Autopots for the first time

Just ordered Autopots 4 spring pot system. I plan on using clay pebbles on the bottom of each pot along with the airdromes then cover it with ocean forest. I was going to use fox farms trio along with cal mag, recharge, mammoth p, and R.O. water. Now I’m not so sure. Never tried any other medium, I like soil and always have good results with FFOF. I’ll be growing autos indoors. Anyone else out there with some experience using the same or similar setup? Maybe I’ve been reading too much on Autopots but most of what I read recommend using coco coir and different nutrients which I’ve never used.I’m not opposed to using coco and different nutri just wanted to stick with what worked well and that I’m familiar with. Love this forum, any advice greatly appreciated.

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I hear ya, it’s a lot to take in. I came from growing autos in ocean forest and happy frog and did fairly well. Then I moved to photos,coco and autopots and couldn’t be happier.
A couple things I’ve picked up along the way are: clay pebbles or hydroton can potentially cause ph issues so I avoided them and used extra course perlite instead. Another is I think that recharge can cause problems by clogging the Aqua valves, not positive about that though…
There’s plenty of good reading here in the autopot section and plenty of good autopot growers willing to help when needed

Truthfully, autopots and soil doesn’t make logical sense to me. A major benefit of autopots is the continuous feeding of plants. That is where coco comes in. It thrives in continuous fertigation. I am curious if soil is used in autopots very often. I suspect not but will have to see what the replies say. The nutrients frequently used with coco is Jack’s 321. Yes, I recommend them all.

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I agree with @beardless
I don’t know if I would run autopots with soil
I mean soil needs a wet dry cycle and with autopots how is that possible?
Although in there Manual/website it mentions you can use soil with 50% perlite or clay pebbles but idk….
I talked with need over at autopots and he uses hydrotone clay pebbles which I think are already ph adjusted,I think. And he’s using tupur from royal gold and about 1 inch of clay pebbles at the Bottom of the pot.
I will be giving this soil a shot myself with my first autopots run and see what happens
I’m going to do 2 pots with perlite at bottom and 2 pot with clay pebbles at the bottom
Let’s see what happens
Good luck and happy growing

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I believe @Nicky recommends soaking the hydroton clay for a a day or more in pH’d water. Since I use coco I pH to 5.8. They are dusty out of the bag so a good rinse is recommended. One thing with these little balls it is a bit of a challenge recovering them from the coco / soil. They for the most part stay on the bottom but some settle into the medium too. Some are using plastic golf whiffle balls instead. I imagine they are easier to find.

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I don’t think there is much advantage to using Air Dome with Spring Pots. The fabric pots provide plenty of air to the roots. I use Air Domes when using plastic pots.

The new AutoPots with Aqua Valve 5 use bigger 3/8 hose and fittings are more friendly to the “dirtier” nutrients like Fox Farms products where there is lots of heavy sludge left from the Big Bloom.

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@whatbuddyboy this might give you more Intel on the auto pots @Pinboy can give you some good info on what all you may do or not do ,

Do yourself a favor and use coco/perlite about 70/30 mix. I use plastic practice golf balls (lots of holes) on the bottom of my spring pots.

Use jacks 321 and silica.

I believe others use fishsh!t also. I don’t.

I ph my water to 5.6-5.8.

Keep it simple.

Good reading

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@yoshi and @emgoldslo thanks for the vote of confidence!! I try my best! There’s lots of excellent growers here using autopots that I’ve been learning from

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Just started my first autopot grow. I’ve got a lot of FoxFarms liquid trio nutes around and will be using them. I’m following Fox Farms hydro feeding schedule. I wanted to use soil also but after reading I’m going with 70/30 coco perlite with clay balls on the bottom.

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Hear ya! I had a lot of GH nutes so used them my first grow. Changed to the 321 and can’t be happier.

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Yes, soak the clay balls in a 5.8 ph solution and check/adjust the PH at least 2 times a day for 48hr otherwise you may have issues you cna never fix afterwards.

Any questions let me know, our autopot groups getting pretty significant though and we have Shared knowledge so most members should be able to answer questions, if anyone’s unsure you can tag me.

Here is a guide I wrote a while back.

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xxxxxxxxxxxxx hope your well xxxxxxxxx

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