Grow Mediums Promix w/autopots questions

[Zer0]

So after google searching people using autopots and promix, i still don't know a lot.. as everyone pushes coco in your face with ratios of perlite, coco w/autopots is easy to research with tons of info so lets just stick to promix here if we can please as i can just google search or search here for coco related questions.

Reason for using promix: canna coco bricks are $30 a 40L brick online, sure.. it says $12.50 a brick but shipping on every site is $15-20, hell even amazon sells bricks for $30 so no, fuck no lol

I have 2 cubes of promix organics in my garage and a bunch of hydroton so i like to use what i have on hand instead of trying to source expensive coco, i did find a local shop selling 50L bags of canna coco for $25+tax but its 45 min drive away... see the trend here yet? i tried.

Onward, i have 1 XL plastic autopot system and i have 2 more springpot XL autopots coming this way next week and i'm trying to plan out how to make promix work without having PH issues, i have read on old posts that i should add lime to my promix but that was very old threads and i wonder if promix has since upped the lime and making ph not a issue?

I don't really want to use air stones as they are loud and don't care to hear it but i would consider using them if i can put them on the light timer without having issues, but should i use air stones? do i use hydroton, just enough to bury the airstone or should i just bury the airstone in promix and call it a day? i see people saying airstones is not needed for springpots but the plastic pots might need them, dunno i see people say they used them and tried a run without them and seen no difference so saving power bill vs 1% better/more bud? no clue.

I will be using mega cropv3, bud explosion, cal/mag, and epson salt but the question i have is what ph do i want to be at the res? i was thinking 5.8 ph was the number i wanted but seeing limited promix autopot grows i get DTW guys info or top feeders ph, which if its all the same, cool, but i would rather be worried and ask ahead of time so i don't run into ph issues.

Can't think of anything else but this should be enough to fill in my blank spots with what i need to know.

Thanks in advance for the learning i'm about to receive :smoking:

 

[DCLXVI]

I am quite interested in how the spring pots work for you.

 

[Olderfart]

So after google searching people using autopots and promix, i still don't know a lot.. as everyone pushes coco in your face with ratios of perlite, coco w/autopots is easy to research with tons of info so lets just stick to promix here if we can please as i can just google search or search here for coco related questions.

Reason for using promix: canna coco bricks are $30 a 40L brick online, sure.. it says $12.50 a brick but shipping on every site is $15-20, hell even amazon sells bricks for $30 so no, fuck no lol

I have 2 cubes of promix organics in my garage and a bunch of hydroton so i like to use what i have on hand instead of trying to source expensive coco, i did find a local shop selling 50L bags of canna coco for $25+tax but its 45 min drive away... see the trend here yet? i tried.

Onward, i have 1 XL plastic autopot system and i have 2 more springpot XL autopots coming this way next week and i'm trying to plan out how to make promix work without having PH issues, i have read on old posts that i should add lime to my promix but that was very old threads and i wonder if promix has since upped the lime and making ph not a issue?

I don't really want to use air stones as they are loud and don't care to hear it but i would consider using them if i can put them on the light timer without having issues, but should i use air stones? do i use hydroton, just enough to bury the airstone or should i just bury the airstone in promix and call it a day? i see people saying airstones is not needed for springpots but the plastic pots might need them, dunno i see people say they used them and tried a run without them and seen no difference so saving power bill vs 1% better/more bud? no clue.

I will be using mega cropv3, bud explosion, cal/mag, and epson salt but the question i have is what ph do i want to be at the res? i was thinking 5.8 ph was the number i wanted but seeing limited promix autopot grows i get DTW guys info or top feeders ph, which if its all the same, cool, but i would rather be worried and ask ahead of time so i don't run into ph issues.

Can't think of anything else but this should be enough to fill in my blank spots with what i need to know.

Thanks in advance for the learning i'm about to receive :smoking:

I have grown in DIY SIPs with Promix HP Myco, and in autopots with Sunshine #4 mix which is more or less similar stuff. I added lime to neither, they both are already limed. Having said that, I do not know whether the level of liming is ideal for MJ. If anything though, I suspect it can be overlimed rather than the opposite. I had issues with my SS#4 grow that I suspected might be pH, but when I did a slurry test with the same batch of fresh SS#4, the pH was pretty close to neutral, a long way from too acidic - likely a bit higher than ideal for cannabis. I never tested the Promix the same way, but I did not run into issues in the grow either - other than the damn gnats, mold, and slugs.

Bottom line, I would not add lime to Promix unless you test it and determine that your pH is too low, which is unlikely in my experience. If I were you, I would maybe mix hydroton throughout your mix, but don't put a layer in the bottom of the pot. Autopots irrigate from the bottom and depend on moisture wicking upwards through the bottom inch or so into the rest of the medium. A layer of straight coarse material in the bottom will not wick as well, and could be a bad idea. I don't use hydroton, so I can't offer experience there, but I know that one of the gurus on this site grows with a mix of hydroton and coco, so I suspect that some mixed into your Promix should work fine. Hydroton may actually wick itself, but I do not know how much and would not depend on it myself. Mixed with your Promix, it should allow excellent wicking regardless of how much wicks through the hydroton itself.

As for the pH of your reservoir, I shoot for ~5.8-6.0. Keep in mind that promix is soil-less, it is not soil. Maybe not quite as far down the hydroponics rabbit hole as coco, but a fair way in that direction. Promix actually puts out a pdf on their product that describes pH requirements. I had a copy at one point, but no longer. I am sure that you can find it online. OTOH, MJ is not an average crop, so you need to take generalized recommendations with care.

I do not use air stones and do not recommend them. At least in the media I have used in the xl fabric pots in my autopot trays, they are not necessary. If you are using regular Promix rather than the HP stuff, your hydroton should add a bit of aeration if you do not want to buy perlite. With the HP stuff, you would probably be safe using it straight without hydroton. I think there are a few growers here who use straight Promix HP, but I can't recall who. I added some perlite to my SIP grow with Promix HP, but the perlite may not have been necessary.

Good luck with it.

 

[Zer0]

I have grown in DIY SIPs with Promix HP Myco, and in autopots with Sunshine #4 mix which is more or less similar stuff. I added lime to neither, they both are already limed. Having said that, I do not know whether the level of liming is ideal for MJ. If anything though, I suspect it can be overlimed rather than the opposite. I had issues with my SS#4 grow that I suspected might be pH, but when I did a slurry test with the same batch of fresh SS#4, the pH was pretty close to neutral, a long way from too acidic - likely a bit higher than ideal for cannabis. I never tested the Promix the same way, but I did not run into issues in the grow either - other than the damn gnats, mold, and slugs.

Bottom line, I would not add lime to Promix unless you test it and determine that your pH is too low, which is unlikely in my experience. If I were you, I would maybe mix hydroton throughout your mix, but don't put a layer in the bottom of the pot. Autopots irrigate from the bottom and depend on moisture wicking upwards through the bottom inch or so into the rest of the medium. A layer of straight coarse material in the bottom will not wick as well, and could be a bad idea. I don't use hydroton, so I can't offer experience there, but I know that one of the gurus on this site grows with a mix of hydroton and coco, so I suspect that some mixed into your Promix should work fine. Hydroton may actually wick itself, but I do not know how much and would not depend on it myself. Mixed with your Promix, it should allow excellent wicking regardless of how much wicks through the hydroton itself.

As for the pH of your reservoir, I shoot for ~5.8-6.0. Keep in mind that promix is soil-less, it is not soil. Maybe not quite as far down the hydroponics rabbit hole as coco, but a fair way in that direction. Promix actually puts out a pdf on their product that describes pH requirements. I had a copy at one point, but no longer. I am sure that you can find it online. OTOH, MJ is not an average crop, so you need to take generalized recommendations with care.

I do not use air stones and do not recommend them. At least in the media I have used in the xl fabric pots in my autopot trays, they are not necessary. If you are using regular Promix rather than the HP stuff, your hydroton should add a bit of aeration if you do not want to buy perlite. With the HP stuff, you would probably be safe using it straight without hydroton. I think there are a few growers here who use straight Promix HP, but I can't recall who. I added some perlite to my SIP grow with Promix HP, but the perlite may not have been necessary.

Good luck with it.

I'm dropping my beanz now , you have convinced me to mix my promix organic with the hydroton and no air stones as they are just an extra pain in the ass waiting to piss me off.

Thank you so much for helping me decide how to do this. I'm going to add the single plastic xl autopot in with my 4x4 sips as i am pressed for space so you will get to see the experiment work or fail lol. thanks again @Olderfart

 

[Zer0]

I am quite interested in how the spring pots work for you.

same here but i will need to wait for space unless i can stuff a xl tray and spring pot in my 2.3x2.3 with the big ass sip in there lol we shall see soon

 

[Olderfart]

I'm dropping my beanz now , you have convinced me to mix my promix organic with the hydroton and no air stones as they are just an extra pain in the ass waiting to piss me off.

Thank you so much for helping me decide how to do this. I'm going to add the single plastic xl autopot in with my 4x4 sips as i am pressed for space so you will get to see the experiment work or fail lol. thanks again @Olderfart




View attachment 1362901

You are welcome mate, I hope the grow goes really well for you.
I mentioned in an earlier version of this reply that your Promix medium may have organic nutes in it, but I had a look at the product description, and it seems that it does not. Consequently, you will need to start with dilute feed either from the beginning, or not long thereafter.

Break it up well when you mix in the hydroton, and make sure that you moisten it throughout as you put it in your pots. If you keep your nutes under control, that stuff will grow monsters for you.

Good luck with the grow!

 

[Zer0]

You are welcome mate, I hope the grow goes really well for you.
I mentioned in an earlier version of this reply that your Promix medium may have organic nutes in it, but I had a look at the product description, and it seems that it does not. Consequently, you will need to start with dilute feed either from the beginning, or not long thereafter.

Break it up well when you mix in the hydroton, and make sure that you moisten it throughout as you put it in your pots. If you keep your nutes under control, that stuff will grow monsters for you.

Good luck with the grow!

Just seeing this as i just woke up but i did mix the promix and hydroton before i went to bed and planted the seed. i broke up about 1/3 bottom of promix and then added a lot of hydroton and sprayed it down and repeated until the pot was full, at the end i sprayed some more totaling 3 liters of rain water only. when the seed pops i'll start feeding 200ppm of megacrop until she can handle a big girl feeding then around day 15-20 i'll turn on the res.

 

[Cave Dirt Cody]

I’ve used sunshine mix and pro mix hp on many grows without any ph problems. The lime should be good for two or three month.
How much you feed will be totally different. The pro mix a good feeding/watering once a week to every three days. where the coco would be once or even twice a day. The two mediums are nothing alike and is like comparing apples to oranges.
coco is good(more air) promix is good (holds more water and nutrients. Pro mix is easy to overwater where coco from what I’ve seen overwatering isn’t possible.
I could go on and on. But I’m going to get high.

 

[Olderfart]

Just seeing this as i just woke up but i did mix the promix and hydroton before i went to bed and planted the seed. i broke up about 1/3 bottom of promix and then added a lot of hydroton and sprayed it down and repeated until the pot was full, at the end i sprayed some more totaling 3 liters of rain water only. when the seed pops i'll start feeding 200ppm of megacrop until she can handle a big girl feeding then around day 15-20 i'll turn on the res.

View attachment 1363215View attachment 1363216

Plants look great, and the plan sounds good. Good luck with the new girl!

 

[Zer0]

Oh i forgot to mention that i did rinse the hell out of my hydroton clay balls, i put all the clay balls in the empty plastic XL autopot and went to the sink and sprayed steaming hot water down on them until the water ran clear, it started off very red and was dusty before wetting so i thought i would add this info in case anyone came here reading this and wanted to try out the process.