Grow Mediums Your ideas wanted!!!! Trying to find a solution for automated fertigation of a perpetual tent. Autopots v Octopots v Handfeeding v ??? in coco.

[TheCannaZombie]

Hey all, I have an issue I was hoping you all could help with.

Background: I have a 4x2 and a 4x4. I run 70/30 coco/perlite in 3g pots. Megacrop and Sweet Candy. I use the small tent for small plants with 100w light. My 4x4 gets the older ones with 550w of light. I hand water all of my pots 2x a day. I run 6 plants at a time each spaced about 13 days apart (assuming 78 day harvest).

Issue: I leave town often. I have to worry about finding someone or coming back every day almost to ensure they survive. Two weekends ago I left town for a baby shower. We came home about 50 hours later. One of my older plants, late in flower, was dry as a cracker. Could not be fixed. This is why I am creating this post.

Possible solutions:
Switch to soil - I have grown in soil before and I do not love it. Yield is not the same and bugs.

Three autopot systems. I know that you are not supposed to start them until around day 20. So I would get two systems. Each with two pots. Then I will space the plants 30 days apart and run two at a time. Then at most, I have two seedlings that wont make it. But they are usually about to hold water longer so that is a plus.

Octopots - I could get a lot of octopots. One issue is you are not supposed to use straight coco. I really do not want to use an amended coco.

??? - I was hoping for yalls help here. I am the least creative person around and I am sure there are some great ideas that would work here. I just cannot think of anything.

Thanks for any info you all can provide!

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

The main problem with a perpetual grow is that the best fertilizer for plants in various stages of maturity can benefit from different nutrient profiles.

That said a 20-10-20 (2-1-2) NPK ratio could be applied for a short period to all of your plants from a single reservoir via drip irrigation. You need two pumps, a tiny one to stir the reservoir and a bigger one on a timer to fertigate the plants. PH will be a problem unless you get a dosser. If you are not gone longer than 2 days you could get away with just water to keep the plants alive?

PS who says you cannot use just coco?

 

[blue]

Three autopot systems. I know that you are not supposed to start them until around day 20. So I would get two systems. Each with two pots. Then I will space the plants 30 days apart and run two at a time. Then at most, I have two seedlings that wont make it. But they are usually about to hold water longer so that is a plus.

I vote for the Autopot system.

As you say, You can't turn it on until the root gets near enough to the bottom of the pot (about 20 days) ... but in your case this shouldn't matter as the soil (or coco) will hold enough water for a few days at seedling stage anyway.

 

[DogterB]

I made up an auto-watering DIY octopot setup. I have a 6 pot setup in my 4x4 for my autos, all watered via a res run by float valve. Entire setup cost less than 1 or 2 actual octopots. I love it but need to get a bigger reservoir. In my 2x2 I also have a 5 gal modified Alaska bucket that is also auto-watered

 

[Qbgrower]

I use the autopot system using the weighted cover for the valves with two 40x100cm trays and an organic soil mix. During veg I literally don't have to add anything to the soil just plain water through the autopot (after day 20ish). During flower it's a top feed every one or two weeks depending on how the plants look.
This works for me as the biggest problem in the tent IS me! The less I'm in the tent the better the final product.

Qb

 

[TheCannaZombie]

@Mañ'O'Green The octopot instructions say that you should use something with an amendment. It is because roots will not reach the water for a week or two. All of my autos are usually at different PPMs which is why this is difficult. Otherwise I would just auto top water them all from a res.

@blue probably what I am going to do. I am going to miss my bimonthly harvests.

@DogterB Id love some more info on your DIY octopots. But also, they do not sound like they are in a perpetual set up?

@Qbgrower I usually do not have issues in my tent. My only issue ever comes from me being gone. Which is something I cannot avoid. What is the weighted cover you are talking about? I did not see anything on their website.

 

[blue]

@blue probably what I am going to do. I am going to miss my bimonthly harvests.

Get 3 resevoirs and run 2 plants (of the same age) per rez. Problem sorted.

You can also make your own rez (no need to buy the autopot one - it's just a container with a hole snug enough for the tubing and a grommet to stop the leak)

You should still get bimonthly harvests that way and more control of your plants at different stages.

 

[Qbgrower]

@Mañ'O'Green The octopot instructions say that you should use something with an amendment. It is because roots will not reach the water for a week or two. All of my autos are usually at different PPMs which is why this is difficult. Otherwise I would just auto top water them all from a res.

@blue probably what I am going to do. I am going to miss my bimonthly harvests.

@DogterB Id love some more info on your DIY octopots. But also, they do not sound like they are in a perpetual set up?

@Qbgrower I usually do not have issues in my tent. My only issue ever comes from me being gone. Which is something I cannot avoid. What is the weighted cover you are talking about? I did not see anything on their website.

Here they are https://autopot.co.uk/all-products/easy2go/aquavalve-cover/

Aquavalve covers. They even have a handy spirit level on top to make sure its level.

Qb

 

[DogterB]

@TheCannaZombie, you are correct, I don’t do perpetual. I use organic soil though, so perpetual is definitely a possibility as I only add teas to the soil as needed. Here’s some pics of my setup:

I was very specific on what tubs I used. These ones have a strong lid, and are sized to where I could fit up to 16 crammed in my 4x4 if I ever wanted to try out a sog. There is a 5 gal bucket outside of the tent that runs to the small white bucket in the tent which has the float valve. All tubs are connected, so the water level is the same throughout. I just cut holes through the lids big enough for a mesh cup. I cut the bottoms of the pots so the mesh pot fits through and into the tubs. I’ve only completed one run with this, but it worked fantastically. Will do a journal on the next run as the last one was a big experiment (new setup, new lights, new medium, etc.). Like I said, I need a bigger res outside the tent for when I have to leave them a few days. With just the 6 autos, they were going through at least 2 gal of water a day when they were in full gear.

I’m always on a budget (broke med student) so this was my alternative to buying a bunch of octopots.

 

[Jhouse09]

I like the autopot system using coco loco. You can leave it unattended for a day or two but the pH will still need to be adjusted. You could keep your pH on the low end of the spectrum in anticipation of it rising. I personally left for a week but I didn't want to invest in a system that would adjust the pH for me so I trained someone close to me once a day adjust the pH and raise the lights a touch if needed.