3 or 5 gallon air pots ( or smart pots ) in 4x4 tent

[Boris Sputnik]

I'm switching from 4 DWC in 5 gal. buckets to coco and I want to grow 9 plants in smart pots or air pots .
I did a little reading but couldn't really get an answer to my question : do I go with 3 or 5 gal. ?
In a 4x4 tent , 600w HPS/MH , good vent ,good temp and humidity . I Have the time and am ready to water them every day if needed . Anyone can help me make my choice ?
Thanks !

Boris

 

[gr865]

With the limited height of the 4x4 I would go with the 3 gal, I am running 2 gallon and that is plenty of size.
I set up a drip system and feed three times a day and going to four soon. I am one week into 12/12 and the plants have outgrown my screens already and I am about to supercrop a few of the plants.
You want to make sure to not let the coco dry out.

GR

 

[TurboTokes]

You can fit 9 5 gallon smart pots in a 4x4 no problem. 3 gallon smart pots would be more than enough media to support a 4' plant. But waterring will devinetely be more frequent vs 5 gallon

5 gallon pots would cost a little more to fill with media (27gal total vs 45gallon)

If you dont mind waterring daily, I would go with 3's. If youd prefer to drink a beer and not worry about the plants, save yourself a day inbetween and get the 5's.

Height of the pots 3 vs 5 is not an issue, my hydrofarm smart pots the 5 is only about an inch taller than the 3, its just also a little wider, still plenty of space to fit 9 of them in a 4x4 as they are less than 12" diameter each

 

[visajoe1]

I use 1g trade pots in DTW coco (botanicare moisture) drip feed 2x day. I cant imagine needing much more pot size for a tent grow

 

[Johnei]

3, fine roots hairs are so intense in smart pots, uptake is insanely amazing and smaller pot will do the job.

 

[ssj4jonathan]

I'd use 5 gallon air pots, and some heavy duty saucers. They're the best pots in the market right now. I'm using a five gallon airpot and they do require lots of medium. You can always move the base up though. They measure about one foot wide. +1 for drip irrigation, would be your best bet. Hand watering 9 pots would be a chore, especially when there's little walking room around the pots.

 

[verticalgrow]

I'd use 5 gallon air pots, and some heavy duty saucers. They're the best pots in the market right now. I'm using a five gallon airpot and they do require lots of medium. You can always move the base up though. They measure about one foot wide. +1 for drip irrigation, would be your best bet. Hand watering 9 pots would be a chore, especially when there's little walking room around the pots.

Agreed with jono,
go the full monty

 

[Johnei]

I'd use 5 gallon air pots, and some heavy duty saucers. They're the best pots in the market right now. I'm using a five gallon airpot and they do require lots of medium. You can always move the base up though. They measure about one foot wide. +1 for drip irrigation, would be your best bet. Hand watering 9 pots would be a chore, especially when there's little walking room around the pots.

With large air pots filled with just a simple LC's mix soilless, due to all the perimeter air availability to the roots and the fine root hairs etc. do you think it would be possible to have dripper on them constant, like if dripper was closer to mid way in the pot, not the edge, and not near middle, so always flow but outside perimeter always air so it's ok? You think this could work just because of the air pot aspect, or it's askin for overwatering issues? Thanks
...like using a non ammended medium so will be like almost hydro, but with Promix/Sunshine, and always flow so never buildup?
Thanks. I'm wondering. Do you think this would work?
I've only ever drilled holes in pots custom made air style pots in the past, I know it aint even close, never used the real ones. fabric, or the plastic pointy outside ones.
Hope you see this.

(..I don't mean to hijack your thread Boris grow bro.)

 

[jwreck]

OP - no need to use such big pots for a 4x4.
if you try to run 9 plants in a 4x4 using such big pots you are gonna want to veg them longer in order to get the most out of all that medium then when you flower is gonna be way too crowded in there.

i use 6 inch square pots veg for like 5-6 weeks and get around 2-3 o's a plant with less than a gallon of coco and the entire 4x4 is completely filled out. you will have to water more often though.

1g air pots might be even better but probably gonna need watering too much for me to keep up with, if you have a drip system it would be perfect

 

[ssj4jonathan]

With large air pots... do you think it would be possible to have dripper on them constant...)

All depends on how much water your medium can hold and the drip rate. Adjust the rate just right and you can leave it running 24/7. Can't forsee any reason why it wouldn't work... Airpots dry out fast too. Also would use half strength nutes. Like the idea so much might do something similar but I have only 7 square feet to work with

Use either 3gal or 5gal, your plants won't get rootbound either way. LST your plants for a month (works great with airpots just use the triangular paper clamps and string), get them nice and crowed and then lay a screen above it, undue the strings and then finally bud away. You'd get an impressive harvest for sure. Maybe up to a G/W.

 

[Johnei]

Gotya, thanks man. Good advice.
When I asked, because this idea popped in my head to just feed low and slow constant, and never have buildup or pH fluctuation etc. thought maybe with bigass airpots, would be a pretty trouble free nice grow, and maybe during night do it on a cycle on and off, find the sweet spot, yep. LST and the trellies, I like the way you think grow bro.
Thanks man.

 

[ANC]

If you don't use smart bags from the get go, i.e. use party cups or seeding trays or anything that allows any roots other than only the tips to grow on the surface of the root ball, you are missing the full power of what it can achieve.
This bit of info above is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing you can know about optimising your success when you get to the large grow bag. It all starts in the first week. When the bulk of your canopy is about as wide as the bag, the rootball will be as big as the bag. Bag up to a bag 2" bigger, right around the ball. This is important. the roots will grow to the end of the new bag, be air pruned by the tonnes of holes again and a bunch of new roots will form about 4 inches back. This method grows a perfect root ball the shape of the bag. It has no misdirected roots, nothing choking out other roots, and has orders of magnitude more actual roots and root surface. Do it once. You will never grow seedlings the same way again.

You can use ordinary plastic plant bags punched full of holes with a paper punch. I can fit about 3 bags at a time in mine.

 

[Johnei]

If I didn't do what you speak of in the first week, can I trim the roots, bonzai style to force behind root tip root branching after the fact, and then into the smart pot, to achieve the same result?

If you don't use smart bags from the get go, i.e. use party cups or seeding trays or anything that allows any roots other than only the tips to grow on the surface of the root ball, you are missing the full power of what it can achieve.
This bit of info above is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing you can know about optimising your success when you get to the large grow bag. It all starts in the first week. When the bulk of your canopy is about as wide as the bag, the rootball will be as big as the bag. Bag up to a bag 2" bigger, right around the ball. This is important. the roots will grow to the end of the new bag, be air pruned by the tonnes of holes again and a bunch of new roots will form about 4 inches back. This method grows a perfect root ball the shape of the bag. It has no misdirected roots, nothing choking out other roots, and has orders of magnitude more actual roots and root surface. Do it once. You will never grow seedlings the same way again.

You can use ordinary plastic plant bags punched full of holes with a paper punch. I can fit about 3 bags at a time in mine.

 

[ANC]

go trim your root, and watch where the new root growth takes off from, right there at the tip., it just exacerbates the problem.
I'm not selling you anything, I am sharing something I learned by doing the tests and comparisons myself.You are free to ignore it.

With ordinary pots and bags, you run the risk of root growth to the end of the ball and then trying to grow and change direction on the surface of the ball. Wash off the dirt and you will have some scraggly spiralling roots.

My method allows air pruning in even common plastic plant bags. The result is a root ball the shape of your bag, but the whole surface is just root tips going as close to 360 degrees as you can like a root porcupine.

Here is a 10-day old seedling getting its first re-bag. Those white tips are roots, observe no roots forming a mesh on the outside of the ball. The foam is not needed, with enough holes in your bags the process works equally well without. A week or so later it will have outgrown the next bag, and have incredible roots.

https://www.rollitup.org/t/roots.939464/
Feel free to watch the first video, to get a visual idea of how the two root balls are different inside.

 

[REALSTYLES]

247garden.com is the best place I've found for a great deal and the fabric pots are great quality as well

 

[Johnei]

go trim your root, and watch where the new root growth takes off from, right there at the tip., it just exacerbates the problem.
I'm not selling you anything, I am sharing something I learned by doing the tests and comparisons myself.You are free to ignore it.

With ordinary pots and bags, you run the risk of root growth to the end of the ball and then trying to grow and change direction on the surface of the ball. Wash off the dirt and you will have some scraggly spiralling roots.

My method allows air pruning in even common plastic plant bags. The result is a root ball the shape of your bag, but the whole surface is just root tips going as close to 360 degrees as you can like a root porcupine.

Here is a 10-day old seedling getting its first re-bag. Those white tips are roots, observe no roots forming a mesh on the outside of the ball. The foam is not needed, with enough holes in your bags the process works equally well without. A week or so later it will have outgrown the next bag, and have incredible roots.

https://www.rollitup.org/t/roots.939464/
Feel free to watch the first video, to get a visual idea of how the two root balls are different inside.

Hey Hey Hey grow bro, I'm just tryin to learn. I will never ignore you. You took my post wrong.
Thank you for the information man.


(I see red x where I assume picture should be, mid post, by the way.)

 

[ANC]

Follow the link, the pic is from the second page

 

[Johnei]

Thanks ANC! ..and from that thread I meet Sedan, so I thank you twice!

On another note, whatever I grow, I've decided to go with with the air bags.

I want root porcupine pets!

Air style pots + my organic indoor growing style, never did together. It must be a improvement.

 

[ANC]

Sedan is a treasure.
Revelation is incremental

Grow bags are nice, but as I said, you can use ordinary plastic plant bags just as easily with the same effect if you punch them full of holes. make sure to build a cover for the pots to keep the sun off the roots. A box will do in a pinch. Sun can kill all the roots on the exposed side in 15 minutes. It will also sterilise exposed soil

 

[Lightgreen2k]

Sedan is a treasure.
Revelation is incremental

Grow bags are nice, but as I said, you can use ordinary plastic plant bags just as easily with the same effect if you punch them full of holes. make sure to build a cover for the pots to keep the sun off the roots. A box will do in a pinch. Sun can kill all the roots on the exposed side in 15 minutes. It will also sterilise exposed soil

WHY would you even think it is alright to talk about grow bags/plastic bags when the poster is talking about air pots. Frabic pots. You can purchase a 5 pack of 5 gallon pots of amazon for about $35 or less. @Johnei purchase the smart pots, they are designed to air prune.

How do i say this, you are not in a 3rd world country and have to punch plastic bags and wholes Wtf. Thats an inconvience, like who has time for all that when smart pots work perfect one shot.