Expanded clay on the bottom of pots

Well,

After reading Soma Style organic, and reading some posts about his styles, i am thinking about putting a two inch layer of expanded clay on the bottom of my 10" / 3gal pots. Putting a wicking mat on top of them. This would be the same technique that soma uses, except in a 10" pot instead of a 4'x4' bin.

Jorge Cervantes says not to do this. I think this is because fungus and alge could grow there.

Anythoughts from you knoledgeable growers?

If not, think i'll do a little experanment.

SimpleSimon said:

Well,

After reading Soma Style organic, and reading some posts about his styles, i am thinking about putting a two inch layer of expanded clay on the bottom of my 10" / 3gal pots. Putting a wicking mat on top of them. This would be the same technique that soma uses, except in a 10" pot instead of a 4'x4' bin.

Jorge Cervantes says not to do this. I think this is because fungus and alge could grow there.

Anythoughts from you knoledgeable growers?

If not, think i'll do a little experanment.

Click to expand...

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SimpleSimon.... This does work against you in the long run. Better to just mix up a light soil mix or semi-soilless mix - plenty of coco coir fiber, perlite, vermiculate, peat moss, worm castings and some compost.
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Mixed coco (50 percent), perlite (10 percent), vermiculate (10 percent), worm castings (10 percent), peat moss (10 percent) and compost (10 percent). That's basically 80 percent (soilless) with some soil based ingredients just for good measure.
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Use regular kerosine latern wicks - the wide ones work best. Available in the candle isle at wally world. Two for small pots (3 gallons & under), four for 5 gallon pots, eight for 10 gallon pots.
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I did a grow some years back, using this mix (3 gallon pots) - wicks over a kiddie pool. Very low maintenance grow - decent yield & kinda fun.....
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Keep it Real....Organic.....