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Dear AutoPot Customer,

Firstly we'd like to welcome you to another great edition of the AutoPot & Little Growers newsletter for the months of
July/August 2009.

In this Edition: New AutoPot & Little Growers Website, AutoPot's Invitation to 10 Downing Street, AutoPot to Release New
Product - The "AQUAbox", AutoPot Appoints new distributors, Greenhouse in Thailand, AQUAbox show site in Koh Samui,
Get a Closer View with AutoPot 3D Animations, Green Orchid Hydroponics, Motherwell, Scotland and more!!

On the 7th July 2009 I was invited by the PM to attend 10 Downing Street.
The invitation along with a hand full of selected businesses around the UK was to discuss issues on how the government & the UKTI could help companies like AutoPot distribute their products around the globe.

(Enlarge Photo) - I managed to say my piece and the evening was a great success. Due to the water saving issues that our products have to offer we have made contacts with some very important people & businesses that are looking at the AutoPot technology for dry regions & 3rd world countries and viewing this as potentially a concept that could well address many issues faced with plant irrigation in these areas. Little Growers was also discussed and the concept we can offer in schools while using the AutoPot technology. This unique scheme raised a few eyebrows with Lord Mandelson & Lord Davies showing a great interest. I will keep you posted in future newsletters of further progress.

In September 2009 we will be launching a new product, the AQUAbox.
The AQUAbox incorporates the AQUAvalve technology but is designed to be placed directly in the ground. It is perfect for raised beds, grow bags, allotments and in boarders.

Information including an AutoPot 3D animation will be added to the website prior to September.

It is simply placed in the ground with capillary wicks pulling the water from the AQUAbox and distributing it into the soil. In trials over the last 18 months we have successfully been irrigating 1 meter square beds with just one AQUAbox.

We are now pleased to announce the appointment of an additional distributor in the UK for the AutoPot products, this being Nutriculture (UK) Ltd.


We now have additional distributors in the UK , these being Growth Technology Ltd , HydroGarden Ltd and Garland Products Ltd, who are also an appointed distributor & manufacturer of the AutoPot products into the Mail order and Garden Centre markets.

We have now appointed a distributor in Thailand, Mr Ebby Bauch, who will in due course have all the products available for sale within the Kingdom of Thailand. Photos will be added to our website along with contact details of how to obtain the products in this country soon.

Along with the appointment of a Thai distributor we will also be constructing a 30 meter x 10 meter greenhouse near Rayong; this greenhouse will be used to trial the products further so that the information can be passed onto potential clients. As there is a global recession at the moment we have decided to make use of the land (23,000 sq meters) in Koh Samui that myself and a group of investors bought in 2004. This will in time be developed into a self sustainable site utilising the AutoPot technology, the proposal for the site can be seen at www.autopot-properties.com. However in the meantime and until the global market picks up we have decided to make use of the land by turning it into a sweet coconut farm. As sweet coconut is very much sought after on the Koh Samui we have decided it makes sense to plant them on the island.

Over the next 5-7 years the site will therefore supply the island with as much sweet coconut that we can grow. We will also be making full use of the AutoPot technology as we will be irrigating each of the 600 coconut trees with its own AQUAbox. This site will also be used as a show site for the AutoPot technology and the huge advantages in particular the AQUAbox can offer.

The site should be complete by the end of October 2009. Photos will be added to the website once the sweet coconut trees are planted.

3D animations are now available in the product section of the website, at present you can view the easy2grow Kit and a greenhouse set-up showing the easy2grow Extension Kits being used. Shortly we will be adding the animation of the AQUAbox being used in a 1 meter raised bed and the AQUAtable which will be in production towards the end of 2010. We will also be producing an animation of the 1Pot System being used in a greenhouse growing cucumbers and finally an animation showing all the products in a greenhouse and outside in the garden. Please keep an eye out for these additions as they are very informative. To view the present animations please follow this link.

Recently we visited Motherwell in Scotland the home of Green Orchid HydroPonics on the site of Greenside Garden Centre. Willie the owner has spent a year totally refurbishing the large greenhouse and is now trialling many methods of irrigation systems. Please visit the latest news section to see video of the progress in the greenhouse using AutoPot products. More information will be added in due course. The AutoPot News Area can be found here.

We have now added a resellers section to the website. There is a reseller/distributor locator within this page to allow you to find the nearest outlet to you, powered by Google, allowing you to retrieve directions and more. If you are an existing distributor and would like your company logo adding to our site please forward over a JPEG image to mail@autopot.co.uk and we will add it to the resellers section.

Although we have many appointed distributors around the world, these can be found in the Resellers section of the website.

If you are interested in becoming a distributor in a country, please forward any information to mail@autopot.co.uk.

There is now a gallery of all the products along with products being used in the field, these are available to retailers so that the images can be used on your own website. This information can be accessed in the Resellers section of the website under the heading “AutoPot Resellers Resource”

Since the last newsletter in March Little Growers projects across the UK have been going from strength to strength in the summer months with schools making great progress.  We now have 19 schools kitted out with complete Little Growers kits including polytunnels and AutoPot irrigation systems.  A further fifty schools also now have propagator units to begin establishing their grow your own schemes.  We love hearing the progress projects are making and we’ve had some brilliant responses lately!

Hatton Cruden Primary (Top left picture) has incorporated their Little Growers polytunnel into a school wide scheme, with a butterfly garden, interactive playground, community involvement and outdoor learning. 

Wandle Valley are now selling their produce at a Local market, as you can see from the picture (top right) they’re doing brilliantly, so a huge well done to Mandy Simmons for leading their project! Wootton Upper are also doing very well with an article in the local paper detailing their progress, well done guys!  And finally we hear that Chilton Foliat primary have recruited the help of the wider community with lots of  involvement including donations of compost and hands on help in the garden.

Little Growers has also employed the services of a grant finder over the summer period to source funding to expand Little Growers into a further 120 schools.  The money would be used to continue the nationwide roll out of the scheme, establish an ongoing volunteer support network for the schools whilst engaging the wider community and to employ a Little Growers project manager to oversee, support and keep up to date on the schools’ progress.  So watch this space on funding progress over the summer and into autumn…

So far we have applied for a range of funding but we have also found that there are specific funds that schools can apply for but we as the organisation cannot.  So feel free to contact heather@littlegrowers.co.uk for more details on individual school funding.

We have now added video material of our garden trails using the AutoPot systems for May, June and July on the website. This provides easy to follow learning material for the staff and children with handy hints and guidelines of how to get the most out of your AutoPot Watering Systems.

Little Growers is now going global! Following the establishment of AutoPot distribution in Japan, this had led to the installation of AutoPot systems and the Little Growers concept in schools.

This is extremely exciting as it shows our template can work across the globe in different educational environments. Photos of Japan’s progress to come soon!

Since the last newsletter we have been busy on the website updating information and links to our new school projects,
including their websites and recent photographs.  Please don’t hesitate to contact us via the ‘Ask Josh’ section with queries or feedback.

Please remember that you can keep up to date by viewing the 2009 Greenhouse Trials that can be found in the Latest News Section on the website.

At present there are videos available for May, June & July 2009. Please take the time to look at this information as it is informative and shows the healthy growth of the plants during this period. August & September 2009 videos will be added over the next couple.

To everyone using our watering systems we would thank-you for purchasing our products during the 2009 season. If you have any problems, questions or wish to suggest how we can make our website better please contact us via the Contact Us section of the site. Any photos are also more than welcome as we will add these to our latest news section.

That's all for now from AutoPot & Little Growers!
Until the next issue, Happy growing for 2009!

Jason Ralph-Smith - Director (AutoPot)
and Heather Pearl

Registered Address:

AutoPot Global Ltd
Brill View Farm
Ludgershall Road
Piddington, Oxfordshire
OX25 1PU

Telephone:

+44 (0)8707 544449
+44 (0)8700 270987

Fax:

+44 (0)870 3836953
+44 (0)1276 489918

Web:

www.autopot.co.uk

Email:

mail@autopot.co.uk

company no:

05381373