Autopots, going on vacation

hey guys!

Looking for suggestions on the autopot sustem here. Im a brand new grower, recently aqcuired a 4by4 tent, 600 watt hps , fans and the whole kit.

Im leaving for a trip early march. I want to start my first grow NOW! My concern, and reason for this thread is, if i start 4 clones now , with an autopot system, is 7-8 days to long away from the girls?..

Any reply is greatly appreciated, thanks

If they are babies it can work. But you need to hand water them a few days to get them to start bottom feeding on the autopot.

I find it takes 7 to 14 days for them to have that tap root hit the water. Your mileage may vary

Nice lights bro! Was going to go led cob.'s but was on a budget. Ill hopefully graduate to cobs in the future, after hopefully a few good runs.@gwheels

Thanks for the reply

I have 14 days until i leave. I can get clones and autopots today, but i wasnt sure if they would survive. If i get them to route to the bottom before i leave, how big a rez do i need to keep them fed for 7-8 days?

should work out just fine.

I use 2 inches of hydroton pellets and then 50 50 coco/perlite and then top it with coco to stop algae on the perlite. I LOVE my autopots but wow i have to clean my 4 x 4 res out. Flotsam and jetsam all over the damned thing. This time I clean it out with bleach and water and rinse it really well. And I got an aquarium pump for my 2nd res to prevent that in the future. Stir it up 15 mins every 2 hours and it seems to keep everything clean and not growing stuff.

My autopot has a 13.9 gallon reservoir. That lasts a solid week at full flower with 3 plants. At veg with seedlings a couple of weeks no problem.

I got a 13.9 gallon res for a single autopot. I bet that res lasts a really long time

gwheels said:

I use 2 inches of hydroton pellets and then 50 50 coco/perlite and then top it with coco to stop algae on the perlite. I LOVE my autopots but wow i have to clean my 4 x 4 res out. Flotsam and jetsam all over the damned thing. This time I clean it out with bleach and water and rinse it really well. And I got an aquarium pump for my 2nd res to prevent that in the future. Stir it up 15 mins every 2 hours and it seems to keep everything clean and not growing stuff.

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Thanks for the reply. So you add a pump in your res?

I was going to use supersoil , should i use coco and perlite ?

For autopots I believe they work better with inert soil mediums. But supersoil and perlite might work too. They list it as a potential. You do need to aerate that medium with something like perlite or hydro pellets so they can draw the water up easier. Well maybe not need to but it is recomended.
I have only done 3 runs with the autopots and have used only inert medium (coco/perlite/hydro pellets and 1 inch rockwell cubes). All of those work stellar but coco and perlite are the best so far

Make sure the Root System reaches the tray ,Once it has its easy .All i use are Auto Pots ,and i go away twice a year each Time for 7 days.Make sure that you have a airstone in the main tank.hand water just round the edge of the stem till roots hit bottom,and make sure its all running well ,before you go.Good Luck,i all ways time my holidays either at one week after clones are added,or after the 5 week stretch flowering.and so far its all ways been fine .The Multi strain grow i have going now ,i was away for a week with that early on,have the lights higher than normal though ,not much higher but last thing you want is them reaching the lights.

I would prefer an aquarium pump over an air stone. Just run it on a light timer. 15 minutes every 2 or 3 hours is all it takes. No microbes in the water and it gets O2 from the surface churning. Just my 2 cents.

I also have air rings in the bottom of my pots has well has the one in the main res,the roots are sat in a thin layer of nutrients ,so the air rings keep that layer of nutrients moving and rich in air.Helps with salt build ups too.Just having them makes a huge difference ,in the plants health

ever thought about a SIP? They are very low maintenance.

meangreengrowinmachine said:

ever thought about a SIP? They are very low maintenance.

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It is a similar idea. I already have autopots. Hell I found a way better deal on the system. 200 bucks CDN for the 4 pots and reservoir and i paid double a year ago. You can DIY but I like the way these work. And it is simple. Measure 5 gallons of water with nutes. Dial it in and put it in the res. I then measure the res too (PH and TDS) but it never veers from what i put in it.

I think if you are brutal for watering like me autopots are the way to go.

Caveats....multiple strains can screw it up. That is why i got res #2 in the first place but now it is in my closet grow

Last grow i hit 12 oz with 3 plants on autopots. From the LP that would cost 3500 bucks. Everything I ever bought was paid for in that grow. I also got 3 oz of larf. Half of the grow went in the MBM2 and I have it in shakes and smoothies.

Grandpa is pretty much buzzed all day long. But my arthritis is pretty much non existant now.

And I did stop for a couple of weeks and my hands felt like they were in a blender all day. The shit works !.

meangreengrowinmachine said:

ever thought about a SIP? They are very low maintenance.

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Whats a sip?

Less than a glug
a self watering planter. I found a link
http://albopepper.com/sips.php

And yes i add an aquarium pump on a timer to my res. I do not use air stones as they cause problems of their own. I just get the cheapest aquarium pump they have because it just has to churn 14 gallons of water for 15 minutes every now and then. What it does though is stir your nutes up and stop bacteria from forming because of motion.

Now. I have a friend telling me id be better off with a DWC setup. Do you guys find the yield better overall with dwc? Keeping in mind this will be my cherry pop grow