AutoPot - Auto9 Tray System growing system with 9 25L pots

The Auto9 tray system puts nine 25 litre pots in one tray with one AQUAvalve5: the highest plant density in the AutoPot range, nine large plants in a little over a square metre. Two practical matters decide whether that actually works in your space.

Do not stand the tray directly on a cold concrete floor

This appears in AutoPot's own maintenance documentation and almost nowhere else. Water in the tray sits as a thin layer over a large area, and concrete draws heat out of it. The nutrient solution chills from below, and that temperature partly governs how well roots take up: water that is too cold slows growth while nothing else is wrong with your system.

The fix is simple. Put polystyrene or cardboard under the tray so it is thermally separated from the floor. On a tray system this matters more than on individual trays, because one large continuous water surface sits on the ground rather than nine small ones.

And make sure the tray is level. One valve serves nine pots, so a tray that slopes means the low corner stands in water while the high one runs dry.

Work out in advance how you reach the back plants

The downside of density. On individual trays you slide a pot aside to get at something; on a tray system nine pots sit fixed in one grid and you cannot open a path between them.

So do not put a tray this size in a space with access from one side only, because you will not properly reach the back row once the plants are grown. Being able to walk around it, or standing the tray on a trolley so you can turn it, solves that.

What else it asks

Nine 25 litre pots is 225 litres of substrate, and a reservoir able to feed nine large plants for days. Consumption itself is reasonable: a tray system uses no more water than the same number of individual trays, because consumption follows the plants and not the tray.

Technical Specifications:

• Pots: 9 x 25 litres
• Tray: single tray with lid, a little over 1 m²
• Valve: 1 AQUAvalve5 for all nine
• Substrate volume: 225 litres
• Siting: level, with insulating material under the tray on a concrete floor

Frequently asked questions

Why put something under the tray? A cold floor chills the water in the tray and that slows uptake.

Must the tray be level? Yes, or one side stands wet while the other runs dry.

Does this use more water than nine separate trays? No, consumption follows the plants.

Can I reach the back pots? Only if you can walk around it or turn the tray. Plan that in advance.