Is it a bad Idea?

Blue brother said:

It is definitely drain to waste, as in he doesn’t recycle the run off, if I were you I’d just stick to the same pots he uses (plastic) rather than using fabric pots, unless you’re irrigating multiple times a day the moisture content of the media will be inconsistent throughout the pot, due to the sides drying out much quicker.

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Dont really have a plastic Pot that is big enough if im being honest but I am considering using the cloth pot to line a 5g bucket that has drainage holes in the bottom. The only reason im not just using the bucket is the drain holes are a lil too big for soil, it was made for sorting rocks for my rock hounding hobby.

Blue brother said:

It is definitely drain to waste, as in he doesn’t recycle the run off, if I were you I’d just stick to the same pots he uses (plastic) rather than using fabric pots, unless you’re irrigating multiple times a day the moisture content of the media will be inconsistent throughout the pot, due to the sides drying out much quicker.

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I use plastic containers for dtw coco. Coco dries out fast, especially when plant gets big, and roots fill the container.

Hollatchaboy said:

I use plastic containers for dtw coco. Coco dries out fast, especially when plant gets big, and roots fill the container.

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I am using peat not coco tho.

IndooorGardnerOhio said:

I am using peat not coco tho.

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Maybe fabric then. Peat is notorious for retaining moisture.

I've been reading this for a while every since Bugbees DTW mix came up in convo. I don't know anyone who adds vermiculite to a drain to waste mix. You want runoff and vermiculite retains water so a tendency to overwater seems built in to the mix. Most DTW setups I see are coco and perlite which doesn't retain water and allows lots of runoff. Runoff is what helps keep nutrients in your mix in balance since the plants don't necessarily take up those nutrients at the same rate. Gauging pot weight to determine when to water is also not normal practice for dtw. You water, with nutrients, every day or even multiple waterings a day to maintain even moisture without drybacks. I don't run coco, I run Promix HP flooding to runoff every day with 900ppm of Maxibloom and Calmag. I've gone down to 2 gallon pots currently, may add a second daily fertigation if I think it's needed.

shnkrmn said:

I've been reading this for a while every since Bugbees DTW mix came up in convo. I don't know anyone who adds vermiculite to a drain to waste mix. You want runoff and vermiculite retains water so a tendency to overwater seems built in to the mix. Most DTW setups I see are coco and perlite which doesn't retain water and allows lots of runoff. Runoff is what helps keep nutrients in your mix in balance since the plants don't necessarily take up those nutrients at the same rate. Gauging pot weight to determine when to water is also not normal practice for dtw. You water, with nutrients, every day or even multiple waterings a day to maintain even moisture without drybacks. I don't run coco, I run Promix HP flooding to runoff every day with 900ppm of Maxibloom and Calmag. I've gone down to 2 gallon pots currently, may add a second daily fertigation if I think it's needed.

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My expierence with vermiculite is that it both retains water and increases drainage, because even when its wet, it doesnt "feel wet" so it releases the water it stores slowly, and if it already soaked up as much as it will hold the rest just runs through. I am honestly not sure if Dr Bugbees method is actually "DTW" or just using an alternitive to soil that holds water well. That might have just been me mixing up termonolgy to be honest.

If increased drainage is your goal, vermiculite is a poor choice, as it holds many times it's weight in water.
Perlite doesn't even hold half its weight in water, and is a far better choice if aeration is your goal.

The two are often confused.

IndooorGardnerOhio said:

Oh i hate perlite with a passion. All it ends up doing is floating to the top when you water and then you have a top layer of perlite and very little of it left in the soil doing what its suppose to. Plus it adds noting nutrient wise to the blend, at least vermiculite adds silica. just my expierences with it in food growing.

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No it doesn't.
I've literally never seen that happen.

coreywebster said:

No it doesn't.
I've literally never seen that happen.

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Every single time I have used it, It ends up with about 75% to 90% of it sitting on the top of the pot, which is why i dont use it. At least when using it growing tomatoes in pots.

coreywebster said:

I've literally never seen that happen.

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Back when I was young(er) and dumb(er) I used to just dump the water in the pot all at once. When you're inexperienced enough to just supersaturate the top 1/3 of the soil in a matter of seconds, I noticed a lot of perlite would float up.

IndooorGardnerOhio said:

Every single time I have used it, It ends up with about 75% to 90% of it sitting on the top of the pot, which is why i dont use it. At least when using it growing tomatoes in pots.

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Weird.. I do approx 20/80 perlite/coco..

Maybe it's because it drains freely without any chance of been waterlogged

IndooorGardnerOhio said:

Dont really have a plastic Pot that is big enough if im being honest but I am considering using the cloth pot to line a 5g bucket that has drainage holes in the bottom. The only reason im not just using the bucket is the drain holes are a lil too big for soil, it was made for sorting rocks for my rock hounding hobby.

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If drying out due to fabric becomes an issue just wrap them with some panda film with a few holes punched maybe?

Mumbeltypeg said:

If drying out due to fabric becomes an issue just wrap them with some panda film with a few holes punched maybe?

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I’ve done this, even clingfilm in a pinch, and damp proof membrane more than a few times hahaha

I like the idea of wrapping them up (even partially), unlikely I'll do it but a great option.
I've used vermiculite before but I don't now - so, I've been running around 70/30 Coco and medium size perlite for awhile.
Though there's a few bags running with recycled sphagnum peat in them it's probably not enough to give consideration to. I don't use promix for the cost factor, but I am a self professed cheap sunnuva.... too.

If many of the posts you see about problem children (and we ALL have experience with our own) in the various subforums are having issues, you can also read plenty of them are running 1)PM HP as well as assorted 2)RTU store bought mixes and 3)Coco.
Even if you blindly were to say that 33% of the three named type are equal offenders of the amount of problems - as a blanket statement it can stand on it's own because each selection can fall to inexperienced hands with any mix.
IMO if you know what limitations you have and stay within the parameters of said media, you'll do well and I will tell anyone here that Coco has been a pain for me more than once and it'll happen again. But for the cost factor and the properties (when amended like everything correctly) can get great results also.

I'm not new anymore but I have only fallen asleep standing up a few times in my time here, on this planet...
One time was within the past ten years or so, and the product was a poly thing that's been long gone with the guy that brought the dank.
I've seen several iterations of the names and spelling of a plant that appeared to be around 50/50 or 55/45 to the sativa side none I've seen are it.
Jack's hammer was the name and I took a nap after the man fed me some fresh scissor hash, a full wooden old skool bowl of it.

I enjoy reading about the various challenges in all kinds of mixes and try to pickup on a new thing or two when I can.
Oh for the record the only time perlite floats around here is the first wetting and if they are happy they'll have the top layer locked up with roots right shortly!