Flowering In 3 inch Net Pot?

Hi, I'm thinking of setting up a DWC/Bubbleponics System for the first time. I'm just wondering, if I packed about 8-12 clones (using 3in net pots) on a reservoir, do they need to be transferred to a larger pot before flowering, or can you just flower in those 3in net pots as well? I know they'd be small, but I'm just wondering if this is something some people are doing (flowering more small plants with smaller yield, as opposed to less plants, but bigger in individual size and yield).

Transferring between netpots would be nearly impossible once the roots have set in. The hydroton would spill all over the place, you couldn't do a good job of "sticking" the roots into new hydroton, etc. 3 inchers don't necessarily make "small" plants. I use 3" pots and have huge plants - I had to chop one because it got too big for my box. The only issue with the smaller pots is that if the plant starts to lean over to one side, it can make the pot lean over also and not sit properly in the hole.

Thanks for the response! Just getting this stuff setup. Decided I'd use 11 3.5in net pots in a 20gal res. I'll post some pics of how things are going. But I'm a little stressed right now, so I gotta go for a smoke first, then I'll be back.

Took some pics. First few were the res with pre drawn holes to cut. Then some pics of my other setup in a barrel that I'm working on to keep the mother(s) for cloning. Then I also attached an older pic of when the barrel was used for growing in soil. Now, the idea is to use bubbleponics for the barrel setup AND 20Gal res setup.

I'm always searching for ways to improve, so comments are appreciated.

Forgot to pick up Hydroton when I was at the Hydro store today, so I'll do that next time. I also need to find a decent pump to make the 20 gallon res run effectively. I bought one today from the Hydro/Aqua Store but it turned out that it's not powerful enough for the 20 gal res. That's where I came up with the idea to use it for my 3 gallon pot that I put in the barrel, now that can be used for the mother. Or so it would appear in theory. Only time will tell.

at about a month ur plants are going to be really crowded... not something i planned for, had them a LITTLE closer than urs but ran out of room at week 3. So by week 4 ur probably gonna have to spread them out somehow... just something to think about. i had to pull mine out and put them in separate buckets.

I was afraid that might happen. But what I would most likely do in that case is choose the 5 most healthiest plants and spread them out evenly like so......

hell ya man u got the right idea.


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see... separate pots as soon as the leaves completely overlap neighboring plants. also not that you wouldnt think about it, but make sure you dont let light in through the empty holes if you spread em out. something i fucked up with, algae is a bitch to get off ur roots, air stones, etc.

there ya go, my little setup, hope it helps a little this is my first dwc also, wanted to drop by let you know the obvious shit i fucked up on so you dont make same mistakes.

You'll be fine with 3.5" net pots if you aren't growing them too big. If the plants get too big they'll tip over but you can just tie them up. I use 10" net pots in a 5 gallon bucket and it's sturdy like it's in the ground. I've also had a plant that grew to 35" in flower in a tub with a 3.5" net pot and it kept falling over. I would at least go with a 5" net pot but 3.5" will also work if you don't mind tying them up if they get too big. Also you can transplant 3.5" net pots. Just take the plant in the 3.5" net pot and drop them in a larger net pot, pull as much of the roots through the bottom of the larger net pot, and fill with hydroton.

Thanks guys, sorry for the delayed response. Been playing around with my barrel grow, but unfortunately that attempt failed. I didn't keep the cfls close enough to the plants and the poor guys (or girls) stretched for dear life til they finally toppled over. Tried using more hydroton for support, but the stems were in too bad a condition for such small plants to repair themselves.

Gotta start back from seed because the only source of clones I have access to are slow growing and not optimal for hydroponics.

Will post a log in a new thread for the recent failed attempt later when I get home if anyone's interested in seeing how it started off.