Outdoor growing in Tidewater VA

Damn, that’s an impressive setup. I’m constrained to a shower/tub for my indoor efforts, so i don’t have the footprint for something like this. I thought about some individual hydro planters, and might try that in the future. I’m making refinements and improvements to an indoor grow (Auto Gelato), and using shelf brackets to extend the canopy beyond the perimeter of the pots. They are in their third week, and this was after a week or so of pretty heavy handed LSTing...lots of right angles in there. If that works out I’ll build a SCROG above them...I have a height management issue to nip in the bud, so to speak...

the green wire goes thru the airpot’s side and anchors the root ball in the ground as I bend the plant over, pretty convenient...

GrassBurner said:

I use an organic soil. Started as a coots mix, but I have just been reammending with Dr Earth dry ammendments after each run. Im around 40% aeration between lava rocks and perlite. No need for any air stones, there is a layer of air between the reservoir and soil. The overflows on each side allows fresh air exchange into into reservoir. The soil sits on a shelf with holes, I believe that helps keep the soil from getting soggy too.
They are amazing at growing plants!! These pics are 21 days apart, and topped once.
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Really nice,do you start in that or transplant into it? Also how long do roots take to reach reservoir if you're starting in that. Sorry for the quiz, but like I said I really wanted to make a go of this a few years back but have done passive hydro with hempy style perlite and small pot soil grows instead. This setup looks way simpler and with my light/environment setup I think it would work really well with my scrog. Thanks again and nice plants.

Thanks, no prob on questions, but I am a novice at this myself...

I started these in the airpots; I read a bit about not transplanting autos, just put them in their final container. Seems to have worked well here and avoids a step where things could go wrong.

I have a Marshydro TSL 2000 watt above the plants, and a pair of Phlizon 1200 watt lights on the sides, and angled in at roughly 45 degrees. Hanging behind the plants is a four fixture T5 light, running 3000k bulbs. I just moved this so it is on the front, pointing in, and the branches I’m training to grow horizontally are right in front of it. They stretch over an inch a day...

These are three gallon pots, I have four of them in my tub. That might be crowding things a bit but with some attention and height management I will make it work. I grew some photos a few years ago in these, and vegged for 3 weeks, and flowered for 7 weeks - in 10 weeks, the root ball filled the container from side to side, but still had room to grow on the bottom. With a shorter lifespan, in theory, the autos should have lots of room for their roots.

I have tendency to overwater, and the airpots and their ventilation at the root zone helps counteract that too...

Sweet setup!! I like the airpot concept, over watering was always a problem for me.

Getting a head start, 1 Jul is just around the corner. These are 4 Glue Gelato auto and 4 Jack Herer auto I got from Quebec Seed Company; 4 for my house, and 4 for the GF. She doesn’t partake but graciously is donating some yard space. I think I’ll split them up, 2 of each at both spots. For now they are growing under a 2 bulb two foot T5 light with 6400k bulbs; I’ll probably Jack that up to an additional T5 light, or one of the many, many other HID lights I’ve collected over the years.

I’m working on the grow space, and have some plans for a horizontal grow. I wanna keep the size manageable so I can move them around on my patio as the sun moves across the sky. I have a pretty well sheltered space for them when we get our occasional/frequent heavy rains this time of year, so portability is a key goal.

I’ll fill in the spaces between plants with other plants that repel pests (marigold, dill, garlic etc), and I have a ladybug house on the way. I’ll buy some ladybugs once the plants go outdoors. For now, I’ll nurture/train them indoors.

I’ll be using fabric 4 gallon pots at both places, the GF grow is gonna be a vertical one based on the footprint of their future home, and they won’t move once in place...