20 Gal Smart pot

Smart pots aren't good at holding water to begin with, so I can imagine you'll have to be watering a good bit. Why do you feel the need to use such huge pots? A 5 gallon bucket has always been as large as we've ever needed to go in size for a plant. If your LED is like all the other Kind models I've seen, I'm not sure it's going to be enough coverage for 4 huge plants. They tend to have small fixtures and the light shines straight down from them onto the floor. They don't have the reflectivity build into the hood like the hps/hid fixtures do. More than likely, 2 plants is all that lamp will cover without you having to crowd several plants under it. Crowding them up like that isn't good because you just shade out any possible penetration the light could provide below the canopy. Hanging the light higher over the plants will cover more sq. footage, but you lose strength in the light the higher you go. Just be realistic about how many plants you can flower under one light. You can always harvest more from one plant that is given absolutely everything it needs and is tended properly than you can by trying to grow 3 in the same space. Each needs space to open up as much as possible naturally to let that good strong light get down to the lower part of the plant so the buds down there develop as nicely as the buds up closer to the top of the plant. Read up on how to tend the plant and keep it alive just as much as you think about the setup you're putting together to grow under. One is worthless without the other and you need a good basic understanding of how to do this and why you do it this way so you'll be able to understand the plant when it's trying to tell you something is wrong. Also, LEDs burn hot to young seedlings so you'll need to definitely hang your light high in the beginning until your plants have established a root system and become used to the lighting it's growing under. You can lower it down to a level that won't burn them over time so you don't shock them too badly. Also, don't grow auto varieties. Start out with real strains of known varieties or some bag seeds to learn on, but autos are too wacky for a beginner grower to start with. They seem to perform better when grown outside as opposed to an indoor setting and they are very reactive to stress. I saw a post today by a guy who has one that is 5 inches tall and already gone into flower. That's just time and energy wasted because no 5 inch plant is going to produce anything.

Take the time to read up on all parts of the grow process. Don't start out with a hydro grow if you have no experience either. Grow a couple in soil so you get an idea about the plant and how it grows. When you get to where you can keep one alive throughout it's life and get a decent harvest, you can try growing another way. But without a good base knowledge of what you're doing, adding a hydro setup would spell disaster until you find someone to help you figure the whole thing out. I don't like hydro grown weed anyway. I've always been able to taste the difference between weed grown solely on chemicals as opposed to soil. But that's just personal preference and means nothing.

Good luck. Inform yourself as much as possible about what you're planning to do. The more you know, the more you grow.

TWW

 

Just curious Widow what your idea of a good yield per plant would be from under a 1000w HID system is.....better yet what is YOUR yield per plant from under 1000w HID?

 

20 gallon pots of coco coir are what im using at the moment , but i only grow one plant per 1000 watt light.... 20 gallon containers are big and you dont have to water as often with big containers..... but four 20 gallon pots under any kind of light other than the sun is over kill lol ..... four 5 gallon or two 10 gallon or one 20 gallon... is a good rule of thumb for 1 large hid or led light...... if your interested dont let hydro scare you.... i grew hydro my first grow and yeilded 1.25 pounds off one 1000 watt hps...... just study and do lots of research ...

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I think people did..and quite thoroughly.

If you are looking for an answer like 3 liters Tuesday and 1.25 liters Wednesday that isn't going to happen.

Lots of variables with watering. Temps..air flow..plant size..etc

Bigger pots will require less frequent waterings.

You got a lot of good advice from some good growers right here.



Happy Farms
Happy Farms

 

5 gallons of water every time it dries..... its twice a week in mid flower for me on average. .. some plants less often some are more thirsty.... i like to let my containers dry well between waterings to draw in oxygen to the root zone. ....

Pic of a blue dream hybrid i am currently growing in a 20 gallon container on week 5 of flower

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I only use smart pots outdoors and nothing less than 20 gallon. They don't require as much water as you would think because they sit on the ground. Bout a gallon a day will keep them going all through the sunmmer. I would highly recomend airpots. Same idea but way superior for indoor growing.

 

It will take LOTS of water to properly water and flush a 20 gallon container. Experience with led's tells me they don't produce enough heat to use a 20 gallon container. I would worry about them not drying out quickly enough and have a mold problem. Like others have said the spread and penetration isn't good enough for that many pIants either. I would go with 5 gallon containers and no more than 2 plants. You will yield more that way. Just my .02