I use them and they work great. where are you getting 5gal. planters for 3.50 at?they cant be much quality.Maybe its diff where u are but most places here are a whole lot more than that for a 5 gal planter. i just drill some holes in the bottom and let her grow.I havent covered them w/ anything.harvested 4 plants and got 10 oz. premium smoke.
You pick up the plants... you could also instert a hole on each of them and make the runnoff go into another bucket with plastic tubing.
For sucking up run off I just use our wet/dry shop vac with the filter removed. I dont bother re-using the run off for anything. I tried the turky baster bit and got tired of it.
To deal with runoff with the bucket-in-a-bucket idea: after watering, the runoff will seep out of the inner bucket to the outer bucket. Lift up just the inner bucket (the one with the plant in it) so that the buckets are separated, set aside the inner one, pour out the runoff from the outer one, re-insert the bucket with the plant, good to go. And why paint buckets or kitty litter bins instead of 5-gallon planters? The paint and litter buckets are proportionally tall and narrow, so you can get a good root volume more tightly under the center of the light.
so you think 5 gal buckets are a better option than a 5 gal planter? what is a good size hole? how many holes?
LOL It must be REALLY cold up there. You don't leave the first bucket inside of the second. I put a couple chunks of brick in the bottom of the bucket with no holes so they don't get too snug together. Set the bucket with the plant and holes into the one with no holes and chunks of brick in the bottom. Water and let it drain. Remove the plant/bucket and go on to the next one that needs to be watered. Dump the runoff water as necessary. Something else that works well are those oil catch pans for changing your oil at home from the auto parts store. A 5gal bucket fits perfectly in one and they are about 5-6" high, holding plenty of runoff. Wet
What about us with a screen full of plants?? i dont necessarily wanna pick up the plant every time i feed, i ended up just doing this. http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-room-design-setup/722990-shambles-runoff-idea-pics.html
Around here, the buckets are cheaper than even the shoddiest blow molded planters and much heavier construction. "I" use 3/8" holes, about every 5" or so around the bottom of the sides and 8 holes in the bottom of the bucket. Have 25 or so, most of them for container veggies outside. I like the ones from TSC best since they are white and stay the coolest in the sun. Wet
I like the 5-gal buckets over planters because the planters have a larger footprint (actually across the top), so when you set them side by side, the outer edges are farther away from the light than if you used the more tall & narrow buckets. I do a lot of LST so fill up the entire top area of the planter, so that outer edge distance from the light really matters. I don't even know how many holes I have drilled or what size. But there's no science to it, whatever works is good.
What about wicking or leeching off the second bucket like earth boxes do? I think a small fish tank pump connected to the second bucket would draw much easier than any method. Hint!!! ...while at the pet store getting a pump, grab a fish tank heater Great for raising humidity.