Selfing an Auto?

ComputerSaysNo said:

Chemicals are cheap to get anywhere, as soon as you've found the online channels that chemists and pharmacists use.

It only gets complicated when the substances are regulated or can easily be used to make dangerous compounds.

That's apparently not true for silver nitrate and sodium thiosulfate → find a regular online chemical supplier.

One can make far more STS for maybe $20 worth of chemicals than most people will ever need.

Some substances can be found on Amazon with no problem. The reasons are not always obvious: for example, I've been looking for copper compounds suitable for chemical root pruning (ie. paint the interior of a pot with it). By far the easiest to find was cupric carbonate, and I assume this is because it is used to make fireworks (?).

Hint: go on YouTube and find Weed in a Pot and Hemp in a Pot; that guy demonstrates how to make STS and also how to self Autos and regular plants. Very educational content.

Click to expand...

Maybe try marine bottom, paint. They use copper to prevent scum growing on boat bottoms.

GoatSoup said:

Maybe try marine bottom, paint. They use copper to prevent scum growing on boat bottoms.

Click to expand...

That's a great idea, actually. I haven't seen that mentioned yet.

I have read about the copper paint for plant pots in Jorge's book, then done some research about what the "magical paint" actually entails. Apparently the exact copper compound used is not important.

I have found a few peer-reviewed articles (not cannabis-related), and in those experiments they've used and compared cupric carbonate, copper hydroxite and just plain copper. Invariable, the substance used is then stirred into latex paint and used on nursery trays or plant pots.

I can only assume the "marine paint" that you've mentioned is something very similar. These "boat paints" do have a blue-greenish tint to them, which is precisely the color of the cupric carbonate or copper hydroxite.

I would look into the boat paint if the cupric carbonate and latex paint wasn't already so easy to get. One can make enough paint for lots and lots of pots for under $30.

The AutoPot comes with a "root pruning sheet" for the trays, and that's just a water proof sheet with a thin copper layer. Works like a charm, can probably be home-made with a can of copper spray.

The chemical root pruning with painted pots was never really taken up, as it seems (at least not in the cannabis scene). Smart pots and air pots do the same job for most growers.

I'm still interested in the idea of using wicks to self water a solo cup, or other pot.

As I asked above , has Has anyone had expeirence with using wicks for self watering plants? I expect that the size of the wick in relation to the size of the container will be a consideration. Also perhaps it might be better to use SIP style, submersing the solo cup say 1/4- 1/2" into the rez might be simpler, but would be more maintenance to keep the rez level adjusted?

My quest is to create a hands off seed generator for Auto's that does not cross phenotypes using two different plants, (MxF), although I do have ideas to cross some strains in the future. With the seeds I have I was thinking a White Widow cross with Northern Lights might be interesting to try and speed up the WW flowering might be good? Maybe crossing them WW/NL and NL/WW at the same time might be possible????

GoatSoup said:

As I asked above , has Has anyone had expeirence with using wicks for self watering plants? I expect that the size of the wick in relation to the size of the container will be a consideration. Also perhaps it might be better to use SIP style, submersing the solo cup say 1/4- 1/2" into the rez might be simpler, but would be more maintenance to keep the rez level adjusted?

Click to expand...

If you actually want to use it, the easiest option is to buy an AutoPot.

But there are lots of alternatives that work similarly, and can be built for not a lot of money.

If you keep a small reservoir topped off with a float valve from a bigger tank, you can feed a capillary mat from there, and then simply put felt pots on top of it.

Another way is to feed a PVC pipe the same way (using a float valve), and then have pots with wicks sit on top of the pipe. That's probably overall the best passive watering solution you can have, but it does require a little bit of handy work.

Not a lot of money is my goal. I had no luck today looking for corroplast, but amazon has it but shipping and quantity is excessive. I'm trying to build the least $complicated rig I can. I thought about float valves but it seems unnecessarily complicated to build. I'm trying to use the stuff I already have. I did find some 33cent felt today to use for the wicks.

Just had the thought to ask the neighbors if they have any left over election signs of corroplast? Free would be ideal!

GoatSoup said:

I thought about float valves but it seems unnecessarily complicated to build. I'm trying to use the stuff I already have. I did find some 33cent felt today to use for the wicks.

Click to expand...

If you want to go without any valves, you have to wick the nutrient directly from the reservoir. This works, of course, but it is limiting compared to getting the nutrient from a central tank. You cannot wick over arbitrary distances.

I think you should take a look at Hoocho's channel on YouTube. He shows how to make some superb wick systems for almost no money.

These float valves I'm talking about cost less than $5 on Amazon, it's really not an addition that should push the project over budget...

You can make something like Hoocho's setup with a couple of PVC pipes, said $5 float valves, a few net cups and some basic tools. But then you'll already end up with a system that can easily host several plants and will be extremely flexible.

I think the design of an AutoPot or Hoocho-setup is already about as simple as it gets, while still giving you a very high performing, fully-automatic solution. If you want to make it even simpler, e.g. by leaving out valves completely, you will end up with manual work and/or an unreliable system.

Also I think you should be willing to spend maybe $60 on your irrigation system, it will pay itself off immediately anyway, and you will be surprised how much hassle it will spare you. Plants will be healthier, too, because there is no room for watering mistakes.

I hear you but I want to build my ideal system and am willing to spend what to takes to build my dream. no offense.

All I need now is a couple of ~$5 sheets of coreoplast and my knife to try my idea. If it doesn't work at first, I will adapt it until it does.
My biggist expense will be the $25-30 I 'll spend on on chemicals to make the STS.

Well I ditched the idea of a selfwatering wick. I'll just hand water in 1 lb coffee containers and I ordered my STS kit from E-Bay ($32 shipped, Twenty 20 Mendicino). I've got the time and I'll probably be looking at them everyday anyhow.

I'll up date ths to show you my progress. It should be interesting. I thinkI 'll do the WW and NL so I'll be able to generate both and crosses of both WW/NL and NL/WW. I found some tags to lable the branches as to the strains.

I figure to top above the fourth node to make sure I'll have enough branches to work with.

I got my STS kit today, but will wait a while to start my SEEDing grow. I need to get my pots ready and want to get my burple lamp to run in my seeding tub. Right now I have an old burple 50 watt panel that works but is pretty weak. Probably too weak to generate the six or so branches I'll need.

The kit came with a minimum of instructions. Only how to mix with water. The 20-20 Mendo web site was little help as the link to instruction was a YouTube video shot on a cellphone by some one working without a script who stumbled thru mixing the Parts A and B with distilled water and spraying a plant. No mention of repeation rate, timing or....???

Compared with their slick website and seed catalog this video does nothing to enhance thier reputation. I'm gonna need some help with this guys.