New Setup, AutoPot Advice / Help Needed

Hi All,

Today my setup arrived & everything is now setup ready to go! (will add pictures shortly)

My Setup:

XL Secret Jardin
47L Res
10 Plant Autopot System ( http://www.progrow.co.uk/acatalog/info_4278.html )
600w HPS Light
RVK Vent Fan
Carbon Filter

Nutes:
Iconic Grow
Iconic Bloom
Iconic Boost
PH Up / Down

Medium:
BioBizz AllMix Soil & Clay Pebbles

(here is the system i purchased: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=130295728646 )


I have a few questions on how to get started,

Germ Seeds:
Should I following this method to germ my seeds? or would you suggest an alternative method?

https://www.rollitup.org/view.php?pg=faq&cmd=article&id=602


Once I have sucessfully germed my seeds... fingers crossed!
should I put them in rockwell cubes or directly into the soil?


Lighitng:
As I only have 1 tent for the setup, I only have a 600W HPS setup and no other lights etc..

How far away from the seeds / pots should I keep the light?


Climate:
what would the ideal temp/humid be for seeds / little ladies.

should I turn the fans off at lights OFF? or keep them on?


Watering:
Should I use the auto watering or water by hand to start with? if yes, when should I then switch to using the auto res.


Nutes:
I have read that I should not use any nutes for the first few weeks - month?
then its best to use only 1/2 strength nutes in autopot systems and flush them atleast once a week?


Additional Equipment for AutoPot Maintance...
I have that its good to have something to pump oxygen into the res for autopot systems, anyone have any pro's / con's regarding this,

Also would any suggest of anything that is a must to do / have reharding auto pot systems.


Thanks for your time, very much appreciated.

bump bump

Hi All,

Today my setup arrived & everything is now setup ready to go! (will add pictures shortly)

My Setup:

XL Secret Jardin
47L Res
10 Plant Autopot System ( http://www.progrow.co.uk/acatalog/info_4278.html )
600w HPS Light
RVK Vent Fan
Carbon Filter

Nutes:
Iconic Grow
Iconic Bloom
Iconic Boost
PH Up / Down

Medium:
BioBizz AllMix Soil & Clay Pebbles

(here is the system i purchased: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=130295728646 )


I have a few questions on how to get started,

Germ Seeds:
Should I following this method to germ my seeds? or would you suggest an alternative method?

https://www.rollitup.org/view.php?pg=faq&cmd=article&id=602


Once I have sucessfully germed my seeds... fingers crossed!
should I put them in rockwell cubes or directly into the soil?

I prefer to ebb and flow them in sure to grow cubes till they are 24 inches. You could put them into the autopots but you'll be hand watering till they get big enough to drink fast enough.


Lighitng:
As I only have 1 tent for the setup, I only have a 600W HPS setup and no other lights etc..

How far away from the seeds / pots should I keep the light?

If you only have the hps then as high as she gets.


Climate:
what would the ideal temp/humid be for seeds / little ladies.

90 percent rh. and 78 f

should I turn the fans off at lights OFF? or keep them on?

Wind blows in the dark in nature...


Watering:
Should I use the auto watering or water by hand to start with? if yes, when should I then switch to using the auto res.

18 to 24 seems to be perfect. I use the australian autopots and this seems to be the rule of thumb. If to early you'll be waiting to long for them to drink what is provided with the smart valves...


Nutes:
I have read that I should not use any nutes for the first few weeks - month?
then its best to use only 1/2 strength nutes in autopot systems and flush them atleast once a week?

When they get roots then go for it but the autopots by nature are a flush free system. Run a low ec of 1.2 from start to fininsh.


Additional Equipment for AutoPot Maintance...
I have that its good to have something to pump oxygen into the res for autopot systems, anyone have any pro's / con's regarding this,

DO "Dissolved Oxygen is your friend"

Also would any suggest of anything that is a must to do / have reharding auto pot systems.


Thanks for your time, very much appreciated.

Thanks For your input Pinner420, greatly appreciated,

I just have a few questions relating to your answers,

Watering:
how many times should they be watered per day / week & what would the amount... any idea's?

Lighting:
If the light is up high, will they not stretch for it?
when should I move the light down?
I read that it should be about 20 inch above them at all times?

Flushing:
I read that salt builds up, thats why they should be flushed once a week or so?


Thanks again for your help mate.

Thanks For your input Pinner420, greatly appreciated,

I just have a few questions relating to your answers,

Watering:
how many times should they be watered per day / week & what would the amount... any idea's?

I'm assuming your going straight from seed to pot with this statement here. Well about a pint every other day but get a moisture meter. When you mix your mix go 1 layer of hygroton on the bottom. 3 parts perilite to 1 part cococoir. Throw in a tablespoon of root web type endo and ecto into the pots as you mix. I use a cordless drill with auger to mix.

I use a 2x2 ebb tray for veging and I feed every 200 minutes of 6ish times per day. Incredible growth with this routine. Super efficient. Use rockwool or sure to grow medium here.

Lighting:
If the light is up high, will they not stretch for it?
when should I move the light down?
I read that it should be about 20 inch above them at all times?

Well with the light youve selected its to much. Seedlings only need 40watts to get rolling. As they mature follow those rules but for the beginning since this is all you have reduce said lumen by moving far away or spending 12 bucks on a shop light floro.


Flushing:
I read that salt builds up, thats why they should be flushed once a week or so?

I roll mine start to finish with out great concerns of flushing. The man who invented this system is Jim Fah. He is a consultant from Australia and is super brilliant. autopots.au.com I think. That is why you go start to finish at the same low ec/tds. Never really pushing your girls like some of these folks do will gurantee crop safety, good taste, and financial stability. You can flush if you desire but its extra work and I've been running them 5 years and choose not to.


Thanks again for your help mate.

I've been contemplating ionic nutes and wish to keep up on your opinion of them. I just investing in Botanicare cns 17 system.

Hey there. I'm using the Autopot 2 pot system that you've bought.
I'm just using regular garden soil, as my plants (cheese) were happily vegging outside,
when i had to move house.
The guy who sold me the Autopots runs one of VERY few grow shops in the country (south africa).
I'm using 250w hps, which is more than enough for my small grow in a pretty small closet.
He told me not to put any nutes in the resevoir, but rather to just mix them up as instructed, and use every couple days.
I'm 4 weeks into flowering, and all is going great.
Autopots rock.

InkSlinger said:

Hey there. I'm using the Autopot 2 pot system that you've bought.
I'm just using regular garden soil, as my plants (cheese) were happily vegging outside,
when i had to move house.
The guy who sold me the Autopots runs one of VERY few grow shops in the country (south africa).
I'm using 250w hps, which is more than enough for my small grow in a pretty small closet.
He told me not to put any nutes in the resevoir, but rather to just mix them up as instructed, and use every couple days.
I'm 4 weeks into flowering, and all is going great.
Autopots rock.

Click to expand...

Theres a new grow shop in South Africa - Grow Guru (www.growguru.co.za), that stocks Autopots if anyone else was wondering where they could get their hands on a setup.
There prices are great i must say Thanks for the quality thread!

Hi, I work in a growshop and we have recently started stocking the Autopot range.

I have tested it personally and these are my tips for best growth:

1. Use the airdomes that they sell with them (or make one yourself!), the little dome that sits inside the bottom of your pot under the soil attached to an air pump.

This makes the biggest difference by far - with basic capillary action as the autopot's main watering method, the medium can often lack oxygen resulting in poor/slow root growth.

This is because when hand watering air is drawn down into the medium as liquid passes out the bottom. It also takes place as the plant takes up moisture but if your roots are a bit waterlogged it's going to be taking up less moisture anyway, so less aeration. Also there can be a little sitting water end up at the bottom of the pot if the plant isn't so thirsty, things like in high humidity or if there's just not a big enough root system.

Basically using the airdome keeps the medium/solution aerated and also aids evaporation of moisture from the surface, keeping everything nice and fresh.

2.
a. Use a good soil/perlite ratio. Plenty of added organic hard food, alternately a hot, slow release premade soil mix.

b. Or do a COCO/perlite mix, as you would expect noticeably faster but then involves more steps, ie oxygenating the res, maintaining pH & EC - kinda the point to me of the Autopot was not having to fuck around with it all the time.

3.Start them straight into the Autopot. This allows them to be reaching for the bottom of the pot from the get go and seemed to help things along. Don't turn the res on from the beginning, hand water for the first couple of weeks till they are a healthy size and seem to have a good root mass.

4.If you go the soil route, plain water in the res at all times, keep it cool, no need for an airstone - as you got the airdome. If you reeally wanna bang it you can stick an airstone and some PK in towards the end, or turn off the res tap and handwater some nutes. If you go the coco route you will want to add nutes and ideally oxygenate it the whole time - but again you will be hand watering for the first few weeks anyway.

If you can't get an airstone then it will still work fine as long as you have the airdome, will be a bit slower though. No airdome + no airstone = slow ass bitches with wilty looking leaves due to suffocation.

Don't put anything organic in the res unless you have an airstone in there. It will go funky poo butt pretty fast. Even with the airstone I wouldn't bother as it still doesn't really keep that long.


Like I said at the beginning if you don't have airdomes you can make them, just take basic 4mm airline and a T-piece, attach either end to the left and right tubes of the T-piece so it's in a circle and cut little holes along the length of the line. Cover with anything porous like a piece of plastic sieve mesh or whatever you have about to stop it getting blocked with medium.
Safe