Dookie69

I’m moving and won’t be able to setup in my new place. I have a lot to sell. Where can I advertise on this forum? Thanks

You going to love them. It’s still a good idea tho to give each pot a quick weight test every other day. I had a few instances where my pipes got blocked (yes I never cleaned them properly after the last grow) which resulted in the pots running dry, only discovered by droopy leaves after a few days! I also had frikkin fungus gnats for the first time, presumably because I tried using my coco for a second run, and also probably overdid the top watering while waiting for the Autopot start date. I nailed this little bastards with a spray, they didn’t like that mootie one little bit. Oh and genetics genetics genetics. I planted what were meant to be auto’s. Turns out these spindly plants were photo’s, by the time I realised this they were already 6 foot tall and growing. I had to top all of them since they were hitting the top of the tent. Then I changed to 12-12 and they started to flower. One of the 3 plants was covered in seeds, everywhere. Kak’ed myself and chopped it down. Still don’t know how that happened, must have hermied Cos no others did this. If these things were outdoors they would be 10ft tall. On a lighter note genetics genetics genetics. Last batch was for Ethos and looking excellent.

Been away for a while, got too busy to grow but back at it now. I can confirm that connected Autopots can be placed at different heights as long as the res is higher than all the pots. My current grow had a rocky start with a lot of failed germinations, resulting in 3 plants being up to a month apart. So I was able to raise the younger plants closer to the lights while the older plant sat on the floor level. I managed the different nute regimens by fitting taps to each tray and selectively hand feeding as needed, until they were all on the same feed.

Can you elaborate on that?

TA tri part forms the foundation of my feed routine. I’m tempted by the TA for coco, it’s a two-part…. Anyone have experience with both?

Just for interest, how’s this Matrix Disc (sits at the bottom of the pot with the purpose of keeping bits of coco / soil away from the tray and the valve). Such vigorous root growth even gets around the standard copper root-control disc, which is why I recommend the copper “pot-sock” for proper root control. You can see where the airdome sits. The air domes get completely choked with fine white roots, they love the extra air. Normally I re-use my Matrix Disc but this one is too far gone!

Welcome to this community, smart move.

I’ll give it a shot, I’m about to germinate so my pots are all empty.

Yes the usual piping is assumed, I should have mentioned that. It’s just an interesting “hypothetical” option, for example if you build a greenhouse over a set of steps, or a terrace, that you can use one reservoir to feed a number of autopots on different levels.

Multilevel Autopot Trays? I read somewhere that so long as all the trays are lower than the res, that a multilevel arrangement is possible, and very helpful for raising shorter plants to canopy level… Anyone tried this? Excuse the crude drawing.

I use a 5-6cm layer of Leca. I like the fact that it is a wick for the Coco, and it offers an aeration gap which I’m certain stops the pot from “sitting in water all the time”. I’ve started recycling it for future grows, so it’s cost reduces par grow. The roots love it, I find those fine white roots favouring the airdome and the Leca zone.

The feed charts are mainly to ensure the correct NER (Nutrient Element Ratio) is followed, for each stage of growth. They can be diluted as you see fit so long as the ratios remain correct. I also mix in 20l containers, but work out the percentages before, so let’s say it indicates 2,4ml of Bloom per litre, and you want to run a 70% strength. 0.7 x 2,4 x 20l = 33.6ml per 20l as opposed to 48ml at full dosage. The order in which you add them is important. The chart suggests Gro then Micro then Bloom. It’s better to go Micro then gro then Bloom. Finally a note on EC. TA can’t know the base EC of every place in the world, or indeed who will be using RO water for that matter. So they base their recommended EC range (bottom of each column in the chart) on an average tap water range EC (I think around 0,3). This added to their 100% NER strength gives the recommended max /min EC on the chart. Here in SA we have pretty low EC in the tap water, generally. Mine is around 0,1. For me this means that even if I feed at 100% Nute strength, I still don’t achieve or surpass the max EC, sometimes not even the minimum. This leaves me with some wiggle room for adding supplements as a preventative or corrective measure, for eg CalMag, Chelated Calcium, Silica, Biodyne, Epsom salts and bloom boosters. Finally, and anybody please correct me if I’m wrong, EC is a measure of Electrical Conductivity in a solution, typically measuring salts content and cannot measure other non-electrically conductive elements in the water. This is why it is important to know what you’re dealing with media-wise, since your media (“soil”) can actually contain a lot of undetectable stuff which in excessive amounts can be detrimental to a cannabis plant. So mix in the right order, mix conservatively, never exceed the max EC on the chart. And don’t be forgetting pH. It’s as important if not more so than anything else. And keep an eye on you reservoir / bucket. pH can creep up over a few days and the next thing you know it’s way way over. Don’t think of pH as a linear scale. It’s an exponential / logarithmic scale. So pH 6 vs pH 7 is not “just” one point up. Water with a pH of 6 is 10X more acidic than water with pH of 7 [emoji43][emoji43][emoji94]. Accuracy of pH is critical.

That is a top tip for sure. I am about to try quick-disconnects (fuel line disconnects) from the motorcycle industry, in order to remove / add trays in the grow space.

Consider a dehumidifier, it will work well in that environment.

That runoff does appear to be very high. Do your plants appear to displaying any lockout / nute burn / stunting? If your concerned about it I would flush each pot with 3 x it’s capacity in TA flash clean then after a day or so feed at 70% of the recommended dosage plus add some Calcium or Cal Mag to keep the Coco happy. After that try to be conservative with nutes, I never run my plants past 80% strength, and my EC usually sits around 1400. (This is in flower, including any other supplements like Silica or whatever) (I run Auto’s, they require lower EC apparently) As far as calibrating the EC, you can’t calibrate as such, but you can compare to a know standard liquid to see if it’s in spec or not.

I’m trying my hand at Hash (cold water and bags) later this week. I’ll hopefully be able to use the trim from the trim bag for hash.

So you have the original brand TrimBag? I am interested, I’ll send you a message.

I’m glad you brought up the bottom or top feed for the autopot. I see that as a solution to growing multiple strains on one reservoir. I’ve had it before where one strain goes into pre-flower faster than others… up to now I’ve had to decide on a compromise because it’s one reservoir for all. Now by top feeding the pre flower plants with a suitable nutrient ratio, the rest can catch up when ready…. Great idea.

Thanks for the info, that’s why this forum rocks. I think I’ll give it a go. I’ll probably be loading 150g per tumble, as I like to keep each plant in its own bottle. Some of the nugs are quite small, but most are fairly dense. It’s going to save me a shed load of time….

Problem using ac to drop the temps into a nice low range is that it then the humidity plummets. I had my ac at 20’C and that caused humidity to drop into high 30’s / low 40’s. So pushed it up to 22’C now humidity is sitting around 52% which is still a bit on the low side. So I added a humidifier to kick in at 50% which just tops it up if the ac is working hard.

I’ve just seen this older post. My salt dehumidifier didn’t work as well as hoped. It might have absorbed some moisture but not enough to be expelled in liquid form. It probably needs a very very damp environment to work properly. I ended up buying another dehumidifier instead.

I’m hoping to get some feedback from anyone who has tried using a Trim Bag to trim their dry buds. I can’t find a minimum bud size that is recommended. I’ve also noticed when searching, that some vendors have an unbranded version for around 2k whereas others have the branded one at between 4.5 and 5k ex courier. Can anyone tell me if the bags are identical or is the cheaper one a poor quality knock-off?

Tip #1: If you plan on LST or any other process that required tethering to the pot, drill a series of holes along the outer rim of the pot. Do this before you fill the pot! I considered drilling right through to the inner pot but this would cause leaks if the water were to reach those points before subsiding. Tip #2: If you plan on using an air dome in the pot, fix a small cable tie in one of the corner holes to hold the air line nice and snug to the pot. This reduces the chances it getting accidentally caught and pulled out of the air dome, it can’t be reattached without emptying the whole pot which will surely cause the plant some super-stress.

Thanks 420 for setting up a new forum category for this specific method of plant irrigation. For those who don’t know, the Autopot system uses gravity to get water or nutrient mix to the bottom-feed Autopot tray from a central reservoir. Through wicking, the water creeps up the expanded clay substrate and into the coco or soil. Each plant uses just what it needs, and the more a plant drinks, the more frequently the Aqua Valve allows new water in. If you want to learn more about the aqua valve, go to the Autopot website. The four main advantages of the system is that it is self-watering, the reservoir allows you to take a long weekend here and there, there is very little waste and finally there is no risk of overwatering, there is almost no wasted nutrients since there is no water till runoff. Not relying on water pumps is also a reassuring place to be. The system also comes with its own set of challenges of course, which hopefully we can discuss in this forum. Although this thread has been placed under “Indoor/Hydroponics” since I think this is the most popular application of the system, it can be used in greenhouses (the surface must be flat and level), with organics in soils and with both auto’s and photo’s. Please join the thread if you use Autopots in any way or form. My own combination is as such: Salt based nutes (TA trio); Autoflowers; Freedom Farms F1 (Amended Coco-perlite). I’ve just completed a run and have spent the day cleaning the grow room, and stripping the coco, clay pebbles etc out of the pots. I have learned a few tips over the last 18 months spent growing which I’d like to share as time goes on.

A simple easy to check if you water is hard or soft, is if your soap lathers easily or not. Easy = Soft water.