AutoPot - Easy2Grow 24 Pots Watering System

The Easy2Grow system for 24 pots is twelve trays each with an AQUAvalve5 on a 16 millimetre main line: the largest Easy2Grow build in this range. At this scale everything comes down to routine, and there is one habit you have to unlearn.

Do not water from above once a plant is connected

This feels counterintuitive and it is the system's most important rule.

In a bottom-fed pot the water moves permanently upward: out of the tray, through the substrate, to the roots and into transpiration. Dissolved salts from your feed travel up with that flow and gather in the top layer of the substrate, well away from the root zone. There they do no harm; that is exactly where you want them.

Water from above and you flush those accumulated salts straight back down, right through the root zone. A system that has dosed accurately for months then delivers a salt spike the plant has to cope with. If you want to feed more or flush, do it through the tank, not with a watering can.

The exception is the establishment period: for the first seven to ten days you should water from above, until roots sit deep enough to draw from the lower layer. After that you connect up and put the can away.

Four weeks unattended, and what caps it

AutoPot systems are known for going weeks without intervention, and that holds: the valves work on gravity and need no power, no timer and no adjustment. But what limits the period is not the system, it is your reservoir.

Twenty-four plants together drink heavily. Whether you are away one week or four depends entirely on how many litres you have standing against what goes out per day. The system does not stop after a set time; it stops when the tank is empty. That is good news, because it makes the duration a choice you make when sizing the tank rather than something you are stuck with.

Keep to the refill rule while you are at it: top up with about a third remaining. Running fully empty lets air into the line, and the valves then lose their vacuum seal.

What else matters across twelve trays

The main line is long and twelve valves hang off it, each able to open independently. Keep the far end reachable for the flush tap, because at this number, and certainly with nutrients, flushing is simply maintenance.

When setting up, walk the row once checking for height differences. All trays should sit at the same level; one standing higher than the rest fills last and runs dry first.

Technical Specifications:

• Pots: 24, choice of 8.5 or 15 litres
• Trays: 12, each with its own AQUAvalve5
• Main line: 16 mm, 8 metres supplied
• Substrate volume: 204 or 360 litres total
• Tank: not included, FlexiTank optional
• Watering: from below only, once connected

Frequently asked questions

Does this really manage four weeks? That depends on your tank size, not on the system. It runs until the tank is empty.

Can I really never water from above? Only in the first week before connecting. After that you flush accumulated salts back into the root zone.

How do I give extra feed then? Through the tank, so the system distributes it from below.

Must all trays sit at the same height? Yes, or the odd one fills and dries out of step with the rest.

Can I extend it further? Yes, two pots at a time with an expansion set on the same main line.