Mr. Cheetah
Well-Known Member
imo, the idea is to have something that stops the dirt from doing that and blocking the holes, gravel works wonders.
Newbie first outdoor Autoflower leaf yellow
- Thread starter AliG868
- Start date
JoeBlow5823
Well-Known Member
Yeah i hear ya. Once the pot is fully rooted, the roots wont let any dirt go. My pots have pretty damn big holes in them and barely let any dirt through. A pinch of dirt in my saucers is no big deal.
Mr. Cheetah
Well-Known Member
fair enough, but before that, the holes can get blocked and cause some poor drainage
JoeBlow5823
Well-Known Member
Possibly. The pots i use have big holes. Could also use perlite as a bottom layer.
Mr. Cheetah
Well-Known Member
yeah, thats what im talkin bout. sometimes they are really big as you've said, so the gravel is good option
AliG868
Member
I’ll have to try gravel next time I have plenty holes at the bottom that I see are not blocked by the coffee filters. I added additional holes around the bottom sides of the bucket for extra drainage. I thought gravel was bad for the roots as they would eventually consume the stones.
Mr. Cheetah
Well-Known Member
back in the days i was mixing my soil with 1/3 gravel with great success, couldnt get my hands on perlite in bulgaria
JoeBlow5823
Well-Known Member
Do you sanitize your dirt?
AliG868
Member
No this time I opened a new bag of organic soil I assumed it’s sanitized...
JoeBlow5823
Well-Known Member
No, its full of beneficial bacteria and shit. The bacteria break down the compost and turn it into the nutrients the plants crave.
AliG868
Member
Good to know, I own dart frogs so when I’m constructing their tank I must ensure everything has been properly sanitized rocks included lol
JoeBlow5823
Well-Known Member
Yeah thats one of the big reasons people go hydro (coco, dwc, etc) because they arent relying on bacteria to break down organic matter, they feed the plant pre prepared nutrients and can regulate the exact amounts of everything it gets- the down side is different strains can vary greatly in what nutrients they want and when they want them so growing a bunch of different strains from seed can be just about impossible.
AliG868
Member
Yeah that seems like a method used for more experienced farmers. I just started off with 1 seed to see how it goes. I looked into doing coconut husk as I mix this with some of my house plants. I wanted to keep this grow as simple as possible so I can gain some experience before I start getting tricky with it
JoeBlow5823
Well-Known Member
The thing is every seed will grow a different pheno so even the same strain can have pretty different nutrient requirements. For the hobby grower, organic soil is the best. Coco and flood tables are for commercial growers doing 20,000w rooms filled with clones from the same mother.
AliG868
Member
Very interesting thanks for this information!
