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- What I got...
First off I don’t have much respect for ilgm just my opinion.. I have done it my self with no issues because @Olderfart told me he hadn’t seen a difference in either way.. Bottom line is with growing your going to find what ever answer you are looking for “confirmation bias”
I now use the peat pellets all the time. I have tried direct planting, and for me it has not done as well, early growth seems to suffer a bit due to the difficulty of getting watering right, at least it has for me. Other peeps here seem to make direct planting work, but I seem to get a better early start with the pellets than I have starting in larger containers. Keep in mind that there is a big difference between photos and autos. With photos, a slow initial start is not a problem, with autos running down the clock with early issues can be a big deal.
I have used the pellets with and without trying to remove the mesh, either entirely or just the bottom, but it does not seem to make much difference, roots that penetrate the mesh do not seem to be deterred or constricted when I check the root ball later.
The peat pellets need to be planted pretty quickly, but for me it seems that the couple day kick start gets them going nicely and consistently. I have heard others complain about pH with the pellets, but I have never seen an issue with it. I like the pellets because they are easily available and cheap locally. The rapid rooters and the like which are sold wet have too many issues for me, and are stupid expensive by comparison. Bottom line is that the pellets are cheap, readily available, and work as well or better than anything else I have tried. The one improvement on them that I might consider is making my own with some sort of paper or other organic "mesh" on the outside, but so far, I have not bothered. I also don't bother with intermediate potting up, as soon as the the tap root emerges, I plant the pellet in the final pot. Again, with photos, potting up might make sense, but with autos, IMO, perhaps not so much.
The fabric pots work really well, there is no need to try anything else with the autovalves IMO. I roll mine down to about 3 imperial gallons. With coco or soil and salt nutes, you do not need the full size pots. With soil and water only, you need larger. One of these days, Autopots will come up with a larger tray for 10 gallon containers just for the water only crew, but so far if you want larger tray, you have to make your own.
Good luck with it, the autovalve/autopot kit can work really well if you can stay on top of the nutes.