I've read that I need a pot size that's between 3 and 5 gallons. I'm having a hard time finding inexpensive pots that fit this criteria - home depot has some but they're ~$10 each including the saucer part at the bottom. I found some at another retailer that are 12"x10" (labelled as a 12" pot) - these seem a bit small, probably around 2.5 gallons. Any suggestions?
If you're already at home depot buy the big orange 5gal "homer paint bucket" for $1-3 and drill/poke some holes in the bottom of the sides. Alternatively go to a grow shop and buy one dollar thin black plastic pots for $1 each. I used 2 gal black plastic pots to start and transplanted to the homer paint bucket after 3-4 weeks.
You might consider grow bags. There are a lot of commercial growers(legal that is) that grow exclusively in grow bags. They are affordable and re-usable. You can use soil, or soiless mixes such as coco coir/perlite or peat/perlite with a drip feed system. Just my $.02 worth. hope this info helps.....here's a link: http://nationalgardenwholesale.com/...ROW_BAGS&title=Pots / Containers&type=product
They drain just like regular pots. I only use grow bags except for when I plant seeds into cups. They make transplant a breeze and I feel minimize shock. I have used a regular black pot before and will for an outdoor grow but not anything indoors. Did I mention grow bags are like 10 for 2 bucks, some times even cheaper.
Ok you guys have me sold on the bags - I'll order some via link provided. Again, lol, what's the best size to get? I start my seeds in solo cups and then would prefer to transfer only once. Are they sturdy enough for LST? Also - on that link they sell fox farms ocean forest for $24 - is that per bag? How many grow bags can be filled with 1 bag of ffof? Thanks all!
It really depends on how big you want to grow your plants.....and how much space you have to your lights. 3 gallons bags are adequate for plants up to 3-4 feet, but a 5 gallon bag allows for extensive root growth which allows for more overall growth. Either way you go, you'll have a lot of room to move. For the price, you could get some 3 and 5's and do a comparison grow. Let us know how it all goes for you and good luck.
Glad you went with the bags The size of the bag depends on how much space you have and how big you want your plants. I personally use 3 gallon bags for my space and it serves me well. I buy the big bag of FFOF and have some left after filling 4x3gallon bags but I also mix in a lot of perilite with my FFOF. As far your concern about being sturdy enough for LST, they are fine for it, I currently have my blueberry being trained and some slight training on a few others. If you wanna do the math the bag of fox farm will list how much it contains in dry quarts. There are 4 quarts in a gallon. Keep it green
Your avatar is a cat -- if you have a cat, you can use plastic kitty litter bins, they're free since since whay you pay for is the kitty litter. The large containters (the super-size ones that hold about 40lb of litter) are about 4-4.5 gallon.
I have a catgenie - check it out: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeJ7hU5zcuQ"]YouTube - CatGenie - Cleaning Cycle[/ame] ...it hooks up to the toilet water supply line and discharges into the bowl. I hit a button on the catgenie, and flush the toilet after ~30 minutes. My house doesn't smell like cat *at all*. It's pricey but we have two cats and it works great - you just have to clean it once a year or so and replace the cleaning solution once a month. Thanks all for the recommendations - I am going to get both bag sizes..