How about a little controversy? How about saying that indoor growing typically involves more focus and refinement than cultivation outdoors? Whilst we’re fans of horticulture in all arenas we’d tend towards the affirmative on this statement. And we’d suggest that the reasons for the ‘heightened’ nature of growing indoors are twofold.
The first reason is mental. Outdoors your plants are exposed and at the mercy of the elements. Because of this an outdoor growing mindset can emerge. You tend and shepherd your plants, encourage and support them wherever possible, but accept that they are ultimately free. By comparison indoor growing can be more intense and immediate. Simply by dint of the fact that your plants are right there in front of you can easily become obsessed with them. And it’s not all in your mind.
Indoor growing requires forms of plant ‘life support’ that are not necessary in the great al fresco. This brings us to the second reason for greater attention to detail when growing indoors. You may have to introduce light, heat, ventilation, humidity, water, pest control, and feed and do all this whilst maintaining a stable, growth-stimulating balance. How might we help you with that you ask yourselves? Good question.
Firstly, by keeping it simple. With a gravity fed system such as AutoPot there’s no need for pumps. This actively helps to reduce excess heat and noise in your growing space which, in turn, allows you to reduce your reliance on climatic and acoustic countermeasures.
There’s simply less kit with AutoPot modules too. This space efficiency gives you the option of getting more plants into your growing space or giving yourself more room to work around the plants. The modules are also truly modular in that they can be added to or removed from the system at a stroke without any disruption to the rest of the system itself. If you ever did have a problem plant or wanted to expand quickly there’d be nothing to stop you sorting that out.
Because no running water is required you can set up just about anywhere, making your system incredibly flexible and allowing you to take full advantage of whatever space you have. Smaller systems come with compact 47 L plastic reservoirs whilst larger ones are available with collapsible FlexiTank reservoirs that can be set up easily and tucked away discreetly.
The way the systems irrigate can also be a great help when growing indoors. In AutoPot modules water and nutrient solution are introduced via the pipework and fittings to the module tray and up into the pot. This means the top layer of your growing media is often dry, often aridly so. Without a wet top layer of grow media in the pot certain types of fungus and pest are denied a foothold, reducing the need for intervention on this front too. For first time AutoPot growers the dry top layer can be a cause of concern but it really is nothing to worry about, all the action is taking place deep in the pot.
Further simplifying things is the elimination of recirculation with AutoPot. Each module sits at the end of its own individual ‘branch line’. Water and nutrients travel to the module on a one-way ticket. There is no onward journey for your solution, it gets admitted to the module tray as and when required, consumed, and replenished with a fresh supply every time. The three big benefits to this are: 1) there’s no requirement for waste plumbing (as there is no waste), 2) there’s zero chance of one plant passing root disease to another via nutrient solution, and 3) there’s less chance of the nutrient concentration becoming depleted without you noticing.
Finally, how about some peace of mind? Without electricity, running water, pumps, or computers you just don’t need to be there all the time. You can go outdoors even if your plants can’t, send them a postcard maybe. Go! Enjoy a bit of headspace, it’ll help you focus on the things that really matter.
