Ajbazzer26
420 Member
Hi new here but I set my auto pots up and bottom is moist top quite dry do I water them through from top and also do feminised seeds bud like auto
Auto pot help
- Thread starter Ajbazzer26
- Start date
Hey 26,
I’m going to ask @Azimuth to stop by. Not sure if he does auto-pots in his garden but either he or one of his SIP crew will know
are you germinating the seed beforehand or are you sowing the seed directly in soil inside the autopot?
not sure what you mean by 2nd part of your question…. do feminized seeds bud like auto???
welcome aboard
I’m going to ask @Azimuth to stop by. Not sure if he does auto-pots in his garden but either he or one of his SIP crew will know
are you germinating the seed beforehand or are you sowing the seed directly in soil inside the autopot?
not sure what you mean by 2nd part of your question…. do feminized seeds bud like auto???
welcome aboard
Thanks for the tag, @013 . Don't know but @Buds Buddy or @LKABudMan might have the answer.
Feminized seeds mostly always produce feminized plants, but then it depends if you are growing autos or photoperiods. Autos are created by including a ruderalis type plant in the hybrid which flowers on a time basis not changing light schedules. Since ruderalis are usually smaller plants autos can often be smaller plants with smaller harvests. Plus with autos anything you do to stress them, like improper watering, will permanently stunt the plant, also leading to smaller harvests.
So, it's not really related to being feminized, but rather photo vs auto (generally).
When you first start your seeds you will have to water through the top just like with SIP Buckets. After a week - 10 days (probably 3 waterings) your soil should stay moist with the exception of an inch or two at the top. Not much difference between Auto Pots & SIPs other than the Air Gap. Put some kind of catch pan under those pots. Sometimes the floats stick & you'll empty your res onto the floor of your tent. That's why I don't use them anymore.
I do not grow hydroponically or use auto pots but do grow in a soil mix.
With that in mind I have played around with bottom watering methods a few times just to see what happens. Something I have noticed that relates to your question is that if the soil has gotten dry it can take days for moisture to wick from the bottom up to the top. But, if I pour a bit of water on the top it only takes a couple of hours to establish that wicking action.
My thoughts are that when top watering the water quickly works its way down to the bottom of the soil column. Once that happens as the soil at the top evaporates out it draws or pulls moisture from the bottom to the top and creates the constant wicking action as long as there is a source of water at the bottom.
If the auto pots or whatever bottom source of water runs dry then the process stops. The soil at the top starts to dry and the dry layer works its way deeper into the pot. I have used the bottom watering with a boost by putting some water from the top for saturating my outdoor pots of soil.
For your situation I would suggest giving it a try. Top water as an experiment and see what happens.
If I plan to add any fluids from the top, I make sure to turn off my incoming water/nutrients tubing. I have valves all over my setup. I'd like to be able to turn off individual AutoPots as well as having a master shutoff valve. I even have two valves surrounding an inline filter I added.
Sometimes I even go so far as to drain my AquaValve reservoirs. That way, anything I put up on top doesn't push the fluids in the AquaValve chamber to the point of overflowing.
The pump I bought is a simple type like you would use to empty a motorcycle fuel tank, etc. I'll include a picture of the one I bought from Amazon. I can't post the link, but you can search for it.
An example of why I would drain the valve compartments on the AutoPots is like when I want to put some Recharge into the Coco (soil). That water is going to go down and exceed the capacity of the AquaValve chamber (if left at its natural state).
Another idea, when I think ahead, I'll just shut off the master valve from the main reservoir at night when I go to bed and in the morning check to see if the pot and medium has sucked up what was in there last night. Usually that fluid is gone or mostly gone.
Then slowly add in waterever you want to pour on top and watch to make sure you don't spill over. If I keep it below the natural waterline I just turn on the main valve and let the valves come up to their natural limit. That way whatever you poured in and passed through still get back up in the soil.
Edited to Add: I cut the hose on the inlet (suck) side to about 6 - 8 inches and run the outlet hose to a bucket or anything else that will hold the water. If that is not too nasty, I pour it through a filter and then EC test and pH test it. If nothing needs to be changed, I just dump that back in to the main reservoir.
Sometimes I even go so far as to drain my AquaValve reservoirs. That way, anything I put up on top doesn't push the fluids in the AquaValve chamber to the point of overflowing.
The pump I bought is a simple type like you would use to empty a motorcycle fuel tank, etc. I'll include a picture of the one I bought from Amazon. I can't post the link, but you can search for it.
An example of why I would drain the valve compartments on the AutoPots is like when I want to put some Recharge into the Coco (soil). That water is going to go down and exceed the capacity of the AquaValve chamber (if left at its natural state).
Another idea, when I think ahead, I'll just shut off the master valve from the main reservoir at night when I go to bed and in the morning check to see if the pot and medium has sucked up what was in there last night. Usually that fluid is gone or mostly gone.
Then slowly add in waterever you want to pour on top and watch to make sure you don't spill over. If I keep it below the natural waterline I just turn on the main valve and let the valves come up to their natural limit. That way whatever you poured in and passed through still get back up in the soil.
Edited to Add: I cut the hose on the inlet (suck) side to about 6 - 8 inches and run the outlet hose to a bucket or anything else that will hold the water. If that is not too nasty, I pour it through a filter and then EC test and pH test it. If nothing needs to be changed, I just dump that back in to the main reservoir.
