Status

- Currently in process

Introduction

My hydroponics hobby has now brought me to try the AutoPot system. The internet has very little information on the AutoPot system. My documentation here should help others decide if this system is right for them.

For this year's crop I chose tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettus and calantro.

The Plants

Plant selection was an important factor for everything we're growing this year. Our space limitations tops the list of items to take into account. Any plant we choose needs to be small. And you may have guessed that you won't be buying anything locally. This year we ordered seeds from Burpee.

These tomatoes only get 2 feet tall. They are perfect for containers.

These peppers only get 18 to 24 inches tall. They turn a bright red.

My Setup

My setup consists of the following:
- 4 x dual AutoPot tray with SmartValve MKII
- 1 x 18 gallon reservoir

The Reservoir

Many people say that you should put an air pump on the reservoir. That requires the use of electricity. Well I didn't want that.

My solution was to use hydrogen peroxide. The water stays crystal clear without the use of electricity. The levels of H2O3 are such that the plants aren't harmed. H2O3 also helps add oxygen to the water.

The Grow

Now for the history and pictures.

20080224 - The Seedlings

Here is a picture of the seedlings. I started them in 1.5 inch rockwool cubes. When roots appeared out the bottom I moved them to the 4 inch rockwool cubes. When roots start growing out the bottom of the 4 inch cubes then they'll be put in the AutoPots.

20080306

I received 2 more autopot modules today. I'm starting more plants to see how it goes.

20080309

Here's the current pictures.

20080316

Here's more pictures. Everything is starting to grow rapidly.

20080323

Here's more pictures. The plants got moved to the greenhouse this week.

20080330

Here's more pictures. The plants are adjusting well to the greenhouse.

20080406

Here's more pictures. The plants are adjusting well to the greenhouse.

20080413

Here's more pictures. The last few days have been hot and everything is growing well.

20080420

The cucumbers are flowering and there are 5 baby cucumbers. the tomatoes have flower buds and should open any day now. The peppers also have flower buds. The weather has cooled off again.

20080427

The weather has warmed up again. The garden is growing fast again. A new 18 gallon tank was added for garden expansion. Another tomato and pepper plant were added.

20080504

This weekend I have expanded the garden. There are now 2 tomato and 2 pepper plants. I have also added calantro and lettus.

20080511

The first lettus plants failed. I've planted new lettus plants. You'll see them next week. I now have ants helping to pollinate my cucumbers. I'm going to add 3 more trays to the garden. They're going to be placed on a shelf so I can store things underneath.

20080518

For now I've given up on lettus. I'm now growing parsley instead. I had to help out a cuc vine reach for the sky. The cucs are heavy and pulling down the vine.

Conclusion

None yet but please leave your comments below.

Comments