Proper Drainage

Discussion in 'Growing Marijuana Indoors' started by kryptickasserol, Aug 11, 2011.

  1. What are some of you fellow blades using to keep your ladies out of stagnant, sitting water? I was thinking of heading over to my local Home Depot to see what I could find that would be useful. I know having holes in the bottom of the pot for drainage is one thing, but I also want to keep the plants elevated on some sort of crate with slits/holes in it, which will sit in some sort of tray (haven't figured that one out either).

    Any suggestions?
     
  2. set pots on milk crates (thick plastic ones) im not sure what to keep under the milk crates though
     
  3. Good call! Milk crates totally slipped my mind.
     
  4. I keep a wet vacuum in my grow room and suck out any water in the drip tray. This is so much easier than taking the plants out to dump the drip tray each time. I also drilled A LOT of holes in my pots and use 1/3 perlite to 2/3 soil (and ffof already has some perlite in it.)
     
  5. I will be using 5gallon Lowes buckets sitting on their lids.
     
  6. Hmm...guess I was thinking too much into it. As long as I have drainage holes in the pots, they should be fine then.

    I might end up using milk crates, and putting buckets under each milk crate as a drip tray kind of thing.
     


  7. good idea. then it will be easier to Ph the run off of each plant individualy :hello:
     

  8. My thinking exactly. :D
     
  9. Set the milk crates on their sides then you can place a smaller container inside that to catch the runoff.
     
  10. I put a brick in the drip tray, grated plastic over the brick then pot on plastic. When I water, after it is done dripping. I take the plant, set it in a temporary holder, dump the drip tray, put everything back and I'm done.

    See pics in 60 Day Wonder Recovering?? thread.
     
  11. Where did you pick up the grated plastic?
     
  12. At a home center. It was part of a small, cheap shelving unit. Try browsing trough Home Depot or some such similar place. It is amazing the stuff you can find that might not have been intended for growing but is just what you need.
     
  13. I thought about this too, as I grow in a Scrog with multiple plants and have prepared for flushing. So I went ahead and had built a sort of mini wooden pallet to raise my 5-gallons above the drip trays. Was great at first. Problem was, the water would run everywhere on the wood and eventually start looking nasty, even with keeping my grow room tidy. I suppose the wooden pieces I used (2x4s) were a bit large so I bet it could still be done effectively like that if you put your mind to it and use smaller thinner pieces.

    BUT...after a couple weeks of thinking...I ended up using...

    BBQ grill grates!!! And they work AWEsome! :)

    They're metal or ceramic and come in rectangle or circle, whatever you need, and you can cut them to fit perfect if you're in a very tight space/micro grow. Hacksaw would do the job if necessary.

    So I put my 5Gal w/ drainage holes on top of the grate/s, with the grate between, and stacked on, a 2x4 or two on each side...with a drip tray underneath that you can easily pull out to test pH, empty runoff, etc.

    Unlike the wooden pallet, the grill grates will not rot, rust, or let water run astray because the grill grates are so thin. This can obviously be applied to multiple plants in your garden.

    In case you're a visual learner like me, I done drawed a picshur fur yoo too. :D

    Good luck!
     

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  14. Just about any garden center they have carts on swivel caster wheels. Theyre basically a bbq grill on wheels. Using wood will risk mould and rotting and it sucks in water too so it will evaporate and effect your humidity. I have a room in my basement that ive sealed the floor and cut out a hole in the bottom corner and inserted pvc piping and i run it into the floor drain. Comes in handy when its time to flush i dont need to move them i just run the water thru and any remaining water i just push out with a squeegie
     
  15. I use extra-large plastic kitty litter bins. Holds 5 gallons, and they are designed to stack one inside the other leaving a few inches of space. I use two bins per plant, an inner one with drainage holes and an outer one to catch the runoff.

    And if you have a cat, they basically are free...
     
  16. Kitty litter bins, eh? Never though of that one, toasty. Might have to give that a shot, as I am trying to search for some wide planting pots, since I will be LSTing and would like the room to pin the plant down and make it easier to water.
     
  17. Plastic tubs, surveyors stakes, 5 gal buckets
     
  18. Early
     

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  19. Would you be willing to show me a pic of your FFOF mix with the perlite added? I’m using ffof/coco coir/perlite mix and I wanna make sure it LOOKS alright lol
     

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