Autoflower Run: Transitioning to 70/30 Coco + Autopots + Athena Pro (RO Water)

Start light feeding (EC 0.4–0.5) with CalMag since using RO water. Hand water first and only turn on Autopots once roots are established (around week 2–3). Gradually increase EC to about 1.2–1.4 absolute max. Keep pH around 5.8-6.0 and maintain a stable environment. Avoid overfeeding and keep everything consistent, as autos are sensitive. And keep rh in check!

Autos suck.............big mistake!

** slightly mis-worded "Each has roughly the same gas:water mixture, which is the causality that matters in that regard." -- comparing the 33% and 50% mixtures of each.

soilless is soilless... coco or sphagnums makes little difference as long as it's properly constituted. coco should be ~33% perlite by volume and sphagnum peat moss should be 50%.. .it's a matter of how much water each holds. Each has roughly the same gas:water mixture, which is the causality that matters in that regard. If coco is leaching anything, stop buying that brand of coco. Quality 70/30 should be ready to use and properly buffered. If properly buffered, you can ignore all the oft-repeated things about needing more caclium or magnesium. That only happens with poorly produced coco coir or 'raw' coco coir that you need to wash and buffer yourself. Coco isn't magic. It's not superior in any way. It's just a soilless medium. The same rules apply as with anything else and you should treat it the same as anything else as long as it isn't poorly manufactured by an incompetent vendor. Autopots are a bad choice for soilless. It takes the primary benefit and zeroes it out. Might as well grow in soil at that point without religiously getting runoff. Now, inconsistencies in the medium and buildup are possible, which shouldn't be the case. Athena fertilizers are also about 5-6x more expensive than they should be. Their feeding schedule suggests unnecessarily high ppms, which will only result in a lot of wasted fertilizer going down the drain or an overfed plant in the context of an autopot and poor soilless watering practices that result. The 'core' in the pro line is very likely calcium nitrate (14-0-0)... I have never needed a calcium supplement while using caclium nitrate. It's not impossible, but very unlikely you'll need much from another source. They likely stash the trace elements into this product, which is a purely greedy behaviour. You can buy 50lbs of calcium nitrate (15.5-0-0) for 35-40 dollars and buy some trace elements to add vs Athena's butt-raping prices. Not religioulsy getting runoff makes this a more difficult recommendation to give specifics... normally you could just track ppm of your formula per nutrient element and get familiar with necessary levels that avoid 99.99% all problems, but because this is not something you can depend on without the runoff, it makes it more difficult to give a specific way to ensure proper levels of Ca over the long-haul. to mitigate the drawbacks of an autopot, you better do some regular top-down irrigations occasionally. I'd also throw out the typical standard of 'always fertilize' for soilless as you don't regularly get runoff, so it will slowly build up over time, unlike if adhering to proper irrigation practices for soilless context. You need to treat it a bit more like a soil grow than a soilless grow if using an autopot. So, at least occasionally you should skip the fertilizer in an autopot for a soilless medium.. I use a similar set of products and in total it's 4 cents per gallon mixed.. compare that to your athena fertilizer made with 99% the same ingredients. the ingredients are commodities, so there is not quality difference. Caclium nitrate does not come in different quality, etc. If it's not molecularly the same (where it matters - minimally simplified for context), then it is not calcium nitrate. Brand is irrelevant to outcome... In general, there are not magical fertilizers that outperform other fertilizers (more so with soilless context than soil), so no need to overpay for them. Paying more is just buying snake oil.. if you want to do soilless growing correctly, read the basics outlined on cocoforcannabis.com and the dr photon's corner information.. avoid any user-submitted things unless you can discern between bullshit and reality on your own. They give no-frills suggestions and avoid the bro science nonsense. Especially if it's really only your second grow. What you are doing requires a lot more read-and-react to keep this grow on track. Soilless growing truly is the easy button if you do it in orthodox ways. Any random person can grow excellent plants starting day 1 with basic instructions with typical soilless methods..

Looks like a really well thought-out setup, bro. Switching to 70/30 coco/perlite with Autopots is a great move for autos, especially since they get a constant supply of water and nutrients without any dry-back stress. The one thing that stands out with your setup using 0.0 EC RO water is definitely CalMag — don’t underestimate it. With RO, you’re starting from zero, and autos tend to show deficiencies faster than photos, especially under strong LED lighting. I’d start a bit on the lower side with your EC and slowly work your way up. Autos don’t forgive overfeeding as easily, and in coco it can happen quicker than you think, especially once the Autopots are running. Also, make sure you don’t turn the system on too early — let the roots establish properly first, otherwise growth can stall. Keeping your pH stable around 5.8 will help a lot with nutrient uptake. If you dial that in, Athena Pro combined with Autopots can be a super clean and powerful setup. Sounds like you’re setting yourself up for a really solid second run 🔥 Happy Growing Growmie🌱?💚

You must control EC + Ca/Mg perfectly from day 1, Soak coco in: EC: 0.5–0.6 pH: 5.8 Add CalMag (or Athena Balance equivalent) This prevents calcium lockout and magnesium defficiency early. Week 1–2 (hand watering only) EC: 0.5–0.7 pH: 5.7–5.9 -No Autopot yet Let roots establish first Tirn on autopot week2-3 but dont soak it 🤙 Ans increase ec sns you should be fine, do fine adjustments, see how it reacts. Autos dont need much first two weeks but still need nutrients so dont go 0.0 ec from beginning if u do will have problems i believe! Growers love 🙏