Questions: Mothers/Smart Pots/Hydro

[GanjaGed]

A couple questions:

Will Smart Pots work on a Flood and Drain Table? Any complications?

If I were to keep mothers in 1 gal Smart Pots on their own table would they get root bound or would the air pruning keep them good, would it need to be bigger? The idea being to limit root spread and tangling for easy removal.

 

[berrypilot]

🌱 I have never done a Flood and Drain, but I understand the premise. Is it possible the fabric pots might start to mold after a while if they're totally wet all the time? I'm not sure, but that's just my first thought. I hope someone with more experience chimes in. I do have experience with smart pots. As long as the plants don't get huge, they probably won't get rootbound in the smart pots, the main issue is making sure they get the right amount of water and nutrients. Once the plant starts getting really big it will need a bigger pot, or you'll likely see roots coming out the bottom to try to get extra water when it floods. Even in hydro when there's no growing medium, the roots still will fill up several gallons if the plant is larger than a foot or two. 1-gallon pots seems very small, even for a smart pot, unless the plants are under a foot tall. I hope someone who's actually done Flood and Drain chimes in!🌱

 

[oldjarhead100]

hey ganja everything berry said real good advise there, i can't add anything good luck

 

[GanjaGed]

Yea mold is one thing I'm concerned about and I was afraid the pots would be too small sigh.

Trying to find solutions for problems that don't exist yet, but will at some point is a pain in the ass sometimes.

 

[berrypilot]

🌱 Let us know how it goes! I'd love to see more flood and drains. I do DWC, and the idea of a single point of failure (if the timer goes out, your plants are dead within the hour) has scared me away, but from what I understand cannabis grows fast in a Flood 'n Drain when it's set up, since they get so much oxygen at the roots. My biggest piece of advice for any hydro setup is to make sure you put everything in a waterproof area, like the bottom of a grow tent (which will generally hold at least several gallons of water before it starts spilling over), and make sure that if you get a leaking hose or something and all the water leaks out that it won't ruin your house. When people do DIY hydro, (and even with a lot of the commercial equipment) it's important to always be prepared for a possible leak! In DWC the way I do it, the water is always in a tub, so very difficult to spill, but I still keep it in a grow tent so Iknow if it somehow leaked the water wouldn't get all over my floor. The other thing with hydro is that if it's a really big setup (like hundreds of of gallons) also to be aware of the weight on your floor. Water is heavy (a single gallon weighs more than 8 pounds!)! 🌱