Yeah the only problem with the cheaper red landscaping lava rock is the huge chunks aren't nearly as good for aeration as a bunch of smaller pieces, but if you don't mind swinging a sledgehammer that shouldn't be the end of the world. I've read that lava rocks slowly release trace amounts of iron into the soil as they erode which seems like it would make them an especially good option for the continually recycled soils.
Anybody ever try "no till" in 3-5 gal. pots?
- Thread starter sunnydog
- Start date
bigbadbiddy
Well-known member
I think I will also try my luck with perlite this time around.
Had trouble sourcing both pumice and small lava rock granules and wasn't looking forward to added weight either, since I have to move my pots from time to time.
I think once I finish this round and mix about 1/3rd perlite to 2/3rds of my current soil mix and then reammend it with ewc,kelp, bone/bloodmeal etc. I should have much better results again and it probably will be fine in 5gal containers.
The only remaining predicament I have is that the plants currently in 1gal veg pots are not looking too healthy (well some of them) and I will likely have to let them veg for a few weeks in the 5 gal pots before flipping to flower. But let's hope the pots will not be too small for that either. Also will top-dress the 1gal veg pots in the future whenever I transplant new clones/seedlings in there.
Still mulling if I shouldn't reduce the plant number from around 20 in 5gal down to about 8 in 10gal...
Had trouble sourcing both pumice and small lava rock granules and wasn't looking forward to added weight either, since I have to move my pots from time to time.
I think once I finish this round and mix about 1/3rd perlite to 2/3rds of my current soil mix and then reammend it with ewc,kelp, bone/bloodmeal etc. I should have much better results again and it probably will be fine in 5gal containers.
The only remaining predicament I have is that the plants currently in 1gal veg pots are not looking too healthy (well some of them) and I will likely have to let them veg for a few weeks in the 5 gal pots before flipping to flower. But let's hope the pots will not be too small for that either. Also will top-dress the 1gal veg pots in the future whenever I transplant new clones/seedlings in there.
Still mulling if I shouldn't reduce the plant number from around 20 in 5gal down to about 8 in 10gal...
BBB---
have you considered beds for your space?
it does present challenges in terms of maintaining an even canopy in a mixed-variety garden and when pheno hunting, however you get all the benefits of a large body of soil without tying yourself to one configuration.
modular beds or even shared larger containers are rad too. i'm using 35 gallon totes in 30" x 30" tents and putting 2--6 plants in each. so far it's eliminated ALL the headaches i had w/ the 2 gallon containers in the same tents.
as for making the best out of the stuck situation for those plants in 1 gallons, you can do a dramatic prune and (if done properly) the new growth will be much healthier than what you cut off. here's an old diagram i made regarding keeping bonsai moms but the practice is the same:
have you considered beds for your space?
it does present challenges in terms of maintaining an even canopy in a mixed-variety garden and when pheno hunting, however you get all the benefits of a large body of soil without tying yourself to one configuration.
modular beds or even shared larger containers are rad too. i'm using 35 gallon totes in 30" x 30" tents and putting 2--6 plants in each. so far it's eliminated ALL the headaches i had w/ the 2 gallon containers in the same tents.
as for making the best out of the stuck situation for those plants in 1 gallons, you can do a dramatic prune and (if done properly) the new growth will be much healthier than what you cut off. here's an old diagram i made regarding keeping bonsai moms but the practice is the same:
squatty
Well-known member
This may be changing the conversation a bit. I have been using the same pots outdoors for two to three years (depending on the pot) and I'm just starting the fourth grow. I have been using a type of no till in pots of cannabis and tomato. Pots range from five to twenty gallons. I have been using some of the concepts from the Reverend's TLO book.
Two months prior to using the pots I use his spike process. I mix dry amendments and pour some down in little holes I make in the soil and around the outer edge. In the big pots I make a large crevice using a shovel. I add some manure to the bottom and pour dry amendments in. I top that with EWC, compost, etc.
This may not be a true no till but I don't think I'm devastating the microbiology. Certainly in small areas they are affected but the soil still seems full of life. I also top dress and use teas through the growing season.
Last year I had two big plants in no till. One was a Hawaiian hybrid (Spice) that had no significant problems and seemed to thrive in the soil. The second plant showed nitrogen deficiency but that may have been the strain as well. It was a big Garwhali plant that would have been giant if it was planted directly in the ground.
I'm just adding amendments now for one more go in the same soil.
Spice
Dr. Shiva Garhwali
Two months prior to using the pots I use his spike process. I mix dry amendments and pour some down in little holes I make in the soil and around the outer edge. In the big pots I make a large crevice using a shovel. I add some manure to the bottom and pour dry amendments in. I top that with EWC, compost, etc.
This may not be a true no till but I don't think I'm devastating the microbiology. Certainly in small areas they are affected but the soil still seems full of life. I also top dress and use teas through the growing season.
Last year I had two big plants in no till. One was a Hawaiian hybrid (Spice) that had no significant problems and seemed to thrive in the soil. The second plant showed nitrogen deficiency but that may have been the strain as well. It was a big Garwhali plant that would have been giant if it was planted directly in the ground.
I'm just adding amendments now for one more go in the same soil.
Spice
Dr. Shiva Garhwali
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squatty
Well-known member
Sorry I do not have a better camera to provide better pictures. The original question asked about three and five gallon pots.
Pictures below are of Flash seeds auto Russian Fuel. Pictures were taken during the third season of five gallon no till pots with the tweaks I mentioned above.
The plants were in these pots from June to November with some top dressing, compost tea and foliar spray.
Pictures below are of Flash seeds auto Russian Fuel. Pictures were taken during the third season of five gallon no till pots with the tweaks I mentioned above.
The plants were in these pots from June to November with some top dressing, compost tea and foliar spray.
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bigbadbiddy
Well-known member
Howdy heady blunts,
thanks for sharing your knowledge and ideas!
Yes, I was considering to root prune the veglings in the 1 gallon pots and considerably cut them back before transplanting (as well as LSTing them in the process). Now that you suggest it as well, I will definitely do it.
I also still have to clone them so I will use what I cut back in that process as clones (even though some might not root as some plants are a bit sickly but then I just take more cuts during the training stages and defoliation later on).
Will be my first time root pruning though but I trust I can do it.
I have to say though that in my current grow, I tried LSTing and had a hand full of plants that I up-potted to 2 gal containers in veg because they were in there more than 3 months. I also defoliated and cut them back several times and ended up with a huge number of small tops. In the end I would imagine it was like flowering a mother. I think the plant needed much more than the 5 gal pots (but maybe it was also due to the lack of nutrients in the soil) in order to push actual buds. Right now I am left with a looooot of tiny popcorn buds that won't fill in.
What I am trying to say is: I have a feeling that at a certain point, you have too many tops for such small containers. Conversely, the plants I left at 4 tops produced much bigger buds, even though the work with the same depleted soil.
Regarding the beds instead of pots, I have also considered it but so far stayed away from it due to my wish to pheno hunt.
Also the layout of my room doesn't allow me to walk around the plants, so to get to the ones at the back of the room, I need to move the ones in the front and middle. As it stands, I take about half of the 5gal pots out of the flowering room 3 times during a grow. Once when I transplant (ok, here I take out all of them) and then once at week 2 of flower and once at week 4, both times to defoliate and apply aerated compost tea by hand.
If I used larger pots or raised beds, I would not only have to reduce my plant number according to the lower number of larger pots/beds but also to create space so I can reach every plant (since I could no longer move the pots/beds). This would drastically reduce my plant count and ability to pheno hunt.
I think I would go down from max 24 plants in flower to around 8. Which wouldn't be terrible and probably result in much larger yields but I would select from 1/3rd of the populace...
So for now I first want to look how this shakes out in the 5gal pots once I re-ammend the soil properly in between grows (my current grow clearly shows how depleted of nutrients my soil currently is, since I only top-dressed EWC in between the last 2 grows and I am looking at tiny yields and sickly plants due to it) and fix the aeration issue.
After one more round this way, I might go back to the drawing board and reconsider beds/10gal pots or larger.
thanks for sharing your knowledge and ideas!
Yes, I was considering to root prune the veglings in the 1 gallon pots and considerably cut them back before transplanting (as well as LSTing them in the process). Now that you suggest it as well, I will definitely do it.
I also still have to clone them so I will use what I cut back in that process as clones (even though some might not root as some plants are a bit sickly but then I just take more cuts during the training stages and defoliation later on).
Will be my first time root pruning though but I trust I can do it.
I have to say though that in my current grow, I tried LSTing and had a hand full of plants that I up-potted to 2 gal containers in veg because they were in there more than 3 months. I also defoliated and cut them back several times and ended up with a huge number of small tops. In the end I would imagine it was like flowering a mother. I think the plant needed much more than the 5 gal pots (but maybe it was also due to the lack of nutrients in the soil) in order to push actual buds. Right now I am left with a looooot of tiny popcorn buds that won't fill in.
What I am trying to say is: I have a feeling that at a certain point, you have too many tops for such small containers. Conversely, the plants I left at 4 tops produced much bigger buds, even though the work with the same depleted soil.
Regarding the beds instead of pots, I have also considered it but so far stayed away from it due to my wish to pheno hunt.
Also the layout of my room doesn't allow me to walk around the plants, so to get to the ones at the back of the room, I need to move the ones in the front and middle. As it stands, I take about half of the 5gal pots out of the flowering room 3 times during a grow. Once when I transplant (ok, here I take out all of them) and then once at week 2 of flower and once at week 4, both times to defoliate and apply aerated compost tea by hand.
If I used larger pots or raised beds, I would not only have to reduce my plant number according to the lower number of larger pots/beds but also to create space so I can reach every plant (since I could no longer move the pots/beds). This would drastically reduce my plant count and ability to pheno hunt.
I think I would go down from max 24 plants in flower to around 8. Which wouldn't be terrible and probably result in much larger yields but I would select from 1/3rd of the populace...
So for now I first want to look how this shakes out in the 5gal pots once I re-ammend the soil properly in between grows (my current grow clearly shows how depleted of nutrients my soil currently is, since I only top-dressed EWC in between the last 2 grows and I am looking at tiny yields and sickly plants due to it) and fix the aeration issue.
After one more round this way, I might go back to the drawing board and reconsider beds/10gal pots or larger.
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wasgedn
Active member
a supplier in youre area...
pumice,lava etc....several grains....
https://www.susterra.de/6-zuschlagstoffe
or go to near every baustoffe shop and use sledghammer,brings more diversity,is good
perlit i use knauf or quikmix 15 euro 100liter from baumarkt - property market
pumice,lava etc....several grains....
https://www.susterra.de/6-zuschlagstoffe
or go to near every baustoffe shop and use sledghammer,brings more diversity,is good
perlit i use knauf or quikmix 15 euro 100liter from baumarkt - property market
