Anyone doing coco trees (200gal+?) outdoors?

Why or why not?

I had some success last season with 30-gallon smart pots and a 100-gal as well. Thinking going 400 gal smart pots of coco. Especially since I'm getting started a tad but late in the season.

Comments, shitty opinions, etc...

go for it. bigger the pots, bigger the plants. I do 100 and 200 gallon tan smart pots. I would start my plants now in a greenhouse with supplemental light and put them in their final homes on june first. In large pots its definitely a must to add lots of perlite. I use 2/3-3/4 of a big bag per 100 gallon pot.

Why a must for large pots in particular?

larger pots can have more issues with aeration.
I dident realize that was an issue in coco.

eighty9concentr said:

go for it. bigger the pots, bigger the plants. I do 100 and 200 gallon tan smart pots. I would start my plants now in a greenhouse with supplemental light and put them in their final homes on june first. In large pots its definitely a must to add lots of perlite. I use 2/3-3/4 of a big bag per 100 gallon pot.

Click to expand...

So roughly 25% by volume in perlite?

I had a single 100gal last season with zero perlite and had no problems to speak of, but I can see how with bigger containers it might become more apparent.

Thinking 400gal smart pot with roughly 300gal coco and 100gal perlite. Actually 500gal would be preferred if i can easily find cheap fabric pots in that size. Last season I added in neem cake and finished out with healthy plants. Can't say whether it helped or not but I'll do it again this year.

Right now looks like roughly $1/gal for coco ($10/~10gal bag), and probably cheaper for perlite but I'm not sure how much. Guessing about $50 per fabric pot maybe up to $70. So $300 coco + $130 perlite (approx 4.25 big bags) + $70 container + probably $10 worth of neem cake(?) per pot, total $510 not including mulch and drip hardware. $600 might seem a fair estimate for 400 gal.

Got the clones in 4" pots growing some more roots under a T5 until I put em in a hoop house outside to veg with supplemental lighting, probably in 5 or 7gal grow bags.

200 gallons of coco could be a bit much... at least cut it with some perlite, I'd suggest mixing some peat moss in as well.

I am doing an outdoor project for the second time with 200 gallon smart pots of Sunshine Mix #4. it is basically peat moss and perlite... they did great and I am confident that they will do better this time around.

an associate consistently pulls close to 7 lb in his 200 gallon pots using this method. one tip is, lots of water. I won't give too much away... but one example is once the plants were established in mid-June and really taking off, each feeding consisted of ~25 gallons of fresh water followed by 25 gallons of PH'ed nutrient formula. then they were left for 4-6 days between feedings to dry out almost completely.

that should help