couple quick questions?

You're not going to want to start out Ina five gallon pot. Start it in a solo red cup and make sure you put some drainage holes in the bottom. This will help in the process of developing a healthy strong root system.

 

Honestly your yield with those lights would be disappointing.

 

re potting is not stressful if done properly
what's a "smart pot"?

those degradable pots takes ages to let roots through properly. I do not recommend them

 

It's not just for Hyrdo. If you're using it with soil, the roots will get air pruned when they push through the sides. Its better for the plant than a 5 gal bucket. Allows better drainage so you don't have to worry about root rot.

I just moved mine from the cups to 1 gal, water jugs with drainage holes. from there I'll go to a 3 gal smart pot.

 

I think you'd be fine for your first grow with this setup for one plant just the way you described - good luck! And sure, the one 5 gallon smart pot would work out excellent for you.

J

 

dredi25, if your down here are a couple link that will simplify your life if your using smartpots. If you combine these two methods it really makes things nice. H20 only.

http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-...annbs-self-wicking-smartpot-ghetto-setup.html

http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/1116550-easy-organic-soil-mix-beginners.html

 

Jesus Christ those are expensive. I would just use a normal pot if you using soil

 

Hey man smart pots are perfect for what your trying to do...I've only done a couple grows but I've used smart pots the last couple grows and they are fantastic...and I use soil. But the thing is you can't use cheap soil.or the roots come right threw and then your plant will stop growing. So make sure you have some nice fluffy soil.
(I use fox farms ocean forest organic mix. You can get it offline pretty cheap. And also I'd go with a 3 gal 5 gal is to big for an auto your just gunna waste space. And start yout seedling in a jiffy peat pellet or whatever and plant right in smart pot once it starts to get its 2nd node...you only want to transplant an auto once right into its pot its gunna be harvested in. Good luck man

 

bigger is certainly not better. there is optimum size for everything, too small or too big is going to give you a negative effect. don't start your plants in those pots or the soil will never dry and the roots will suffocate. start off with a 3-4" pot and step up the size a couple of times.

I dislike the idea of the roots coming through the pot and they drying and dying back. that just can't be good for the plant. I prefer my roots to grow as big and fast as possible. pruning them is going to slow overal growth and quite possibly stress the plant out

for an auto I would say a 10 litre pot is the largest you should go. I don't know what that is in american gallons, we have different gallons to you

if your going to use fox farm then you will need to thin it out with something inert like coco fibre or you will be over fertilising them. fox farm, coco fibre, perlite in a 1:1:1 ratio will work well

 

GG, it really depends on what your doing. I go from solos right into the organic soil number in #15 smart pots (12.5 imperial). My soil is constantly moist due to the SIPs. Nature controls everything from nutrition to moisture control. The plant grows at its own pace.

One advantage of the smart pot is the ability to provide aeration to the root system. The whole pot breaths. When the roots hit the side of the pot it root prunes causing more roots. The same as if you top a plant.