Auto Watering and Soil ??? How ??

OK
I like soil
I want to run soil.
I am home 99.9% of the year but I do take perhaps 3 weekend trips and have a honeymoon coming up this year. Sure I have a friend who can help care for things but I am looking for an option of using soil but having some sort of self watering in case I need to get away for a day or two.

I thought about just doing and Ebb & Flo table but have been told that the pumps will likely get clogged as the soil will turn it thick and soupy.

Considering the Easy2Grow AutoPot system but still am not sure if it will really work with soil.

I am not looking to start building something.
Is there something I can buy off the shelf which would possibly work?

Or is it just simply with soil you need to hand water.

not to be mistaken for aqua globe, kinda ghetto, but go here http://www.amazon.com/Ceramic-Watering-Spike/dp/B001RV2CXE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1270241803&sr=8-3 and buy watering stakes that attach to 2 liter soda bottles.

i've left my plants under a 600 watt light for 5 days and the soil is still moist when i return.

youtube self watering buckets

or get this http://www.gardeners.com/Adjustable-Reservoir/PotsPlanters_SelfWateringPlanters,34-507RS,default,cp.html

on my 4th grow, so im far from an expert, but its my experience that watering is only needed every 2-3 days up to 4 on occasion. amounts are minimal, 1-2 cups for my 3 1/2 gal buckets...you should be able to give a good soaking to hold over the weekend into the beginning of the next week. auto-pots, buckets, etc basically work them same way, dry out and soak...just a thought to ponder

I would use 70% coco and 30% perlite in the autopots.

Wouldnt recomend soil in autos

JYogi said:

OK
I like soil
I want to run soil.
I am home 99.9% of the year but I do take perhaps 3 weekend trips and have a honeymoon coming up this year. Sure I have a friend who can help care for things but I am looking for an option of using soil but having some sort of self watering in case I need to get away for a day or two.

I thought about just doing and Ebb & Flo table but have been told that the pumps will likely get clogged as the soil will turn it thick and soupy.

Considering the Easy2Grow AutoPot system but still am not sure if it will really work with soil.

I am not looking to start building something.
Is there something I can buy off the shelf which would possibly work?

Or is it just simply with soil you need to hand water.

Click to expand...

AutoPots were designed for soil but work with coco also. You will have to hand water though from the top for a couple weeks until the roots get deep enough to wick .
Use a fluffy mix with 30-50% perlite. Here's the link if you haven't looked.
http://autopot.co.uk/

You can set up drip or sprayer system they are relatively cheap. You will need black polyethylene pipe with leaders and stakes they make drippers .035gpm and sprayers .07gpm. Figure out how much you want to water and get a timer capable of the schedule you want. Like 3 min of water every 2 days what ever you normally water just don't over water or you will need something to catch the run off. You will need 2 pumps and a reservoir one pump to water and one to keep the nutes mixed up this one can run 24 hours. If you run your black poly in a circle you will get even water flow to all the sprayers all you need is a barbed t. This will allow you to water while you are gone as long as your reservoir has water. Everything you need can be bought at garden suppliers or online most items can be found a home depot but I have never seen the leaders or the stakes. www.hydro-gardens.com *has everything you need but shop around save some $ * * *

I've used autopots exclusively for about 10 years, indoors and outdoors, and I love em! I have left home for up to 2 weeks at a time with no problem. Just need a good size res.

Like others have said, you do want a fluffy soil mix. I run a home-made mix with coir base, mushroom compost, worm poo, blood meal, bone meal, greensand, lime and about 30% perlite. I've tried to replace the perlite with coir croutons (cuz I like to compost the used soil and perlite doesn't break down) but I think the perlite gives better results.

I also recommend the autopot single rather than double. It gives more flexibility in moving your plants around so they don't overlap. The bigger pot is also nice for bigger roots. Either way you'll probably need to supplement fertilizer after the first month or so. I have been using Earth Juice which I aerate in my res to keep the microbes healthy and happy. Only problem there is that it plugs up your plumbing over time. You need to rinse well with clearex between each run.