Skunk in Autopots:my 3rd indoor grow

[jats]

Hey there.... Yesterday I transplanted my 4 week old skunk clones into my new Autopots... I am going to try a track the progress regularly for you here...
I have brought 4 single auto pots and have plugged in 3 so far (I only had 3 clones ready)

I intend to veg these plants for another few weeks or until they are about 4 feet high which ever comes 1st..
one of the advantages I see in the single autopots is that because you can move them around really easily you can grow larger sized plants in them ,,which I prefer....

 

[jats]

its been a week since my last update...here they are after 7 days in the autopots... the pots seem to be working well,,,so far

they have grown quite a lot

 

[jats]

Its week 2 now... I have topped up the res and thats about it... I look in on them everyday and turn on my ventilation fan manually but in all the system is running well.. I can almost imagine being able to take a 2 week holiday and it would be fine when I returned...X-citing stuff.....
I took some pics with the grow lights turned off,,to show the colour in a more realistic way

They are growing fast :^)

 

[jats]

its week 3 in the autopots... and they are going ballistic in their growth..more than doubled in size since I transplanted them into the autopots

they are looking vigorous and healthy

I have moved them apart to give them more space,,,so its harder to get them in the shot together in the from above veiw

they are under a 600w hps light
feel free to give me some feedback or ask me questions,,if you feel the urge... :^)

 

[grobofotwanky]

Beautiful plants you've got there. I've always wondered about the autopots. Looks like they're working pretty good for you. Keep up the excellent work.

 

[jats]

My 1st indoor grow was with soil....that went well but I wanted to try hydro for my 2nd grow and a m8 lent me some massive double pots about 20 litre size...which had a out let on the bottom pot for over flow into the reservoir I used coir as a medium and the plants grow huge ( 6 ft) but the process was extremely time consuming as I hand watered them everyday and emptied the res every other day .... I learnt a load using such and hands on method for my 1st hydro grow....but using that knowledge I was ready to try using a experimental,innovative approach which made zero waste/run off and no power (it uses gravity to keep the water flowing)..but you will need a nutrient pump and an air ball in a large reservoir
the largest autopot you can get is a 12 in pot... that is almost perfect for what I want (5 1/2 ft-ish plants) ..... I am using coir with my autopots and it is just as great as the first time (with the double pots) its my fav now

 

[jats]

Beautiful plants you've got there. I've always wondered about the autopots. Looks like they're working pretty good for you. Keep up the excellent work.

thank you.... I am finding the autopots very elegant and effective.... I am very happy with them :^)

 

[jats]

Hi ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I have sprouted 6 seeds from a batch of seeds I cross pollinated from my NL/Haze (male) and a feminised Cali Orange...
I decided to combine the grow journals because which ever turns out to be female will end up in autopots.....
These little ones are 2 days old,,, I have used jiffy pots made of peat to sprout them in

 

[jats]

hey all... its week 4 in the autopots and my girls are almost ready to start flowering,, I'm thinking it will be in the next week or so

I LOVE my autopots.... :^D

 

[theinfected]

looks great man. really nice looking girls u have

 

[jats]

thankz :^)

 

[poldijk]

Hi Jats,

very nice plants, seems autopot is working fine !

after one year of growth with soil, I want to enter in the hydro world!

I'm actually hesitating between NFT and autopot. what i like is the "single pot" hydro system, you can turn them for lighting every bud and of course no electricity !

I got some questions :

-ph and EC is fluctuating?

- you are now at week 4, is the growth really different from soil growing? much bigger?

- when you sprout (i also do it in little jiffy pots), what is the next step? by knowing that the water comes from the bottom, the little plants are too small to go directly in a big autopot?
I added a picture of what i sow :little plant->little pot at the beginning

- some people complain about over watering, no problem with that? the coir is really dry before the aquavalve runs again?

- do you know the airdome? it seems nice

thank for answering my questions and wish you a nice flowering

Poldijk

 

[jats]

Hey Poldijk
I'll try to answer your questions ,,,,,, I have found the ph is stable not sure about the EC as I don't have a meter for it... but the plants are fully rich dark green and looking lush,,so I guess there's no problems...
I am using coco and it is an amazing medium the growth is way more vigorous and is faster then soil for sure
I go from the jiffy's into a small pot filled with coir then from there into the autopots when they about a foot and a half or so tall...
If you are using coco it will be a hydro system and you would not want it to totally dry out.... I will post some close up photos of the bowl etc in the next few dayze
it doesn't fully dry out in my set up...but I couldn't say how it would be with soil as I haven't tried it.............
I don't know the air dome but it looks kool.............. thanks ,,, I'll keep you posted :^)

 

[jats]

Hey All ,,,, its week 5 and all is going gr8 guns... I took some clones form my girls b4 I throw the cycle to 12/12,, I took 4 from 2 of them and 3 from the smaller 1....
there has been an issue with mites,, eeeeeeeeeeeccckkk.. I only found a couple but I did a full scale blitz spraying everyone except the seedlings and the clones...... I have taken out the crates and replaced them with foam mats....to give my girls some more head space....so here's my new look grow room and my vigorous healthy girls...

they have grown massively even thou I took some clones

Ok here are the seedlings... I have transplanted them just today into coco

And to answer some of your questions here are some shots of the autopots front and back,,,notice the water in the bowl... it seems to always stay around that level...ie the valve opens when the level drops below a certain point and lets in enough to keep it constant for the plant....

front

back....notice the water?

 

[edsthreads]

Great stuff - I have just purchased a 1 x autopot system with 47 litre reservoir, soI'll be watching this thread with interest..

 

[poldijk]

Hi Jats,

thanks for your answer illustrated with some nice pictures.

week 5 : woua, they look like a little forest !

If I understood, with coco, it is never dry (as you show it with your last post) but it is not overwatering

aquavalve
now you are an autopot expert, I got the one million $ question : what is the condition for the aquavalve to give water again?????? because it is not like BLUMAT (with a soil/coco wet sensor) do you see the water coming every 2/3/4 days?

sprouting
you use little jiffy and transfer into the autopots when they about a foot and a half : do you hand water during this period?

nutrient
what nutrient do you use? you wrote you don't care about EC but you plants look really healthy

thanks for helping an autopot newbie !

Poldijk

 

[jats]

Hey Poldijk
Yes the coco is always wet but the plants are not over watered.... the guy who invented the autopots made them to be used with soil originally so I'm thinking they should work fine with it too...
I'm not sure about the blu mat,,I have never seen 1..... the smart valve lets the water in when the level has dropped below the valve
I start in the jiffy pots and then transplant them into the small pots....once they are 1 and a half to 2 feet tall its time to transplant into autopots..... I hand water them untill they go into the autopots..once they are in they feed themsleves....
I use a 2 part hydro veg food at the moment...it is made in aus so I dont think you would have it in united kingdom or usa (but any good one would work great)
Its not that I don't care about the EC ,,,I just don't have a meter...but because the system is not ebb and flow or reticulated at all it seems to remain stable...
I hope this helped...cheers and good luck with that :^)

 

[jats]

here are my skunk clones

 

[edsthreads]

Can you tell me after you transplant them into the autopots how long do you hand feed for?

I am starting mine off via DWC then will transfer them into the autopot (clay pebbles) when the plant is about foot & half tall... do I need to start hand feeding immediately or will the roots be established enough for them to go searching for the water at the bottom? Any help would be great..

I intetend to use PH'd damp clay pebbles when transplanting into the autopot

 

[jats]

Hey edsthreads
I have not used the clay pebbles with the autopots...... I use coco and I only had to hand water once to get the system working but the coco is a wetter medium...my plants were also about 1 and a half/ 2 feet when I put them in..... I guess you would have to play it by ear so to speak.. I know that the autopots work well with the clay pebbles but that's about it... good luck with that :^)