Autopots and Nutrient Deficiencies

[The Bishop Basher]

Just thought I’d share something for anyone running autopots and running into issues..

 

I’ve been running autopots for nearly 2 years now and my head has been melted with cal mag issues and deficiencies from late veg into early flower and all the way to harvest. Most times the plants were finishing ok but they were subpar after weeks of battling nutrient deficiencies and losing too many leaves. It was hard work. 

 

In the end I had ruled out everything but the autopots themselves so when starting a couple of Mephisto ladies back in may I decided to sit the pots in basins and hand water them. I’m rarely out of the house these days and I have plenty of time so I thought why not. Anyway, the difference has been night and day. All of the deficiencies are gone and both grows have been pretty much hassle free. 
 

I know someone on here mentioned that they had a diy system for shutting the water off and allowing the roots to dry out a little. I’d read other people on a few sites say that there’s something inherently wrong with bottom feeding and autopots are asking for trouble. Of course we all have our own way of doing things and I don’t doubt that they work well for some people but if you’re having issues I’d recommend trying to ditch the pots, buy a couple of basins and see if hand watering gets you out of trouble. 
 

All plants are in straight coco with airdromes in pebbles. Feeding them canna nutrients. 

Sour Crinkle Week 8 - These would have looked a mess by now in the autopots with very little if any green left at this stage in the grow. 

 

A healthy green tent at 7 and 8 weeks. (Canna Cheese Left) (Sour Crinkle Right)

 

Auto Gorilla Week 4 - the LST is getting a way from me in this one but I can’t wait to see those sticky buds. Growing this strain to satisfy my new found love of pressing. Again the plant is healthy and showing no signs of calmag or any other deficiency. She’s a heavy feeder. 

 

Canna Cheese Week 7 - Again this would normally look a sorry sight at this stage of the grow. This one is a very light feeder and suffered a little bit of nutrient burn but hasn’t hindered it too much. 

 

I hope this post can help someone struggling like I was and maybe help them figure out an answer a little sooner then I did !

 

Thanks. 

[KC]

Well I'm glad you got to the root of the problem (see what I did there?) Just wondering how often you are having to feed now, is it just once a day? I think I could manage once a day, anymore than that would piss me off. 

[badbillybob]

i considered autopots (because im a lazy twat), but ruled them out because im not a fan of having root ends constantly sodden and the salt build up that would be inevitible after only a few weeks.

i ended up going with blumats, which was an even worse option.

ive now ordered a few bags of coco (the shame) and will just be using a pumped delivery system, manually switched, cos im too tight to spend a hundred quid on a seconds timer. i hand watered the last lot, but it was a pain in the arse having to spend 10 minutes a day doing it.

i think i can handle flicking the pump switch and waiting 10-20 seconds. and filling a water butt every couple of weeks.

 

i probably waste more time trying to think of ways i can save some time than the time it would take just to hand water them  

Edited July 2, 2021 by badbillybob

[gonge]

I have been on autopots for 6 years.. had issues at start but may be due to me trying to use loads of different nutes and no clue what I was doing.. bollox to hand watering every day as I’m a lazy fooker 

 Im only using growth technology green haze a+b grow/ bloom last 3 years and not had any issues since..  vegging around 5.7ph seems to buffer the coco then 6 for flowering.I also have underfloor heating set at 20c  since then and think that’s made a huge difference.. I am getting decent results 3-5 oz / plant most times.. I love them and gonna buy a new autopot  set up with a better light. No airdomes and decent Scottish water…

[ratdog]

7 minutes ago, badbillybob said:

using a pumped delivery system, manually switched

 

 

i can see the thread title now

 

"billy's flooded his house again"

 

[badbillybob]

39 minutes ago, ratdog said:

 

 

i can see the thread title now

 

"billy's flooded his house again"

 

Cheeky c*nt ye!! 

its in the shed anyway hahaha

 

when i grew in my house, i was just thankful for those tent floor inserts that hold about20-40 litres. 

i gained my black belt in tent bailing about 10 years ago, in the early days of diy rdwc builds.

i rememeber one episode, i had a 12 or 14 pot system and kept getting leaks. i spent days cutting out sections of pipe at one particular bucket and replacing it with new stuff. still leaked...after about a dozen repairs..............i ended up losing the tit with it and chopped all the pipework up after draining the system (again). it was only when i was taking the buckets out to the shed i noticed a small speck of sunlight coming through the bottom of one of the buckets, at the casting mark. it was a tiny hole.........a tiny b*starding c*nting hole.. i had to laugh about it (about 5 years later) !!!

Edited July 2, 2021 by badbillybob

[ratdog]

2 hours ago, badbillybob said:

.a tiny b*starding c*nting hole..

 

 

 

we have all been there one way or another mate, i'm always assuming i have the thing i'm dealing with under control until the penny drops

[The Bishop Basher]

On 02/07/2021 at 8:45 AM, KC said:

Well I'm glad you got to the root of the problem (see what I did there?) Just wondering how often you are having to feed now, is it just once a day? I think I could manage once a day, anymore than that would piss me off. 

Yeah it’s pretty much just once a day. I have a 47 litre res with a tap at the bottom and I use 5L cans to fill tanks, move nutrients, feed plants etc. Then I have a 25L res for younger plants. I sit the pots in basins and just use liquid transfer pumps to empty the runoff. Making the nutrient up in larger batches saves time but it is all very manual. That said I have time, it’s one of my hobbies so I enjoy it and having healthy frosty buds makes it all worth while. 
 

 

[The Bishop Basher]

21 hours ago, badbillybob said:

i considered autopots (because im a lazy twat), but ruled them out because im not a fan of having root ends constantly sodden and the salt build up that would be inevitible after only a few weeks. 

I’m convinced now that this was why I was having problems. You kinda get blinded when using a particular system and try to overlook the flaws when they’re pointed out but this one stands up. Going to try and automate like yourself over the next few grows. I was thinking of sitting the autopots with valves in the basins and then regularly just flood and drain but it’s just an idea for now. Keeping it simple is the goal. Cheers. 

[The Bishop Basher]

21 hours ago, gonge said:

I love them and gonna buy a new autopot  set up with a better light. No airdomes and decent Scottish water…

Fair play man. I tried to be careful about how I worded the op because I realise they work really well for plenty of people. It’s just my experience and maybe there’s something environmental in the difference but they broke my heart when grow after grow was subpar. I tried DWC afterwards and had a couple of good grows before temps became an issue and I got root rot. So back to basics and it’s working well. I always have the option to sit them back into the autopots if leaving them for a bit.. 

[gonge]

@The Bishop Basher Cool man, didn’t mean to sound like you were doing something wrong or anything ..  the under floor heating was a game changer I think for me… kept the nutes, pots and trays at a constant temp..  the autopots are great things for going away for a week at least hence the reason I use them.i canny find an easier way tbh….cheers and guid luck mate..g

 

[The Bishop Basher]

6 hours ago, gonge said:

@The Bishop Basher Cool man, didn’t mean to sound like you were doing something wrong or anything ..  the under floor heating was a game changer I think for me… kept the nutes, pots and trays at a constant temp..  the autopots are great things for going away for a week at least hence the reason I use them.i canny find an easier way tbh….cheers and guid luck mate..g

 

Not at all man I didn’t take it that way and I agree, the autopots are a great system when you need to leave the setup alone for a few days. I’ll be back travelling for work again soon so will have to go back to using them but I plan on combining them with regular top feeds to eliminate any salt buildup next time. Cheers. 

[Whatwentwrong]

Has anyone seen the smart watering systems on Ali express using the arduino boards.

 

theyre about £40, they have 4 soil moisture sensors and a four way valve and pump so it only waters the pot that needs it when the moisture level falls to the level you set and it waters for either an amount of seconds or until the moisture sensor turns it off.

 

they look a bit, well like a diy piece of shit Using a rasberryPI board. Which it basically is, but if it does work then bits a game changer for soil grows.

 

im gonna but one next month, hopefully it’ll come in time to use whilst flowering the rainbow road I’ve got coming.

 

i have 9 pots in one tent at the minute and hand watering is a bastard. If I could use a few of these and only change the res each week it would be easier

 

google arduino watering system to find it

Edited July 3, 2021 by Whatwentwrong

[SmokeTester]

25 minutes ago, Whatwentwrong said:

Has anyone seen the smart watering systems on Ali express using the arduino boards.

 

theyre about £40, they have 4 soil moisture sensors and a four way valve and pump so it only waters the pot that needs it when the moisture level falls to the level you set and it waters for either an amount of seconds or until the moisture sensor turns it off.

 

they look a bit, well like a diy piece of shit Using a rasberryPI board. Which it basically is, but if it does work then bits a game changer for soil grows.

 

im gonna but one next month, hopefully it’ll come in time to use whilst flowering the rainbow road I’ve got coming.

 

i have 9 pots in one tent at the minute and hand watering is a bastard. If I could use a few of these and only change the res each week it would be easier

 

google arduino watering system to find it

 

My guess would be, the moisture sensors are going to be the weakest link in such a setup, if you can get the moisture sensors working, it would probably make a good setup.

[Whatwentwrong]

3 minutes ago, SmokeTester said:

 

My guess would be, the moisture sensors are going to be the weakest link in such a setup, if you can get the moisture sensors working, it would probably make a good setup.

No doubt but there are a few options for the sensor. They are basically just soil ec  meters Hooked up to a pump.

 

for £40 it’s worth a try. Two pots are easy to hand water. Hell even up to 5 but over that and it’s a bit different. It would be so much easier automated and the sensor would keep a better wet dry cycle that a timer would.

Edited July 3, 2021 by Whatwentwrong