First Time Coco, Pot Size?

[slowandeasy]

So I went to buy 2 gal smart pots, all they had was 3 gal. Any negatives of only putting 2 gals of Coco in my 3 gal smart pots? I can't see any issue, but I wanted to check with the experts. My goal is to scrog, I want to completely fill my 4x4 screen with canopy. I will veg until it's full.

Another question, is there a problem with having the smart pots flat on the table? Seems like there wouldn't be any aeration on the bottom.

My grow room is 5x5x6. I have a 4x4 botanicaire table. Drip to waste on timer.

Nah, no rule that you have to fill the pot all the way...it will not effect your yield. Just know that using 3 Gal of coco will not increase your yield IMO.

FWIW, I use drop ceiling lighting grids...you know those white plastic grids? It keeps the bottoms elevated a couple of inches and allows pruning of bottom roots and better airflow. You can cut them to size, and should work perfect for your tray.

Also, FWIW, I use Blumats and drip all day...with zero run off. This works very well, and wastes zero nutes. I use Drip Clean incase of salt build up. I have tried different drip rates, and for me...a constant drip rate all the time works better than drain to waste and saves money. Do whatever you like, but personally I have better results with no run off...but I do not use a timer. Good luck, hope this helps some.

 

[antheis]

slowandeasy is right here.
i have blumats in coco using airpots (not to be confused with smart pots) and mine drip all day too, with no run off.
i culled a male a couple of weeks ago and the root system was so huge it made it impossible to salvage any substantial amount of coco from that plant.
drip clean is a good idea, i am not using it and i do see a bit of salt build up on the top layer of coco.

 

[Herborizer]

Sounds good. I used to run SOG, which pretty much made Blumats out of the picture. Now that I am switching to SCROG and only running 6 plants, I think I want to revisit the Blumats. I really would love to run them. Sounds so much better.

Help me get there.

I have a 5x5x6 Tent. Flood table on stand. 60 Gal feed reservoir. Same level as tent (on the ground).

From the Blumat website, they say you need your reservoir 3 meters higher than the Bluemat cones. I can't see a way of doing that. Would be great to run them.

Things that come to mind is that I would need to put my 4x4 table on the ground. Though, then I would have no way of draining to waste. Yes, I know that with the Blumats you don't really need waste, but sometimes don't you need to flush them? It seems that being able to drain the table seems important. Also, I guess I could make some sort of stand for my reservoir, but how high? I really can't go up that much.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Herborizer]

Never mind, I read the Blumat thread. Lots of great info!

I have a 2nd reservoir (35gal) I use for my mothers. If I decide to go Blumat, I will use my 60gal res for my mothers, and use the 35gal reservoir for my main grow tent. I should be able to elevate the 35gal reservoir high enough.

 

[antheis]

my blumat res is about a foot higher than the cones. however i am only running two plants, and its about a 6-7 gal res.
since you are only running six blumats i would think the resistance to flow wouldn't be that much higher. and with 60 gallons pushing behind it, i'm sure you could get plenty of flow.

 

[slowandeasy]

Never mind, I read the Blumat thread. Lots of great info!

I have a 2nd reservoir (35gal) I use for my mothers. If I decide to go Blumat, I will use my 60gal res for my mothers, and use the 35gal reservoir for my main grow tent. I should be able to elevate the 35gal reservoir high enough.

It does not have to be 3 meters, that is for a really long run. My buckets set on top of another 5 gal bucket...so maybe 2.5 feet off the ground. Your 35 Gal rez will last a long time!

 

[Herborizer]

Ok. Ordered the blumats patio kit, extra 10 tropf blumats, 50 feet of blumat tubing, and support stakes. Ordered another 30 gal res, because I can lift those high enough. This will give me one res for mothers, the other for veg/flower room. Just need to get the 3/32 barbed things and I am set.

Exchanged my 3 gal smart pots for 2 gal smart pots. This weekend I should be able to get everything set. I will be using 2 blumats per 2gal smart pot. I know it's overkill, but it can't hurt right?

 

[Herborizer]

For small bonsai mothers, I figure that 5x5 plastic pots are best. Feedback is welcome.

 

[slowandeasy]

For small bonsai mothers, I figure that 5x5 plastic pots are best. Feedback is welcome.

I would not bother using 2 per pot. 1 is plenty, trust me...you can set it to the moisture level you want. It will not do anything extra by adding another blumat to that small of a pot. 5x5 are good size, I keep mine in Beer Cups for a long time to keep from getting huge and just hand water.

Just set up 1 Blumat per 2 Gal Smart Pot, and keep your Coco damp. It works really well. If you ever want it more moist, just turn up the drip rate. You can set to run off if you every really wanted to. The best part is that you can dial each plant to its own drip rate. Good luck.

 

[Herborizer]

I would not bother using 2 per pot. 1 is plenty, trust me...you can set it to the moisture level you want. It will not do anything extra by adding another blumat to that small of a pot. 5x5 are good size, I keep mine in Beer Cups for a long time to keep from getting huge and just hand water.

Just set up 1 Blumat per 2 Gal Smart Pot, and keep your Coco damp. It works really well. If you ever want it more moist, just turn up the drip rate. You can set to run off if you every really wanted to. The best part is that you can dial each plant to its own drip rate. Good luck.

Thanks for the feedback.

How far from the edge of the smart pot would you suggest I put the blumat? How long should I extend the tube out past the bluemat? I think I read that it should be 8 cm past, and the drip end a couple inches from the base of the plant.

 

[Tfresh420]

I just bought 5 gallon smart pots, is that over kill, should I switch to 3 gallon? I dont know if 5 gallon is a waste of coco and nutes??? I have an ebb & flo system but I was gunna switch to hand watering, what do you guys think???

 

[slowandeasy]

I just bought 5 gallon smart pots, is that over kill, should I switch to 3 gallon? I dont know if 5 gallon is a waste of coco and nutes??? I have an ebb & flo system but I was gunna switch to hand watering, what do you guys think???

I think 5 is over kill, waste of Coco IMO. Go with 3 Gal. Your plants will be huge either way.

 

[mg75]

I just bought 5 gallon smart pots, is that over kill, should I switch to 3 gallon? I dont know if 5 gallon is a waste of coco and nutes??? I have an ebb & flo system but I was gunna switch to hand watering, what do you guys think???

You can always fill them 3/4 and use less coco...
Smart Pots fold over easy. I would keep the 5 gallon, fill it 1/2 or 3/4 full and line the sides with yellow sticky traps for the 99% chance you will get gnats.

If you ever decide to grow bigger plants, you have the option...

You made the right choice. Not over kill.

 

[slowandeasy]

You can always fill them 3/4 and use less coco...
Smart Pots fold over easy. I would keep the 5 gallon, fill it 1/2 or 3/4 full and line the sides with yellow sticky traps for the 99% chance you will get gnats.

If you ever decide to grow bigger plants, you have the option...

You made the right choice. Not over kill.

Unless you are growing trees, 5 Gal is a waste. Yes you can fill half way, I have stated that earlier in the thread. 99% chance of gnats? I do not agree with that at all. Unless you keep your Coco soaked at all times and your grow area allows them in. Of course if you get a bag with them in there already, then use some mosquito dunks on top. Using a smaller Smart Pot will keep your Coco from staying soaked....which keeps Gnats around. No Gnats here!!!!

Coco is not cheap, there is no advantage on using 2x the medium if it does not increase yields. I know for a fact it will not increase your yield unless you are growing trees. The roots never get root bound and will grow massive plants in way smaller containers. I have been doing tests, and see ZERO advantage of using anything larger than 3 Gal, unless you are keeping the plant for a very long time.

 

[OPT]

2 Gallon is plenty IMO.

OPT

 

[slowandeasy]

2 Gallon is plenty IMO.

OPT

In My set ups 1 gal did just as well as 2...but uses half the Coco. If the plant is going to be a mother, 2 gal is better...but I have seen no advantage using a 2 gal. I use blumats, so they are on drippers all the time. If hand watering 2 gal will keep more moisture obviously.

 

[Herborizer]

In My set ups 1 gal did just as well as 2...but uses half the Coco. If the plant is going to be a mother, 2 gal is better...but I have seen no advantage using a 2 gal. I use blumats, so they are on drippers all the time. If hand watering 2 gal will keep more moisture obviously.

What do you think of Smart Pots for mothers? I was thinking that mothers don't need explosive growth and that plastic pots might work better. With plastic posts we would require less watering. Right? Thoughts?

 

[Tfresh420]

Unless you are growing trees, 5 Gal is a waste. Yes you can fill half way, I have stated that earlier in the thread. 99% chance of gnats? I do not agree with that at all. Unless you keep your Coco soaked at all times and your grow area allows them in. Of course if you get a bag with them in there already, then use some mosquito dunks on top. Using a smaller Smart Pot will keep your Coco from staying soaked....which keeps Gnats around. No Gnats here!!!!

Coco is not cheap, there is no advantage on using 2x the medium if it does not increase yields. I know for a fact it will not increase your yield unless you are growing trees. The roots never get root bound and will grow massive plants in way smaller containers. I have been doing tests, and see ZERO advantage of using anything larger than 3 Gal, unless you are keeping the plant for a very long time.

Thanks for the help, I just bought 18 5 gallon smart pots but I am gunna return a bunch of them for 3 gallon, One bag of coco was only filling 3 of the 5 gallon smart pots and i thought it was a waste, thanks for the info

And another question should i keep them in the ebb & flo or should I switch to hand watering??

 

[slowandeasy]

What do you think of Smart Pots for mothers? I was thinking that mothers don't need explosive growth and that plastic pots might work better. With plastic posts we would require less watering. Right? Thoughts?

If you keep mothers in Smart Pots, you will have to trim them more often than a smaller regular container. I have been keeping potential moms in Beer Cups for a long time, this keeps them from getting out of control huge. It really depends on how long you wanna keep the mother around and how big of a space you have to work with. My mothers in Smart Pots do really well, but will get huge....so be warned.
The disadvantage of smaller pots is much more frequent watering, so that can be a pain in the ass when they drink water really fast. I have some pics of some potential mother plants in small containers in my album.

 

[Tfresh420]

hey guys, I traded in my 5 gallon smart pots for the 3 gallons but i kept 6 of the 5 gallon ones to test em out and see what I can grow. I'm still debating if i should hand water or put in ebb & flo. Any input???