Wondering if they work as advertised and if theres anything to be aware of before diving in. I noticed spider farmer has em cheap with a gravity fed reservoir.
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I’ve used the ac infinity ones. They work sufficiently but I preferred a good old fashioned earthbox over them.
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Id be switching from grobuckets
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I have 10 of the ac ones and they are great just adds a buffer so if I go away for a day or two they don’t die.
I like spider farmers as well. Just haven’t purchased one yet.
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Everytime i think of getting the wick base im dying to see if i can pop a clean white cotton wicking rope down in this thing like its even beveled for it to fit in it and make a loop coil around the container to wick up the water and bring it to the bottom of the pot id place right on top of it.Some of these are dirt cheap 20$s compared to the 60$ and up bases.Its not a long term supply of water but would be a good out of town water babysitter id imagine and last at least 4 to 5 days
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With the ac infinity ones just make sure to check the wicks routinely. I pull the wicks every couple weeks and clean/ replace them.
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It does not say what size the line is that feeds the pots. Others have had issues with running 1/4 inch lines in auto feed systems. I ordered one and will report the line size here
Says made in China 
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Looks like half inch irrigation tubing from the pic.
Is that with plain water? Or do you put fertilizer solution in there?
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@Ris you can count on ac to give all the nice engineered features with most things but i would guess the bases are all pretty similar in function from brand to brand.
I didnt see a self filling setup with a res and control box like sf has. Unless i missed it. Soon im sure.
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Fertilizer. Also the water level gauges get stuck all the time so dont trust them, make sure to pull them out and give them a shake and put it back in.
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I never had issues using only water and top watering what ever I needed fwiw.
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In my limited experience, the rope wick style (custom) can’t keep up with thirsty girls, especially in a smart pot and the wicks DO get clogged and all of a sudden you are out of business. I had 5 wicks into the root mass and still had issues with clogging (I do feed lightly). I prefer soil wicking with the Air Gap, once in motion the moisture level is perfect. I used one of those feeder bowls for livestock for the RES… anyway it didn’t work out as planned and definitely finnicky. I do grobuckets since I run smaller to medium plants, a custom HDX tote or EB would grow crazy monsters and more than enough soil volume. I think they still have the mini or Jr EB’s as well. I may grab two EB juniors, they are cheap right now for a pair and hold more than 7 gallons, which is plenty of room for bigger plants than I’m used to. I wouldn’t know what to do with the full size ones.
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Id agree, Im not saying one is better than the other. I just happened to get the AC Infinity ones before Spider-Farmer offered them.
The option with a rez is advantageous, for sure, but I will stick to my autopots if I’m using a rez.
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Make a pond liner base and just water from the bottom…
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When i use coco in pots or grow bags i dont like to let them sit in the nutrients in the catch tray.
Ive had better results removing the excess immediately or put a pot elevator between the pot and the tray.
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I bought a set for a couple mother plants rather than use autopots. I’ve been using autopots for many years but I cannot justify buying them for what they’re asking for them anymore.
The reservoir for the SF wicking system has a 5gal barrier in the bottom (takes 5 gallons of h20 to get to the drain line to the pots. I assume that this is so people don’t nuke their plants like can be done if you let autopots run out of water. The notes get fairly concentrated in the bottom of the rez.
For the 75US I spent, they are worth the price to me. I have them setup but have yet to set my plants on them yet, just waiting for a bit more growth so I can Tx them.
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lmk how they workout for you plse
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I’ve used octopots for two runs now and I think they’re excellent. Love not watering. I did the autofill with 16 gallons at a time in the reservoir for 3-3 gallon octopots and over the summer it was every 2 weeks. This most recent harvest I might have only filled it twice and not sure it even ran empty. Temps got low quick.
Only downfalls in my settings are they take up a lot of space and use a lot of soil. I’m growing in my basement with limited head room in 2x4 tents.
Octopots definitely worked as advertised IMO and I’d highly recommend them especially if you have room.
I’m giving floraflex propots and coco a try now w/ auto watering system just to try something different that combats my space issues.
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thats what caught my eye. $120 for 4 of em