Autopot users: any salt issues? Benefits vs drip?

Star Dog said:

That's a lame excuse you are recommending them showing pics is surely part of that

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Everybody is free to fully ignore what I have to say because I haven't posted any images. It really leaves me cold.

Star Dog said:

it's just words without pics

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Exactly, and I don't have a problem with that style of content.

If I was suggesting something original, some novel build or whatever, or if I claimed stunning results (1 kg in 10 weeks with 400 W!), indeed it would be really lame without proof of some sort. Here I just say, the AutoPot is easy to use and it has worked well for me, so I don't feel under pressure to put bud shots on the table.

Billy the Mountain said:

It's a trivial task to strip all EXIF data from a picture if privacy is a concern

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I know. It's not my concern. I have not granted GPS permission to my camera app, so the pictures have no GPS tags in the EXIF data. It's also something I would double check before uploading.

Billy the Mountain said:

Anyone with the technical savvy to post to a forum could do so if they wanted

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I don't agree, I'm pretty sure the vast majority is not even aware there could be GPS data in their images. It's also something that is really easy to forget, even if you know about it.

f.r said:

The price of a drain table would be similar all up to a 4 pot autopot kit at least here in Australia.

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Price of the setup is probably not the issue at all, not with the kind of produce that is grown.

Dude save your money and time and just go with Drip Irrigation, NETAFIM is going to be the best other than FloraFlex.


That PDF explains how you can configure potted plants with the NETAFIM system including diagrams and everything. They are easy to use and aren't going to fail like AUtoPots do. AutoPots are cheap the pots break super easy the freaking lid on my reservoir snapped off the corner the first day and just overall trash.

I didn't wanna bash autopots hard but honestly they suck huge ass, that's why everyone that has tried it no longer uses it. Look at Remo for example they did an AutoPot experiment on their YouTube and now they are back to hand watering..

oill said:

I've run both.... I would never do an autopot again. Loads of salt build up and it's a pain to flush. I now to dripper fed coco dtw.... and it rocks

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It says in autopots the salt rises to the top of the medium so if you're trying to flush from the top....you're pushing all of the salt buildup back down to the roots.

HAPPYHORT said:

It says in autopots the salt rises to the top of the medium so if you're trying to flush from the top....you're pushing all of the salt buildup back down to the roots.

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Turn them upside-down then.... I don't get your point.... of you use enough water.....

But yeah my point still stands... its a pain in the ass

HAPPYHORT said:

It says in autopots the salt rises to the top of the medium so if you're trying to flush from the top....you're pushing all of the salt buildup back down to the roots.

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Autopots are made of cheap shitty plastic and the performance is not good. I've had way better success Drain to Waste in coco/perlite hand watering with run off. Most nutrients are going to salt to the maxxx in the AutoPot system cause people wanna run cheap ass shit like Jacks. Not hating just saying.

p.s There is nothing wrong with using Jack's it works great, good nutrients. Just they are salty and if you say they aren't you deserve a slap. I hate when people talk about how "clean" nutrients are but you look at their trays and reservoirs and it looks like they're using sea water.

I've got my autopot set up it'll be running alongside 4x dtw.
I'll post a few pics periodically of the progress.

Should be interesting.......

A few pics.
Progress from when I posted until now.
Re potted kush and gelato day #1


They're in the autopot module now...(below)



Tonight 4x dtw 2x autopot.
I should point out the 3 tall plants are 3/4 weeks ahead of the others.

955% coco 5% perlite ±
No perlite/pebbles in the bottom of the pots just the copper sheet.

They've been feeding as normal no hand feeding required, 0 roots outside of the pot.

Take it easy folk's

The autopot plants are coming along fine.
2x center plants

Roots are filling out nicely to.

Still growing hassle free, there's no obvious difference between dtw and autopot.


1.9/2.0ec

I've tested the tray a couple of times and it's same in/out, that's weird af?
The run off from dtw raises 0.2/3ec twice a day.
How can that even happen, they both share the same space, feed and light?

I expect the input will need lowered soon but I expected it before now it's 5th week 12-12.

oill said:

With bottom feed and chemical nutes... I got salt build up.... and because the system doesn't have anywhere to drain you have to take the pot out and put it outside or in the bath and flush it. It kept happening and causing issues. I'm sure you could get it to work well.... but I don't understand WHY you would try when top fed dtw is so superior!?


BTW I grow in coco

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Instapots easy to flush. Pop fill line off. Water from top and drain out fill line. Flush gallons through in a minute or two.

StoneDHedgE said:

Instapots easy to flush. Pop fill line off. Water from top and drain out fill line. Flush gallons through in a minute or two.

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Cool. In my dtw, salts get flushed out, everytime I water.

The salt build up in this thread can't possibly compare to auto pots.

The autopot is going into wk6 12-12 with zero run off and it's doing equally wellwith the added bonus of no hand feeding and no waste.

For the samw time frame I've wasted gallons of nutrient for what appears to be no difference atm.

They still have a bit to go so it's wat too early to draw any conclusions.

The most recent pics I have of dtw V autopot.

They're both working great!
Is it possible that one system could yeild better when both are equally healthy?

They've been harvested now, the autopots done great, they're maintenance and wasted nutrient free with equally good results in regards to plant health which imo is key to yeild imo?

They're all different plants so comparing yeild is pointless but they were healthy.

Long story but I lost interest 2/3rds through so I didn't get pics of the progress after this point.

Dtw front, autopot rear

Autopot ^^^

I'm going to run a few crops to see if the yeild is affected. I doubt it, to me it's plant health that's key but idk for sure, time will tell.

I'm not an autopot user, I do aeroponics and use synthetic nutes (House & Garden). The brand also makes a product called Drip Clean that keeps the nutes salt build up off of your roots and equipment, drip lines, pipes, and sprayers. It works really well, and doesn't affect PH or EC.