Once those roots develop and grow throughout the pot,they will hold the soil mix in place.
If you are worried about a little dirt getting on the floor,use drainage trays.
-
ICMag with help from Phlizon, Landrace Warden and The Vault is running a NEW contest for Christmas! You can check it here. Prizes are: full spectrum led light, seeds & forum premium access. Come join in!
what to put on the bottom of pots for Drainage?
- Thread starter Wooderson
- Start date
If you are worried about a little dirt getting on the floor,use drainage trays.
NUG-JUG
Member
LOL just put a tray under the pot like capt.cheese said
Long fibered sphagnum.
Insect screen.
T
THC_Decapitator
E.Rosenthall and G.Cervantes are not the only ones who recommend stones or other media in the bottom of your pots .
Plenty of non mj horticulturists advocate the use of material in the bottom of pots.
I def think stones DO help with drainage
I hate the do you find this post helpful function !
Skip to that !
Plenty of non mj horticulturists advocate the use of material in the bottom of pots.
I def think stones DO help with drainage
I hate the do you find this post helpful function !
Skip to that !
You still get drainage, but you have to use more water to get that drainage vs a pot w/o the layer. You just end up increasing your odds of over-watering your plants.
true, but i think it was a practice that originated with terracotta pots because they tend to have one big drainage hole in the middle of the base that allows the soil/media to get washed out. the broken crocks at the bottom stop the soil getting washed out of the hole. - not usually a problem with plastic mj pots
also with big heavy pots full of soil, a drainage layer made out of polystyrene will reduce the weight of the pot.
V.
Might I mention that long fibered sphagnum also looks nice on the surface.
Aesthetics can help you stay cheerful.
Aesthetics can help you stay cheerful.
nada
nothing necessary
peace
jip
nothing necessary
peace
jip
Matanuskan Flo
Member
i didnt read allll the posts, so i apologize if nobody mentioned this already.
when you put sumthin at the bottom of the pot for drainage, you are essentially just raising the common "wet Zone" from the bottom of the pot, to an inch or 2 higher (or however tall the drainage material used would be). no matter what, the lowest area of the pot stays wet the longest, so by adding gravel to the bottom, you are raising up the wet zone even higher. this is retarded & the cause of root rot more often than people realize. there is an excellent colored diagram explaining the physics behind my delineation. if i could credit the person who presented this knowledge, i would, but i cannot recall whom. but, trust me, if i explained it well enough, it should make sense to you all as it did for me.
uniformly consistent well aerated medium is all thats necessary. top dressing with DE, vermiculite, perlite or whatever is kosher by me too.
my medium is 1/3 FFOF & 1/2 Lite Warrior. The remaining 1/3 is 1/6 DE (diatomaceous earth) & 1/6 vermiculite. i always premix a large garbage bag full of the components & water it & let ir dry 2-3x before ever using just to leach out any salts or nasties. this takes about a week. after applying seedlings, i do not use any nutes for the first 3 weeks.
when you put sumthin at the bottom of the pot for drainage, you are essentially just raising the common "wet Zone" from the bottom of the pot, to an inch or 2 higher (or however tall the drainage material used would be). no matter what, the lowest area of the pot stays wet the longest, so by adding gravel to the bottom, you are raising up the wet zone even higher. this is retarded & the cause of root rot more often than people realize. there is an excellent colored diagram explaining the physics behind my delineation. if i could credit the person who presented this knowledge, i would, but i cannot recall whom. but, trust me, if i explained it well enough, it should make sense to you all as it did for me.
uniformly consistent well aerated medium is all thats necessary. top dressing with DE, vermiculite, perlite or whatever is kosher by me too.
my medium is 1/3 FFOF & 1/2 Lite Warrior. The remaining 1/3 is 1/6 DE (diatomaceous earth) & 1/6 vermiculite. i always premix a large garbage bag full of the components & water it & let ir dry 2-3x before ever using just to leach out any salts or nasties. this takes about a week. after applying seedlings, i do not use any nutes for the first 3 weeks.
Hey I hear you man. That's what I do too.
But root rot? Cannabis? IMO you have to be trying.
But root rot? Cannabis? IMO you have to be trying.
Expat
Member
This thread has prompted me to try the "no drainage" way, but for other reasons. I have always put some clay balls at the bottom, but when it comes to recycling the soil, the balls end up throughout the soil. Or they end up in the outside vegetable garden, which is bad for security.
Matanuskan Flo
Member
haha, touche. but, newbies always over-tend, water, & usually feed as well. so, its feasible. heck, ive been a victim myself, i just did not notice until harvest & attempting to re-use the soil. i then noticed that the very bottom was dry & fine, but a few inches above, it was totally saturated, clumpy & just disgusting. the plant surely would have increased yield if I would have not made the mistake of raising my wet zone by adding broken shards of clay pot to the bottom of my container.
NUG-JUG
Member
Matanuskan Flo-The way the myth is presented by prominent people gets normal people like you and me to go along. In the "Horticulture Myths" link 2ndtry posted they talk about how the the broken pot layer is unfortunately used by a lot of people. It's because the myth is so easy to fall prey to because the explanations are always all scientifical sounding. This is the example of BS from the link.
"Adequate drainage is secured by covering the hole in the bottom of the
pot with a piece of broken flowerpot, concave side down; this in turn is covered with a layer (1/2" to 1"
deep) of flowerpot chips. On top of this, a 1/4" to 3/8" layer of coarse organic material, such as flaky leaf
mold, is placed."
"Adequate drainage is secured by covering the hole in the bottom of the
pot with a piece of broken flowerpot, concave side down; this in turn is covered with a layer (1/2" to 1"
deep) of flowerpot chips. On top of this, a 1/4" to 3/8" layer of coarse organic material, such as flaky leaf
mold, is placed."
This is where I bring up plant nannies. They help anyone avoid the problem.
kingofqueen
Member
I agree it seems that water drains better out of rocks at the bottom faster than it would if its just soggy soil at your drainage holes .I have also found more gnats at the drainage holes with just soil versus having an soiless medium at the bottom.And if it raises the wet zone higher wouldnt that have an reverse effect too? As in less soil in the container and a shorter space from the bottom to the top seems like it would dry out faster . And it seems that this layer of media at the bottom would contain more air that would aid in faster drying out time . I think there needs to be more research done in this area both sides have good ideas.
desertdweller
Member
My first grow had so many gnats, i had to cover the bottom drain holes with towels to keep gnats from reproducing. This grow, i added 2" of colored rocks to bottom of container and covered with cheesecloth, then filled with soil, no gnats anywhere to be found in the grow area. No more soil at drain holes, no gnats.
