Id really like to experiment growing a plant or two in straight perlite
Ok yall, what shutoffs are you using in place of these cheap ass plastic ones that AP sends? This is third time ive had a leak in my tent from a cracked shutoff. I havent found the source of this leak yet, but checked all my bases and nothing is clogged or stuck. This system is awesome, but they need some way better QC on their components
Do you zip tie your connectors to ensure thatās not whatās leaking? I have very hose connection zip tied with three inch zip ties, work excellent and easy to cut when you take the system down for cleaning.
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No, i have a bunch of zipties, so im going to do that when my lights turn on. Still havent found the source of the leak, but it was a pretty bad one.
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I had the same issue before and thatās what mine turned out to be. Hopefully thatās what you have going on as itās an easy fix.
I ran full RDWC for a few years so I do my best to make sure to get everything as leakproof as possible. The leaks can be catastrophic if in a house.
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Cramming 4 Autopots into a 2 x 2 tent was a bit of stretch. Iāve never had plants this tall. The shortest is 14 inches and the tallest is 26 inches, donāt know if itās the Autopots or the strain. Either way in less than a month Iāve had to abandon the Autopot trays and cram the plants into another tent with a higher ceiling.
Those of you with the airbase, root control disc sits beneath it correct?
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Yes, i do gold side up. Ive been putting about a 1" layer off perlite on top of the airbase
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Does anyone use a 50/50 perlite/vermiculite mix? That seems to be what Autopot systems come with here. I grew some tomatoes and chillis on the balcony with that setup and the roots grew all the way to the bottom, I think it wicks better so thereās effectively some dry-back, eg each fill by the smart valve gets fully wicked up into the pot but there is still aeration at the base because the perlite/vermiculite mix has an irregular shape. These days I grow in coco/perlite in self watering planters and top water by hand, easy to water until there is some runoff and just put that away. I think the Autopots need to dry back a bit between waterings (turn off reservoir) if using any coco otherwise it will be too wet.
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I made my media for my next run a lot more aerated. Added a shit ton of extra perlite to the mix. I might experiement with running the system for a few days on few days off.
Mine either. My root system in all my pots honestly looked a bit underwhelming. I dont hear much about people growing in the geopots, but feel like those would give max aeration. Im going to grow a plant or two in straight perlite and see what happens. I really do love this system, but some things defiantly need tweaked to get that awesome root system
Are you doing drain to waste? Or is that a bottom feed system?
You need hydroton, or something of the sort, in the bottom 2"-3" and then coco mix above that.
Itās top fed, until thereās about 10% runoff, then about two days to dry-back, then next watering.
I have tried that but the baseplate has dips to allow the medium to wick up from the bottom and hydroton doesnāt wick well. Iām now running about 60% Coco, 20% perlite 20% hydroton in those pots and it works well. Itās not automated though so thereās no going away for a week.
is the problem here too many roots in the bottom or not enough in the top?
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I think itās a good spread. Ok to have lots on the bottom so long as theyāre not sat in liquid, the top half has maybe half the roots of the bottom half, only the top inch has no roots. Only way to get more even roots would be in some sort of continuous drip ring/clay ball setup.
Anyway, sorry, I didnāt mean to derail the thread. I love Autopots for their simplicity and low maintenance, my point was that I think the choice of medium can make a big difference.
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You did not derail at all, its all relevant. Your input is interesting and accurateā¦
Has anyone taken an empty autopot container, allowed the valve to fill and recorded how deep the water is inside?
Just measured the airbase height at 1 1/8".
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