Grow Mediums Help me decide on AutoPot setup

[pop22]

I've been running a soil/coco mix, 2/3 soil, 1/3 coco and it has worked great with Megacrop! Evertime I've ever grown with nutrients and coco, I've had issues. For three grows in a row,=now, I've not had one nutrient related issue. I attribute that to the soil as well as the mega. Also, you can feed less, ie lower ppm/ec as soil retains nutrients much better than coco. The coco give it air and water retention. I'm thinking it may be the best of both worlds!

Oh and I don't change out the mix, I now just cut out the stump and plant in the hole! That's how these grew:

They recommend upping the dose every week which actually works with their product during veg. It’s only during bloom that you need to read your plants and adjust accordingly. i only put in enough solution in my reservoir for a week at a time unless I’m going to be out of town for longer. I’m normall start out with 15 liters and see how it goes. This makes it easy to adjust dose weekly. This is the first nutrients I have used that you can feed at their recommended dosage instead of starting at a 1/4 of what some other companies recommend.

If you are going to be using coco, I recommend pretreating it with some form of cal/mag. I’m going to be trying some dolomite lime mixed in my coco next run.

 

[Hashash]

I've been running a soil/coco mix, 2/3 soil, 1/3 coco and it has worked great with Megacrop! Evertime I've ever grown with nutrients and coco, I've had issues. For three grows in a row,=now, I've not had one nutrient related issue. I attribute that to the soil as well as the mega. Also, you can feed less, ie lower ppm/ec as soil retains nutrients much better than coco. The coco give it air and water retention. I'm thinking it may be the best of both worlds!

Oh and I don't change out the mix, I now just cut out the stump and plant in the hole! That's how these grew:


View attachment 913025

What type soil do you mix with coco

 

[BII]

Thank you so much. I’m going to make the order for the AutoPot 4pot 15L pits with 47 res with 4x air domes and one pump. What size a air pump do you use? How long do you run it for? And could you briefly describe the spare parts I should have as backup so I have a quick fix in the event something was to go wrong? Great advice above. I will be attending to my system on daily basis. Also, I read a lot online on CFM based on lights, space. I’m thinking to get a 6 inch duct fan in the 400CFM range. Please advise if that’s an acceptable size. I wonder if I should get one with a speed controller and humidity controller to have it kick in once the humidity is at a certain level. Planning to use the fan with a carbon filter hung at the top of the tent with two oscillating fans and a small dehumidifier to use during flower season

I my view, your tent exhaust fan should run based on temperature. Consider using a standard electrical outlet digital thermostat, such as I use a Lux WIN100, with this controlling your exhaust fan. For a fan, I use the 6" Can Fan Pro Series 420 CFM fan with 3 speed/output settings (well-built, quiet even after 3.5 years; the top-of-the-line from the largest fan co., plus it can be found discounted cheaper than its competitors). Between the two, including me setting the thermostat to turn the fan on/off when just 1˚F above and below my target temperature, there is continual off-on cycling, and it's easy to manage the tent ventilation.

 

[Hashash]

I my view, your tent exhaust fan should run based on temperature. Consider using a standard electrical outlet digital thermostat, such as I use a Lux WIN100, with this controlling your exhaust fan. For a fan, I use the 6" Can Fan Pro Series 420 CFM fan with 3 speed/output settings (well-built, quiet even after 3.5 years; the top-of-the-line from the largest fan co., plus it can be found discounted cheaper than its competitors). Between the two, including me setting the thermostat to turn the fan on/off when just 1˚F above and below my target temperature, there is continual off-on cycling, and it's easy to manage the tent ventilation.

Cool thx. What carbon filter do you use with it to eliminate odors?

 

[BII]

Cool thx. What carbon filter do you use with it to eliminate odors?

I just use any standard major brand, well reviewed filter that has been around a while, is known to work as expected. The field is rather competitive. Depending on where you are, delivery costs and convenience (such as buying locally or getting free shipping) could determine your choices.

 

[lunarman]

Thank you so much. I’m going to make the order for the AutoPot 4pot 15L pits with 47 res with 4x air domes and one pump. What size a air pump do you use? How long do you run it for? And could you briefly describe the spare parts I should have as backup so I have a quick fix in the event something was to go wrong? Great advice above. I will be attending to my system on daily basis. Also, I read a lot online on CFM based on lights, space. I’m thinking to get a 6 inch duct fan in the 400CFM range. Please advise if that’s an acceptable size. I wonder if I should get one with a speed controller and humidity controller to have it kick in once the humidity is at a certain level. Planning to use the fan with a carbon filter hung at the top of the tent with two oscillating fans and a small dehumidifier to use during flower season

Run airdomes 24x7 starting around day 15. I don't have a lot of experience so I can't really say too much other than I think the more air the better for the domes. I think some people feel airdomes dont work because they have small air pumps. You can find this pump on amazon. Hydrofarm AAPA110L 112-Watt 110-LPM Active Aqua Commercial Air Pump. I use it for 4 to 6 pots with domes and I can tell you the higher volume of air flow isn't hurting anything. I would think that more is better in a case like this. When I chop and then look at the roots and the dome its so dense I think you have to have some higher air volume to really be effective. And there are a some good growers that have said more LPM is better so I go with that they say.

I can't help on CFMs. I have big inline fans in and out in an 8x8 ft tent and use speed controllers to tune the environment and input more out exhaust more based on the outside environment (garage). If you don't know about VPD, you should check it out and seriously consider trying to make your environment (temp, RH) fall in the ideal sweet spot for good VPD values. And also its really important to have good circulating air flow especially if you're running above 50% RH and following ideal VPD. I like oscillating fans if you have the room.

Autopot spare parts. I would order an entire extra aquavalve. Or just the silicon bits. Also filters for the res. And the copper clad root control disks. And have extra black tubing for the irrigation lines. Like 20 feet of it. After that it's more personal preference. You'll buy extra fittings etc as you find out how you like to do things.

 

[HemiSync]

Sorry @Hashash, Don’t mean to hijack your thread but I just had a Eureka moment that might benefit you too.

I've been running a soil/coco mix, 2/3 soil, 1/3 coco and it has worked great with Megacrop! Evertime I've ever grown with nutrients and coco, I've had issues. For three grows in a row,=now, I've not had one nutrient related issue. I attribute that to the soil as well as the mega. Also, you can feed less, ie lower ppm/ec as soil retains nutrients much better than coco. The coco give it air and water retention. I'm thinking it may be the best of both worlds!

Oh and I don't change out the mix, I now just cut out the stump and plant in the hole! That's how these grew:


View attachment 913025

OMG, thank you so much. I have been fighting these damn weird deficiencies since I switched to coco on BioTabs, AN, and now MC. This grow, with the one plant being in soil, I see the difference so much it hurts. I was actually considering all soil next grow.

Check it out. The only change to this photo is I enlarged the plant in the background for a better comparison to the one in the foreground. The plants in the background is also smaller that’s because she’s in a 1 gallon pot in soil and perlite, which is sitting inside the autopot tray being fed the same thing the other plants are being fed. She looks 100 times better than the others. Also her main cola while small is rock hard compared to her sisters and I have done nothing to her the whole grow.

So thanks again for confirming what I was quickly coming to realize. Soil next time, I’m thinking either or on the perlite/coco addition. The are basically doing the same thing.

 

[lunarman]

Sorry @Hashash, Don’t mean to hijack your thread but I just had a Eureka moment that might benefit you too.


OMG, thank you so much. I have been fighting these damn weird deficiencies since I switched to coco on BioTabs, AN, and now MC. This grow, with the one plant being in soil, I see the difference so much it hurts. I was actually considering all soil next grow.

Check it out. The only change to this photo is I enlarged the plant in the background for a better comparison to the one in the foreground. The plants in the background is also smaller that’s because she’s in a 1 gallon pot in soil and perlite, which is sitting inside the autopot tray being fed the same thing the other plants are being fed. She looks 100 times better than the others. Also her main cola while small is rock hard compared to her sisters and I have done nothing to her the whole grow.
View attachment 913122

So thanks again for confirming what I was quickly coming to realize. Soil next time, I’m thinking either or on the perlite/coco addition. The are basically doing the same thing.

interesting. i grow better now that i dont do so much coco. i now blend coco and perlite and hp pro mix and biochar. im afraid of soil because i associate it with bugs. but i know i can add in crushed mosquito dunks and DE to prevent fungus gnats. i am going to really consider adding some soil to my recipe next grow.

 

[HemiSync]

interesting. i grow better now that i dont do so much coco. i now blend coco and perlite and hp pro mix and biochar. im afraid of soil because i associate it with bugs. but i know i can add in crushed mosquito dunks and DE to prevent fungus gnats. i am going to really consider adding some soil to my recipe next grow.

I use a layer of diatomaceous earth on top of the pot of soil and that usually kills off any creepy crawlies that tries to go thru it.

 

[IzzyTheGrower]

interesting. i grow better now that i dont do so much coco. i now blend coco and perlite and hp pro mix and biochar. im afraid of soil because i associate it with bugs. but i know i can add in crushed mosquito dunks and DE to prevent fungus gnats. i am going to really consider adding some soil to my recipe next grow.

Hmmmmm i may need to switch it up too, been having hell with my current run straight coco

I'd love to try out a mix of nectar for the gods [HASHTAG]#4[/HASHTAG] soil and coco in autopots with MC

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