Autopots and Coco

[PeaceLove&Buds]

I’m assuming that less GPD means a longer lasting filter so that could be an advantage

 

[Lil Dab]

I’m assuming that less GPD means a longer lasting filter so that could be an advantage

No I believe it's just the size of filter that determines how much water can path through at one time My filters in my 50 lasted just as long as the 100

 

[PeaceLove&Buds]

Since I’m a homebody and home after work every day at 1pm I have plenty of time to plan ahead and store water so I’ll hold on to the 50gpd for a while before I impulsively buy a faster one. This set comes with an extra filter set so maybe when it’s time to buy new filters I’ll upgrade to the 200gpd. Real happy with the setup, easy to bring in and out of the garage. Can’t wait to actually use the water, it was very cool seeing the base water show 0.0 EC on the pen instead of 0.8!

I dropped 2 Grape Walker Kush in water yesterday and I cut 4 inches off the top of two of my 3.9 gal plastic pots. I’m thinking a smaller pot might dry quicker therefore encouraging more feeding leading to more yield? Not sure at all if that’s how it works but I’m gonna try it.

I know the plan was to keep Ripley and see how she will recover from some stunting she went through but man I just couldn’t do it. I thought I could but there’s just no desire at all to play nurse nor to have a small yielding plant taking up my tent space and my time and messing with my head. On to the future! My geopot modules and fabric pots will be here next week and the plan is to drop 2 beans in them in a few weeks.

 

[BII]

On the suggestion of MOG I have a water softener in front of the ro so hopefully that helps the filters last longer.

But I think the 200GPD is in my future for sure

200 gpd seems like overkill, unless you are operating on a commercial scale. If run 1/2-time, that's 100 gallons/day, enough for a lot of plants. Are you mostly looking for real-time delivery speed, fast flow vs. say periodically filling a large reservoir, using a float valve, etc.?

 

[BII]

....I’m thinking a smaller pot might dry quicker therefore encouraging more feeding leading to more yield? Not sure at all if that’s how it works but I’m gonna try it.....

Wrong! A smaller pot will not "encourage" more feeding leading to more yield (per plant). A smaller pot provides less space and surface area for roots, limits nutrient uptake by the roots.

Jamming in more smaller pots you could do Sea of Green/SOG or otherwise grow more but smaller plants to get higher overall yield.

 

[PeaceLove&Buds]

200 gpd seems like overkill, unless you are operating on a commercial scale. If run 1/2-time, that's 100 gallons/day, enough for a lot of plants. Are you mostly looking for real-time delivery speed, fast flow vs. say periodically filling a large reservoir, using a float valve, etc.?

I get 3 gal of waste water for 1 gal of good water. So your 100 = 33. The 50 is fine for now but I’d rather not take 3 hours to fill up a 5gal jug is all. I may ditch RO altogether as I’m seeing how much water I’m paying for to go to waste.

 

[BII]

I get 3 gal of waste water for 1 gal of good water. So your 100 = 33. The 50 is fine for now but I’d rather not take 3 hours to fill up a 5gal jug is all. I may ditch RO altogether as I’m seeing how much water I’m paying for to go to waste.

Surely RO system specs refer to the purified output, not the input/full throughput. Thus, a 200 gpd unit provides 200 gallons of purified water/day (>8 gal./hour).

The cost of tap water in the context of other costs of growing is trivial. Google reports, "On average, tap water costs are slightly more than $2 per 1000 gallons." Do you even use 2000 gallons of feed water/year, requiring filtering 8,000 gallons costing $16? The RO output water put down the drain contains concentrated salts that you don't want in your media/soil; it serves a purpose, in that sense is not "go[ing] to waste."

 

[PeaceLove&Buds]

Ok