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Anybody ever try "no till" in 3-5 gal. pots?

sunnydog

Drip King
Veteran
Anybody ever try "no till" in 3-5 gal. pots?
Just pull out the stump top dress and put new plant in?
Any thoughts on this?
I would welcome not having to do the soil thing every time.


SD:tiphat:
 

L420K

New member
you're welcome to try it but it's unlikely the pots/soil you raise your plants in will develop a diverse and active enough microcosm to be able to handle that. it works in farm applications because there is highly active soil biosphere complete with fungi bacteria worms insects ect... this kind of concerted action is absent in potted biospheres so you're most likely just going to set the stage for disease.
 

VerdantGreen

Genetics Facilitator
Boutique Breeder
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
i know some people here have done it in much bigger pots and beds, but i think you will find 3-5 gal too small for that - but i s'pose it depends on what you topdress it with too.
 

guest2012y

Living with the soil
Veteran
I'm going to try this in 3 to 5 gallon pots. Donating maybe 10 pots to the experiment. I used to think the smaller pot thing wouldn't work for the reasons we understand,but I feel my soil is healthy enough to get it done.......at least one full cycle of no-till before another re-amend.
 

MrFista

Active member
Veteran
You will get an 'ecosystem' of sorts, but if it is big enough to deliver non stop action remains to be seen. On a microscopic level very little room is needed to host a huge plethora of life-forms.

Possible problems - Temps - hard to keep temps steady in smaller pots. In a temp controlled room this might not be a problem at all. Could use insulation as well, or in a dirt floor setup use partial burial (if ground temps aren't too variable). Mulch cover will stop the major fluctuations associated with air temps (that fluctuate much more rapidly than soil).

Water - wet dry fluctuations are greater. More regular watering might help eg drip system.

Gots to go, think on it more later.
 
I have done it with large containers,20 gal.I just made sure it wasn't too compacted and also had to supplement towrds the middle of flower.

I was in a pinch
 

sunnydog

Drip King
Veteran
update;

update;

AFOM (member, not active), Has done this( top dressed harvested pot) with 3 of 50 pots this run.
Several weeks in (first week 12/12) All is as well or better than the 'traditional" controls.

This will be an INCREDIBLE TIME and LABOR saver. Plus, maybe better!

SD:tiphat:
 

GanjaPharma

Member
not in soil but i do it in coir. if its uncool to post this because this is a soil thread i will delete it just PM me. (although i dont see why soil is any different in this instance)
also because i have been doing this for 8 or 9 crops running, i think its fair to say i grow in a 50/50 mix of coir and hemp roots. haha

one week after harvest, (10 day flush before that)
i take the dried out plant, cut the rootball out, pop another one in, fill in the gaps with some recycled coir.
the first watering after transplant does include a small dose of imidocloprid, started doing that a few years ago after root aphids.

otherwise its straight back to normal feeding.


Cutting out the old one


old roots, all the little roots are just part of the new coir


new plant 1 gallon pot


3 weeks from rooted clone


just needs a defol and ready to go





https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=29845&pictureid=671486

12 weeks later....chop and repeat.

and i should add that i have CROPS of some kind of mushrooms in my coir for the last few grows....whatever is going on in my medium, its more complex than it was when i brought that coir home.
 

sunnydog

Drip King
Veteran
not in soil but i do it in coir. if its uncool to post this because this is a soil thread i will delete it just PM me. (although i dont see why soil is any different in this instance)
also because i have been doing this for 8 or 9 crops running, i think its fair to say i grow in a 50/50 mix of coir and hemp roots. haha

one week after harvest, (10 day flush before that)
i take the dried out plant, cut the rootball out, pop another one in, fill in the gaps with some recycled coir.
the first watering after transplant does include a small dose of imidocloprid, started doing that a few years ago after root aphids.

otherwise its straight back to normal feeding.


Cutting out the old one


old roots, all the little roots are just part of the new coir


new plant 1 gallon pot


3 weeks from rooted clone


just needs a defol and ready to go





https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=29845&pictureid=671486

12 weeks later....chop and repeat.

and i should add that i have CROPS of some kind of mushrooms in my coir for the last few grows....whatever is going on in my medium, its more complex than it was when i brought that coir home.

I appreciate the input.:thank you:
Your data builds the case this will work out as well or BETTER than "reprocessing" the soil.

I will,however, probably increase my pot size to at least a 5g, since if I don't have to fuck with several hundred gals. of soil, it is not really an issue any more.

This is good news.
I think this could make our lives a lot easier!

SD :tiphat:
 

soil margin

Active member
Veteran
Assuming you have a high quality medium that is full of living organisms, well aerated and nutrient rich, I don't see why this would cause a problem.
 

guest2012y

Living with the soil
Veteran
Here's a plant in a 5 gallon no-till. All good.

picture.php
 

WPA

Member
Im sort of doing this with a plant out doors. This winter I did a breeding run and stuck all the pots outside when I was done, and in 3 of the pots seeds must have fallen into them and sprouted up... 2 of them I re potted and they got eaten by slugs :( but the third is still in the original pot and doing well!

Hope its female and I have an extra plant come harvest!
 
B

Bongi

I know this is old thread but I am testing 1.5l, 2l, 3l, 10.8l, and 12l no till containers. Everything is going fine at this moment in 3l and up containers. I dont have mother plant that I can use to get cuttings to 1.5l containers yet. The seeds that I use to get mother have germinated some time ago and are growing first set of true leaves, few are growing second ones. I will post pictures of containers and plants in them when I get my other pc. (Today or tomorrow)

Plants in 3l and up containers are autoflowering type. Sour60, White Widow, Northern Lights, Amnesia Haze and Ripley's OG.
2 of them have showed sex and is flowering, 4 have just germinated and 3 are growing maybe 3th or 4th set of true leaves.
Plants in 1.5l containers will be photoperiodic. I have not chosen which strain. I think I just choose most vigorous one out of all photoperiodic plants.

Have any one else tried micro no till? How did it go? I think that it has to work. There is so much microscopic life in small amount of soil.
 

heady blunts

prescription blunts
Veteran
i was attempting to flower in 2 gallon grow bags last winter and it was headache after headache. i gave up after 4 runs w constant issues.

fwiw ive kept moms and vegging plants in 1/2 gallon and 2 gallon no tills for several cycles without issue. topping off with awesome homemade castings at transplant time.

both experiences were in coot style mixes.

i think larger soil volumes are more stable and forgiving.
 
B

Bongi

How long did you veg your plants? What kind of problems you encountered? Nutrient problems?

My plants seems to be happy in their pots. But they were transplanted into them few days ago and this is first cycle.
Only thing that bothers me is heat stress that at least biggest Sour 60 is experiencing.

I plan to keep my mothers in party cups if it works out. If they start to seem stressed I will transplant them into 1,8l containers. I hope I can keep them in party cups at least until I have flowered clone of them so that I can choose best ones other ways they may take too much space.
 

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