AC Infinity Self Watering Base Review 

Turn those bases into self draining or re circulating bases✌🏼😈

the instructions say for a 5 gallon you need to make a X and the string min length is 18" on each leg of the X. the AC infinity bags dont hang over, been using this system for over a year, never had any stagnant water or algae build up but im using general hydroponics dry nutrients. I had a lot of salt build up until I started mixing my dry amendments in warm water now the pans are almost clean. Ive had roots grow through and around the stings before, and the time it was the worst the plant was the biggest so I dont move it now. I fill to about 3/4 a gallon and put the last 1/4 on the top. agree screw the water fill area, I got a long neck automotive funnel and fill from the gauge port. im growing in a 60/40 coco perlite blend

I use drip hydro they have something in their nutrient line called FLOW just for that purpose. I’ve been using their nutrients the last 2 years haven’t had that buildup issue .my problem is the roots somehow come through any fabric pot I use Just giving my opinion

Lol I went crazy trying to concoct my own self-watering bucket. I drew up designs and everything LOL. It turned out the cost was pretty much the same as these but I wouldn't have that cool gauge. 🤷‍♂️ I had no idea about the buildup. Didn't even think of that before I bought them. Glad it helped someone else out 👍

I just got 2 boxes of the smaller bases for growing cannabis indoors. After setting up 1 box I bought extra rope for setting up the second set, and I'm going to make sure all 8 bases have 2 pieces of rope. I was thinking about trying some cloth hanging down the middle hole in the top to wick up water instead of rope, or maybe with rope too. When I went to buy the extra rope I looked on Google and found that the best rope for wicking is nylon so I got nylon clothes line to try. I haven't tried it yet because my seedlings aren't ready. I have a couple seedlings in 1 gallon fabric pots, sitting on the bases. So far so good.

@@comfortablynumb9342 nylon interesting. You could also try cutting strips of old cotton shirts too.

I checked out the nutes that Canuck uses but they aren't available in the states. What do you use?

I'm having good results with Build a soil 3.0 and Nature's Living Soil, especially using on autos

Nice!

I'd like to know more about how you did that. I am.new to growing and bought these to make watering easy. I keep hearing about over watering and under watering issue , si figure this takes guess work out of it.

I'm glad I did. I don't have any issues. I don't scrog my tent with photos. Nothing is maintenance free and these are cheap way to get away a couple nights. The ladies love them too!

We park our cars in the same garage. All my plants are sitting on my custom risers (my newest video). I took the string from the ac bases and threaded them through the bottom of my plastic pots and they dangle in the saucers. This wicks up excess fert runoff and I try to keep a little water in the base for exactly what you said. 👍👍👍

@@86peppers nice…I’ll check it out !

That’s an interesting idea. I was thinking the opposite, start with the base, then remove for flowering. It may not work that way because of root growth, it may also be ok with root pruning by air 🤷🏻‍♂️

​@@TopsriteYou're right, in the beginning I don't think the roots will be down that low. I also think there's more of a risk of root rot in the beginning when the plants really aren't drinking that much and water tends to sit.

I was actually going to use these bases outside this season. You've used them outside? They hold up well indirect sunlight?

@86peppers under the plant is mostly shaded so no worries.

What I'm I looking for that you say is wrong with my top watering root system?

@stangcobra592 the roots never really grow nearly as much and tend to be close to the surface because they never had to develop beyond that. A good thick mulch of grass clippings supports bacterial growth and can help keep the upper soil moist too.

@@jeffloats5930 with photoperiod by the time of final transplant, cup/1 gal plastic/ 5-7 gal fabric I've got a solid root system established, especially using Mykos and Azos. I'm salt based Coco medium so frequent top watering by hand.

I'm not sure that oxygenating the res would work, and I think it would get clogged very easily. I think it's just a buildup of digested animal waste that's gone rancid.

Try usin H2o2 (peroxide)30ml per gallon in reservoir..

I went on their website and a lot of their stuff is clearly divided by what's available in the US and outside. The ones that Canuck grows uses are not available in the states through their website. Maybe other means?

Yeah, I hate so say it but Amazon will probably get it to you tomorrow 😢

Thanks for the video

@@Santacruzpete420 thank you!

Yup. Amazon.

Hahaha, thank you friend! 🤘

Interesting. I stopped using them too. Well, I sort of run a modified version. I run 2 pieces of string through the bottom of my plastic buckets and leave them dangling in the saucer. This way it sucks up the overflow after watering. No waste. Let me know how you like the Auto pots!

I just started using these ac infinity self watering bases and also ran into over-watering issues, even though the ac infinity rep claimed that you could NOT over-water your plants using these bases. Part of it is my own fault as I followed blindly what I was told about keeping the bases full, three days after pouring 1 gallon into each bases I refilled the bases once noticing that the gauge showed empty and I did NOT remember to lift the pot to feel if it was heavy/still wet, three days later when I went to refill the bases again I remembered to feel the weight of the pots and realized they were saturated with water and weighed over 20lbs .......... It ended up taking over 14 days before the pots were dried out enough to start feeding them again, this time I made sure to only put 1/2 gallon into each base and to check by feel as to how heavy they are before refilling them. Come this Friday the autoflowers will start week 8 since sprouting, I'm filling the bases with approx 1/2 gallon about every 3 days now.

​@@losttofollowup420 see this is the thing, you shouldn't have to do all that. The whole point of this product is to throw water into the base and the plants will take what it needs, when it needs it. What kind of medium are you using? That's crazy that your plants are just absorbing all of that. What about just using one string? Or a thinner gauge string? Or putting the string in the inner holes. Or maybe a combination of all three?

@@86peppers I'm growing in 5 Gallon fabric pots using a soil mixture, essentially 1lb of super soil concentrate mixed with "Bio365 BioBlend" with some coco fiber. This mixture fills up approx 50% of the pot while the top 50% portion is a mixture of Bio365 BioBlend mixed with Coast of Maine Stonington Blend and perlite. When it comes to the bases I was using two of the wick lines but 4 days ago I removed one of the lines as I figured it would slow down how fast the reservoir is used up, but I was wrong about this as even with only one wick line in place each reservoir was empty within 24 hrs, the wick lines I'm using are the ones that came with the package directly from ac infinity. Weird thing is that I read a lot of threads/posts online where people were having issues with the opposite problem where the water in their reservoirs was not being sucked up. I simply assumed this was how the bases worked with regards to them sucking up the water as even when I put in a gallon within 24hrs it was gone and sucked up into the soil

@@86peppers I just did a quick search and noticed something in the fine details where it discusses their products and the terms they use are listed here: bioCORE™ biochar, our patented high-temperature, super low-ash biochar. Its unique structure allows it to hold water in very small pores, and this water becomes available to the plant as needed, rather than evaporating to the surrounding environment. This makes our soils more forgiving at the wilting point- an important benefit to growers who like to dry stress their plants between feeding. With its very high surface area, super high porosity, low ash and carbon stability, bioCORE™ provides the optimal physical environment for beneficial soil microorganisms. It also creates a unique ability to holds nutrients, which are then released to the plant over time, on-demand as the plant's roots draw it out. This makes bioCORE™ the perfect medium to host our potent bioCHARGE™ nutrient base" ...................................... So I'm thinking that this "bioCORE" they put in their product is the reason why I'm having this experience where the water in my bases is absolutely gone in just under 24 hrs even with just one wicking line being used, any thoughts on this ???

Sure, as long as they don't overlap. I just got some square Flora Flex pots that I might consider using with these.

Good idea! Wish we didn't have to do these workarounds but it doesn't sound like a deal breaker.

@86peppers I agree 👍

@86peppers now I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to feed from the top with dry amendments while using my self watering pots .. I've been doing my research.. any suggestions?

@@HanAbr do people just top dress? Sprinkle on top and water it in. I've also scraped soil from the top with my hands, put granules on top, then cover with the dirt I removed. I still think it's fine (and recommended) to water from the top occasionally. But, your res is going to collect residue and require weekly/monthly cleaning. Be careful of compounding fert buildup. Unless your dry amendment can completely dissolve into water then perhaps you could put it in the base, or maybe make a compost tea. It needs to be liquid enough so the string absorbs it.

Interesting! I've never heard of these before so I looked them up. Expensive! But I guess if they have a lifetime warranty it's worth it. I read a lot of info about how they promote drying better than fabric bags but I didn't see anything about the material restricting water pouring out of the side. This doesn't happen with you?

I mean, you can make it for out the side if you just dump a gallon on it but no for the most part nothing they’re awesome

And if Sam does go out the side because you poured on way too fast, it just sucks up right on its way down right through the bagLol

Now that's a good idea! 👍

Well, it depends what you're feeding with. What's your plan?

@@86peppers my plants are in veggie stage, but no roots on the bottom of cloth pot, so i probably wont use them. But i use coast of maine organic products,

​@@be28ans you need to train the roots to grow out of the bottom by only feeding in the reservoir. Yes, you could still top feed from time to time, especially if your soil has nutes. But if you're constantly top feeding there wouldn't be any reason for the roots to search for water.

It's tough. I hear you, but sometimes it'll come out. Totally messes with ec checking.

Lolol I'm cheap too but I prefer to call it "frugal" 😆 indeed, there's a popular gardening expression "a million dollar tomato" lol. I do it for the hobby. I enjoy growing as much as I do consuming, sometimes more. And I love knowing 100% of what is in my product.

I use 1 5 gallon bucket cut my lid down drill my holes Boom

It's $20.... I'm all for DIY, but it about isn't worth it in this scenario

@@NO50D1 well , also the size doesn't work for me . I made my own for 1 gallon pots and some for 3 gallon. Small footprint so I'm able to fit more in tent.

Lol, well. I kinda thought they weren't serious about the monthly cleaning part. Besides, there's a difference between synthetic gunk and organic gunk 🤢.

@@InedibleSushi if nutrients are in the soil, I like to top water occasionally. Also when the plant is young and roots haven't reached the bottom. Related more to using organic nutes and fabric bags imo.

Take my office reaper plant for example. I can put a gallon of water in the base and that would last about 2 weeks. Since only a little bit of the soil is wet at the bottom, (where the roots are) the plant can take what it needs without fear of root rot. Before I got the base I was watering office reaper much more frequently. And there were times when I was out of the office for 3 days to a week and the thing starved. This keeps it steady.

@@86peppers in a office most likely there are more ppl working and one of them can water the plants maybe .. but ok. when its worth 90Dollars for u totally fine, but its nice that ure being honest in somewhat agreeing with me that this doesnt work well for cannabis plants what there actually use case should be .. for small plants yes maybe ... but a somewhat potent cannabis plants needs idk 3/4/5/6 liters every 2days .. so theres no benefit at all in using that thing. especially when ure using coco and synthentics. but thats my opinion ... alone the price on that thing is insanity 90dollars for some plastic with some rope ... absolute crazy. but thanks for making this video so everyone can see the product and come to their own conclussions :)