25 gallon tub vs five 5 gallon pots

stawawager

Well-Known Member
I'm considering switching from a 25 gallon tub to five 3 or 5 gallon pots.

Pluses of the 25:
1. Can spin the whole tub for maintenance instead of shuffling 5 pots.
2. Easier to water.
3. Grows as a whole unit, can help with support.

Pluses of the 3 or 5.
?AddText_08-24-11.12.57.jpg
AddText_08-24-11.29.21.jpg

Opinions / questions welcomed.
 

Attachments

Last edited:

Phytoplankton

Well-Known Member
Why does soil need more volume?
Because of the way the nutes are taken in. In Coco the media is basically to hold the plant in place, and all the nutes are supplied directly to the roots with synthetic nutes, you feed every day, sometimes multiple times a day. In soil you can only add so many nutes and water without nute burning the plant or killing the roots with too much water (since the water doesn't drain nearly as fast in soil as in coco), so you need more space for the roots to collect the nutes. In organic you need even more space for the roots, because the nutrients have to be broken down by microbes in the soil to make it available to the plants.

My area is 4' x 4'. I think that is sufficient for 4-5 girls. Agreed?
I'd say 4 for certain, 5 might be pushing it, but give it a try.
 

sureshot138

Well-Known Member
I'm considering switching from a 25 gallon tub to five 3 or 5 gallon pots.

Pluses of the 25:
1. Can spin the whole tub for maintenance instead of shuffling 5 pots.
2. Easier to water.
3. Grows as a whole unit, can help with support.

Pluses of the 3 or 5.
?View attachment 5419926
View attachment 5419933

Opinions / questions welcomed.
plant count if that matters to ya, just saying one pot means one plant (at least to me). if you live where the witch hunt still rides, lol. so do you let the roots fill the underneath of the bird bath? i imagen loose coco falls in but not much.
 

stawawager

Well-Known Member
My area is 4' x 4'. I think that is sufficient for 4-5 girls. Agreed?
plant count if that matters to ya, just saying one pot means one plant (at least to me). if you live where the witch hunt still rides, lol. so do you let the roots fill the underneath of the bird bath? i imagen loose coco falls in but not much.
I use Happy Frog soil. That blanket of roots migrated from above the upside down birdbath into a 4" void.

I actually don't have correct drainage. The drain pipe is 1.5" above the floor of the tub so probably has periods of standing water. I was surprised to see the blanket of roots covering the bottom though.
 

stawawager

Well-Known Member
Because of the way the nutes are taken in. In Coco the media is basically to hold the plant in place, and all the nutes are supplied directly to the roots with synthetic nutes, you feed every day, sometimes multiple times a day. In soil you can only add so many nutes and water without nute burning the plant or killing the roots with too much water (since the water doesn't drain nearly as fast in soil as in coco), so you need more space for the roots to collect the nutes. In organic you need even more space for the roots, because the nutrients have to be broken down by microbes in the soil to make it available to the plants.



I'd say 4 for certain, 5 might be pushing it, but give it a try.
More than interesting, TY.
 
Top