Auto pot system

Has anyone tried the Auto Pots? Now that the kids are out of the house my wife and I have more free time so I’m looking at ways to free up my grow time. This system seems like a great way to be able to go out of town without worrying about your babies at home. I’ve been planning my grows based on vacations and game schedules for years so I’m looking at a way to be able to fill a reservoir with X amount of water and leave town whenever we want.

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There’s a whole bunch of folks growing in Autopots (or Go-Grow-----less expensive).

This is a good place to start. @Not2SureYet, @TDubWilly are both doing autopots.

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Cool! Thank you!!!

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My grow operation is shut down in anticipation of a big move out of state this fall. When I resume it is highly likely I’ll be doing Go-Grow pots.

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The older I get the more I dread mixing water jugs and carrying them to my grow space every 2-3 days. This system seems like the berries. Be similar to a hydro grow without the electronics.

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You still have to monitor the reservoir and change it out periodically. But if you introduce an inline valve to to the feed line you can disconnect for cleaning etc or moving plants around. Get a large reservoir if you can.

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Thanks for the info. This setup definitely seems a lot less work than I’m used to and a lot less hassle than a hydro setup. I’d definitely add shut offs for each pot to make it easy to pull each one out to trim or LST

Hey @bj any autopot stuff ask away I’m all about them!

@Myfriendis410 don’t go with those gogrow knock off things. They don’t do as good as job, the flood to drain ratio isn’t the same but I’m sure you have looked into the difference.

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Hey, thanks Nicky! I’ve been doing my research and this setup seems like it would allow you to grow continuously without having to babysit your plants the entire time which is what I’m trying to convert to. My biggest question I have right now is what type of medium to use and how about the airdomes? Just my thinking, growing in soil would be pointless in this setup. Seems like if you used clay pebbles or coco with a airdome it would pretty much be a DWC drip feed system. Am I wrong?

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I’ve grown in soil and soil less medium in autopots.
Soils a hassle until they make 10L versions or larger because eventually you have to feed… Unless you want to use clones and SOG but that’s not my style.

The best medium my research has found is 70/30 coco perlite
Next in line would be promix HP with added a but of perlite.
Get ready to buy a 30 Gallon flexitank if you are growing 4 plants.
But the stock one will do for a bit…
Not much babysitting in flower I can leave em for a week with 4 plants and a 30 Gallon tank.

Avoid airdomes/hydro domes and forget the clay pebbles in the bottom
But get smart pots that fit the 10" diameter of the autopot XL trays.
Also get toot socks you need them!

I thought about dwc but this system is less work & waste

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Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated! What’s bad about the airdomes?

Just thought about pottingup. I usually start off in a cup, then move to a 1 gallon pot before finishing in a 5-7 gallon pot. With this system I’m guessing you’d do the same just not use the auto pots until you get to the 5 gallon pot or can you set a 1 gallon smart pot into the tray?

The air domes are designed to be used in the plastic pots they give a very minimal boost, many long time autopot growers don’t use them and have seen no negative results. Airdomes are more cost up front and more cost on power monthly, more parts, etc.

It’s best to run from solo cup or starter puck into the autopot, you want the tap root to hit the bottom of the pot asap so you can bottom feed with the system. Also don’t water in a circle as you would in a normal pot. Water right at the stock slowly again to promote downward growth

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That makes sense since this setup is essentially a hydro setup without the circulating water and air pumps. I’m guessing hydro nutes are required? What about root rot without using the airdomes? Stagnant water doesn’t seem good.

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Due to the design of the autopot it doesn’t really have an issue to root rot, Infact you’ll find the roots hunting for the aqua valve so make sure you check the trays and clean em once every 2 or 3 weeks. If not you may end up with a flood when a float stays on.
In summary no issues, I get what your thinking and I was sceptical as well but I just made 8 more pots and all are 2/3 coco 1/3 perlite and mixed in some Mykos.

I read as much as I could about other mediums and this seems to be the best, its also one of the cheapest and easier to buy pre washed/buffered coco coir 50L bag and mic it with a 25L bag of perlite in a tote.

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Definitely seems like a simple grow! I really appreciate the input. I’m going to try this out my next grow. I have a few getting switched to flower next weekend so I’ll have plenty of time to overthink a new venture lol

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Lol you sound like me

I’ve been growing the same way for so long I just don’t want to F things up lol the freedom of having a large reservoir tending to the babies is something I’m willing to change for though

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I am on a first grow with the auto pot. So I can’t say how to water. I still water in a circle as I would for a top feed grow. I also seem to veg a little longer before I set up the auto pots too. So I may have some thing to learn there. I have the auto pots and the gogrow. if I was to do it again. I would have 3 sets of the gogrow. And could have saved a lot of money. mine are doing as well as the auto pots. They also provide a plug to prevent an over flow if the pots were to fill a little extra. my auto pots would over flow if the pots were to get even a little extra water. Just my view of what I see for the 2 set ups. @Nicky has been using his pots longer than me. So would have some good info there

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Overflow would definitely be a issue! Can you grow a decent sized plant in a GoGrow? They look a little small. I usually grow 2-3 plants at a time that I keep short but wide.

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