If You Can Follow Simple Directions You Can Grow Like a Pro From the Get Go

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
Reusable Air Pots + Ornamental Rock + Lava Rock Great System Saves $$ in the Long Run

My grow pots are Air Pots which are sturdy, reusable, and can accept most grow mediums. My medium is a combination of ornamental/river rock ($1/bag at Dollar Store) + Lava Rock, which is also cheap. All can be cleaned, sterilized and reused for a long long time- virtually forever.

We have all seen root porn pics of massive roots, but are they necessary? They certainly eat more. I grew big ass roots during my high pressure aero days. After several grows developing this method, I now know that big roots are not necessary, and do not develop when the plant is being fed efficiently from above. I have also developed a high energy feeding system for that as well. See my current thread to learn about it

Pics below are from 4 ft male plant that I pulled 2 days ago, but didn't break it down until a half hour ago. The roots were still plenty moist! Note how small the root-ball is, especially for a 4ft plant.

You might notice too many net pots: I was experimenting and used what I had. My DIY bubbler was made to handle 7 small net pots from when I was doing high pressure aero. Small net pots fit nicely inside pvc couplers, which were inserted into large totes that supported 4 plants each.

The simple system includes one liter air pots which accept the ~ 3"+ net pots, with a minor vertical cut to push the AP flush with the top. I also did an experiment to see whether the 4 liter AP would grow bigger plants, so I put the one liter AP inside a couple of the 4 liter APs, and side filled with lava rock. Fortunately the 4 liter are not necessary, which saves some ~ 4" of height, which in my small tent is meaninul

As you can see, the roots barely moved outside the one liter APs BECAUSE they did not need to go in search of nutrients.

The clones are in another DIY bubbler with four 3"+ net pots which I had made for me 3 years ago. I need to buy that size hole saw, and a larger tote for starting more seedlings/clones

Anyway this set up uses 35 lpm air pump with 4 nipples. I use 4 large cylinder oxystones to super-oxygenate the < 200ppm water.

Currently under the 2 ufos (3500 + 5000K). They do get warm, so I leave the front flaps open. There is a fan in the near right corner


View attachment 2888266View attachment 2888267View attachment 2888268View attachment 2888269
 

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
Last grow I did a pseudo test. I ran a bucket system under leds v my evolving high energy rez under hot5s (~ 115xx- 432w). The led plants were somewhat smaller, but the roots much larger in the buckets.

I ran my 35 lpm pump + 2 air stones in each bucket. If you care to look, it's in my last grow thread, which may be in my sig



how does growth speed in your system compare to a standard dwc bucket? assumuning you have ran dwc of course.
 

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
Sorry, I missed your question. I experimented with one liter and 4 liter APs, I would say benefits of larger are negligible, but YMMV. Now that sai, 4 liter APs are more stable, so if you have big plants, like my Melanie, then 4 liter minimum

those air pots look perfect for DWC, what size is good for a 600 watt hps and cfl veg?


Blessings,
JP
 
Top