Octopot and coco

I got an octopot system for my tents because hand watering was dumb. I’m going through the process in my head. It wicks up water from the res and makes sure everything is saturated. Awesome.

But, what about runoff? It seems like there isn’t any? Is that ok? Do I still use cal mag? Do I need to flush often? I had this whole process nailed down in my head but I realized there’s no runoff and I’m so confused now. No runoff means they’ll build up salts and stuff I thought.

Anyone running octopots have any input here? Feels like I’m missing something obvious.

Octopots are not really for coco, imo opinion. Its for organic soil. Theres a system called PPK which works better for hydro. Theres some instructions on how to make it on icmag by poster delta9.

I looked at the octopots but i run coco so a dtw was better for me.

I researched them and soiless (ss #4, promix hp) is better for octopot. They are basically a SIP.

The key is it doesn't dry out so salt build up is minimised .

Also it's typical of a system like that, like autopots, that you run low EC nutrients to avoid it.

If you wanna do runoff top water in octopot, with hydro: id recommend aomething much less water holding than coco. Perlite/or rough/large perlite maybe with a dash of coco or wormcastings on top. And make a temporary hole in the bottom res for run off. That really is basicly a PPK.

If you wanna do the rabbit hole thing Delta9 posts as Greyfader nowadays; he has some cracking threads and grows, including build instructions and photos over at IC.

coreywebster said:

The key is it doesn't dry out so salt build up is minimised .

Also it's typical of a system like that, like autopots, that you run low EC nutrients to avoid it.

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Another thing a lot of people do is run it like drain to waste first, inorder to encourage rootgrowth in all the pot. If you just bottom feed from the start theres a tendency for the roots to bolt down towards the res and then not occupy the rest of the pot.
Id avoid any coco system where i cannot measure runoff accurately.

coreywebster said:

Also it's typical of a system like that, like autopots, that you run low EC nutrients to avoid it.

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Interesting. I'm running cutting edge louder powder. Their recommended feeding in a reservoir is higher than I fed last time hand watering, they do around 2 - 2.5 EC, 1400-1750 ppm (700 scale). I'd assume that's not considered "low EC nutrients". Any considerations there? I'm thinking I'm just gonna run it as instructed and pull back if I notice any burn.

heykevo said:

Interesting. I'm running cutting edge louder powder. Their recommended feeding in a reservoir is higher than I fed last time hand watering, they do around 2 - 2.5 EC, 1400-1750 ppm (700 scale). I'd assume that's not considered "low EC nutrients". Any considerations there? I'm thinking I'm just gonna run it as instructed and pull back if I notice any burn.

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I've only ran autopots,not octo, but I think it's the same principle .
Autopots recommended around 1.2EC I think.

But on the other hand some nutrient manufacturers suggest way more than others in general.

If you see a large amount of salt build up on the top you'll know it's OTT

heykevo said:

I got an octopot system for my tents because hand watering was dumb. I’m going through the process in my head. It wicks up water from the res and makes sure everything is saturated. Awesome.

But, what about runoff? It seems like there isn’t any? Is that ok? Do I still use cal mag? Do I need to flush often? I had this whole process nailed down in my head but I realized there’s no runoff and I’m so confused now. No runoff means they’ll build up salts and stuff I thought.

Anyone running octopots have any input here? Feels like I’m missing something obvious.

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Hey bud! I am new around here, but not to growing and specifically I have quite a few years utilizing Octopots under my belt. First I will answer your questions:

There is no runoff. Yes, it is quite alright! The goal is for the plants to use up all the nutrients in the reservoir. Yes, you use CalMag as normal. Unless there is an issue, there is no flushing at all. You will see the bags build up salt on the outside of them, but I personally have never had an issue with it.

So I am a lazy grower and I tailor my grows towards that. For nutes most recently I have landed on VBX/Shine with Calmag, pH up/down, actually just the up, in Octopots it always drifted down for me, and Cannazym. Beyond that I added a small aquarium circulation pump on a timer (a couple minutes every hour/half hour) and a custom aeration ring to each Octopot. I gave each plant a 4x4 area of a 4x8 tent with a dimmed down COB fixture and was able to pull some great (in my humble opinion) yields from the Octopots.

Chris, the maker of the Octopot is a great guy. I would encourage you to read the instruction manual cover to cover, it has a play-by-play of how to grow in the Octopot. The manual recommends Sunshine Mix #4, but if you use your own mix, it is 60% Coco, 40% Perlite. If you have any questions you can get Chris on the phone and he will walk you through whatever it is you are wondering. And you can tell him exactly what it is you are growing, he knows what we use them for and has no qualms about it.

If you have any questions, reply here and I am happy to answer them. I don't currently have a journal going because I am new to RIU. In the next few weeks you can look out for my grow journal which will be in Octopots.