Why do experienced growers still use plastic pots?

[CharlesU Farley]

Sunni has banned me at least a half dozen times.........just for being me.

I had a strange feeling of familiarity with your posts/posting style and demeanor, we are both very direct, blunt and have little patience for ignorant assholes.

But I don't remember your nym... which is not out of the ordinary, given how fucked up my short-term memory is these days.

For a convenient alternative for seeds and clones I use these little pouches, to feed them in multiples I just pour nutrient into the tray.
View attachment 18973024
It might sound a bit questionable, no wait it is a bit questionable but it works.

The pouches are only £2/3 per 100.

Those look exactly like the ones I tried, maybe just a tad bit bigger, but I could never get them to stand up as straight as yours are. Mine always leaned and kind of acted like bowling pins and if one went down it would take them all out.

I like your system. Usually it's the things that are a bit questionable at the beginning that lead to the greatest advances, especially in cannabis.

 

[CharlesU Farley]

How much experience we talking here? I grow in coco those fabric pots are useless to me since they're always drying out from the outside. For me plastic pots work better. The plants suck up the water from the root ball out so I can water my plants everyday and not worry about them dying out before the next water and all the roots dying. Also the amount of roots in the pot depends on how long you veg and how wet the medium was. If you're harvesting plants that didn't have roots anywhere except the edge is prolly cuz your watering too much.

Not sure what you mean by how much experience, but I've been growing in fabric for 10 plus years now. If you're talking overall cannabis development experience, 50+.

I'm totally ignorant with coco grows, I was on a self-imposed cannabis/psychedelic forum ban from the Patriot Act until about 2011-2012, which is when I think coco started being utilized. I thought it was just like the regular potting soil I use but instead of using peat, manufacturers used cheaper coco husks instead. That's what I get for _ass_uming. Still don't know anything about it, so don't feel like I could comment on your situation, because the environment is totally alien to me.

When I hear people complain about increased watering with fabric containers, I always say that's a _good_ thing. I want my plants to be able to utilize as much water, rapidly available fertilizer, and tropical-force like winds that they can handle.

 

[xtsho]

How much experience we talking here? I grow in coco those fabric pots are useless to me since they're always drying out from the outside. For me plastic pots work better. The plants suck up the water from the root ball out so I can water my plants everyday and not worry about them dying out before the next water and all the roots dying. Also the amount of roots in the pot depends on how long you veg and how wet the medium was. If you're harvesting plants that didn't have roots anywhere except the edge is prolly cuz your watering too much.

Straight coco, fabric pots, and Blumats. Works great and I've had my best grows when I was growing for mass doing it that way. Constant drip feeding. All you have to do is keep the reservoir filled. I could go a long time with an 18 gallon tote of nutrient solution. Wouldn't even bother checking on the plants for days at a time. Some claim that you have to water till runoff with coco but they're wrong. I feed a low EC solution and never had any issues with buildup.

I've thought about using a capillary mat, fabric pots, and coco. That would make things even simpler as there isn't a need for tubing running to each pot. Just set it on the mat and walk away. I'm for making things as easy as they can be because I have much better things to do than spend it unnecessarily on some pot plants.

 

[CocoNut 420]

I've tried something similar to those pouches myself. Great idea but the material was so thin it was difficult for me to load up the soil inside the smaller container.

This is what I do to get them started, a bit coco in them helps holds them open for you to fill.

3 fingers inside opened out to hold it, after I get them topped up I give a tap down to flatten the bottom so they stand upright.

If i was using a lot of them frequently I'd make a suitable funnel.

 

[CharlesU Farley]

I'm a dirt guy, and I could bore you to death with how I came up with the system that I use. One time long ago, I extensively experimented with organic fertilizers. I tried more bone meal, blood meal, chicken shit ( I never got into bat shit ) than you can ever imagine. See this section of Vic High's website to understand all the stuff I tried and yes I was an active participant in these discussions under a different nym, because I was so paranoid I didn't even trust the Canadians:

BCGA Super Soil

And as Chris Farley used to say... "For the love of God and all that's holy" don't mention the name of the guy, who is now dead, whose name is usually associated with super soil.

What I ended up doing was taking the best that I had learned from pH and NPKaye (who were hydroponic fanatics) on chemical fertilizers and decided to just use regular, cheap ass potting soil but with chemical fertilizers. I used to argue with Vic when he started using ozone generators around his grow, just to kill the fungus gnats, that were attracted by all of that organic material.

Another large, old, hairy grower who is now dead, took my method (that I strongly advocated for on adpc) and posted it on OG like it was his own idea. And never even mentioned my nym, because he knew I absolutely hated the flashy, blinky emoticons/smiley faces that were so popular on OG.

I digress... (zBear but absolutely fucking love that).

Here's the system I use, with pictures. I start with this, which is old soil with fan leaves and other non-bud material from the winter grow that I recycle:

Mix it in with a couple of bags of this, which is composted cow shit:

Add in a couple of bags of this:

Which is cheap ass Lowe's potting soil but it used to be Miracle-Gro before this inflation bullshit. Whatever the fuck was on sale and cheap is what I was interested in. There's a nym who participates here on IC, who I can't remember... imagine that... who frequently states that he grows in Miracle Grow just to piss people off, we are kindred spirits!!!!

This is the next thing I do, in extremis:

Massive, 10 to 15 minute streams of pure Blue Ridge mountain spring water, spend about 15 to 20 minutes mixing it all up with a shovel and a hoe... and my wife just now said don't call me a ho. And we're almost done.

This is not a product placement and I put it in another thread, but here is all I need after I prepare the soil:

Didn't take a picture of the two handfuls of dolomitic lime and couple of pinches of Epsom salts that I throw in, just for old time sake. Many years ago, I was broke as a fuck and had to reuse soil... a bunch. After many grows, things got funky as shit, discolored leaves, stunted growth, etc. I used a little bit of Epsom salt and some lime I had left over from the vegetable garden. Things got back to normal. Don't know If it was a calcium or magnesium deficiency but it cured the problem.

For those select few who know my history, you'll understand the irony of all those fucking emoticons and the exclamation marks I'm getting ready to use!!!!!

<vbseg>... yet again.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

I'm a dirt guy, and I could bore you to death with how I came up with the system that I use. One time long ago, I extensively experimented with organic fertilizers. I tried more bone meal, blood meal, chicken shit ( I never got into bat shit ) than you can ever imagine. See this section of Vic High's website to understand all the stuff I tried and yes I was an active participant in these discussions under a different nym, because I was so paranoid I didn't even trust the Canadians:

BCGA Super Soul

And as Chris Farley used to say... "For the love of God and all that's holy" don't mention the name of the guy, who is now dead, whose name is usually associated with super soil.

What I ended up doing was taking the best that I had learned from pH and NPKaye (who were hydroponic fanatics) on chemical fertilizers and decided to just use regular, cheap ass potting soil but with chemical fertilizers. I used to argue with Vic when he started using ozone generators around his grow, just to kill the fungus gnats, that were attracted by all of that organic material.

Another large, old, hairy grower who is now dead, took my method (that I strongly advocated for on adpc) and posted it on OG like it was his own idea. And never even mentioned my nym, because he knew I absolutely hated the flashy, blinky emoticons/smiley faces that were so popular on OG.

I digress.

Here's the system I use, with pictures. I start with this, which is old soil with fan leaves and other non-bud material from the winter grow that I recycle:

View attachment 18973757

Mix it in with a couple of bags of this, which is composted cow shit:

View attachment 18973758

Add in a couple of bags of this:

View attachment 18973759

Which is cheap ass Lowe's potting soil but it used to be Miracle-Gro before this inflation bullshit. Whatever the fuck was on sale and cheap is what I was interested in. There's a name who participates here on IC, who I can't remember... imagine that... who frequently states that he grows in Miracle Grow just to piss people off, we are kindred spirits!!!!

This is the next thing I do, in extremis:

View attachment 18973760

Massive, 10 to 15 minute streams of pure Blue Ridge mountain spring water, spend about 15 to 20 minutes mixing it all up with a shovel and a hoe... and my wife just now said don't call me a ho. And we're almost done.

Didn't take a picture of the two handfuls of dolomitic lime and couple of pinches of Epsom salts that I throw in, just for old time sake. Many years ago, I was broke as a fuck and had to reuse soil... a bunch. After many grows, things got funky as shit, discolored leaves, stunted growth, etc. I used a little bit of Epsom salt and some lime I had left over from the vegetable garden. Things got back to normal. Don't know If it was a calcium or magnesium deficiency but it cured the problem.

For those select few who know my history, you'll understand the irony of all those fucking emoticons and the exclamation marks I'm getting ready to use!!!!!

<vbseg>... yet again.

 

[CharlesU Farley]

Now you're just trying to piss me off. <g>

I always appreciated your ironic sense of humor, even if I didn't agree with other things.

 

[Old Uncle Ben]

I'll second that, . Pretty sure he's not there at all anymore. As far as I know it's Sunni, Curious2Garden, and Rswar or something like that. And the main admin. Sunni banned me for my conservative views as well but Potroast was a major ahole. Sunni was cool once upon a time but she lost her way somehow. I still have a pic of her titties that she posted years ago.

How funny! Sunni and I had some conversations about a year ago, last time I posted there under my new name of Old..... I put some time in there fer sure. Last time I looked my thread on 4 main colas had over a million views.

Only a dork would post a pic of her tatas.

 

[Old Uncle Ben]

I understand what everybody's saying as far as how much easier plastic containers are to organize and transfer. Here's the pots I use for seedlings and again, the idea is to drive the roots down as deep as possible from a very early age. And I'm not afraid to crowd them, even in the seedling stage, because I think competition is good for cannabis:



View attachment 18973735

View attachment 18973740
But once they grow out of these containers, it's in the fabric they go.

Nice job. I've played with Stuewe treepots. Might wanna look at those.

 

[Old Uncle Ben]

Now you're just trying to piss me off. <g>

I always appreciated your ironic sense of humor, even if I didn't agree with other things.

Aw now, come on. We all know which one is your favorite.

 

[CharlesU Farley]

Nice job. I've played with Stuewe treepots. Might wanna look at those.

Just like you and the rest of us old fucks, I'm pretty happy with how I'm doing things now. No need to change things unless something revolutionary comes along.

Something I learned a long time ago, in my computer capacity planning days, no one will ever notice a 10% increase in anything, including THC/CBD content.

You can tell what a fucking old dinosaur I am, I think fabric containers are the bees knees. <vbg>

But like you, look at my avatar, I'm used to bitch slapping these Millennials.

 

[CharlesU Farley]

How funny! Sunni and I had some conversations about a year ago, last time I posted there under my new name of Old..... I put some time in there fer sure. Last time I looked my thread on 4 main colas had over a million views.

Only a dork would post a pic of her tatas.

When I decided to become active in cannabis fora again, after many years of self-imposed exile, the only reason I chose RIU instead of ICMag was because I recognized the Potroast nym on RIU and NL Seattle Greg posted on Mr Nice that he was banned here on IC Mag, for whatever reason.

Afiac, that guy is second only to maybe Owsley Stanley on having such a profound impact on us "heads".

What a profoundly incorrect decision that was!

I'm glad I'm here now.

 

[LndRcLvr]

This is what I do to get them started, a bit coco in them helps holds them open for you to fill.
View attachment 18973753
3 fingers inside opened out to hold it, after I get them topped up I give a tap down to flatten the bottom so they stand upright.

If i was using a lot of them frequently I'd make a suitable funnel.

Reminds me of a girl i used to know.

 

[CocoNut 420]

Some of you know will know me as Star Dog from Riu?

I was ofline for a bit when I went back I noticed a decline in the regular posters.

A lot of the popular members were gone, I see few names I recognise here from Riu.

@PadawanWarrior i noticed you were gone, i always liked your humour and general helpful manor, it's good to see you around.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Some of you know will know me as Star Dog from Riu?

I was ofline for a bit when I went back I noticed a decline in the regular posters.

A lot of the popular members were gone, I see few names I recognise here from Riu.

@PadawanWarrior i noticed you were gone, i always liked your humour and general helpful manor, it's good to see you around.

Hey good to see you too Star Dog. I know RIU has gone down hill bigtime.

 

[CharlesU Farley]

Some of you know will know me as Star Dog from Riu?

I was ofline for a bit when I went back I noticed a decline in the regular posters.

A lot of the popular members were gone, I see few names I recognise here from Riu.

@PadawanWarrior i noticed you were gone, i always liked your humour and general helpful manor, it's good to see you around.I

That nym I recognize, I'll pay more attention to your posts now, this is _such_ a better forum.

 

[Ca++]

I'm sorry to drag this back up, but did somebody say titties?

I think I'm banned from RIU, but really don't remember why. Something petty, I'm sure.

 

[CharlesU Farley]

I'm sorry to drag this back up, but did somebody say titties?

I think I'm banned from RIU, but really don't remember why. Something petty, I'm sure.

You're in good company here on ICMag.

 

[CharlesU Farley]

How funny! Sunni and I had some conversations about a year ago, last time I posted there under my new name of Old..... I put some time in there fer sure. Last time I looked my thread on 4 main colas had over a million views.

Only a dork would post a pic of her tatas.

She tried to berate and embarrass me by saying that OSBuds wasn't Todd McCormick on that forum and that I didn't know what I was talking about when I wanted to confront him, with his nym in the subject title.

It was just one of many things she had no earthly fucking idea what she was talking about, because she had no idea of my history in cannabis cultivation and fora.

And her standard reply was anybody who challenged her did it because she was a woman and they were chauvinistic.

I don't care if you are male, female, trans, polly, whatever fucking adjective anybody wants to use these days... But if your factually wrong, you're fucking wrong, regardless of your gender. C2G was always cool with me.

At least Potroast understood that I knew what the fuck I was talking about.

 

[CocoNut 420]

That nym I recognize, I'll pay more attention to your posts now, this is _such_ a better forum.

Hey bud, I've found there's a decent bunch of folks here with a lot experienced growers and knowledgeable folk's.

I'm not one of them, let me tell you straight up idk shit about the science and biology side of growing, it's best kept simple imo.

I don't post much in riu these days outside of the uk thread, I still visit the uk growers thread frequently I've a few buddies there.

Yeah I love growing and messing around with what appears to be pointless experiments.

Blsu grafted to bluchi.

I originally done the graft to see if a better root stock would improve yeild on a graft that wasn't a great yeilder.

Cheers