So unless I missed it, how is the wicking action working? Your assuming the roots wont go much further out of the cloth pot, but the cloth pot is simply resting on the rocks? The minute I saw your first post with the 10gal tote I assumed you'd fill the rest with soil. It would act just like a natural water table. Zone of saturation on the bottome provided by lava rocks. A middle layer of small grainy material (perlite mix-not needed). Then finally the soil. The roots technically would dive down into all 3 layers eventually.
Yup. The damn forum runner app won't cooperate to let me upload pics. The fabric pots sit directly on the rocks, and the roots literally just keep on growing like there is no pot. They just pop out everywhere and get pruned off by the air.
The bottoms where they contact the rocks/perlite the roots are pry 1-2" long and they just slowly die off or get tore off from me picking them up and looking at em.
Doesn't that seem counter productive though? I mean I guess every SIP normally has root growth into the res. But they don't die off, the reach water and just sort of stop.
Mine has a lot of roots coming out of the holes in the res, there are also some that didnt seem to reach the water and brown away too
When a main root dies off when it hits the air, the remaining root inside the dirt will start to branch off and make more smaller fibers. Kind of like topping/fim'ing roots. Except they branch below the cut, not after it.
Sorry..that was one of those "durrrr" moments. Completely wasn't thinking. I've done this for my houseplants while im waiting for more containers to open up and have taken photos of the roots, actually just a few days ago of the same thing. I may attempt to do a 10gal with lava rocks and soil though just to see how well it works. Depends if I move to this new place or not.
Hey gang, Interesting topic. This idea (rocks on the bottom) has been floating around in various forms for years now, usually inside the container though. I have a big grow planned, using 2 X 3' by 6' horticulture trays (the ones with ribbed channels for a floor) with two, 65 gallon SP's in each one (one plant per pot, SCRoG grow). Since the irrigation trays already have channels I'm thinking i can just set my bags in the trays without rocks and just keep the water level up to the bag. Thoughts? Trays being used pictured below.
I believe (and I think everyone will agree) that pots in direct contact with water are a bad deal. The exact reason I can't conclude currently. I would fill it up with perlite or lava rock and keep the water about an inch away from the pot. It also helps to air prune roots when there is a gap between the pot and the water.
I'm putting a kiddie pool in my flower tent and am going to veg 4) 30gal smart pots into monsters. Maybe scrog.
The lava rock or perlite acts as a wick. The water sits in the bottom and the media in the container soaks it up. It is wicked from the rock/perlite to the fabric pot that absorbs it from the bottom up. No direct contact, just a chain of events.
Very nice and thank you kindly good sir. Oh! Another question. What about bio slime build up? Does that need to be cleaned out during grows? Between grow? Does anyone ever aerate the lava rock/water medium? I would think aeration would help prevent or minimize bio slime.
No one that I know of aerates the water, but that's not to say one couldn't. I have yet to have any problems. I think noobwannb had something she put on top of the perlite to stop algae growth.
Hey Wee, I'm testing this now. Im running one no-till and see what happens. No need to aerate. I do however aerate the water before filling the res. My setup. I use net pot wicks. Lava or hydrotron supports the smartpot. http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-...nbs-self-wicking-smartpot-ghetto-setup-2.html Yes, I hosed my account.
I ran half a grow (started in flower) in my perlite set up, no slime but I did get some 'smell' (when emptying everything after the grow was finished) from the fish ferts I top fed with a couple times throughout the grow. I also had some algae discoloration on the top of the perlite where there was no shade, so I covered the exposed areas with weed blocker fabric. No more algae. The slight algae is not problematic, just unsightly, and to avoid any buildup or slime in the reservoir I suggest top feeding any teas, drenches or 'nutes' outside of the system (remove the pot, water it in and drain) then return to the reservoir afterward. This obviously wouldn't work with a bucket system. As for aeration, in my system the perlite (or lavarock) layer between the water and the bottom of the pot provides plenty of aeration imo, as well as the smart pot material if that's what you're using. So far using my deepest tray the water only 'sits' in the reservoir for maybe a day. Keep in mind the perlite is constantly wicking and aerates as it does so. I've seen nothing vaguely resembling anything stagnant. I bubble my water in a 5 gal bucket prior to adding it to the tray as well. Hope that helps
I'm scaling up the system getting ready to do a giant 4-9 plant scrog. I have a bunch of cattle lick tubs I power washed clean, that I'll use the perlite system with. I'll use 15-25 gal smart pots depending on what will fit. I can't find my damn tape measure at the moment. This should be pretty interesting.