50 Gal Pot - 1 Plant - No Drainage Holes - Feedback please!

Pretty simple:

50 Gallon tub, 1 plant. I am trying to grow a she-beast. Im sick of tiny plants (i use cfls) in small pots and having to tend to all of them - I felt I could get my entire couple months worth of meds from one giant bitch. I filled the 50 gal up with organic soil in the grow room and planted it. I then realized, hmmm (dipshit) you forgot drainage holes.

K so, I dont have drain holes but heres my theory.....

I understand roots need oxygen - I cant lift 50 gal of soil in a rubbermaid container, it will shatter before it lifts off the ground - I cant stab the side cuz I dont want the water to leak out the sides into my floor. So, what I have decided was to get oxygen to the roots SOMEHOW, I would snag 1 or 2 of the fish tank oxy pumps, dig lil holes for the air stones and bury them - Hopefully thatd do something.

Anyone else got any advice? I got about 50 bucks to work with for this issue.

good luck i like your idea still a rookie here post pics keep us updated

Well the only thing I can think of is a long drill bit. I dont know how small of a diameter you can get but they are out there. Look up industrial supply in your phone book and see if they have a website. you only need a 1/4" drill bit. You may have to dig a bit of your soil to use it. Its that or drill small holes 1/16th of an inch in the side of your pot. I have bought them that size and I think they were 10 inches long.

don't do it.... it's going to be a big pain in the ass and it won't do much with just cfls. Get a bigger light and some 5 gallon buckets, transfer it into those and run more plants.

Not that this is particularly a good idea, but you could have poured something for drainage, commercial lava rocks are cheap, hydroton or something similar. You'd also want drainage holes on the bottom, and probably some 2x4's to hole it up off the ground. The problem though ends up being light and the penetration strength of said light. As awesome as it would be to see a giant tree grown in a garbage can/oil barrel/giant laundry basket, there's better options.

Why not use the lid of container which should be bigger than bottom and just slightly bigger than top so it should fit under it as a catch pan, then cut slits all iver sides at bottom so it can drain.
Then your floor can stay clean and dry as well
Ca$h

Agree with above post a complete waste of time with CFLS you wont get anything for yield those lights cant support the monster that would grow in 50 gallons bro!

ca$hcropper said:

Why not use the lid of container which should be bigger than bottom and just slightly bigger than top so it should fit under it as a catch pan, then cut slits all iver sides at bottom so it can drain.
Then your floor can stay clean and dry as well
Ca$h

Click to expand...

That is actually a good idea and I had already though about that already. The problem with that is what human being on earth can pick up 50 gallons of WATER let alone saturated soil that weights about 5x more. Lol 50 gal of water is 8 lbs per gal - 400 lbs. x ~5 = 1 ton. If there was a way to lift this up, I would without a doubt used the method lol..

And to the two who contributed absolutely nothing towards my post other than an opinion I never asked for: I have been growing for a while now, probably longer than you. I strictly use CFLs - I know exactly what I am doing when providing sufficient lighting for massive plants using CFL bulbs.

On top of that, if you would slow down and learn to read then you would understand that I have done everything from kids solo cups all the way up to 5 gal water jug grows over the years; I am not new to this.

My dilemma is pretty simple. I need to find a way to put drainage holes in the bottom of a 1 ton soil container without causing the plastic to weaken and burst like a dam.

To Stonestare: Thats actually a very good idea. Thin drill bits heated to be able to melt the plastic while drilling rather than to punch a hole. That right there is probably the best idea I've gotten so far, that I can execute properly, and I think I may attempt to do it.


As a side note to CFL haters, I would spend a couple days educating you on CFL growing but I think if you search my posts you would easily find a couple debate threads in which my point is scientifically proven. CFL's are extremely powerful grow lights when used properly and in the right quantity. Fact remains, without drainage holes, using the specially picked CFL's for the job, the 1 plant in my 50 gal is looking healthier than anything I've grown personally or seen on this forum at 12 days. The stem itself is an inch in diameter, if not thicker. Its already on its 5th node, which has been topped yesterday and over night has damn near fully developed its new heads. This post isn't asking for everybody's grow opinion - personally I dont need it or want it, and if I did I would ask for it specifically. What I am asking is what Stonestare tried to help me with - adding drainage holes to a 50 gal 1 ton planter without having it burst like a dam.

Im going to attempt the heated drill holes and see if it works! I will let you all know. If you dont see me for a couple weeks I am probably cleaning up 50 gallons of soil and shattered plastic out of my growroom LOL....