Had A Space Saving Idea.Will It Work?

leethal said:

I am growing on my sunny balcony in the swiss alps where space and hieght are a problem.Igrew this year just as an experiment in 13L\3.5gall pots and didnt start till mid june so was not expecting huge plants with no feeding at all untill budding and was surprised how well they did.They are now 110cm43" and budding well which is about as tall as i want them (they cant be seen this high)
I have read that as a rule the bigger the pot the bigger the plant(6-10gall\23-37L recomended and that bending can reduce hieght .
The plan is this ,please bear with me.(all calcs are aprox)
Ihave a16.5L\4.5gall pot with a rim dia of 35cm\14".
a 4L\1gall pot
and a 1L\.25gall pot.
I plan to cut the bottoms out of each pot and glue them together with strong epoxy resin then silicon to make water tight ,then glue a tray(the kind you sit your pots )with holes drilled infor drainage,then turn the whole thing upside down
Try to imagine a cone 60cm\24" tall with a volume of 21.5L\5.7gall,Iam guessing that a pot this tall based on the fact that most pots have a rim 1.5 times that of the base would hold nearlly 3 times the volume of the cone but same hieght giving the roots 60cm\24" to grow down and out with more and more space as the plant gets bigger instead of less and less as with normal pots without having massive pots and a third of the soil.This is my 1st question is depth more important or overall volume?
I also plan to drill a series of holes in the two bottom pots lined with fine mesh(like pipe screens)to stop soil falling out i am thinking that this will help aireate the root as the shape and surface area of the top may keep the siol to wet these holes can be taped up or more drilled as needed, I can check this with a moisture meter.
then i will drill some holes around the top and bottom rimms and cover half the cone top to bottom with green plastic coated 2cm wire mesh using plastic cable ties and train the plant(clone) to grow down towards the base then back up it can grow 12"\30cm above the top of the cone without being seen tying branches as they develop (kinda like a scrog),wI am growing on my sunny balcony in the swiss alps where space and hieght are a problem.Igrew this year just as an experiment in 13L\3.5gall pots and didnt start till mid june so was not expecting huge plants with no feeding at all untill budding and was surprised how well they did.They are now 110cm43" and budding well which is about as tall as i want them (they cant be seen this high)
I have read that as a rule the bigger the pot the bigger the plant(6-10gall\23-37L recomended and that bending can reduce hieght .
The plan is this ,please bear with me.(all calcs are aprox)
Ihave a16.5L\4.5gall pot with a rim dia of 35cm\14".
a 4L\1gall pot
and a 1L\.25gall pot.
I plan to cut the bottoms out of each pot and glue them together with strong epoxy resin then silicon to make water tight ,then glue a tray(the kind you sit your pots )with holes drilled infor drainage,then turn the whole thing upside down
Try to imagine a cone 60cm\24" tall with a volume of 21.5L\5.7gall,Iam guessing that a pot this tall based on the fact that most pots have a rim 1.5 times that of the base would hold nearlly 3 times the volume of the cone but same hieght giving the roots 60cm\24" to grow down and out with more and more space as the plant gets bigger instead of less and less as with normal pots without having massive pots and a third of the soil.This is my 1st question is depth more important or overall volume?
I also plan to drill a series of holes in the two bottom pots lined with fine mesh(like pipe screens)to stop soil falling out i am thinking that this will help aireate the root as the shape and surface area of the top may keep the siol to wet these holes can be taped up or more drilled as needed, I can check this with a moisture meter.
then i will drill some holes around the top and bottom rimms and cover half the cone top to bottom with green plastic coated 2cm wire mesh using plastic cable ties and train the plant(clone) to grow down towards the base then back up it can grow 12"\30cm above the top of the cone without being seen tying branches as they develop (kinda like a scrog),which brings me to question no 2 .would this kind of extreme bending affect the plant.
Hope this makes sense,any advice would be helpful. thanx hich brings me to question no 2 .would this kind of extreme bending affect the plant.
Hope this makes sense,any advice would be helpful. thanx
​

Click to expand...

This post is very thought provoking. I would ask that other experienced growers chime in with answers. Personally, I think everything is relative. Pot size is relative to the size of the root system, which is the life line for determine the size of the plant. Whatever the roots can grow to will determine the size of the plant it has the capacity to feed. Thus, the plant will stop growing and be ready to flower in its maturity to the size of the capacity of its root environment. Of course, light, veg time, nutrients and. Media. Fan. Electric usage. It's all relative. Just my opinion and thanks for such an interesting question to consider.

With only a small opening at the top won't it be impossible to water the entire soil area?

Depth and overall volume, ... A lot of growers use 5 gallon buckets for pots.
If you get the rectangular buckets like Kitty Litter comes in, they measure closer to 6 gallons. A milk crate works well also. Lined with a garbage bag or an old sheet.

leethal said:

I am growing on my sunny balcony in the swiss alps where space and hieght are a problem.Igrew this year just as an experiment in 13L\3.5gall pots and didnt start till mid june so was not expecting huge plants with no feeding at all untill budding and was surprised how well they did.They are now 110cm43" and budding well which is about as tall as i want them (they cant be seen this high)
I have read that as a rule the bigger the pot the bigger the plant(6-10gall\23-37L recomended and that bending can reduce hieght .
The plan is this ,please bear with me.(all calcs are aprox)
Ihave a16.5L\4.5gall pot with a rim dia of 35cm\14".
a 4L\1gall pot
and a 1L\.25gall pot.
I plan to cut the bottoms out of each pot and glue them together with strong epoxy resin then silicon to make water tight ,then glue a tray(the kind you sit your pots )with holes drilled infor drainage,then turn the whole thing upside down
Try to imagine a cone 60cm\24" tall with a volume of 21.5L\5.7gall,Iam guessing that a pot this tall based on the fact that most pots have a rim 1.5 times that of the base would hold nearlly 3 times the volume of the cone but same hieght giving the roots 60cm\24" to grow down and out with more and more space as the plant gets bigger instead of less and less as with normal pots without having massive pots and a third of the soil.This is my 1st question is depth more important or overall volume?
I also plan to drill a series of holes in the two bottom pots lined with fine mesh(like pipe screens)to stop soil falling out i am thinking that this will help aireate the root as the shape and surface area of the top may keep the siol to wet these holes can be taped up or more drilled as needed, I can check this with a moisture meter.
then i will drill some holes around the top and bottom rimms and cover half the cone top to bottom with green plastic coated 2cm wire mesh using plastic cable ties and train the plant(clone) to grow down towards the base then back up it can grow 12"\30cm above the top of the cone without being seen tying branches as they develop (kinda like a scrog),wI am growing on my sunny balcony in the swiss alps where space and hieght are a problem.Igrew this year just as an experiment in 13L\3.5gall pots and didnt start till mid june so was not expecting huge plants with no feeding at all untill budding and was surprised how well they did.They are now 110cm43" and budding well which is about as tall as i want them (they cant be seen this high)
I have read that as a rule the bigger the pot the bigger the plant(6-10gall\23-37L recomended and that bending can reduce hieght .
The plan is this ,please bear with me.(all calcs are aprox)
Ihave a16.5L\4.5gall pot with a rim dia of 35cm\14".
a 4L\1gall pot
and a 1L\.25gall pot.
I plan to cut the bottoms out of each pot and glue them together with strong epoxy resin then silicon to make water tight ,then glue a tray(the kind you sit your pots )with holes drilled infor drainage,then turn the whole thing upside down
Try to imagine a cone 60cm\24" tall with a volume of 21.5L\5.7gall,Iam guessing that a pot this tall based on the fact that most pots have a rim 1.5 times that of the base would hold nearlly 3 times the volume of the cone but same hieght giving the roots 60cm\24" to grow down and out with more and more space as the plant gets bigger instead of less and less as with normal pots without having massive pots and a third of the soil.This is my 1st question is depth more important or overall volume?
I also plan to drill a series of holes in the two bottom pots lined with fine mesh(like pipe screens)to stop soil falling out i am thinking that this will help aireate the root as the shape and surface area of the top may keep the siol to wet these holes can be taped up or more drilled as needed, I can check this with a moisture meter.
then i will drill some holes around the top and bottom rimms and cover half the cone top to bottom with green plastic coated 2cm wire mesh using plastic cable ties and train the plant(clone) to grow down towards the base then back up it can grow 12"\30cm above the top of the cone without being seen tying branches as they develop (kinda like a scrog),which brings me to question no 2 .would this kind of extreme bending affect the plant.
Hope this makes sense,any advice would be helpful. thanx hich brings me to question no 2 .would this kind of extreme bending affect the plant.
Hope this makes sense,any advice would be helpful. thanx
​

Click to expand...

Late: the issue here is the plants must not get too tall, so as not to be seen

ideally the 15L pot / 3usg is best

it grows the plant to an average of 1mter tall that returns an average of 100g per plant dry

grow many

good luck

1: Not really. Even "root bound" plants can produce close to "potentials" if feed enough/properly! It's not hard to dbl the old rule of thumb on a gallon per oz. yield.....I've got a 6' + tall Lemon Cake OG in a 3 gallon that's going to produce a very good yield...it's surely "root bound" right now......at least close to forearm sized buds are forming on 4 mains.....It's getting Age Old bloom/Grow, mixed with specific teas.....I do have to be directly on time for feeding it. Everyday at lights on - about 2.2 liters a day of nutrient...or she'll get to dry and the feed solution will do some run through. I do not feed to run off.

This is just playing with the plant to see how it reacts, and I wanted to see what I could get out of it by "pushing" it. Some one gave it to me to find out... "I" would have it in a 5 and be about a ft less tall.

2: Interesting proposal. The plant would have to be permanently tied down at the floor, as it will try hard to straighten up. Where will any internal branching want to go? (think about that a min)....The other thing is it would do best in full direct lighting. Your creating a lot of unneeded work for your self.

normal pots
normal plants
more of them