When to switch on Autopots?

[Bobcharlieeeee]

So first time using COCO and Autopots, can anyone tell me if these plants are big enough to turn the auto pots on? 

 

Iv seen that you should only turn them on once they are fully rooted, however with the copper membrane at the bottom of the pot i cant tell how rooted they are! if i dig down abit into the coco i can see plenty of roots. 

 

This is week 2-3

 

This was a couple of days after transplant 10/10

 

This is today 18/10

[badbillybob]

cant be far away now.

i would be watering them, wait 1/2 hr, then take one and turn it upside down, obvs supporting stem etc.

check out roots, if theyare 3/4 of the way up the sides then get the autopot on and stick em in it. 

[Bobcharlieeeee]

@badbillybob i dont think i can lift these upside down with one hand

 

the bottom 2 inches is filled with clay balls, wouldnt these spill out? 

[SmokeTester]

I don't think you could remove the root ball from the pots, they're too big and as you say the pebbles would go everywhere.

You have to judge it by how big the plants are. It is better to engage the autopots later than doing it too soon.

I would wait a while longer yet before engaging the autopots, its a pain hand feeding but you need to be sure you have a full root ball.

I don't know how big you want your plants to end up, but I have found the smaller 8.5lt pots work better for me.

Good luck.

 

 

 

 

[badbillybob]

ah sorry i thought you were in coco

[Bobcharlieeeee]

@badbillybob i am in coco but i have to have 2 inches of clay balls at the bottom for the autopots

[Jams67]

Looking good mate Are you using the 8l or 15l pots?

 

Im only on my 2nd grow so take anything I say with a pinch of salt, but I went with Autopots and they have been great. The advice I read was when the leaves start to reach the ends of the pots is a good indication and I think your timeline (about the 3 week mark) is about when ive switched to the reservoir. The first few days they can be a bit slower to feed from the tray but once they get going they work great.

 

Acre you going to use a timer or leave on 24/7

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by Jams67

[Bobcharlieeeee]

@Jams67 These are the 15l mate, with 2inches of clay balls at the bottom. 

 

Iv hand fed last night from the top and left abit of run off in the bottom to see how / if they drink it up, if there's still loads left when i get home tonight after work i will remove it and continue to hand feed. 

 

Im planning on using a timer to come on every 12hrs, might do 24hrs to start, what have you done?

 

Im only running a timer just to limit the risk of emptying the reservoir into my tent if a valve gets stuck open. Although i think 24hrs is recommended 

[Bobcharlieeeee]

@Jams67 iv just given your grow diary a follow mate, good thread, what size pots are you using are they the smaller ones? 

 

Looks like you are doing well, my first grow was more of a success than my second one! i got the hump with my second and stopped updating the diary,  this is my third and haven't kept a diary on here 

 

Running into some Magnesium issues with this grow but iv been put on track by members here and they seem to be on the mend, i didnt buffer the Coco when i transplanted so it was causing issues. 

[Jams67]

@Bobcharlieeeee Cool, I done 15l pots for my first grow but bought 8l pots for the second grow (my 1st got a bit out of hand so I wanted to keep them a more manageable size) Yeah that's it mate see what they take from the bottom and hand water until you feel like they are feeding from the tray ok, once they get going on the res its plain sailing  

 

I had a quick look at your diary this morning that pic from your 1st harvest looks amazing mate, hats off to you bud. 

 

I initially got the timer as I read here that it's not good for the roots to be permanently submerged, and also that a dry spell helps the roots stretch in search of water. After I had a valve jam in the open position (luckily during my last test before turning on) I timed them and the trays fill up in less than 1 minute so I have mine set to come on 3/4/6 times a day for 1 minute and if there is ever any valve stuck open the spillage over the tray would be next to nothing. 

[Bobcharlieeeee]

@Jams67 half of it is the good genetics making up for my poor growing ability, both grows i have come out with something smokable and busted the myth i had about homegrown 

 

nice, il follow the same at 1 minute for the timer, do you increase the frequency as the plants get bigger? or would 2 tray fills a day be enough?  

[Jams67]

2 minutes ago, Bobcharlieeeee said:

@Jams67 iv just given your grow diary a follow mate, good thread, what size pots are you using are they the smaller ones? 

 

Looks like you are doing well, my first grow was more of a success than my second one! i got the hump with my second and stopped updating the diary,  this is my third and haven't kept a diary on here 

 

Running into some Magnesium issues with this grow but iv been put on track by members here and they seem to be on the mend, i didnt buffer the Coco when i transplanted so it was causing issues. 

Cheers buddy, my 1st grow lemon drizzle was in the 15l pots and my 2nd grow is in 8l. I prefer the 8l pots, my tent is much more manageable now. This could be other factors at play as well like vegged too long, and heat stress causing plants to get too big, but from my minimal experience in my size tents, 8l pots are plenty.

 

I know what you mean with regard to the diary, I don't think I should have bothered with my 2nd. I originally planned on keeping well organized and having something to reference back on but once I turned on the autopots all I do change the res once a week or two so there's not really been anything worth adding to the diary so I just end up with a load of pictures every week  

[Jams67]

Just now, Bobcharlieeeee said:

 half of it is the good genetics making up for my poor growing ability

 

 yep that was what I have been thinking constantly through both my grows

 

Just now, Bobcharlieeeee said:

nice, il follow the same at 1 minute for the timer, do you increase the frequency as the plants get bigger? or would 2 tray fills a day be enough?  

 

Make sure you time your trays and that all trays get filled, could take longer depending on length of pipe height and level of res, how many trays etc, but once you've timed it with the res at its lowest level you will know how long to give them 

 

Frequency - I start of at 1 or 2 a day, I think each tray filled is about 250ml so if you have been hand watering 500ml per day id go for 2 and then increase as plants get bigger. I got up to 3 times per day on my last grow but I probably should have upped that. This grow the trichs are taking there time to go to amber so I upped to 4 and yesterday I upped to 6 times a day but noticed the leaves curling up so dropped back to 4.

 

 

[Bobcharlieeeee]

@Jams67 good point! il time it tonight and see how long it takes. i need to test the system for leaks etc anyway i havent done that yet. 

[CDF20]

Too late but might help IF you'll decide to go the fabric pots way .

Started in 100% coco 0.5l nursing plastic pot then transplanted into 11l fabric pots 100% coco on day 13 from germinating and switched autopots ON straight away.

Plants thriving!