Does anyone grow using Autopots?

Ganja Guerilla · Nov 12, 2007

So I have been trying to decide on a hydro system to use in a 6' x 8' space with 6' 6" of vertical room and Autopots have me very curious. They seem like a very effective low tech way to grow, no pumps or timers of any kind are needed.

So has anyone used them and had good results?
How would a system like this stack up against other forms of hydro for yield?

Thanks for any replies
GG

Edit: Ok so I just did a search... I know I should have done one before posting :redface:

Lots of good info but I would still like to hear opinions on these, in particular what would you do in a DIY setup using the smartvalve?

PHB · Nov 13, 2007

Johnny Chimpo is a big fan of autopots and his growroom has always impressed me.

PHB

3dDream · Nov 13, 2007

GG,

I use an autopot-like setup. I purchased a few smartvalves and made my own system for 1/4 of the cost. I am using them in 100% pure coco and they love it.

The highlights:

---no recycled nutes
---no power / gravity fed
---plants feed when they want to

If you do decide to go this way, here are a few tips I picked up:

1) circulate and aerate your reservoir
2) use root control fabric at the bottom of your pots to prevent root clogs
3) use a thick 1/4 hose that is black for connections

That's about it, good luck!

Ganja Guerilla · Nov 14, 2007

PHB - thanks for the lead :yes:

3dDream - Do you use the inline filter, if so do you clean it every two weeks per the manual?
Have you ever had a smartvalve stick open or shut on you?
Ever any problems with the medium remaining too wet?
Have you ever run anything other then coco?
Does your growth rate/yield compare to other hydro styles?

Thanks
GG

3dDream · Nov 14, 2007

Do you use the inline filter, if so do you clean it every two weeks per the manual? No filters.
Have you ever had a smartvalve stick open or shut on you? They wont stick open, only closed. Actually, I have only had 1 stay closed in the last 6 months. This might be due to how well I mix my nutes and the quality of the nutes. The one thing you need to watch, if you go DIY, is the valve will float. You need to secure it down.
Ever any problems with the medium remaining too wet? No, and I read many reports contrary to this. (see next answer)
Have you ever run anything other then coco? I did soil for my first two grows. I mixed 3:1 fox farms ocean forest with perlite. I also had an inch of perlite at the bottom of the pot along with the root control fabric. I did have problems with small plants getting overwatered. Now I hand feed until they are ready to flower. I do bottom feed the plants when I hand feed. If the container is dry and the plants feel light, I fill the base container with about an inch of water. If I had to do it all over again I would have started in coco. Coco just plain rocks.
Does your growth rate/yield compare to other hydro styles? Dunno. Haven't tried any styles. My cab is very small and I only use a 250w HPS. I did get over 2 oz dry of one plant from my first grow (I f'd up a few times).

I made a pretty lengthy post about my setup in this thread:

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=64072&page=2

One last thing, I run my plants in very small pots. I do this to control the size of the plants (in theory, so far, the plants are winning).

Here's a few pics:

Pic 1 a mandala speed queen that was vegged for two weeks (not inluding germ time) and then placed into 12/12. She basically vegged in my cab until sexual maturity. She is 36 days old in the pic.

The next pic are a few sam the skunkman durban poison X skunk no1 that are about 3-4 weeks into flower. I cut them in half during veg and then pinched and bent them two times during the stretch period of flowering to control the height. It did not work

. These 3 plants all feed from one smartvalve (there were 4). I try to keep the plants per valve about the same size.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

3dDream · Nov 14, 2007

I forgot to mention:

Flushing: I have read that you should flush more often with autopots. As a precaution, I flush one time when I see the first flowers. I also do the normal 2 week flush at the end.

Base container size: All of my container barely fit the smartvalve and 2 plants. I really think you could over water a plant if there is too much water to soak up due to the size of the base container. The real autopot system works this way.

PHB · Nov 15, 2007

3dDream said:
My cab is very small and I only use a 250w HPS. I did get over 2 oz dry of one plant from my first grow (I f'd up a few times).

Nice yield, I will definitely check out your thread.

3dDream said:
Here's a few pics...

OMG, are those beer cups? Those are huge plants! I will definitely be giving coco a shot at some point.

Thanks,
PHB

Ganico · Nov 15, 2007

Ah okay, I just realized those plants in the 16oz cups are in coco.

I was gonna say, those a huge as hell for such a tiny container. That's only like an 1/8th of a gallon

What the hell is it about coco that makes plants get so huge in such small containers? I keep seeing this on here.

3dDream · Nov 15, 2007

Ganico said:
Ah okay, I just realized those plants in the 16oz cups are in coco.

I was gonna say, those a huge as hell for such a tiny container. That's only like an 1/8th of a gallon

What the hell is it about coco that makes plants get so huge in such small containers? I keep seeing this on here.

HA! I dunno, I am a sort of newb at this. I have to admit the angle of the camera does make them seem taller. The tallest plant, on the left, is 32" tall from the coco. I attribute most of the size to that fact that these plants are sativas and that the smartvalve feed the plants what it wants. I am thinking of doing an all cup run for my next grow if the yield is high enough.

Johnny Chimpo · Nov 16, 2007

Noticed an Autopot thread and had to stop by :smoke:

I really don't have anything to add that hasn't been posted here by everybody else. (I also answered those questions in my thread a couple days ago) so I'll put up a couple pics of the Autopots in action.

This grow was Rez's D39 done SCROG style....one Autopot, 2 plants...600w HPS...pretty close to a LB. finished. A little too much Nitrogen during flower though...

Some misc pics utilizing the Autopots...

Original Strawberry Diesel

JLP's SDIBL x OGbx1

D39 (current grow)

JC

Ganja Guerilla · Nov 17, 2007

JC - Thanks for the visit, those girls look great, your D39 grow has convinced me to try Autopots or a DIY project based on a Smartvalve.

I can't believe how simple and elegant they are, so low tech and so effective at the same time. I now plan on running everything in autopots or something based on a smartvalve. I've forgotten all about dwc, swc, areo... all of it. Mothers, clones, veg and flower all in coco and all passively fed... it's so simple and, though I haven't crunched any numbers yet, it should be loads less cash too.

I'm really hoping I can find a killer deal on an 18 unit (36 x 10" pots) for flowering. The smart garden also looks ideal for vegging but I think that will def' be a diy affair. So far the biggest kit I have found is at futuregarden and it is only 10 units for $599.00, ouch! Maybe I can finagle a better price or buy direct from the manufacturer.

:jump:

GG

3dDream · Nov 17, 2007

Let's see... for a DIY setup:

(16) (2 plants per tray) smartvalves - $320

or

(8) (4 plants per tray) smartvalves - $160

That is the big question. You can get a 40 gal rez for about $100.00. The rest, pots, trays, hose, and splitters, a few hundred more. Definitely cheaper that the 10 unit setup.

REMEMBER, you want pots w/o feet and a tray that is flat. Since you are bottom feeding, that water needs to get up there some how. I looked for a very long time to find everything that fits for my DIY. My setup uses 6" X 15" X 2" trays (rubbermaid drawer organizer) that holds 1 smartvalve plus 2 pots in either a 6" 2.4L or a 7" 3.4L square pots. They are small, but they work for me. The smartvalve with tubing needs about 3" X 5.5" to fit.

Oh one more tip, for the root control fabric just use the black/white weed control fabric.

Good luck!

Johnny Chimpo · Nov 26, 2007

Here are a few pics of my setup with the 1/2" and 1/4" shutoff valves, 1/2" inline filter, hose clamps, 1/2" elbow, Smartvalve, and 1/2" main feedline.

JC

DIGITALHIPPY · Nov 26, 2007

Johnny Chimpo said:
...

JC

holy cow!!!!
is that the same 2 plants in the one autopot from the pic above!?!?
YOU DO THOES THINGS SOME JUSTICE!!!!
DAM FINEASS BUDS U GOT THERE!
I THOUGHT U HAD TO GO 5GAL OR BIGGER OR GO HOME!!!

Ganja Guerilla · Nov 27, 2007

DIGITALHIPPY said:
holy cow!!!!
is that the same 2 plants in the one autopot from the pic above!?!?
YOU DO THOES THINGS SOME JUSTICE!!!!
DAM FINEASS BUDS U GOT THERE!
I THOUGHT U HAD TO GO 5GAL OR BIGGER OR GO HOME!!!

Isn't that just insane? :jump:

I dumped months of research and planing in favor of coco and autopots after reading that thread... JC is rockin' those `pots hard! :headbange

I can't wait man... I should be putting up a 6 x 8 ft flower room and I want to load it up with 16 of those little beauties, 32 passively fed 10" pots... :woohoo:

That is if I can turn up some used units, otherwise I'm thinking of maybe 2 x 4 ft trays and smartvalves. Just looking on the net though and trays could be pricey for a DIY, I'm not really finding any storage totes I like for the job.

mr_commercial · Jun 8, 2016

looks great

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Does anyone grow using Autopots?

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