Setting up run-off tray in tent

Hi,
I'm very inexperienced and only at the end of my first grow. I made lots of (probably classic) mistakes and learned a lot along the way. I grew in Coco,soil,perlite mix 50/25/25. No rhyme or reason why I think I read about it somewhere and thought the soil might buffer against some of my errors with nutrients. To some extent it did..
Anyway, I didn't allow for any run-off I only had saucers under my pots and only fed and watered to the point it started to leech out into the saucer.
Can someone please help me get my head around how to setup a system that I can easily catch and remove run-off from a 2x4x5 tent? Oh and it's under the house, there is no drain nearby.. So.. I'm fu*ked right? With only 5 feet of vertical height I can't give much up underneath the pots either..
And side question... If I can't manage run-off, can anyone confirm whether you CAN still grow in medium lime coco or soil without allowing for 20% run-off and still control balance and nutrients well enough? or will salt inevitably build up?

Cheers all you grow gurus.

Soil/coco never works out well. This guy has a good site for coco. Runoff just needs to be managed, not dreaded. See if this is any help.
https://www.cocoforcannabis.com/

Get a tray like this


Put something under 1 side to slope it to the front .


Suck up the run off with this

I thought someone might say wet vac. Does seem like the only solid solution..

Is there anyone who would grow in Coco OR soil who wouldn't water/feed to the point of excess run-off? Or is it essential?

I built my tables just high enough to fit a 3 gallon bucket under one side and raised the other side just slightly.

I'm unfamiliar on any grows that need 'cleaning up' after, but I see mention of a wet vac from someone who seems to know what the deal is.

So I offer that if you don't actually have one, a compressor can do the same thing, as far as picking up liquids.

Snowchaser said:

I thought someone might say wet vac. Does seem like the only solid solution..

Is there anyone who would grow in Coco OR soil who wouldn't water/feed to the point of excess run-off? Or is it essential?

Click to expand...

Soil n coco are pretty different, pick one or the other, if you don’t want to deal with run off pick soil.

BigHornBuds said:

Soil n coco are pretty different, pick one or the other, if you don’t want to deal with run off pick soil.

Click to expand...

Excellent, thanks. Im in a tight space and have to crawl out of a hatch so lugging a wet vac through the hatch every second night just isn't going to work.
Having said that I like the idea of a good soil anyway with perlite for air and drainage. I guess I just worry about Salt build up and wish I could flush if I need to..
My current grow could do with flushing now. Can't figure out my deficiency or burn
Any ideas? Here is a pic from a few mins ago.. Obviously it's LED light but you can see the spots plus tips are burnt. I've given extra Potassium for flowering stage. Then I thought, hmm too much maybe. So I haven't given anymore since last week. Yesterday she got magnesium and sulfur. Too early to tell if that has helped. Next I'm thinking calcium and trace elements especially copper. Help!

Snowchaser said:

I thought someone might say wet vac. Does seem like the only solid solution..

Is there anyone who would grow in Coco OR soil who wouldn't water/feed to the point of excess run-off? Or is it essential?

Click to expand...

Ebb and flow is your only other option..

Most tents come with a waterproof tray made out of the same fabric as the tent. I have never known one leak.
Just mop it up. You don't need gallons of run off. Its easy to remove, obviously tight quarters make it more of a PITA.

Or you could just go with an autopot system and not have run off and top up a res once every few days.

Coco for the win

coreywebster said:

Most tents come with a waterproof tray made out of the same fabric as the tent. I have never known one leak.
Just mop it up. You don't need gallons of run off. Its easy to remove, obviously tight quarters make it more of a PITA.

Or you could just go with an autopot system and not have run off and top up a res once every few days.

Coco for the win

Click to expand...

apollo horticulture 3 x 3 i had leaked brand new. i had never had one leak either so i trusted it the first time i watered. boom. flooded the room. never trusting a tent again!

wet vac alternatives:
https://www.amazon.com/SeaSense-Hand-Bilge-Pump-Hose/dp/B004XACSNK
or if u like to party:
https://www.amazon.com/Stream-Machine-DB-1500-Double-Launcher/dp/B0029F1Y7M

you could use that to blast ur runoff out an open window

Put them in a plastic storage bin for under beds. Put plants on 2x4s wet vac as needed

pulpoinspace said:

or if u like to party:
https://www.amazon.com/Stream-Machine-DB-1500-Double-Launcher/dp/B0029F1Y7M

you could use that to blast ur runoff out an open window

Click to expand...

Haha I like it!

Automate where possible.

One deep tray.
One automatic bilge pump.

https://www.amazon.com/Shoreline-Marine-Bilge-Pump-Switch/dp/B004LR4J5K/ref=bmx_3/141-5364966-8478934?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B004LR4J5K&pd_rd_r=b27cf93d-8357-4299-8e36-c3678a965ed2&pd_rd_w=qjeud&pd_rd_wg=DL6UG&pf_rd_p=82f2651f-9a02-4fdb-a6e8-f4769253cc2b&pf_rd_r=CTRP2H0F1AV6E4BMSKCG&psc=1&refRID=CTRP2H0F1AV6E4BMSKCG

Low runoff Coco tree methodology.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=300255&page=4

TintEastwood said:

Low runoff Coco tree methodology.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=300255&page=4

Click to expand...

That is one serious thread, amazing read. Thanks. If only I could have an automatic setup.

Snowchaser said:

I thought someone might say wet vac. Does seem like the only solid solution..

Is there anyone who would grow in Coco OR soil who wouldn't water/feed to the point of excess run-off? Or is it essential?

Click to expand...

No it's not essential. I grow in 100% coco with no runoff. I use blumats.

https://www.blumat.com/tropf/das-tropf-blumat-system/vorteile

https://www.amazon.com/Blumat-Automatic-Watering-Sensors-Starter/dp/B00IQXFBWA

I'm in the midst of my first grow (hempy with automatic watering via drip lines and timer) in a 3x3x6.5 tent and ran into the same problem with drainage. The common advice i saw was a flood tray (or alternative) and shop vac. I initially had tubes attached to the hole 2 inches from the bottom but found they got in the way when i turned the bucket and the 2 inch height didn't allow much for gravity to do it's thing. What i ended up doing was getting a 3x3 foot (slightly less) cheap washing machine drip pan that i put the buckets on, raised it off the ground with a makeshift pvc stand a few inches high, and then got a 2x1.5 feet low height storage bin that i cut down to around 3 inches height and then placed a submersible pump in it that i manually run when the rez is nearly empty. Another thing i never see mentioned (maybe due to clearance) that's possible with your low height tent is raising the actual tent off the ground with a skid under it. That would buy you a few inches height with gravity to enable a gutter or tube collection system that can drain to a bucket. As another bonus, my pvc shelf also has the ability to be upgraded with a scrog net fairly easily if you plan ahead and have t connectors at the edges. Just some ideas you can maybe add to. I'm curious to see the suggestions because my method seems more complicated than it should be but works well.