Brandon137
Well-Known Member
I like this idea I will have to try it on my next grow
One Pink Lemonade - no-till cycle 7 in 4 foot diameter pot, 5x5 tent
- Thread starter Northwood
- Start date
That's how I got all the tops around the same height so far. It was to much trouble trying to tie down and continually adjust every branch. Super cropping was a challenge because of the thick stems that are still pretty short. I only broke one clean off accidentally so far though. I try to be careful. lol
Brandon137
Well-Known Member
Ah ok looks great tho I'm hoping to have my 150gal pot for my next grow cant wait lol
Nice, welcome to the big pot club.
It was a guy on Reddit a few years ago that first turned me onto the idea of using a single large pot or bed. To him, bare tent floor space is wasted space when it could instead be covered in soil. lol
Brandon137
Well-Known Member
I couldn't agree more my pot will take quite some time to fill as I only have 60 gal of soil on hand but I plan on mixing up a batch of soil to add to it hopefully that will get me atleast half way.Nice, welcome to the big pot club.
It was a guy on Reddit a few years ago that first turned me onto the idea of using a single large pot or bed. To him, bare tent floor space is wasted space when it could instead be covered in soil. lol
GrOwThMoNgeR
Well-Known Member
What about side-lighting to get them horizontal? Been researching living soil for my next grow and honestly your thread has been very helpful. Excited to watch all the way till January haha
Hey, my lights were delivered today! Not too bad, wholly shit. Lol
I'll wait a bit until adding to my tent, as this poor little girl plant seems to get more than enough already. The issue I see with quantum boards is that they're so small, lol... can't really get full coverage at equal PPFD around your tent floor like you can do with Costco, Walmart, or Dollar store light bulbs spread evenly over your grow area. They're plenty bright though, I just worry about coverage and the ability to grow big girls with limited 7 foot head room. I'll need to have these new quantum boards at least 24" above the plant tops just to offer some meager light distribution. Damn, I hope I'm not downgrading! LOL
The good thing is that LM301H Samsung's are at least more efficient, so I'll spend less on electricity. I don't know why, but I'm scared to change. Lol
And this coming from a guy who flowered hydro with HPS for literally decades. Hahaha
I'll wait a bit until adding to my tent, as this poor little girl plant seems to get more than enough already. The issue I see with quantum boards is that they're so small, lol... can't really get full coverage at equal PPFD around your tent floor like you can do with Costco, Walmart, or Dollar store light bulbs spread evenly over your grow area. They're plenty bright though, I just worry about coverage and the ability to grow big girls with limited 7 foot head room. I'll need to have these new quantum boards at least 24" above the plant tops just to offer some meager light distribution. Damn, I hope I'm not downgrading! LOL
The good thing is that LM301H Samsung's are at least more efficient, so I'll spend less on electricity. I don't know why, but I'm scared to change. Lol
And this coming from a guy who flowered hydro with HPS for literally decades. Hahaha
myke
Well-Known Member
So Im searching around for some big totes for pots.Is there a size ratio meaning is depth more important over width?I have one of those recycle bins that you used before.About 15 gallons it is.Im looking at the large tote from HD with the yellow lid,about 25 gallons Im guessing.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Width is way more important than depth in my experience if using this grow style. In fact, the more surface area you can put to work the better. It's the reason why I ditched the recycling bins and went for one larger pot in the 5X5. I wanted to use a kiddie pool at first that was about 5 feet in diameter and at least 18" high, but I couldn't find anything with those dimensions so I went with a cheap 4 foot wide fabric pot instead that unfortunately won't last forever. The only constraint in the width of your pot selection will be the available floor space in your tent. Obviously it needs to fit.
Here are a few reasons why I believe surface area is much more important than depth for this:
Most of the nutrient recycling action happens at or near the surface, just under your mulch layer where bacteria and other creatures will be eating your organic material you throw on top. This develops a humus layer. The more surface area, the more efficient the cycling of organic material, the more humus you have, and the more nutrients you'll have "in waiting" to satisfy the demands of the hungriest plants throughout all their life stages.
Better gas exchange between soil and atmosphere, which only happens at the surface. Efficient gas exchange is critical to support a thriving microbial population. Healthy microbes will require lots of oxygen and in turn release huge volumes of carbon dioxide. Oxygen needs to get in, while CO2 needs to be quickly evacuated from your soil. The more surface area, the easier and faster the exchange.
You'll enhance drainage and provide more oxygen to roots with a shallower pot with more surface area. The worst thing that can ever happen in a grow is probing your soil near the bottom of your pot and have it smelling "sewer". We don't want anaerobic conditions at or near the bottom of our growing containers. Roots wont grow in it, and roots that were growing there will die. People will often see the bottom leaves of the plant start to yellow in response, and try and correct it with bottled nitrogen. Not gonna work!
Height is restricted indoors. If you start with a pot a foot higher than necessary, you lose another foot of vertical growing space.
Cannabis has a relatively shallow and fibrous root system. It's not like an oak tree that mines nutrients in the subsoil. When my plants get large, it's common and normal to see roots growing throughout the humus layer if I move some mulch aside to check. It seems the plant wants to do this, so I try keep it happy by not restricting this natural tendency.
Sorry for the long-winded reply. lol
Well things have changed during the past week. New lights, setup the scrog net, and squished my poor plant flat. Now I have to spend a bit of time everyday pinching suckers off and tucking branches under the net until I get enough coverage that I can flip. I have no idea when that time will arrive.
A few of the surviving mung beans I planted has flowered and growing beans. I thought that was sorta cool, considering I've never seen what the plants even look like before. They'll be shaded out and gone by the end of this week though
For now I arranged the quantum boards like this to get at least semi-even coverage:
I'm probably running them at around 50% power or less, but I'm just gaging from the position of the dimmer knob. Maybe I should get a kilowatt meter considering they're pretty inexpensive. The drivers run hotter than the LEDs at that power, and I notice that the heatsink is warmest right where the driver is mounted. So I'd prefer them out of my tent. I contacted Vivi Liu at Kingbrite and she said they can make me longer cables (even for the dimmers if I like). All the V4 version boards from them use the new waterproof connectors. They'll come with a male connector at one end, and a female at the other so that it just extends the length of cable already there. She said she'll give a quote tonight, and also that she'll try give me a break on price since I just bought 4 boards from them. We'll see, but thankfully great aftermarket service so far.
A few of the surviving mung beans I planted has flowered and growing beans. I thought that was sorta cool, considering I've never seen what the plants even look like before. They'll be shaded out and gone by the end of this week though
For now I arranged the quantum boards like this to get at least semi-even coverage:
I'm probably running them at around 50% power or less, but I'm just gaging from the position of the dimmer knob. Maybe I should get a kilowatt meter considering they're pretty inexpensive. The drivers run hotter than the LEDs at that power, and I notice that the heatsink is warmest right where the driver is mounted. So I'd prefer them out of my tent. I contacted Vivi Liu at Kingbrite and she said they can make me longer cables (even for the dimmers if I like). All the V4 version boards from them use the new waterproof connectors. They'll come with a male connector at one end, and a female at the other so that it just extends the length of cable already there. She said she'll give a quote tonight, and also that she'll try give me a break on price since I just bought 4 boards from them. We'll see, but thankfully great aftermarket service so far.
I was using LEDs before this, so the plan is just water like the last 6 cycles. The purpose for the new lights is just for better efficiency, not really more light. Plus my wife wants my old lights to start an indoor vegetable tent sometime this winter.
GrassBurner
Well-Known Member
Man I love the setup!! Looks like you've got it going on 
GrOwThMoNgeR
Well-Known Member
How much those boards running you? I have been pondering an update. Just harvested my Bubba's Gift and got a big 55l fabric pot to do living soil grow inWell things have changed during the past week. New lights, setup the scrog net, and squished my poor plant flat. Now I have to spend a bit of time everyday pinching suckers off and tucking branches under the net until I get enough coverage that I can flip. I have no idea when that time will arrive.
View attachment 4704031
A few of the surviving mung beans I planted has flowered and growing beans. I thought that was sorta cool, considering I've never seen what the plants even look like before. They'll be shaded out and gone by the end of this week though
View attachment 4704033
For now I arranged the quantum boards like this to get at least semi-even coverage:
View attachment 4704034
I'm probably running them at around 50% power or less, but I'm just gaging from the position of the dimmer knob. Maybe I should get a kilowatt meter considering they're pretty inexpensive. The drivers run hotter than the LEDs at that power, and I notice that the heatsink is warmest right where the driver is mounted. So I'd prefer them out of my tent. I contacted Vivi Liu at Kingbrite and she said they can make me longer cables (even for the dimmers if I like). All the V4 version boards from them use the new waterproof connectors. They'll come with a male connector at one end, and a female at the other so that it just extends the length of cable already there. She said she'll give a quote tonight, and also that she'll try give me a break on price since I just bought 4 boards from them. We'll see, but thankfully great aftermarket service so far.
I need to look into the seeds I'll be needing for cover crop now.
GrassBurner
Well-Known Member
How deep is your pot @Northwood ?
The 4 boards I bought are these: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Pre-assembled-kingbrite-240w-QB-board_62249546499.htmlHow much those boards running you? I have been pondering an update. Just harvested my Bubba's Gift and got a big 55l fabric pot to do living soil grow in
Just ensure you select your country's currency to see how much they cost. First time looking at them I unknowingly was seeing the price in US dollar currency and thought "wholly shit they're giving them away!". Then I selected Canada, and it was like "oh... okay. Still cheaper than Amazon!"
They still sell the version (V1) boards for cheaper that don't have the reds, IR, and UV, as well as the V2 boards that only have the reds. Shipping literally took no more than 3 days via UPS, and Kingbrite lowered the duty price without me even asking. I only paid $6 tax and duty, and with the UPS brokerage fee of $50 the total was $56 which I paid online just prior to delivery.
The soil is about 13" deep.
GrassBurner
Well-Known Member
Thank you for the response. Thinking about a 2x4 bed in the bottom of my cabinet, but unsure of soil depth. Got something to work with now
Just make sure you build the sides high enough that your worms don't run away! lol Kidding. But shortly after adding European night crawlers, I did find one who must have been a bit adventurous overnight. Found him dried up on the tent floor beside the pot the next morning.Thank you for the response. Thinking about a 2x4 bed in the bottom of my cabinet, but unsure of soil depth. Got something to work with now
But I'd add another 5 or 6 inches or so for contingency and ample room for a good thick mulch layer over top the soil.