Watering Question

[BII]

I think with auto pots its supplying highly oxygenated water where as a top hand watering only gets whatever is suspended in the water already and whatever it can pull in on the way down through the surface. Also with good watering practices as the soil drys out, in a good draining medium as perlite dries out it traps oxygen in its pores and overwatering pretty much voids that out.
Since you probably have some kind of bubbler in your autopot res you arent really "suffocating" the rootzone

A good number of AutoPot users don't have some kind of bubbler in their AutoPot or even reservoir and do rather well. Some add bottom perlite layers with AutoPots claiming or presuming this helps prevent saturation. I've used AutoPots filled with coco/perlite without mechanical aeration or bottom perlite layers and not had problems, got good results, etc.

My point is that a wet bottom, particularly if not allowed to dry out, and dry top is only a problem if there are any related problems, such as if the bottom is simply too saturated or the plant has not adapted to bottom feeding.

 

[Cannaficionado]

A good number of AutoPot users don't have some kind of bubbler in their AutoPot or even reservoir and do rather well. Some add bottom perlite layers with AutoPots claiming or presuming this helps prevent saturation. I've used AutoPots filled with coco/perlite without mechanical aeration or bottom perlite layers and not had problems, got good results, etc.

My point is that a wet bottom, particularly if not allowed to dry out, and dry top is only a problem if there are any related problems, such as if the bottom is simply too saturated or the plant has not adapted to bottom feeding.

I was unaware I figured everyone adds some kind of aeration to their res

 

[Hog_M@Gundy]

 

[BigB6]

Interesting, it seems like very little watering but I suppose he's talking about plastic pots. No wonder my previous pot plants suffered. 11 litre containers and I'm watering 2 litres every 2-3 days. Double what he suggested and I had issues. I really need to get my shit together regards watering, never mastered it since I began. Always looked for alternative solutions such as autopot or fabric pots. Plastic is the way to go, less humidity in the tent, easier to move around and clean and no difference in yield just need to click this watering malarkey.

 

[BigB6]

A good number of AutoPot users don't have some kind of bubbler in their AutoPot or even reservoir and do rather well. Some add bottom perlite layers with AutoPots claiming or presuming this helps prevent saturation. I've used AutoPots filled with coco/perlite without mechanical aeration or bottom perlite layers and not had problems, got good results, etc.

My point is that a wet bottom, particularly if not allowed to dry out, and dry top is only a problem if there are any related problems, such as if the bottom is simply too saturated or the plant has not adapted to bottom feeding.

I loved autopot until I started getting leaks then got bacteria in the trays then huge pH swings also in the trays. I kept my equipment clean but didn't matter, that bacteria infection did it for me, it all got dumped after that.

 

[BII]

I loved autopot until I started getting leaks then got bacteria in the trays then huge pH swings also in the trays. I kept my equipment clean but didn't matter, that bacteria infection did it for me, it all got dumped after that.

You apparently were feeding too much organic vs. just inorganic (salts) nutrients. Bacteria, unlike plants, need external supply of organic compounds, and will not live in nutrient salts alone. For ex., basal (most basic, minimal nutrients) bacterial (and other microbial) culture media contain a variety of organic amino acids, glucose and vitamins. Perhaps, your base nutes, or more likely supplements, provided too much organic, microbial-metabolizable nutrients; and/or dead root breakdown and any other soluble organics exuded by the plant somehow got wicked or washed downwards into the feed reservoir.