SWICK Watering Systems: Letting The Plant Water Itself

Bucudinkydow said:
I actually put a float valve in my basin that was fed by a 55 gallon barrel of mixed nutrients. As the basin level dropped by more than 1/4” it would automatically refill. I have a vacation home that I often frequent and didn’t want to let gardening interfere with my mountain trips. My garden was on autopilot as long as 6 weeks with no ill effects. A perfect system for the absentee gardener.
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The swick basin? You made some extra space for the float valve within the perlite?
 
I did. Used some hardware cloth (aka rabbit wire) to mold a cage around the float and covered it with landscape fabric to keep the perlite from infiltrating. Dropped some rocks in the bottom to hold it stable. Worked like a champ with no problems for over 3 years. Took it apart at each harvest and cleaned the seat but not sure if that was necessary.
 
Hi all. I'm day 9 into my first grow ever! I'm growing Fast Buds Gorilla Cookies auto flowers. I'm using a 70/30 coco/perlite medium and am getting close to potting up to their final home.

I bought some AC Infinity Self-Watering pot bases and was wondering if anyone has had any experience using them? I will be using fabric pots with them but unsure of the ideal size - I have 1,3 and 5 gallon options.

Any insights or tips would be greatly appreciated!
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NewBudz23 said:
Hi all. I'm day 9 into my first grow ever! I'm growing Fast Buds Gorilla Cookies auto flowers. I'm using a 70/30 coco/perlite medium and am getting close to potting up to their final home.

I bought some AC Infinity Self-Watering pot bases and was wondering if anyone has had any experience using them? I will be using fabric pots with them but unsure of the ideal size - I have 1,3 and 5 gallon options.

Any insights or tips would be greatly appreciated!
20230822_164332.jpg
20230822_164325.jpg
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I think during early vegetative period it would be best to water like normal and allow proper wet / dry cycles of the soil to be sure not to overwater. 3 gallon containers should be fine for autos. I don't have much experience with them but I know most people will recommend that you start them off in their 'final home' to avoid any transplant shock. Autos are a bit finicky and there isn't as much room for error so any early stresses can really impact their yield.

@Costanza has used those bases during the bloom period and I'm sure he will comment about them. I would suggest to maybe underfill the reservoir slightly because he had roots growing into his and maybe some extra air between the roots and surface of the water would prune the roots and prevent that.

Roots growing into the res isn't really a bad thing, just a bit of extra cleanup at the end of the grow and it would make moving your plants more difficult. But also, at that point you're basically growing hydroponically and the setup would benefit from having the reservoir oxygenated. It's sounds a bit like an antipattern.

Welcome to the site @NewBudz23 and good luck on your growing adventure.
 
Welcome, Newbudz. No experience with those pots. Good looking seedlings, though so you’re doing it right so far. I had best luck with 3 gal fabric pots. Good luck.
BCDD
 
NewBudz23 said:
Hi all. I'm day 9 into my first grow ever! I'm growing Fast Buds Gorilla Cookies auto flowers. I'm using a 70/30 coco/perlite medium and am getting close to potting up to their final home.

I bought some AC Infinity Self-Watering pot bases and was wondering if anyone has had any experience using them? I will be using fabric pots with them but unsure of the ideal size - I have 1,3 and 5 gallon options.

Any insights or tips would be greatly appreciated!
20230822_164332.jpg
20230822_164325.jpg
Click to expand...
All 3 sizes will work fine. The only issues I had with these were during flower the roots grew out the bottoms and into the reservoirs and the pots were attached to the bases after a few weeks and improbable to remove. These sips have a flaw in them the air gap under the pots isn’t big enough to allow the roots to prune so I ended up switching back to regular risers during flower
 
Hey @NewBudz23 I use a home made version with no problem up to 7g bags
I water all my little starter pots from solos up to 1g's from the bottom most of the time to get them used to it.
I lift to judge if they need watered or not.
I notice more of the roots concentrated in the lower half when transplanting.

There's a lot more recent swicking info here
The Everything SWICK Club: 2023 And Beyond
 
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