@MediScrogs , been meaning to ask about the reservoirs you have your pots in.
Are they purpose made for growing?
Name of product, informational link?
Thankee
Sure, man. They're called Octopot system. You get the reservoir, the fiber grow sleeve, and a "wick" that is the base of the grow sleeve. If you go to Octopot website or youtube, you can see more info about them...the wick is essentially like a 4" net pot, it sets on the bottom of the reservoir and is filled with your grow medium. It absorbs the water in the rez and wicks it up into the medium in the grow sleeve.
I mostly like them, but they're expensive. A handy DIY dude could whip up a similar concept for less. The wick principle works good though, so long as you have enough aeration in the medium (perlite).
In this sense, the priciple is the same as Autopots which have a subforum on AFN now. Autopots actually cost less, but is a connected set of planters--I wanted the ability to have each unit independent so I can move them in or outdoors at will, etc.. I guess I was willing to pay more for the flexibility to move them around.
As I said though, the principle is very simple so there's options to design a DIY planter for yourself. Also, a company called Earthbox makes planters like this with wicks sitting in the res. Look for them on the net, their planters are actually way more affordable, only problem for me being that the sizes were odd and don't really fit a 2x4 tent very well. (Something like 11"x29" ...?) Why didn't they use 24" to make an even, scalable size?
A shallower model they make would be cool for autos, but the res is not very big, so you have to add water everyday...and that was the other big draw for me, to auto-water, as work takes me out of town for a couple days at a time, so it's a critical need I have, and the ones I have solved that problem, but yeah, like $60 per planter, very expensive. If you are good with DIY, I'm sure you can build versions for much much less....
