New Grower Autoflowers, Autopots & Plant Size

[Corgy]

Figured this was as good a thread as any to see if anyone has tried or heard of anyone using these "Smart Valve Watering Kit" valves that sound like they work similar to the auto valve's in the Autopots. Namely in that they fill (to an adjustable level), then are supposed to wait for things to drain before filling again. Thinking of getting one or two and trying them out with some small flood trays to start a couple dozen pepper seeds for outdoor garden, and then maybe using them for seed starting on auto's down the road if they work well.

http://www.garden-innovations.co.uk/smart-valve.html

That's a great find, but perhaps run 2 in tandem given the reviews on amazon.co.uk, search for Nutley's Smart Valve Watering Kit

.....and polymer based function.......

 

[Ozone69]

Dunno why I hadn't thought of the Amazon reviews in UK. Was looking at them on the US Amazon site, but they are new enough to it that there aren't any reviews yet.:smoking:

From what I have read in the UK reviews, it sounds like they use some polymer thing inside the valve that works like a humidistat to determine when things have dried out enough to flood the tray again, versus the water level vacuum system on the Autovalve's. Biggest concern I was finding was that the tray would drain and the water sensor wouldn't kick it back in to fill up for 2-3 days. If the plants aren't drying out that would be OK, but if you had a few in heavy bloom that were sucking up every drop they could get their roots on I think the Autovalve's would be a bit more likely to keep up with them the right way.

 

[Corgy]

Dunno why I hadn't thought of the Amazon reviews in UK. Was looking at them on the US Amazon site, but they are new enough to it that there aren't any reviews yet.:smoking:

From what I have read in the UK reviews, it sounds like they use some polymer thing inside the valve that works like a humidistat to determine when things have dried out enough to flood the tray again, versus the water level vacuum system on the Autovalve's. Biggest concern I was finding was that the tray would drain and the water sensor wouldn't kick it back in to fill up for 2-3 days. If the plants aren't drying out that would be OK, but if you had a few in heavy bloom that were sucking up every drop they could get their roots on I think the Autovalve's would be a bit more likely to keep up with them the right way.

Yeah, that was my thoughts too.......why not just stick an autovalve in a tray, cheaper too!