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Any Give An Octopot A Try?


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I can take pics, and do understand the relevance of them, truth be told, I'm camera shy these days. I'll snap some anyways, just in case I change.

 

I've used a block of Pro Mix to two bags of Happy Frog since my dirt romance began. I'm really liking the Organicare Crumbles. I don't add anything

during veg but for flower plants get a 1/2 cup(one gallon grow bags) at onset and another at day 30 ish. Most of what I cherish is finished in 60 days.

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  • 2 weeks later...

With a little less than a month to finish I've decided to replace all of my "flowering slots" with these expensive

tools. 75 bucks a piece adds up fast, so if I buy them it'll have to be one or two at a time.

 

I put a half cup of organicare in the original dirt mix, added another recently to the top , mixed it in with a stick, and that's it. It uses less water than he controls, looks happier smells awesome too. I cant get over the improvement using bottom watering, (in a system that avoids root rot somehow) I think this is much more efficient use of nutrient delivery, and the added work needed by roots is a benefit to me. I can literally leave my flower room alone for a week at a time with these if need be, un unheard of notion in my past. At this point I don't even care why it works so well. I've used bottom feeding for a long time with disappointments every time. From cloth wickers to flood and drains to those big plastic porch gardening wick systems, and learned all about root rot, disease spreading, anaerobic smells. The dirt in the bottom of this pot smells like a fresh bag of dirt, and that tell tale mj root smell. The water is clear and has no smell. I have not emptied/changed the water since new, only added to it.

 

Its a winner!

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oh, didnt know you used uv and co2. carry on then. no dont put co2 in the water !

 

what else is left to try? companion planting / cover crops? rock dust? biochar?

 

yeah i am curious about the root rot and how this system gets around it. is it because the roots are partially in dirt, partially in air and partially in water? so the root figures out it can get oxygen and water from different parts of itself? but thats the same thing as a dwc so i have no idea. 

 

voooooodoooooo. i would like to know how it doesnt get root rot though.

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tpain-  I've always been  on the look out for a fool proof leak proof viable system. Every system I've used

did a fantastic time delivering nutrient water and oxygen to my plants. Some were easier to use than others, some

leaked only a quart here and there, others dumped 30 gallon reservoirs on my floor over the years.

Full circle I came right back around to hand watering individual dirt pots.

 

Even this involves some suffer for me. The dirt mess is out of hand, the watering causes splashing, the run off needs to be managed

and plant support is necessary often. 

 

This system is a cheap no brainer and I figured it wouldn't work without the addition of air, a notion I was not opposed to anyways. I'm not going to plumb them together for the fear of leakage. As is they cannot leak, do not splash, need only weekly attention, and is the most efficient use of organic soil/fertilizer I've seen. I always knew bottom feeding was the ticket, but it came with its own troubles.

Now, this little device cannot leak, doesn't need daily attention. allows a mini vacation, grows like the best of  wick system, looks trim and clean in the room, near zero maintenance. Proven winner here, I'm sold. I started out a tinkerer, and still love too, but I need to put that behind me now. Not looking to improve anything except my ergonomic approach to growing. 

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hey grassmatch, heres a similar product like a octopot, the below video actually shows how it works. never saw it in previous videos.

 

but this one works differently. as the water reservoir is never touching the roots itself, but uses rope as capilary action.

i think its more for outdoor ground growing. so put one of these over your plants outdoors. i guess it works indoors (or in greenhouse) too, if you put it over your plant pot?

 

http://www.groasis.com/en

 

Edited by t-pain
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I added an air stone to each one, can only help, and makes me feel better.  I cant help myself but to tinker some.

 

I harvested that first trial, a solid 10 for me, with no mess or fuss. winner winner chicken dinner !

Grass, 

 

Could you give us a thumbnail of your results?  i.e. strain, length of veg time, length of 12/12, light (plants/light), nutes, yield

 

Also I had the impression there was a control in just dirt/soil.  If there was, assuming all else was the same, what was the yield?

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I've used those giant porch wick systems, rope/ribbon they work, with their own issues of course. octo has provided me with a vacation, cleaner room, less fuss, nicer plants, more efficient nutrient delivery.

 

no pics, sorry.

octo;

 

Mr Nice Medicine Man

veg time - 4 weeks from root formation, about 8 inches tall

MM was put into 12/12 for a little less than 60 days.

nutrients- 1/2 cup of Organicare crumbles, mixed into dirt at planting

1000 watt hps, finished under a 600 watt MH, both are hortilux

yield was 2.9 ounces dried bud colas, no underbrush

5 gallon container of pro mix/happy frog---70/30

 

the two controls growing under the same light, same ferts, dirt, etc, yielded 2.1 ounces, needed staking, finished a week later than the octo(not significant). both are stellar examples of perfectly finished grade A medical flowers.

 

I blame success on a couple things. One is the ease and cleanliness of the system, but the real key is the nutrient delivery. This is the slowest dissolve I've seen, the lightly dampened soil facilitates a smooth even distribution and the nutrients are available to the end. Compared to adding one scoop at onset, and another at day 30, to be watered over daily from top to bottom.

The oct wicking prevents "run off", and loss of any of these nutrients. imo.

 

The control buckets are obviously "flushed" as a result of daily top watering, while the octo plant is not. I'll work on the best amount of fertilizers to be added, maybe different bucket sizes, etc. 1/2 cup of ferts is an insignificant amount to fret over though, and near half of what I normally would use in a 5 pail.

 

The new octos are set up and flourishing, and I feel guilty planting in any other bag.

 

The End

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Grass,

 

Thanks great writeup.  One question and one observation, question:  your notes suggest you had 3 plants under the light (first 1K then 600).   Is this correct and would you feel comfortable with 4 octopots under the 1K?  

 

I like the idea, but I could see a full caregiver setup having like 30 octopots in various stages of 12/12.  Too many bits and pieces to look after.   Would it make sense to replace the single reservoir with one say 4'x4' and set one octopot in each corner under a single 1k light.   Perhaps add an airstone to circulate the water a bit and if you really want to get fancy a float valve in the center of the reservoir to further reduce your work.

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