Growing Drainless - Ideas/Suggestions

K

knowmadic

Member
Hey guys, I am trying to replicate the "High Pod" and grow inside a trash can with 6 bulbs spaced every 60 degrees apart to achieve lighting for 360 degrees around the plant. I have everything setup and ready to go, and am ready to germinate the seeds, but the final thing I have left is to choose my growing medium. Is it possible to line the bottom with 1-2" of perlite, or small rocks and then have soil on top of it to grow normally? I know how important getting oxygen to the roots is, but I am just trying to work with my setup.. Any advice on what I should do? Trying to get this thing going as soon as possible.

EDIT: If I just had a drain pan under the trash can with holes in the bottom, and then a layer of perlite and then my medium would I be good?
 
ODBUD

ODBUD

Well-Known Member
First off, Welcome to the community and gratz on starting your first grow.

Pictures will help us to help you.

Perlite will hold too much moisture if you put a layer on the bottom of the pot and cause root rot eventually. I suggest well rinsed hydroton clay pebbles, easily obtained from your local hydro store or Amazon. Line the bottom of the pot with that and grab or order some Fox Farm soil. The easiest way to manage O2 to the roots is to not pack the soil too much and run an airstone connected to a air pump in your water overnight before watering as well as not over watering. Additionally, what temperature bulbs are you using and how many lumens as well as are they grow bulbs or ones from Home Depot? High Pods are nice, but the plant will quickly grow out of the trash can (Strain dependant). From a design standpoint (now we haven't seen your setup) I would suggest cutting out the bottom of the trash can and building a 2 foot high stand out of wood so that when the plant grows all of your tops will have enough light. I have seen many setups where the lights are placed the length of the trash can with a 12 inch tall pot, essentially wasting 25% of the light. You can start with the trash can on the ground and then move it to the stand later, this also all depends on how you intend to grow. In this type of setup you almost have to do a straight grow (no LST) with either 2 weeks of vegetative growth at 18/6 moving to 13/12 for the remainder of the grow. Another option is if you can't build the stand to do 13/12 from seed which will keep the plant much smaller. Post some pics of your setup when you can.

Again, Welcome to the community! We are here to help spread the love and self cultivation of this wonderful tree of life.

Best,

ODBUD
 
vostok

vostok

Well-Known Member
the hempy grow pot idea is worth looking into

its technically drain less, as excess runs from the inert medium to the pot below

look it up, also very addictive, and very less demanding than other dwc methods

you simply top the plant up daily with the overflow falling into the pot below

easy as
 
K

knowmadic

Member
ODBUD said:
First off, Welcome to the community and gratz on starting your first grow.

Pictures will help us to help you.

Perlite will hold too much moisture if you put a layer on the bottom of the pot and cause root rot eventually. I suggest well rinsed hydroton clay pebbles, easily obtained from your local hydro store or Amazon. Line the bottom of the pot with that and grab or order some Fox Farm soil. The easiest way to manage O2 to the roots is to not pack the soil too much and run an airstone connected to a air pump in your water overnight before watering as well as not over watering. Additionally, what temperature bulbs are you using and how many lumens as well as are they grow bulbs or ones from Home Depot? High Pods are nice, but the plant will quickly grow out of the trash can (Strain dependant). From a design standpoint (now we haven't seen your setup) I would suggest cutting out the bottom of the trash can and building a 2 foot high stand out of wood so that when the plant grows all of your tops will have enough light. I have seen many setups where the lights are placed the length of the trash can with a 12 inch tall pot, essentially wasting 25% of the light. You can start with the trash can on the ground and then move it to the stand later, this also all depends on how you intend to grow. In this type of setup you almost have to do a straight grow (no LST) with either 2 weeks of vegetative growth at 18/6 moving to 13/12 for the remainder of the grow. Another option is if you can't build the stand to do 13/12 from seed which will keep the plant much smaller. Post some pics of your setup when you can.

Again, Welcome to the community! We are here to help spread the love and self cultivation of this wonderful tree of life.

Best,

ODBUD
Click to expand...

This is what I'm working with. The bulbs are technically adjustable in height but I have them roughly 3-4" off the bottom of the can so that I am not wasting the light likeyou said. I'm using 6 55w 4100k CFL's. Each bulb has 5200 lumens so in total I have 330w and 31,200 lumens. I can't cut out the bottom completely because this is a stealth grow, I know the limitations of the can going into this. I picked an Indica that tends to grow pretty short (Blue Mystic). So with this information would you still suggest using the hydroton clay pebbles on the bottom and then soil on top of that?
 
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