RDWC Pot Size?

[GreenVision]

My current grow is at week 7 now and I expect it to be down at week 10 so I have 3 weeks plus drying time. So I'm looking at ordering a new Hydro system in the next 2 or 3 weeks so I have it here all ready to go when the room is empty.

 

Like most things I'm loking to buy I search the net for advice as best I can and have been doing this for quite a while on RDWC pot sizing. As always there's no real answer I can take as certain so I'm here again in the hopes I can get some clarity.

 

I know which system I want, set on that, but which pot size?

 

The choice is 20L or 30L. It's a 12 pot system (Possibly 16 but I dont think I'll need that), and I am in the loft.

 

Instincts tells me that as I want to use it to just grow plants in the same "Way" and time period I would in soil / coco that the 20L is the way to go, but then most places I've done reading say the bigger pot the bigger the plant, but DOES THAT MEAN BIGGER BUDS? The price is marginal so doesn't come into it, the systems can be altered to size so again thats not a factor. It really does come down to which pot size is better suited, do I need a 30L pot for a basic 3-4 week veg and bloom, or is having more water in the pot regardless of veg and bloom time going to benefit me?

 

There must be a reason these systems are sold in different sizes, just cant figure out for sure which one is best for my room and why.

 

Need to get this right cos' there's no going back and its likley the system I'll be using for the forseeable future.

 

Cheers.

[stu914]

@GreenVision

 

Hi GV,

 

My immediate thought is that it's strain dependent? Longer flowering strains would produce more roots?

If not then it's always better to have more than needed rather than not enough so I'd be tempted to go for the larger.

[GreenVision]

Just now, stu914 said:

tempted to go for the larger.

 

This is pretty much where I'm at.

 

ATM I cant see an issue with having a pot too big, but a pot too small could result in obvious issues. The one reason I dont just write off the small pots is the system volume. The 35L compared to the 20L is biblical in terms of liters of water to fill the system, water I need to RO.

 

I dont mind the extra time / work to filter all the water, just dont want to dit for ZERO reason, I didn't want to be filtering double the amount of water if in the end it would have done absolutely nothing. 

 

Right now I think the larger pots make sense, apparently the more water in the system the more stable the EC and PH is, not sure how true that is but I suppose it make sense. Plus I think if I do need to filter more water then perhaps I wont have to fill it quite as often, especially in summer.

 

So unless someone has some real science that says I'm better off with the 20's (would welcome either way) I think the 35's are the current pick.

 

 

Cheers for poping in mate.

[stu914]

Why are you using RO bud?

[Shumroom]

If there was a leak,

would you be able to contain all the extra water?

 

Can the floor in the loft take the weight?

 

Atb

 

 

 

[GreenVision]

30 minutes ago, Shumroom said:

If there was a leak,

would you be able to contain all the extra water?

 

Can the floor in the loft take the weight?

 

Atb

 

 

A leak is not an issue, got that covered. But weight I can't honestly say. I'm confident it will be fine. Oddly enough it was a factor in me wanting to try out aeroponics, that has a 150l tank and that's it. But weight hadn't been overlooked. Is a concern but I've layerd the floor with 18mm osb and the joists are 7" by 2" at every 450mm, so quite chonky.

[stu sleeper 20vt]

3 or 4 week veg!

You going all treecity on us mate?

I'm my experience roots stop 'growing' at the same time as the tops stop stretching.

I'm 99% my old rdwc were 25l buckets and I don't ever recall thinking I needed more root space.

Not very helpfull I know but I wish you the very best of luck with it

[badbillybob]

biggest advantage of bigger pots is more solution in the mix and ph will remain steadier for longer. you could also eke a few more days between drain down and refills.