Indoor First Coco/Autopots Run

[olegren]

Well, here we go. :smoking:

I had my heart set on shifting from soil & bottled nutes to a totally organic grow. I'm still working on it, but that is going to take some time to get going with all the nuances of building a good soil. In the meanwhile, I'm home all the damn time, and the tent is empty.

I purchased a set of fabric Autopots (SpringPot) a few months ago. So I busted them out, soaked & buffered a coco brick, and germinated some seeds.

The details:

Seeds: Mephisto Double Grape (x1) and Mephisto Strawberry Nuggets (x1)
Medium: Mother Earth Coco (Compressed) -- I hydrated, screened, and double buffered (Two 8-12 hour soaks) in cal mag solution before mixing 70% to 30% Espoma Perilite.
Container: AutoPot/SpringPot fabric 5gal totes
Nutrients: Prescription Blend
Light: HLG 260W V1 QB @ 3000K (24/0 for extra heat -- Will seek to shift to 18/6 or 20/4 once I can start running light hotter)
Water: RO (Bought a system finally) - Administered by hand initially. Will activate AutoPot reservoir somewhere around 20 days in.

I'm trying a lot of new things this grow.

First, the obvious: I've never messed with coco or a self-watering system. I see all kinds of people having trouble with coco. But I also see all kinds of grow reports from people using coco with autopots and achieving amazing results. Taking hand watering out of the equation surely removes a lot of variables (not to mention the time investment), and I've always been intrigued by the benefits of coco. So we'll see what happens.

Until I activate those autopots, I'll water by hand daily to about 20% runoff. I'll check PPM of that runoff to keep tabs on conditions through those first couple weeks. Once the autopots are turned on, I'm hoping I just have to make sure I'm providing input in the right ranges and reap the rewards. I will ramp up feed slow, starting at 25-50% of vendor recommended doses and incrementing carefully.

Last but not least, I'm skipping a transplant this time. I used to plant a seed directly into moist soil in a solo cup; then transplant to a 3gal pot once the leaves' tips hit the edges of the cup. That didn't seem as simple with coco, and I wanted to skip the day or two lull brought on by transplant. So I picked up some Root Riot cubes and gave them a shot.

Germination:
As mentioned, this was my first experience with root riot cubes or any kind of plug. I bought them at a local hydro store and had them stored in some plastic baggies to keep moist. (Dude opened a bag and sold me 6 of them so I didn't have to buy a bag of 50) I hydrated two of them with some distilled water for about 4 hours, then set them into a little 6-pack seedling tray on a larger tray -- and set all that on the heat mat. I pulled both seeds directly from storage in the fridge and dropped them into the plugs. It was fairly un-scientific. Covered them with little plastic domes and left them alone in a dark room in the house. A couple times, when they felt like the plugs were drying, I sat them in a shallow pool of RO water for an hour or two.

Growth seemed at least on par with a direct germination in soil; which is the only thing I've ever really done with any degree of success. Between day 2 and 3, the Strawberry seed head was poking out the top. A few hours later, the tap root for Grape came out through the top. Carefully dug around in there and was delighted to find that the seed head was very close; just blocked by a tougher patch of the plug. It's like it took a sideways turn right below the surface. I tore that path off, and it popped right out.

Even better: When I pulled the plug out to do the aforementioned digging, I found that tap roots were emerging from the bottom of both plugs already. So I plugged them into their mixed final pots and set them under my light at max height (~29") on minimum dimness. That was two days ago.

Day 1:
Tough to say much at this early stage. Both plugs have been in coco for about 2 days now, and I am seeing a bit more activity above ground in the last 24 hours. Temps were a little low that first day; drifting as low as mid 60's. I made some adjustments (including adding the heat mat) -- and incorporated the wet towel/bucket of water trick for extra humidity. Averages for last 24 hours are 72.4F and 55.4% RH.

Both were still shedding their shells yesterday, but today both cotys are open and I see a tiny set of true leaves on each. That extra warmth is definitely helping.

Last night, I gave both a very light watering around the plugs -- kind of like I would normally do with soil. But, after some more reading, I gave them a thorough watering (Roughly 1 gal each) with a sprayer to about 25% runoff. Just RO water with a minimal dose of seedling nutrients to about 60ppm. PPM coming out was about 200 higher, and given the buffering I think I'm OK with that. I'm chasing some issues with my BlueLab pH pen, but I'm confident what's going in is around 5.9pH.

Gonna give 'em a few days, but will update with more (and some photos) once things get a little more interesting. For now, here they are being sassy:



Cheers!

 

[Daipot]

Autopots are the easiest growing method there is man. So easy to use. Personally I’d veg in in a smaller pot the transplant but as your growing auto flowers I wouldn’t bother. There’s an abundance of threads here with autopots of you get stuck too.

good luck grow bro! You‘ve chosen the best growing method there is!!!

 

[olegren]

Autopots are the easiest growing method there is man. So easy to use. Personally I’d veg in in a smaller pot the transplant but as your growing auto flowers I wouldn’t bother. There’s an abundance of threads here with autopots of you get stuck too.

good luck grow bro! You‘ve chosen the best growing method there is!!!

Thank you! @blue absolutely sold me on Autopots being solid for the grower whose time is always on a budget. So many of the diaries I've read show stellar results for what seems like less effort than I'm spending on my soil grows. I'm sure I'll find a way to create some issues, but super excited to be taking these things for a spin.

In retrospect, I wish I had read more about starting in a smaller pot (e.g. solo cup) with coco. I didn't want to mix soil and coco even for a plug, and what little I messed with the coco made me think there was no way a transplant would work unless I did a DIY sort of plug with a cut-apart cup. I still can't get over how quickly it dries and how light/fluffy it is when dry. Lessons learned for next time.

 

[Daipot]

Thank you! @blue absolutely sold me on Autopots being solid for the grower whose time is always on a budget. So many of the diaries I've read show stellar results for what seems like less effort than I'm spending on my soil grows. I'm sure I'll find a way to create some issues, but super excited to be taking these things for a spin.

In retrospect, I wish I had read more about starting in a smaller pot (e.g. solo cup) with coco. I didn't want to mix soil and coco even for a plug, and what little I messed with the coco made me think there was no way a transplant would work unless I did a DIY sort of plug with a cut-apart cup. I still can't get over how quickly it dries and how light/fluffy it is when dry. Lessons learned for next time.

Mixing soil with coco will do no harm. But now your in the coco club. It’s virtually impossible too fuck up a coco grow. I’m a hydro grower these day but I’ve served my time in coco autopots. If you get stuck just drop me a tag and I’ll help ya out mate.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Thank you! @blue absolutely sold me on Autopots being solid for the grower whose time is always on a budget. So many of the diaries I've read show stellar results for what seems like less effort than I'm spending on my soil grows. I'm sure I'll find a way to create some issues, but super excited to be taking these things for a spin.

In retrospect, I wish I had read more about starting in a smaller pot (e.g. solo cup) with coco. I didn't want to mix soil and coco even for a plug, and what little I messed with the coco made me think there was no way a transplant would work unless I did a DIY sort of plug with a cut-apart cup. I still can't get over how quickly it dries and how light/fluffy it is when dry. Lessons learned for next time.

Use A-ok 1.5 inch rock wool starter cubes right in the coco then a seed. Easy peasy.

 

[olegren]

3 weeks later, things are moving along. I hit a few glitches early on, but I think recovery is well underway, and this grow almost seems on par (at least from a timeline perspective) with previous grows.

Some of the issues encountered:

• Autopot setup. This one was kind of silly, but Autopot shipped me a reservoir without the hole drilled. I checked with them, and they were quick to resolve by sending a new one. (I could've drilled my own hole -- I know -- but I didn't want to go out and buy another bit since I explicitly bought this kit so I couldn't DIY and screw something up) Anyway, new one came, but the hole wasn't big enough. So I had to buy a bit anyway. Frustrating as that was, these guys were super cool about following up and making things right. Very responsive customer service.
• Slow growth. Multiple (hypothetical) causes on this one:
  • Cool temps. Winter hit pretty fast in my area, and I can tell that slowed things down. I kept toggling light schedules a bit but ultimately landed on 24/7 just to keep ambient temps above 70.
  • Poor watering. I was waiting to activate the autopots and watering by hand. People always say not to let coco dry out, but I definitely was. Or at least I was letting it feel about as dry as soil does on top before re-watering. Figuring this out a few days in probably saved the day, as they seemed to do a lot better once I got into a routine of daily watering to runoff.
  • Planting straight into final pots. I don't think this is inherently bad, but there was more time spent up front establishing roots than I would've seen if they started in solo cups. This created the illusion of slow growth.
• Deficiency. In conjunction with not watering enough, I think they were starving. I saw some of those telltale calcium deficiency spots early on. I think I was feeding too conservatively, as they were only getting halved seedling doses for about 2 weeks. (1ml/gal of Core A & Core B) In retrospect, I should've switched to veg doses a fair bit earlier I think.

Anyway, once I got this stuff sorted out, they seemed to start doing a lot better. I'm loving the autopot res. I just focus on keeping a good ppm in there, monitoring plants for reaction (I give them a couple days), and then incrementing a little.

I'm up to about 250 ppm in the res right now, and signs of deficiency on new growth are nonexistent. pH is right on at 5.8.

Average conditions for the last week are 73.9F & 48.1% RH. Been running a heater in the lung room to keep it from getting too chilly at night, and the towel + water bucket is keeping my RH within acceptable limits.

A few photo updates. Today is day 21. I'm looking hard at that fifth node on top of each, and if I don't see signs of pistils tomorrow I think I'll probably top both. I was very worried about stunting, but they seem much healthier now.

 

[WildBill]

Question for those in the know about coco, can adding a little powdered yucca help with drying out on the transition into auto watering or just a good thing to do in a coco grow. Just looking for info to store, not that I'll ever grow in the stuff.

 

[Olderfart]

Question for those in the know about coco, can adding a little powdered yucca help with drying out on the transition into auto watering or just a good thing to do in a coco grow. Just looking for info to store, not that I'll ever grow in the stuff.

You bet it can, I add it to my mix as a matter of routine right from day 1. Very little is required, so it last a heck of a long time. As far as I know, it can do no harm, and it may well avoid any drying areas within your medium. Any portion of the root mass area that actually dries out can kill roots and cause mischief later as the dead stuff rots. I am also using it in my current peat based grow.

In my books, yucca is cheap insurance.

 

[WildBill]

You bet it can, I add it to my mix as a matter of routine right from day 1. Very little is required, so it last a heck of a long time. As far as I know, it can do no harm, and it may well avoid any drying areas within your medium. Any portion of the root mass area that actually dries out can kill roots and cause mischief later as the dead stuff rots. I am also using it in my current peat based grow.

In my books, yucca is cheap insurance.

I might some day use just coco and MC some day just to add it to my canna skills.

 

[St. Tom]

Looking good bro I've grown with autopots since about 2017 they can bring some superb results my only advice is looking at your girls I would be adding calmag to your feeds also maybe next time I always start mine girls in solo cups I find it gives them a great start