Autoflowers in limited coco space?

[lordbudly]

hey guys, since coco is a hydroponic medium persay, are plants affected rootbound wise like soil? i know the smaller the container the more watering etc... but would it stunt the plants just like a small container of soil would? limited floor space and im trying to figure out the max amount of autoflowers i can run this round without stunting them from limited rootspace

 

[Herbalistic]

I would say yes, they are affected by rootbounding based on my own experience with coco. Growing in small pots, I would suggest you go with sativa strain, not an af one, because sativadom strains are ideal to grow indoors in 1-2 L pot´s of coco and you can veg them a week to let them start roots and turn it switch :wink:

 

[lordbudly]

autoflowers are for sure, the medium is what is the problem, i might have to do hydro

 

[Wait...What?]

Its been my limited experience that plants in coco act more like plants in hydro than plants in peat with regards to being pot-bound. Plants in coco don't seem to do the usual yellowing and dropping of the oldest leaves that a plant in soil[less] does.

 

[Herbalistic]

How small containers were you planning on budly? Dont know fo sure, how af strains develop roots.. Do they continue to grow them since they have started flowering phase If not, small pots would do good

Btw, here´s couple Lowryders I did grow in 0.5-0.75 L pots (cannot remember Or should I say MINI rydaZ???

Needless to say I wasnt too interested about this seed making project after I saw the size they started to flower..... Also got some mite´s at the time, but it´s all good and I got some mini seeds

Just to point you about af strains in small pots of coco Which strain are you planning to grow btw? I think some newer af strains do much better than these mini´s..

 

[Herbalistic]

Its been my limited experience that plants in coco act more like plants in hydro than plants in peat with regards to being pot-bound. Plants in coco don't seem to do the usual yellowing and dropping of the oldest leaves that a plant in soil[less] does.

Naah They most certainly do rootbound and start droppin older leafs even if you handwater & feed them actively

Just check my old gallery and read some of my older post´s if you dont believe..

However, I understand what you are after, maybe?? You mean they dont show symptoms of rootbounding so fast, or what?? Co´s thats something I could agree with you!

 

[lordbudly]

diesel ryder ibl and a berry mix pack certain bred pheno, was originally gonna go for half gallon but realized i can fit 10 1 gal grow bags in their so its straight if 1gal coco is good nuff for em

 

[dontae1000]

from what ive been reading coco will do better with less space then soil, now with autos ive also been reading that they prefer to go deep, im running autos in 1.5 gallons grow bags and my plants(bigger ones) about 10 inches at 25 days with a leaf span at its widest of 15 inches and this is under a few 20 watt cfls... id try to make a skinny deep container if width is your space challenge or a 5 inch but very wide container if height is your space challenge and see what u get. soon ill have hundreds of seeds and will be expirenting with autos this way and that way in high numbers, but for the first ten at a cost of like 65$ i went with some size in the container area-

 

[thepike1984]

An af's stem root grows quite long so your main concern is the depth of your pots. Narrow pots that are deep work good if you have limited floor space. Hope this helps

 

[JackKerouac]

Coco can be used with extremely rootbound plants without problems if you automate it with ebb and flow or drip. Check out several of the coco root porn threads here on icmag.

That said, autflowers will act just like any other cannabis plant as far as rootbinding. Coco will just allow you to put them in a small space if you keep them watered.

 

[Herbalistic]

Jack Kerouck, I almost agree with you, havent grown in ebbNflow setup till rootbound, but I would say that with well cared handwatering/-feeding, you can succesfully use coco even if they rootbound, it actually has it´s benefits even if older growth will drop older ones down (talking about multibranched bonsaitrees ), but it also gives you huge grow spurts even without repotting..

Dont wanna argue this and I respect your growing skills Jack, just shared experiences!

thepike1984: Good info, K+ for that!!

 

[3dDream]

I grow in beer cups but my watering system allows larger plants. I can get 4ft out of a cup. I rarely get hermies or rootbound. I would not try to hand water something this small, the plants will dry out too fast.

 

[chemsteady]

were all on the same page!

were all on the same page!

sounds like everyone agrees; you can definitely grow nice, healthy plants in small containers, but you d better have an irrigation regiment that allows for constant access to water, like plants on a table as jack suggested, or a dedicated hand waterer like herbalistic (and me).

3d, you must have roots coming out your ears in those cups! not root bound? what you mean is , you ve got your setup so dialed in that even root bound plants in plastic beer cups have no choice but to grow nice and fat, right? nice gardening, man.

so nice when good growers agree.
-c

 

[Herbalistic]

I grow in beer cups but my watering system allows larger plants. I can get 4ft out of a cup. I rarely get hermies or rootbound. I would not try to hand water something this small, the plants will dry out too fast.

WoW man, you got you tsiat dialed 2 the IN Whats your lighting wattage if I might ask btw?? + What kind of watering system are you using?? Sorry for the Q´s, but im here to share info from my experiences and to learn, learn and learn more about growing of our beloved specie!

I shouldnt make assumptions, but I had to make this time after seeing that last ^pic^.... Was that flowered straight from rooted clone?? It looks like, but is it just me, but my sincere opinion is that plants roots aint completely rootbounded, not even near IMHE!! Or are you flowering seedlings with about week in veg after poppin (another assumption,sorry ) to produce some roots and then switch into flowamode?? That would also explain why they aint completely rootbounded Most of my sats did manage very well 1.5-2.5 months in little under 2 L of cocoloco, but when transplanted after that time, they were "bounded" to the bone from top 2 bottom

 

[3dDream]

Herbalistic - the plants are bottom fed using an autopot-type setup. Basically a valve floods a tray when it dries up. Since the plants sit in water the roots don't go to the bottom. Also, since the plants are bottom fed salts build up at the top. The roots stay in the middle. I am now using lots of benefitial micros and my roots are very white these days. I flush 2 times during a grow, once at the start of flower and once at the end before a flush. The plant in the pic was from seed and vegged for a week or so. Thanks!

 

[dontae1000]

ive recently uprooted my male autos that were in a 1.5 gallon container and didnt notice all that deep of initial tap root development, actually it looked quite short at about 7 inches down the container. plants are a little over a foot and strecthin daily as they just started there bloom, its day s 26. i think theres alot to be said about container size and frequency of water as the 4ft plants in beer cups demenstates.

 

[chemsteady]

hmmm

hmmm

3d, im wondering how your roots take up nutrients if they dont go to the bottom of the cup? i know the coco will soak up the feed, allowing for the roots to take up nutrients, but i still dont see why the roots wouldnt go searching for an even more abundant supply of water/nutes. your top growth indicates a whole shit ton of roots somewhere.

also, and i could be wrong, i feel like salts accumulate where they settle, that is to say, from a top fed situation (pulled by gravity) down, and in your situation, they would settle in the tray, not travel upward. makes me think you should be rinsing that tray every so often.

anyhow, seems like you got a good thing going, whatever the reason, best not to over think it, and just keep doing what you re doing.
-c