Tips on a raised indoor garden bed

Discussion in 'Grow Room Design/Setup' started by humboldt420trees, Oct 29, 2014.

  1. #1 humboldt420trees, Oct 29, 2014
    Yes as it says..I'm trying to save some money by building something similar to a flood tray or perhaps a raised garden bed..has any one out there build a indoor garden bed with drainage for run off..? Or wat would be the best way to set up in a 4x8 grow tent..my worries ate when it comes down to watering plants..my run off..if i dont have a flood tray guessing water in my tent...can I just use smart pots with saucers instead if having flood tray..?


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  2. #2 Breezey007, Oct 29, 2014
    Love the thinking behind the idea mate, but the reality behind that isn't so great...

    For one thing, an indoor raised garden bed will require a shit ton of soil, for example lets say you measure it out, taking into account leaving a little space around the edges for fans and wiring etc, at 3.5w x 6.5l x 1.5d......that comes to 34.125 cubic feet, which equates to 962 litres of soil required to fill it.....so pretty much 20 bags, at say $10 each......$200 just for the medium. 

    Then you have the problem that weed roots are likely to become entangled with one another, not to mention if one plant develops root rot or becomes root aphid infested then they all will.....and then like you said, the drainage issues on top of all that. 

    Better off sticking to smart pots with saucers mate.....if you want to grow a load at once then do a sog, an indoor raised garden bed essentially takes away some of the primary benefits from indoor growing, it would be a lot of work to build, a lot of money to fill, and a pisstake to maintain. 

    But it would look nice......although that alone isn't a justifying reason imo. :) 
     
     
  3. #3 FroSt415, Oct 30, 2014
    I've made 3x6 beds and I've came out with some of my best stuff from them. Took about 9-10 bags per of botanicares moisture mix bags, and roots getting tangled come on...how thick is a root maybe a smig more then a hair follicle, roots have plenty of room to go and that's not a problem its a benefit. Now for drainage this is always hard and depends on your environment. If you have the time and budget then you can build wooden trays to direct the water and hold our median and just have a drain connected to a hose. I used a shop vac and sucked it all up. Hope this helps, and no disrespect breezy

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  4. #4 Breezey007, Oct 30, 2014
    None taken mate, I'm sure there must be some redeeming features of an indoor garden bed, just in my opinion it seems that the negatives far outweigh them....

    When I mentioned roots becoming tangled, it was less to suggest that the plants would suffer from restricted growth, but to say that if the plants all have even a few intertwined roots, then if one happens to become inflicted by the dreaded root rot, then the chances of the entire crop suffering are high. Similarly if root aphids afflict one plant, then the whole crop is written off automatically. 
     
    Then there is the issue of flushing?, seems highly impractical to pour 2-3 times the amount of mediums worth of water when you are talking about 900 litres of soil lol.....so I guess that is out of the question. 

    And this is before getting to drainage, which as you conceded is always difficult to build....the OP started this thread with the phrase "I'm trying to save money by building something similar to a flood tray or perhaps a raised garden bed"..... If saving money is one of the primary concerns, then it would seem more logical to me to stick with individual pots.....no expensive trips to the diy store, no hours spent hammering together the frame, figuring out a suitable drainage method, lugging around endless bags of soil....

    I grow in 10 gal root pouches, veg for 2 months, and there is still more than enough room for the roots to thrive now at 3 weeks before harvest....seems to me that within the OP's tent space, which is similar in dimensions to mine, all of this extra soil will be wasted.....if he opts for less plants with a longer veg period then height could become an issue, and if he goes for a sog then the roots are barely going to scrape the surface of the bed anyway....which then means 20-30 5 litre pots would have made more sense and been a lot cheaper too, and easier to set up and maintain. 

    If time and budget aren't a consideration, then by all means go for it OP, it could end up being amazing! just for me personally, it seems a lot of work and expense for very little gain. 
     
  5. #5 goodgrace87, Oct 19, 2016

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