Grow Mediums Is a Flush Always Necessary Mid-Grow with AutoPots?

[GreenBasterd]

Did my first grow with the autopots. Very maintenance free and easy in general. Water, train, let grow. Grow was in Mother Earth 70/30 coco/perlite mix with hydroton in the bottom. Used airdomes, with air stones rather than the standard hookup.

Only encountered 1 problem throughout the grow. At some point leaves started getting yellow on my 3 auto-gelatos. My single dwarf low flyer got hit hard and had thin, yellow new growth. First indoor grow ever, so had to come here to find out I had nutrient lockout, likely due to salt buildup. I flushed with fresh water and the 3 gelatos recovered well, and are making beautiful buds. The dwarf low flyer though has a lot of yellow/thin/dead leaves and the flowers look like they don't really want to finish.

I made feeding errors as well, and the poor things were getting 1000-1100 ppm nutes (Botanicare pureblend grow, and bloom city cal mag). After I flushed I also learned autos like around 500-550ppm. I have a strong light so I thought more would be necessary. Anyway - the basic question is:

Do you always have to flush when growing in autopots, or can it be avoided by not over-feeding the poor things like I did?

Thanks for your time.

 

[blue]

Did my first grow with the autopots. Very maintenance free and easy in general. Water, train, let grow. Grow was in Mother Earth 70/30 coco/perlite mix with hydroton in the bottom. Used airdomes, with air stones rather than the standard hookup.

Only encountered 1 problem throughout the grow. At some point leaves started getting yellow on my 3 auto-gelatos. My single dwarf low flyer got hit hard and had thin, yellow new growth. First indoor grow ever, so had to come here to find out I had nutrient lockout, likely due to salt buildup. I flushed with fresh water and the 3 gelatos recovered well, and are making beautiful buds. The dwarf low flyer though has a lot of yellow/thin/dead leaves and the flowers look like they don't really want to finish.

I made feeding errors as well, and the poor things were getting 1000-1100 ppm nutes (Botanicare pureblend grow, and bloom city cal mag). After I flushed I also learned autos like around 500-550ppm. I have a strong light so I thought more would be necessary. Anyway - the basic question is:

Do you always have to flush when growing in autopots, or can it be avoided by not over-feeding the poor things like I did?

Thanks for your time.

Hey There! I've never flushed with autopots in the years i've been growing with them. I think you've hit the nail on the head with the overfeeding, i work upto about 80% strength of what the bottle recommends (eg if it's 50ml per 10 litres, I'll use 40ml .. In late veg and flower - not early on, you need to build it up)

I tend to make it as easy as possible, and don't bother with loads of stuff like airdomes .. pebbles .. perlite or anything - just a light mix soil that goes into the pot at the beginning and gets ditched at the end.

Hope this helps!

 

[Suki]

I don't use air pots, so take this with a grain of salt, but it would seem that doing water only from the bottom and feeding from the top may help avoid any sort of salt line that may develop from bottom feeding. There is also the options of going organic, or using a granular time release nute like the Real Growers Grow Dots if you wanted to keep things really hands off.

 

[GreenBasterd]

Hey There! I've never flushed with autopots in the years i've been growing with them. I think you've hit the nail on the head with the overfeeding, i work upto about 80% strength of what the bottle recommends (eg if it's 50ml per 10 litres, I'll use 40ml .. In late veg and flower - not early on, you need to build it up)

I tend to make it as easy as possible, and don't bother with loads of stuff like airdomes .. pebbles .. perlite or anything - just a light mix soil that goes into the pot at the beginning and gets ditched at the end.

Hope this helps!

THANK YOU. Yes, overall - this was ridiculously maintenance free. In veg I only went in to low stress train and refill the water. You could do nothing for 3 days and when you check back, awesome growth. Was planning to shake out/wash the coco mix but tossing it sounds way more appealing. I suspect the roots have overtaken everything. Have a good weekend.

 

[GreenBasterd]

I don't use air pots, so take this with a grain of salt, but it would seem that doing water only from the bottom and feeding from the top may help avoid any sort of salt line that may develop from bottom feeding. There is also the options of going organic, or using a granular time release nute like the Real Growers Grow Dots if you wanted to keep things really hands off.

Waaaaay too lazy for that. The beauty of these autopots is that you can not check on them for a week or so depending on your reservoir, and they'll be fine. I've gone 3 days and was totally impressed at the function. In my case, it really just looks like over-feeding from the beginning.

 

[Suki]

Waaaaay too lazy for that. The beauty of these autopots is that you can not check on them for a week or so depending on your reservoir, and they'll be fine. I've gone 3 days and was totally impressed at the function. In my case, it really just looks like over-feeding from the beginning.

If you want hands off, I highly suggest checking out grow dots! This girl's soil was dosed with them before I planted and has had nothing else besides water so far.

 

[GreenBasterd]

If you want hands off, I highly suggest checking out grow dots! This girl's soil was dosed with them before I planted and has had nothing else besides water so far.
View attachment 1396101

Looks great! But I'm a control freak. Even measure PPFD with an iPad. My alternative to autopots was going to be a DWC system. This just sounded easier for maintenance. Nothing bad can be said about that photo though, the stuff works.

 

[blue]

Hey ^_^ Just noticed this!

but it would seem that doing water only from the bottom and feeding from the top may help avoid any sort of salt line that may develop from bottom feeding.

It's a good idea in principal, the thing to be careful of with autopots is that you can only feed very little from the top without it pouring out the bottom .. learned from bitter experience of adding the gloopy stuff from the top instead of cloggin up the rez while doing a biotabs orgainc grow (like grow dots by the sound of things)

There shouldn't be any salt buildup at the bottom with autopots as there's a constant supply of water and the bottom "should" never dry out which is mainly what causes the salt build ups.

Its why people hand water to run off, but it shouldn't be necessery if the plant is watered "perfectly" (as in always hydrated and never dried, but not waterlogged)
The autopot is a bit of a cheat in that respect ^_^

THANK YOU. Yes, overall - this was ridiculously maintenance free.

You're very welcome

That's exactly the reason i took these on .... once upon a time (oh..here we go) ... I used to be a meticulous meaurer. EC ..PH...RH ..Temps ..Heights ... feeding 2 plants could literally take 30-40 minutes. I was doing a EC step climb of 0.1 per feeding up to 3.0 EC (... very strong feed boss) .. from an article i read about supercharging coco .. It was far too time consuming lol.

Then life got in the way and i could only spend minutes in the grow room at a time (up to an hour for special occasions like harvesting) ^_^

The beauty of these autopots is that you can not check on them for a week or so depending on your reservoir, and they'll be fine

Well ... it's beautiful when it works out like that .. But i'd still recommend visiting the plants at least every couple of days .. just for the sole reason that the aqua valve "can" get stuck .... that leaves your plant not getting any water, and then you come into a tent of droopy sadness

 

[Olderfart]

Hey ^_^ Just noticed this!



It's a good idea in principal, the thing to be careful of with autopots is that you can only feed very little from the top without it pouring out the bottom .. learned from bitter experience of adding the gloopy stuff from the top instead of cloggin up the rez while doing a biotabs orgainc grow (like grow dots by the sound of things)

There shouldn't be any salt buildup at the bottom with autopots as there's a constant supply of water and the bottom "should" never dry out which is mainly what causes the salt build ups.

Its why people hand water to run off, but it shouldn't be necessery if the plant is watered "perfectly" (as in always hydrated and never dried, but not waterlogged)
The autopot is a bit of a cheat in that respect ^_^


You're very welcome

That's exactly the reason i took these on .... once upon a time (oh..here we go) ... I used to be a meticulous meaurer. EC ..PH...RH ..Temps ..Heights ... feeding 2 plants could literally take 30-40 minutes. I was doing a EC step climb of 0.1 per feeding up to 3.0 EC (... very strong feed boss) .. from an article i read about supercharging coco .. It was far too time consuming lol.

Then life got in the way and i could only spend minutes in the grow room at a time (up to an hour for special occasions like harvesting) ^_^



Well ... it's beautiful when it works out like that .. But i'd still recommend visiting the plants at least every couple of days .. just for the sole reason that the aqua valve "can" get stuck .... that leaves your plant not getting any water, and then you come into a tent of droopy sadness

or devleop a leak, and you could find a flood. It does happen, at least it has once in my three indoor grows, and no, I do not add any organics to my rez, and in any case, my one flood was in my current water only setup. Luckily I caught it early. Good thing given the 45 gallon size of the rez.

 

[blue]

or devleop a leak, and you could find a flood.

That's the stuff of nightmares!! I only feed 10 litres at a time (max) .... just in case! I exoect if there's a leak, it will be in the tent at the pot (rather than at the rez with the tube stuffed in)
I "think" .. 10 lirtes will sit in the tent without any dangers of hitting electrics or leaking out!
(Think AND hope!) lol