THE BASICS OF HYDROPONICSThe Advantages of The Autopot System - Even Outdoors in The United Kingdom. The basic Autopot System consists of a plant pot on a membrane in a container.

This container has a SmartValve built into it which is fed from a nutrient tank.

As the plant in the pot uses nutrient the level of nutrient in the Autopot

container is maintained by the SmartValve. This means that the plant always has

the optimum level of nutrient at its disposal. As the plant grows and needs more

nourishment, the SmartValve opens more frequently to replenish the nutrient supply

from the tank. Because the plant pot is sat on a membrane, it will only take up

what it needs in the way of moisture. This system ensures that the plant does not

become too wet and drown or rot, neither can it dry out provided that the tank

is kept topped up. In our climate in the United Kingdom, where rainfall is often quite high and

sunshine limited, I have found that the results obtained with the Autopot system

have far outstripped those of a coventional system of soil and a growbag.

These results have only been studied using tomatoes, however I have no doubt that

the same benefits would apply to virtually any type of plant. I have grown a crop of tomatoes from seed this year and for the first time tried

the Autopot system against a growbag and against pots hand watered with nutrient

solution. The substrate used was washed coco. The seedlings were grown on to about

4" in height using rockwool cubes and a small propagation tray. They were transplanted

into 8" pots (3 plants per pot. ) and the pots placed in either Autopot systems or into

containers about 2" deep. Some were planted in soil in Growbags. The Autopots were connected to a nutrient tank and the trayed pots were watered twice

daily using nutrient from the same tank. The plants in the Growbags were watered daily

and had plant food added to the water as directed on the container. It was found that

the Grobag plants did not grow as well as the others and fruited less abundantly.

The plants in pots and container trays fruited well, but during hot spells needed more

frequent watering as the coco does not retain moisture. By far the best results were

obtained from the Autopots. The plants grew quickly and were soon very well established.

The root balls soon became dense and well formed. Within a short time the plants became

sturdier than there less fortunate siblings and started to flower. I had deliberately done no maintainance with any of the plants. they were planted, fed and

left to grow without interference. This meant that the crops would be smaller than if I had

pinched out the shoots, but there could be no discrepancy due to better maintainance. The

results were quite staggering. The trayed plants produced some 250% - 300% more fruit

than the Growbags and the Autopot had at least double the crop produced by the trayed plants. The only drawback with the Autopot was that when it rained the water ran back into the nutrient

container causing it to overfill. This problem did not seem to be detrimental to the plant's

growth or yield. Copyright (C) 2004, 2005.

J R Haughton.

--- All Rights Reserved ---A partner in a thriving retail hydroponics supply business,

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Author:
John R. Haughton