Modular Scrog Drainage

[SomeOtherDude]

OK. So I'm about to start growing modular scrog

Setup
20 x 76 inch plywood (3/4's inch thick) *3 plants [it doesn't matter but I have 7 of these]

This plywood has 4 castor wheels (one on each corner) so I can move these bitches around without a problem

There is a 24 inch (tall) pole at each corner of the plywood.

The screen will be stapled into these poles (24 inches tall cause the pot is 12 inches tall) 2 weeks into vegging (I don't want to put the screen on too early so it doesn't block as much light)

Problem

How do I deal with drainage once I start watering the plants (which will be in 5 gallon smart pots)?

Some Ideas I came up with (please let know if they're half baked)

-a saucer under the pot (the plant will be gently picked up under the screen, the saucer drained, and the saucer replaced, plant put down)
-building a separate casing for the pot making the pot sit above the saucer but not on the saucer (like a toilet)

 

[iiKode]

I was thinking of drip trays with tubing coming out of the bottom, using gravity to drain all the water into a res or somthing that you can empty every week or so. So fill up the drip tray with perlite (optional) then use a screen on the tubing (going from the bottom of the Drip tray into a res under the tray)so the perlite doesn't fill up the tube, then wire the tube into a bigger res under your drip tray then you can just flush that out every week or so.
im a bit baked so if you dont understand this ima be eating cereal

The perlite is for extra root space because i use 11l pots and the roots like to come out of the bottom of the pots close to harvest.

 

[AltarNation]

im a bit baked so if you dont understand this ima be eating cereal

Haha.

You can see my drip-tray solution in the link in my sig. It would work for scrog. In fact i'll be doing scrog next with the same trays. The solution is to make a tray that is longer than the container and slightly angled... then have a run-off catch in front/below the tray instead of under it.

 

[iiKode]

Yeah i have seen that idea, sounds good, when i want to do a scrog i think i will use my way, i like everything tidy, squint/tilted things annoy me.

 

[woodsmantoker]

Howdy brother! Awesome questions! I have been waiting to hear from folks picking up on this idea for about three years now since we started discussing it in Enter the Scrog. "Modular Scrog Units" There are several ways to accomplish this. I wouldn't suggest planning on lifting the plant in order to move a tray. making a rack a few inches above your platform base is quite easy, and then would allow your smart pot to sit on a surface that allows drainage through. With adequate room, you can slide your tray under. A simple way to remove run off however, regardless of how the res is positioned is to suck the water out with a shop vac.. But you can get as simple or elaborate as you like. I like less work, and less moving parts as I am disabled and don't do heavy lifting or extraneous gardening. I have also seen folks simply make the platform have slope. This allows water to drain off into floor drains or similar. Another idea is to pick up a mixing tote/tray (used for concrete mix and sold in that section of most hardware stores in the US) and tap it for a drain. I mention this, because its a useful res/catch tray that costs about $5-7 Vs, much more than you would pay for something similar in a gardening store. Its also helpful to have these setting with slope. Having your pot on an angle makes little to no difference above the pot in Scrog, because everything is being trained to proper position. Take us some images when you get done eh? Post em up in ETS/SUPP if you would, there are tons of folks out there that would benefit from that. Thanks pal! Happy Scroggin'!

 

[woodsmantoker]

Haha.

You can see my drip-tray solution in the link in my sig. It would work for scrog. In fact i'll be doing scrog next with the same trays. The solution is to make a tray that is longer than the container and slightly angled... then have a run-off catch in front/below the tray instead of under it.

Where you been all my life? Keep up the good work pal!

 

[woodsmantoker]

When thinking of what material to use for a rack, think oven rack!

 

[AltarNation]

Good advice brother. The only thing that I would change in my current set up is adding racks between the rollies and the plant bottoms to lift them out of the channel by an inch or so. As it is right now sometimes I get backflow because the bottom of the plant sort of settles into the channel. Haven't fixed it yet because I don't want to deal with it while plants are going... but after this harvest I'll be building custom scrog screens for it and will use some mesh wire fencing stretch a "flat floor" of metal mesh over the channel that floats the plants above the channel by about an inch.

Thanks for the feedback, feel free to come follow my thread, lol.

 

[trumpy]

I've got this one! I run a stationary scrog and just helped a friend design a modular drainage system for a 8000 watt scrog.
So there are a couple good options. 1. ) Use 3/4 inch bulkhead fittings on rigid saucers that are significantly larger than your pot size. For not much money you can connect all of the saucers with 3/4 inch tubing and drain it wherever you want. They also sell quick connect fittings so you can unhook the modules and move them around as needed. For my own setup I skipped the bulkhead fittings and used grommets instead because with the bulkhead fittings you need 5 or 6 inches of clearance above the saucer. http://www.pchydro.com/grow-systems-parts-supplies-grommets-c-14_17_201/grommet-3-4-gh-p-6338. You can push 90 degree fittings into the grommets so the pots don't have to sit so far off the ground.