as much as possible and keep everything simple. I also plan to mainline the plant, keeping the structure short and controlled. I have advanced nutrients on hand in case the 6.6 gallon XL autopot is not enough for water only feed with KIS organics.

Tap water is clean, comes out 50ppm from the faucet. I doubt I will have any problems with my 1/4inch lines clogging. Just in case, I have drip clean on hand. I will have seeds germinated/potted up next week as my soil is scheduled to arrive then.

In the meantime I have one question. I see a lot of people skipping the process of putting a 1-2" inch layer of perlite at the bottom of the autopot (below the soil). Why is this? The instructions recommend it.

Excited to go on my first grow journey!

 

[Olderfart]

Hi, and good luck with the grow. I will be interested to see whether you can finish the grow without more nutes.

As to the perlite, I would recommend either pure perlite or a mix of perlite and coco in the bottom inch or two of your pot. I believe that the flood zone of the autovalve has to be well drained to oxygenate well between floodings. If you do organic all the way down, the flood zone could stay waterlogged during the entire autovalve cycle and result in mischief such as root rot. Another solution that you will run into, a poor one in my opinion, is to put hydroton in the bottom of the pot, but this could result in poor capillary movement of nutes across the large difference in particle sizes at the boundary.

FWIW, I would go with the perlite or perlite/coco layer below your organic mix. Good luck with the grow.

 

[n0onekn0w5]

Hi, and good luck with the grow. I will be interested to see whether you can finish the grow without more nutes.

As to the perlite, I would recommend either pure perlite or a mix of perlite and coco in the bottom inch or two of your pot. I believe that the flood zone of the autovalve has to be well drained to oxygenate well between floodings. If you do organic all the way down, the flood zone could stay waterlogged during the entire autovalve cycle and result in mischief such as root rot. Another solution that you will run into, a poor one in my opinion, is to put hydroton in the bottom of the pot, but this could result in poor capillary movement of nutes across the large difference in particle sizes at the boundary.

FWIW, I would go with the perlite or perlite/coco layer below your organic mix. Good luck with the grow.

Thanks @Olderfart - I'd like to see for myself as well if the KIS Organics is up the hype! I know they recommend at least 7 gallons (I'll be a bit shy with a 6.6 gallon autopot + the 1-2 inch layer of perlite at the bottom) - but it will be a good experiment!

I've got size 3 perlite ready for the bottom layer! Appreciate your insight.

 

[Olderfart]

Thanks @Olderfart - I'd like to see for myself as well if the KIS Organics is up the hype! I know they recommend at least 7 gallons (I'll be a bit shy with a 6.6 gallon autopot + the 1-2 inch layer of perlite at the bottom) - but it will be a good experiment!

I've got size 3 perlite ready for the bottom layer! Appreciate your insight.

I wouldn't know size 3 perlite if someone filled my bed with it. Have a careful look at it, and if it is consistently a lot coarser than your organic mix, I suggest adding some coco so the particle size does not change much at the start of your organic soil. As long as there are some fines in the perlite, you will likely be ok, but if it is consistently coarse, adding coco will make sure that nutes move easily up the pot. Adding some coco will work better than adding your organic mix - it drains really well, but conducts water well too. It is cheap, and available in brick form at most hardware/garden stores. You don't need the fancy stuff for this purpose, just rinse the stuff really well to get rid of salts and fines, and it will work a treat.

Whether you go with coco added or not, your bottom layer only needs to be as deep as the autopot flood level, deeper than that will just use up available soil volume. ~20 mm is all you need to make sure that the flood zone drains properly.

 

[Olderfart]

Oh yeah, I am subbed up.

 

[n0onekn0w5]

Oh yeah, I am subbed up.

https://www.autoflower.org/threads/...topots-mephisto-mango-smile-sour-crack.78250/ Continued here as I posted it in the hydroponics instead of autopots forum. Mods feel free to delete/close this thread.