Pots Or Troughs

[Gmyst]

Hi guys still waiting for some feedback about Bio bizz but it looks sound enough and none too expensive.Read some things about pots and using troughs andy thoughts on this.One theory and its sound is that the bigger the area for the water to spread over the more gas exchanges happen ,but I suppose wide mouthed pots may be ok too,But this is my dilema we will have a 6" /6"/ 6" room and will grow no more than 8 to ten plants under 1000 to 1200 wtts of light and the will need to be moved and have some form of drip tray ,what can I get my hands on to make life easy .thanks Gmyst oh and anything else that may help ,my mate used nothing but soil and hes got me going after the last grow but we wanna cut out the chemicals we have plenty of time as we have a crop to go yet ,but its best to be well planned and thought out first ,thaks again peeps G

[oldtimer1]

Gmyst I don’t tend to grow in soil as our climate is to unpredictable.

Its true that providing soil is well cultivated and fertile no supplementary liquid feeding of any sort is needed, as the root run is totally unrestricted.

I grow in containers/pots using compost. The reason compost was developed was that both garden top soil or fertile farm soil have a structure that is totally wrong for enclosed containers. Also its nutrient reserves are many times less than what are needed. So our forefathers gradually supplemented soils making a composite of several materials, manures, grits and sands and organic matter. ie an enriched growing medium with altered drainage, air holding, water holding, nutrient reserves, capillary capability, crumb structure etc, so much so that nowadays most composts contain no soil at all.

As an instance I grow in 6 litre square pots so the root mass a plant can develop is extremely limited, because of this the nutrient reserves become depleted before the plant has finished its life cycle even thought the initial reserves are many times that of natural soil.

So some supplementary liquid feeding is needed. I mainly just use a mix of Biobizz grow and bloom, varying the mix of the two through the grow.

Different varieties, even different plants may have varying nutrient needs. I keep and eye on the plants, if they look short of a particular nutrient of which there are only usually two, N or Mg, I either give a one off shot of fish or epsom salt. I believe in giving a plant what it needs, not force feeding it.

On your question of troughs or pots, it doesn't matter. If the compost is good it will have the right air holding capacity and crumb structure. It is better to water through the top all over the compost surface using a fine rose. Its not good watering via capillary action from a tray, but capillary action back up from a tray after watering from the compost surface is good for equalising the water content of all the pots in a tray/area.

As a general note cannabis seems to do better in tall pots. If you are only going to grow a few large plants I would go for the biggest final pots you can get.

[Gmyst]

Well if its soil or compost its all muck to me thats why I said soil ,thanks for that.I used to think growing in organic medium was a pain humping bags of dirt etc getting rid but now a few things thrown in leave it a bit and your away again.

Well thanks again I'll be back when its time to go with it if I have any more questions which I know I will as I'm a fanny,G

Edited December 17, 2003 by Gmyst