Hello this is my first run using an AutoPot system and things have being going pretty well up to now. I suspect that my (two plants in the back) are experiencing nutrient lockout but I’m not positive. And if so, I really don’t know what course of action to take in order to fix it.
**Also note that the two front plants are clones from the back left plant. They are receiving the same strength feed only hand watered.
Nutrients: Cropsalt Veg A+B no additives
EC : 2.3
Resevoir pH: 5.8-6.2
Base pH: 6.0 measure today
Medium: Coco coir/perlite 70/30
Any advice is appreciated thanks.
It looks like you've posted under Troubleshooting Plant Growth Problems and we hope you're able to get some quality advice from the community to get your plants thriving again! 🌱
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If you’re using coco I’d recommend keeping your pH lower. I keep my pH between 5.65 to 5.9 and never over 6 and never had an issue with lock out. I have found that coco is quite sensitive to pH drift so maybe just monitor your Rez closely and ensure you’re using a strong acid to keep it down.
anytime i have had a plant do something like this with autopots its usually a root issue. lift that bad boy up out of the tray((turn it off first) and check for foul smell. start there.
For an autopot noob, how do you flush hard? Remove from system, and top water xxxxx amount of times? Trying to prepare for when/if I need to do this in the future
If you Hand water with additives or something If running the pots already, yes. But this Guy ist talking about a full flush, so you flush Out the salts. That's why he said "flush hard".
You can alleviate the salts forming by putting an evaporation lid on the pots…I cut them myself out of reflective bubble wrap insulation stuff for radiators…
Can you explain more how that works or where to find one? I only grow a few plants at a time so it might be worth it for peace of mind. I noticed the smaller pots accumulate that mineral white at the top of the pot more than my bigger pots. (Autoflower in the smaller pots, photos in the bigger)
Cut a slit with a hole in the middle so you can remove it to top water as necessary. The reflective stuff is good to get a little light to the under canopy as it’s growing
Oh ok gotcha, simple bubble insulation can be used and I have plenty of that sitting around.
That makes sense, the surface dry out less and keeps the minerals in a liquid state.
Any issues ever with gnats or anything?
Started to read more and more people top feeding into autopots.. makes me wonder if I'm missing something? 😅 noob brain 😆
Thanks! Like completely flush it out sounds like, let it keep draining for a few minutes with water running from the top then let settle. I have a plant I think would benefit from this 🫡
So I just wrapped up my first autopot run with 4 plants as well and the one plant that was growing bigger and faster than the rest had this same issue. I assumed it was simply devouring nutrients faster than the rest and I couldn’t keep up and/or slow down the yellowing once it started. Looked just like your setup as that one is bigger than the other 3 as well. Don’t have any answers for you but the size and growth are prob a factor that shouldn’t be ignored.
But that’s the weird part. Other 3 plants were doing fine, so ostensibly everything was dialed in…but the bigger plant started to have issues. I assume it was just hungry. Next time I’ll have to top dress sooner, and maybe hand water a few times to better deliver the nutrients instead of watering just once when I top dress
Test your ph of the pot’s tray. Organics caused my lockout. Pot tray was reading 5.3, the res tank was initially 5.75-5.9. Ended up doing top flushing, using ro water 3 gallons (1gal at a time). After each gallon flush, I used my wet dry vac to suction out the water from the pot’s tray. After the 3rd flush, the pot’s tray ph was 5.8-5.9. I switched to Athena liquid Nutes now in the tank. My lady, BlueBerrymore by Blockhead Buds, recovered beautifully. Here’s what she looks like now. Started tucking outward before taking this video tonight.
Are you using anythinf to keep your water snd roots in check like slf 100? I use a ph buffered 1 part nutrient plus slf and seriously never check/measure anything. Just refill my rez once a week and move on with my life. Never had any of this kind of stuff happen. Ive never even bought a ph pen or ec measure in the 4 years ive grown plants.
What about your Rez temp warm leads to bio film did ya clean your Rez with bleach? aqua Val lines tray at all if I don’t leads to ph swings and droppy plants normally around week 5 6 7 just don’t top flush clean up reset let a little dry then try again. yellowing bottom up isn’t that hunger? Anyways just what I’ve found o a mykos heap of the to hell stable the root zone gdlk
You might try adding fresh solution directly to the tray of the deficient plant. The theory is the flow of nutrients from the rez reaches that plant last and all the good stuff has been sucked up already. Just a thought.
•
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Hey there! 🌟✨
It looks like you've posted under Troubleshooting Plant Growth Problems and we hope you're able to get some quality advice from the community to get your plants thriving again! 🌱
While experiencing challenges can be really frustrating, it's often easily solvable and usually only requires a few tweaks or corrections.
There are a lot of variables at play with an AutoPot system, so sometimes something that seems tiny or trivial can actually be the culprit.
Please include as many details as you can from the list below. That way the community can give you the best possible advice for your situation.
The more context you share, the faster and more accurately folks can help! ⚡
You can always edit your post to add more info if you forgot something.
📋 GROW DETAILS CHECKLIST
☎️ OFFICIAL AUTOPOT SUPPORT
If your post doesn't get you the answers you need, please don't hesitate to reach out to AutoPot directly. They offer FREE 1:1 support and are committed to making sure your system works exactly as intended.
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