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Mr Piggy
Guest
The reason air pots work is the exposure to air prunes the roots by killing them. Pumping air into a soil pot (I'm ASSuming that's a soil container) would kill off the roots instead of helping them. Air stones don't work "better" out of water, they are designed specifically for use in water. If you want to run an experiment and pump air into your root system like that go for it, but I don't see the benefit to that design unless it's some space aged dwc.
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p.l.u.r
Guest
i could get a grilling for this but here go's... its not the air that prunes the roots, it is the light and ack of moisture nutes etc.. when the roots grow through the airpot they hit light which kills them of premoting new growth inside the pot..
and i also disagree about the airstones too, if i put my airstone in 3ft of water it doesnt work as the pump struggles to pump through the high water pressure, put the airstone on the surface and it'l pump alot more air.. if the stone is taken out there is no resistance from the water which surely makes the pump and stone push out more air..
i could be totally wrong, but all my ideas are worked out through logic and i like to believe im right..
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Mr Piggy
Guest
You are wrong, it is the air. That's why they're called air pots and not light pots. I can show you multiple threads where people grow in clear containers with no problems. While lack of moisture is definitely cause for root die back air exposure is the main cause for that. The reason roots can be exposed to so much air in hydro setups is because that air is oxygenating the water, if not the thing spraying the root zones with water.
As for the air stone not working in three feet of water, either your airstone is restrictive or your pump is insufficient. Airstones are designed for one purpose and one purpose only, to aerate water.
Not trying to knock you down, just want to make sure the right info is out there. Please build your pot and run a grow or two with it, I love being proven wrong and having my mind blown. It's how I've learned so far.
As for the air stone not working in three feet of water, either your airstone is restrictive or your pump is insufficient. Airstones are designed for one purpose and one purpose only, to aerate water.
Not trying to knock you down, just want to make sure the right info is out there. Please build your pot and run a grow or two with it, I love being proven wrong and having my mind blown. It's how I've learned so far.
Nelson
R.I.P. Gone, but not forgotten.
Air stones and organic nuits don't do well together. If you want to use organic nuits best to use a soaker hose to bubble with or those little sticks that you get at Walmart in the aquarium section they handle it better.
Of course if you are using chemical fertilizer and it stops bubbling you can check the pump by holding your finger over the outlet you can feel the air escaping. Just move down the line and take it apart until you can't feel air anymore and replace the part that is blocked.
Of course if you are using chemical fertilizer and it stops bubbling you can check the pump by holding your finger over the outlet you can feel the air escaping. Just move down the line and take it apart until you can't feel air anymore and replace the part that is blocked.
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mattinuk3
Guest
But you CAN make organics instantly available. If you start a compost tea with good, microorganism-rich compost, you can throw in organics such as tuna fish, manure, grass clippings etc, along with molasses , and after bubbling for 5 days, your micronutrient herd will have grown exponentially. By bubbling, you breed the microorganisms to be so concentrated that they literally eat the organics and produce nutrients while in the bucket. Now, I have heard of people burning plants when doing this, so use with caution, or adjust bubbling time (more time = more complete decomposition of organics and therefore more concentrated nutrients.)
You can put one shovel scoop of compost in a bucket, along with molasses and, after bubbling, turn that 1 scoops worth of bacteria into 40 cubic yards worth after 5 days. About every 12 hours it doubles (as long as there is adequate food for the bacteria) so you can let it bubble longer and dilute.
You can put one shovel scoop of compost in a bucket, along with molasses and, after bubbling, turn that 1 scoops worth of bacteria into 40 cubic yards worth after 5 days. About every 12 hours it doubles (as long as there is adequate food for the bacteria) so you can let it bubble longer and dilute.
Gotta be honest mate.. about 2-3 weeks ago I transferred all of my houseplants into them and there's already a noticeable difference in plant-health and canopy growth. All the trees at the Olympics are being housed in airpots too.
I can grow a plant in a 3ltr airpot to the same size as a 10ltr round pot. It'll take in more food than the round pot and will allow a quicker turnaround on the wet/dry cycle. I'd never bother growing a photo girl in anything else from now on.. and I REALLY want to get it right for autos too becuse I reckon it can really payoff.
However, cannabis is already a fast grower and sucks up shitloads of nutrients so adding an airpot to a hungry auto seems to mean a need for lots of instantly accesible food, which I strongly suspect rules out truly organic nutrients.
It's become a bit of an obsession really because I've seen the MASSIVE difference they make to photo girls, and I've seen amazing veg growth from my autos in them.. truly kick-ass.. but just before they start to flower they just fizzle and look starving hungry all the time. Then it's a fighting battle trying to get them to feed.. but with organics that's never really worked for me so far. I'll make a thread on my mineral nutes/airpot/autos experiement in a few days.
Christ I do whittle on about this.. sooory
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mydanksstank
Guest
how exactly do you make a "tea"..or did u litearly just tell us how. cause if you can make your own tea and own compost then make your own airpot it would be absolutly awesome to see what coulod be done
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BigBuddha
Guest
Yep.. don't dispute that. But I think there's a difference between organic nutes and compost tea. Some of the drawbacks (including the principal one you mentioned about it being too hot sometimes) is that there still remains a large amount of organic matter still to break-down in the soil. I've also read a few times that too many microherd can be bad for the plant because the fauna (en-mass) end up using up the nutrients that the plant needs and can - if I remember correctly - cause an acidic soil (I'm pretty sure that was the finding but I'm rubbish at remembering which site I found it on).
I have tried growing autos in airpots using tea, but it just doesn't seem that I've found the right balance to manage it without nute issues. No problems in round/square pots, and no probs with non autos.. but autos + airpots + organics just ain't happening in my groom.
Yet
In another debate I wouldn't challenge what you're saying because it's all good advice (and I do use compost tea already for organic grows), but for the purpose of growing autos in airpots (ie why I brought up the quick-access nutes issue in this thread) organic tea still isn't controllable enough for my needs. Basically the goal was to eliminate as many risks of soil ph problems, over/under feeding as possible and address the speed at which autos grown in airpots use up P & K for the roots. Hence the choice of mineral nutes / lighmix soil for this current batch.
So.. yeah.. not discrediting what you said as it's all correct in its own right.
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BigBuddha
Guest
Pretty simply, you get a container and an airpump (because the good bacteria are aerobic and the bad ones anaerobic), and throw in a selection of items to brew a nutrient and bacteria rich tea. We add compost for its nutrients and its organic matter and also for its microherd, often bat guano for its high P & K content and flavour, some seaweed for its hormones and trace minerals and some molasses to act as a food for the good bacteria. Some people (myself included) like adding fish emulsion.. but it does stink.
It's really important to dechlorinate the water first because otherwise it kills the bacteria you want to grow. Once that's done and you've added your components.. bubble all that for at least 24hrs and you have a rich organic fertiliser that not only feeds your plants but conditions the soil too.
Pretty sure youtube has some good tutorials on how to get started.
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