by Nebula Haze
This week in my “Sweet Dreams” grow journal, I really started falling in love with using auto-watering pot bases.
Plants immediately started growing faster once their roots hit the reservoirs, and I love that I can go days at a time without watering the plants.
Several growers wrote in asking what we thought about the Vivosun vs AC Infinity versions. Which is better; the AC Infinity auto-watering pot bases, or the Vivosun auto-watering pot bases?
So far, I think the Vivosun version is just plain better. Keep reading this auto-watering pot base comparison for cannabis growers, and learn why Vivosun has the edge.
I personally think the Vivosun version is just better for growing weed.
Currently, I am using auto-watering pot bases from a company called AC Infinity, and there are more than a few things about their base that I would change.
I personally have several problems with this particular design.
I’ll be frank. The Vivosun version of auto-watering pot bases seem like a superior product in pretty much every way. At least, based just on what I can see from the product details, and my experience with the AC Infinity bases.
To be fair though, our cannabis plants seem to love the AC Infinity auto-watering pot bases. And I have been impressed how they helped me water plants less often, especially when plants were growing really fast during the flowering stretch. If it weren’t for the bases, I probably would have been watering these cannabis plants every day during that period. But the bases let me be away from the plants for days at a time. Though of course I still tried to peek in on them every day.
Our cannabis plants do seem to love AC Infinity auto-watering pot bases. And I like watering less often.
Note: Two of the plants (front left and front middle) are on two bases “stacked” on top of each other for some extra height. These two plants ended up being shorter than the others after the flowering stretch. The bottom bases are empty, they were just the perfect size and shape for stacking. Why did I I want to make the plants taller? A more even canopy helps all the plants produce as much weed as possible by keeping all buds about the same distance from the grow lights.
Based on the plant response, I will definitely be using auto-watering plant pots again. However, next grow I plan to try the Vivosun auto-watering pots instead. And here’s why.
Why the Vivosun auto-watering pot bases seem better than the AC Infinity version:
- Huge port to add water – Vivosun version has a big port to pour in water, without needing to remove the glass water level indicator and slowly dribble in water (like with the AC Infinity version).
- Easy access to reservoir – That big port also lets you stick your pH pen or PPM meter directly inside to test the water, or use a wet vacuum to easily remove the water. Where the AC Infinity port is so small I use a syringe to test or remove water.
- Square shape instead of circular is more space efficient. While the AC Infinity pots are 16.57″ (42 cm) wide at the widest point, the Vivosuns are only 14.7″ (37 cm) at the widest point, so you could potentially fit more Vivosun bases in a particular space.
- Bigger water reservoir – Since Vivosun reservoirs are a bit taller and squared instead of circular, they hold about 1/3 more water (1.3 gallons with Vivosun vs 1 gallon capacity on the AC Infinity bases) even though they take up less space in the tent.
Vivosun auto-watering pot base design just seems superior. Like cannabis growers made it.
Am I missing any advantage the AC Infinity bases have over the Vivosun ones? Or are the Vivosun bases just better in every way?
Update: Vivosun vs AC Infinity vs “Other” auto-watering pot bases – Feedback from cannabis growers
“I’ve tried both. I like the circle pots from AC Infinity because the reservoirs dry all the way since the bottom is flat. The Vivosun square auto-watering pot bases have 4 shallower ports that hold water even after the rest is dry, and the ropes don’t absorb that water. So after a while those parts get scummy.”
- I didn’t know that. I can see how that could become a problem. ~Nebula
“I use some rope (less than a dollar’s worth) and a bucket. Works perfectly well.”
- Anyone who’s tried this, please send me a picture! I’d love to try it out myself and make a DIY tutorial so growers have a cheaper alternative. ~Nebula
“I’ve used both and I prefer the Vivosun ones. One thing is I put the ropes like an “X” as they do in the AC Infinity pots. I feel like the X just works better than putting them in a square where they never touch. Maybe someday I’ll try doing both X and square.”
- Interesting, I will give this a try. ~Nebula
“I use AC Infinity ones and they work good and plants get bigger than when I was hand-watering. No question. But I hate they only hold 1 gallon at a time, and I hate having to move the plants and take them out of the tent to clean them. I plan to try autopots for my next grow.”
- I also hate moving the plants to clean them. One thing that worked for me is if you let the bottoms totally dry out (and water from the top a few days), then it kills anything in the reservoir, including any roots that grew down, kind of “refreshing” the reservoir without having to move the plants. not ideal, but worth trying if you’ve got heavy plants and yucky or roots-clogged reservoirs. Why advantages do the autopots have? ~Nebula
“I personally prefer the Spider Farm version with a separate water reservoir and auto-watering system.”
- Interesting! Does it have any issue with water getting smelly in the big reservoir? I noticed it doesn’t have an airstone to help keep the water fresh. But you could easily add one. For growers who want to spend quite a while away from their plants this could be perfect! ~Nebula
“Used both but the Vivosun one seems better to me.”
- Thanks for sharing your experience! ~Nebula
“I think they’re good, but both versions do a thing where the water level indicator gets stuck, so you might think they’re water but if you jiggle them the water level falls and you can see the pots are actually empty.”
- I noticed this problem too! ~Nebula
“Both are way overpriced. Make your own with a rope and bucket and save a ton of money”
- If you get a chance, please send me a picture! I want to give it a try! I love DIY. ~Nebula
Have any of you tried either version (or both)? Let us know and we may feature your experience (and/or pictures) here!
Check out the complete guide by Torch on how he uses the pot bases!
The auto-watering/bottom watering feature seems to make plants happy. However, for some plants, they struggle to get water from the bottom. Especially if roots grow down into the bases. In that case, it can be easier to just start watering the plants from the top and let the base be more of a reservoir to catch runoff water, than actually “watering them”.
I’m almost certain the plants immediately started growing faster once they started drinking water from the base.
Hmmm, should I do a future side-by-side experiment between watering plants regularly vs from an auto-watering base? Let us know what you think!
