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trellising in smart pots?

MMAjay420

MMAjay420

Member
has anyone put up cages or trellising on thier smart pots to support the heavier colas? I havent used the smart pots yet but when i was planning on using regualr pots i wanted to put small tomato cages around the palnt to support the future growth. I look at the smart pots and it makes me think that it wouldnt be sturdy enough to hold the cage in place. I would think the minute you move the smart pot, the soil would loosen and the cage would lose its hold in the soil.

Is this the case? i would love to see some pictures of people using smart pots who added some kind of support system.....
 
MMAjay420

MMAjay420

Member
well i never got any real answers but talked to a few other growers and my buddy at the hydro shop and came to a reasonable solution. I ended up holding the fabric pots inside of milk crates, 2 bags to a crate works great. and then i found some U shaped bamboo supports at teh 99 cent store and pushed a few of them into the soil before the girls streched. they seem exert a lateral force, when i pull the legs out and push them into the outer edges of soil, they want to pull back together and that creates enuf tension to where they dont come loose at all.

heres my strawberry cough with the bamboo
 
P

Primalraindrop

Member
I among MANY growers just use Hortinova netting. Most commonly used by zip tieing it to a pvc structure. Thats how we do it atleast. works great in 30+ mph winds if tied down properly. also it lets plenty of light into the canopy!
 
theJointedOne

theJointedOne

Active member
Veteran
MMAjay420 said:
has anyone put up cages or trellising on thier smart pots to support the heavier colas? I havent used the smart pots yet but when i was planning on using regualr pots i wanted to put small tomato cages around the palnt to support the future growth. I look at the smart pots and it makes me think that it wouldnt be sturdy enough to hold the cage in place. I would think the minute you move the smart pot, the soil would loosen and the cage would lose its hold in the soil.

Is this the case? i would love to see some pictures of people using smart pots who added some kind of support system.....
Click to expand...

It depends on the amount of soil/ size of smart pot.

On a 15 gallon i could see your point, although even that small they still have some balance.

on a 65 gallon and up you dont have to worry about anything, its basically a giant ball of heavy dirt.

a 300 gallon smart pot filled with dirt and water, no man can move alone/ Shit even 4 dudes lol

dirt is heavy

if your using 100gallons or more check out concrete remesh, it makes great cages
 
Ph-patrol

Ph-patrol

Well-known member
Veteran
I use 5 gal buckets to grow in so when i need to support or train,I take wooden stakes that are 3/4" and drive them in to out side perimeter of bucket during flowering . So depending on plant thats 2 to 4 stakes. My stakes are 5' tall and cut in place once driven in
Then cut smaller pieces out of the same material and hot glue them to the top of the stake to tie them together.
This allows me to customize the tie downs or supports what ever my needs are.

When the grow is over with some force i pull apart my trellis and reuse parts next time around.
 
Coconutz

Coconutz

Active member
Veteran
Havent used cages, but Ive had my stakes slide down and plants fall over in the smartpots.
I guess maybe the side of the pot got shifted and the stake got loose.
Lifes a bitch!
 
Ph-patrol

Ph-patrol

Well-known member
Veteran
Coconutz said:
Havent used cages, but Ive had my stakes slide down and plants fall over in the smartpots.
I guess maybe the side of the pot got shifted and the stake got loose.
Lifes a bitch!
Click to expand...

TRy driving three stakes all the way to bottom of smart pot and hot gluing the top of stakes together with pieces. they will become one unit instead of individual stake.this system is very rugged and custom.

But maybe im just not seeing your plight,
 
Coconutz

Coconutz

Active member
Veteran
The main problem was letting the pots get too dry which made them top heavy and the plants were leaning from the weight.
The stakes may have shifted because the pots werent stuffed with enough coco and that gave the stakes room to move the bag around.
It will eventually give and the plants could come down if everything isnt done properly.
Its worse with smaller pots than it is bigger ones
 
doublejj

doublejj

Member
Veteran
I use remesh wire from Home Depot around my 100gl smart pots, works great!
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https://www.icmag.com/ic/attachment.php?attachmentid=121505&d=1308247379
 
grow nerd

grow nerd

Active member
Veteran
2x4 galvanized. Plan on using 6x6 concrete remesh for the larger full-term plants.



Didn't do all of them like this. On some, I just wrapped a straight cylinder / tube around the pot (larger than the pot), starting from the ground rather than from the soil level of the pot. The shorter ones have a "top cap", as well. I think I first saw Butte do it this way (the top cap; but that was for the initial smaller diameter training cage, as he uses flexible Hortanova netting for his "3D ScrOG").
 
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