Growing multiple plants in one pot

diebold · Jan 18, 2012

Besides the problems of competition for nutrients, and disease being shared, what is the problem with growing multiple plants in one pot with shared soil, etc?

Serious question is serious. I know everyone has separate pots. I'm wondering if it's for efficiency or for something more.

:cathug:

Hammerhead · Jan 18, 2012

plants will be competing for nutrients and space. Thats pretty much it.. They wont reach there full potential. If this was on a larger scale it would work fine. Plant Beds work great..

pinecone · Jan 18, 2012

diebold said:
Besides the problems of competition for nutrients, and disease being shared, what is the problem with growing multiple plants in one pot with shared soil, etc?

Serious question is serious. I know everyone has separate pots. I'm wondering if it's for efficiency or for something more.

If you stick multiple plants in the same size containers that you would otherwise use for one plant the same size they won't reach there potential. However, when most people do this they use larger containers. Over the past year I've been running anywhere between 1 and 4 plants in a 22 gallon Sterilite tote. I don't see any drop off in performance versus the 4 gallon pots I was using previously. I have not had any nutrient disorders or unmanageable pest problems. I had a few spider mites, but I consider them to be a highly manageable pest with organic controls.

Since you are using a large volume of growing medium in these small bed type things you want to re-use it. The mixture in my tote-bed has been in continuous use for over a year. When its time to harvest I just chop the plants at the stumps, dig-cut new holes, and replant. I have a little bag of worm castings and some other dry organic fertilizers in small Ziploc bags, but I don't need to store big bags of soil, coco, or peat anymore - and I don't have to mix up soil for each run.

The following pictures show 1, 2, and 4 plants in my tote respectively.

Pine

diebold · Jan 18, 2012

Thanks guys!

Pinecone: what are the PVC tubes on the corners for - is there a layer of clay pellets or some such on the bottom and that gets air to the bottom roots?

pinecone · Jan 18, 2012

diebold said:
Pinecone: what are the PVC tubes on the corners for - is there a layer of clay pellets or some such on the bottom and that gets air to the bottom roots?

My tote has no drainage holes. In a perhaps misguided attempt to allow for some gas exchange in the root area I put 3" of chunky perlite at the bottom of the tote and ran PVC pipe down into the perlite. The pipes may not be necessary. IC MAG member and moderator Vonfore is using 50 gallon totes with no drainage holes, no perlite on the bottom, and no PVC pipes. His plants look great. I do like not having drainage holes as it keeps my operation much cleaner.

Pine

vonforne · Jan 18, 2012

50 gallon sterite containers.

a couple years back 120 liter containers

no drain and no problems.

V

VerdantGreen · Jan 18, 2012

if you are an inexperienced grower then it might be advisable to use drainage holes if you can - then any excess water can get out again.

VG

pinecone · Jan 18, 2012

VerdantGreen said:
if you are an inexperienced grower then it might be advisable to use drainage holes if you can - then any excess water can get out again.

Or, at a minimum, practice no drain watering with some regular pots so that you have an idea of how much water plants will use under various conditions.

Pine

diebold · Jan 19, 2012

With this grow (my second), I've been going with water then dry out, then re water then wait till dry method. The two trays I have do have drainage, but I rarely water plants to the point water comes out of the holes.

Thanks again guys! :tiphat:

/BTW, I love your early sexing guide, though my inexperienced eyes are not discerning anything. :/

Phaeton · Jan 20, 2012

I use rockwool in 17 x 34 inch containers, about four gallons. 12 plants per container gives way more yield per square foot of grow space than if each plant had her own 1-1/2 quart container, way way more. Depending on veg time, 3-4 oz per plant. Each plant grows as if the entire container is hers. Really saves a lot of space.

hydroclops · Jan 20, 2012

To the guys that don't use drain holes,
my stupid question how, if you do flush the plants.
I know some don't at all.

Stay safe and high.
........HYDRO.......

Guest 150314 · Jan 20, 2012

they will shade each other, unless you use a big pot like a tote. if they arent the same strain may have issues flushing as one will be done before the other

some of my first grows were rubbermade totes packed with as many hashplant clones as I could fit, 1 SOG tote per 400w I was getting over a half pound per tote

pinecone · Jan 20, 2012

Hydrofome420 said:
To the guys that don't use drain holes, my stupid question how, if you do flush the plants.
I know some don't at all.

I don't want to speak for Von, but I suspect that he might provide a similar answer.

My grow is organic. I don't use any salt based soluble fertilizers and I generally leave the feeding up to the plant and microbial processes. I might top dress some fertilizers during my grow, but it is entirely up to the microbes and the plant to mineralize these insoluble fertilizers into a usable (salt) form. Under normal circumstances this process of mineralizing insoluble fertilizers happens at close the the rate that plant is using said fertilizers. Therefore, I don't have salts building up in my medium that need to be leached out and the plants are not being force overfed in a way that requires they be flushed. My plants will fade to yellow or light green naturally at the end of their cycle without a "flush".

Pine

Typical look of my plants on chop day: (The first picture I posted above is also a chop day photo)

hydroclops · Jan 20, 2012

thanks, looks like something to try out.

Stay safe and high.
...........HYDRO.......

Phaeton · Jan 22, 2012

Top watering in rockwool flushes every feeding.

The drain hole is in a corner. I poke this corner over the table edge and pour into the top, the bucket under the table catches the screened water. The screen catches any bugs in the roots for examination.

Putting the drain hole on the other side of the table (24"x36" table, 17"x35" tray) turns the plant 180 degrees.

I use identical clones picked by size in each tray, fewer problems with heights and budding times.

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Growing multiple plants in one pot

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