Do you put a layer of perlite or hydroton in the bottom of your pot when you use it with autopots watering system in the pot? It looks like some people do and some do not. How much do you put? I am planning to grow in 50% soil 40% perlite 10% biochar in 3 gallon fabric pots with biotabs organic dry amendments in the pot. What do you do for it on there?
Grow Mediums Do you put layer of perlite or hydroton in autopots watering system pot?
- Thread starter the123321
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HI the 123321 i am running autopots with ffof soil i put plastic golf balls with the holes in the bottom of my pot with the airdome my first run with them i ran into a ph problem so trying to rebound from that but i would like to see how yours grows
The hydroton at the bottom is only necessary if you're going to use the AirDome as well. Otherwise, just fill it up with whatever medium you want. It's basically a lazy flood and drain system. I love my autopots though, so hands off after years of doing individual DWC Bubble buckets which were/are so hands on.
i think it would work as long as your make sure it is the coarsest stuff you had so I would probably run it through a collander to sift out the dust/tiny particles of perlite. I would also be sure to run the water over your bucket until clear run off in order to insure you get a nice proper pack without being too loose or too dense. make sure you don't cover the airdome with the perlite either, there should be some revealed.
I am honestly interested in knowing if it works because my hydroton on the bottom makes the pH drift up in the tray as compared to the res. This hydroton was stabilized for a solid 72 hours before being used although it was still making it slowly drift up at the end. It is manageable and no real problem now because I have had to take a more hands off approach with this run due to some real life issues. However, the autopot system makes it so that your plants can basically thrive while you barely check on them every 4 days. At this point, all I have time to do is mix up a batch of nutes every 3-4 days. pH the res and go back home to work on the house.
Meanwhile I think my girls are mostly looking beautiful in the autopots when it is 4 of them crowded by 2 bubble buckets in full flower taking most of the light. Less than ideal but the AutoPot system has been a real life saver and seemingly simple right now.
Meanwhile I think my girls are mostly looking beautiful in the autopots when it is 4 of them crowded by 2 bubble buckets in full flower taking most of the light. Less than ideal but the AutoPot system has been a real life saver and seemingly simple right now.
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No, I don't use coarse material in the bottom of my pots - doing so is not necessary, and could make things worse, not better. Autopots work by wicking of moisture/nute mix from the bottom of the pot, and a major change in particle size can impede wicking across the boundary.
In my recent grow, I used ~60/40 coco perlite throughout the 3 gal fabric pots, with no air dome, and I had dense healthy roots all the way to the bottom of the pot. See the review in my sig for more detail.
Bottom line for me is that keeping it simple works extremely well with Autopots, perhaps especially with fabric pots.
One additional suggestion though is, if you intend to use soil, it might make sense to put some 60/40 coco mix in the bottom of the pot to make sure that it aerates well with each flood cycle. Some soil mixes may not drain as well as 60/40 coco, and this could be made worse by using solid rather than fabric pots. Healthy roots in the bottom inch of the pots depend on that zone being aerated well during the latter part of the flood cycle when the nute level drains away, so you need to make sure that the medium down there drains well. The boundary between 60/40 coco and whatever soil you use should not present a problem for wicking.
Good luck with your decision, and your grow.
In my recent grow, I used ~60/40 coco perlite throughout the 3 gal fabric pots, with no air dome, and I had dense healthy roots all the way to the bottom of the pot. See the review in my sig for more detail.
Bottom line for me is that keeping it simple works extremely well with Autopots, perhaps especially with fabric pots.
One additional suggestion though is, if you intend to use soil, it might make sense to put some 60/40 coco mix in the bottom of the pot to make sure that it aerates well with each flood cycle. Some soil mixes may not drain as well as 60/40 coco, and this could be made worse by using solid rather than fabric pots. Healthy roots in the bottom inch of the pots depend on that zone being aerated well during the latter part of the flood cycle when the nute level drains away, so you need to make sure that the medium down there drains well. The boundary between 60/40 coco and whatever soil you use should not present a problem for wicking.
Good luck with your decision, and your grow.
