Auto pot any reviews ?

[Guest]

Hello all been looking at the auto pot systems and similar has any one got any info are they decent or a gimmick ? Any dos or dont's ? 

I have seen some systems that use fabric pots and with a flood and drain and ive seen the usual plastic net bottom for dwc id ideally like to keep to organics ive read u can run in to issues using organics and alg buildup is this rampant ?as in will i be actually adding more work with the cleaning and res refills any info be great cheers 

[Dan t]

Ive seen them used with good results lots of times. I didnt get on with mine though. I ended up closing the main valve off and just opening for a while when they needed watering.  So for me it wasnt auto at all lol. It was just handy to keep a resi full and just turn a tap to water. 

I couldnt fully put my trust in the float valve things that sit in the trays. 

Im not slaging the kit off. It just didnt suit me at all.   

Lots of good yeilds have been had with them by others so cant be bad. 

 

[Shumroom]

I'd take a look at the medusa dtw system. 

 

I'm considering getting the runoff trays they do

 

Atb 

 

 

[Ceiling Cat]

They usually work great until the roots reach the water pool at the bottom.  I used the layer of clay pebbles at the base of the pot but the roots obviously grew into it and rotted quickly.  I'd look into using an air dome and some kind of timer valve to release the water.

Alternatively, have you considered Blumat?

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Dan t said:

Ive seen them used with good results lots of times. I didnt get on with mine though. I ended up closing the main valve off and just opening for a while when they needed watering.  So for me it wasnt auto at all lol. It was just handy to keep a resi full and just turn a tap to water. 

I couldnt fully put my trust in the float valve things that sit in the trays. 

Im not slaging the kit off. It just didnt suit me at all.   

Lots of good yeilds have been had with them by others so cant be bad. 

 

 

52 minutes ago, Shumroom said:

I'd take a look at the medusa dtw system. 

 

I'm considering getting the runoff trays they do

 

Atb 

 

 

 

18 minutes ago, Ceiling Cat said:

They usually work great until the roots reach the water pool at the bottom.  I used the layer of clay pebbles at the base of the pot but the roots obviously grew into it and rotted quickly.  I'd look into using an air dome and some kind of timer valve to release the water.

Alternatively, have you considered Blumat?

 

 

Cheers for information so there not the over watering miracle they claim then ?

Not seen the medusa or the blumat stuff ill have nosey now id seen a system that had fabric pots with it but cant find it any more 

The tap ready res do seem like good idea how long can air fed solution be in a res or is it good for wile as long as its got air pump to it i ask because il only ever have 2 plants mature at a time so its pointless having a res over 10ltr if it needs changing often ill be wasting nutes as all ways any info be great 

[Dan t]

I used to check resi ph and temps evry day.  Id let it run down over the week then before a refill i used to give the inside wipe over to keep any gunk from building up.   Air stones work. I had one in mine but I've read that a submerged water pump is better. Plume effect or somthing.

1st 2 or so weeks hand water untill the roots have filled out.

But tbh I wouldnt take my advice. I didnt get good results with mine.

Edited March 14, 2021 by Dan t

[Slippy One]

The XL medusa trays could fit 4x 6L pots or 1 big fabric pot easy. Simple yet effective to funnel runoff away. This drains to a £60 condenser pump for auto draining and upscalability. Shouts out to @SYZYGYfor his diy brain, I modified what he did by plumbing in the condensate drain dray direct, and use a screw on filter instead of stockings, but nothing gets blocked and the drain pump is very silent. Only gripe is there's a tiny pool of water lower than the drain on the medusa's, I may modify them to catch that last bit using duct tape, see it that helps. 

 

Also, the condensate pump leaves about 1L of water in the tray, this is normal, can get a bit smelly but since it's away from the roots, nothing to worry about. 

 

Really explosive growth in coco, even hand watering.

 

Removing the pump for manual extraction using a 500ml syringe

 

Here's a pic with the condensate pump sitting on the drain tray. Really reliable and silent. 

Edited March 14, 2021 by Slippy One

[lurkerMK1.03]

I think the newer Autopot valves have wider lines to accommodate Organic nutes.

Was tempted to use Biotabs but have just stuck with Hesi and coco for this run.

Myself have had no real probs with Autopots just following the instructions they come with, no hassle at all really.

[Guest]

I do love a good bit of diy haha that set up looks nice and clean coukd you not squeeze two 5 gal fabrics on that tray an scrog ? 

 

Yea the bigger valves are what swayed me in first place just wasnt to sure on the science seems like it could be one big flood if something went wrong

[Slippy One]

13 minutes ago, welshgorrilla said:

I do love a good bit of diy haha that set up looks nice and clean coukd you not squeeze two 5 gal fabrics on that tray an scrog ? 

 

Sure, but I'm in 80cm x 80cm, makes sense to flower 1 in a bigger pot. Actually you could get away with less that 5gal pots using coco. 

 

[gonge]

I used autopots  for 5 + years.. excellent for a lazy grower like me,  got 4 in 5x5 groom. Never had a flood but I do change feed tubing every grow or 2..      50 mm pebbles in bottom of pots on top of the mesh to stop roots growing through... loosely filled wi coco then covered with pebbles on top and my underfloor heating set to 20c.. been running like a dream since bought... getting 3.5 - 6+ oz /plant depend how much I mess around.

can leave it for a week and fek aff on me hols ..  is there an easier way that takes less time ?  I love em 

 

[Guest]

9 hours ago, gonge said:

I used autopots  for 5 + years.. excellent for a lazy grower like me,  got 4 in 5x5 groom. Never had a flood but I do change feed tubing every grow or 2..      50 mm pebbles in bottom of pots on top of the mesh to stop roots growing through... loosely filled wi coco then covered with pebbles on top and my underfloor heating set to 20c.. been running like a dream since bought... getting 3.5 - 6+ oz /plant depend how much I mess around.

can leave it for a week and fek aff on me hols ..  is there an easier way that takes less time ?  I love em 

 

Thats the whole reason am interested one of the sprogz spends up to a few weeks in hozzy at a time be nice to be able to not have the worry or faffing about back and forth wile am there

 

Changing the Pipes every other seems the way to go if ur using organics mabe more often ? Do u have the new updated valves ? 

[Guest]

19 hours ago, Slippy One said:

Sure, but I'm in 80cm x 80cm, makes sense to flower 1 in a bigger pot. Actually you could get away with less that 5gal pots using coco. 

Spot on mate think am going to give them a whirl next cheers for the info 

[Rixxy24]

On 14/03/2021 at 11:26 AM, welshgorrilla said:

Hello all been looking at the auto pot systems and similar has any one got any info are they decent or a gimmick ? Any dos or dont's ? 

I have seen some systems that use fabric pots and with a flood and drain and ive seen the usual plastic net bottom for dwc id ideally like to keep to organics ive read u can run in to issues using organics and alg buildup is this rampant ?as in will i be actually adding more work with the cleaning and res refills any info be great cheers 

Hi bud. 

I use autopots alongside using the waterfarm setup which is a drip-to-feed/ flood&drain oxypot type gig! 

I've had great results in the autopot and as long as I've grown I've used at least one with a 50l water butt and at max I had 6 all running from a 100l without issue. I've had one leak /flood and couldn't tell you why (likely a valve in the little blue tray inserts?) 

All said, they're great for single or multiple plants and I like the system. Little work needed simply follow the nutrients guide for your reservoir! 

Good luck! 

[Rixxy24]

On 14/03/2021 at 0:39 PM, Dan t said:

Ive seen them used with good results lots of times. I didnt get on with mine though. I ended up closing the main valve off and just opening for a while when they needed watering.  So for me it wasnt auto at all lol. It was just handy to keep a resi full and just turn a tap to water. 

I couldnt fully put my trust in the float valve things that sit in the trays. 

Im not slaging the kit off. It just didnt suit me at all.   

Lots of good yeilds have been had with them by others so cant be bad. 

 

I must say, bar 1 flood I've not had an issue BUT..... had the flood not been in a tent with the bottom liner to fully bear the brunt.... I would no doubt think very differently. I dunno why I had an issue and that's one in 7 years of using the same pots, but it could have ruined the house were I inside or worse if electrics were on the floor! Beware!! For sure. 

Edited April 7, 2021 by Rixxy24
Spelling