GiGaBaNE's 3rd & Final Journal - At Least Until I Change Country

[Korloin]

Hey GIGa!

I've been following for a while watching how the trash bin pots are working out for you.
I'm planning on creating something similar using milk crates lined with a porous landscaping fabric.
Have you considered placing the bins in a black kitchen trashbag? Just dawned on me that they might help you retain
soil moisture similar to how the domes work for your clones. Not sure though.

I finally sub'd! So I don't have to search around for your journal anymore.

Thanks for everything so far! +1 rep for all the great ideas I've gleaned from your posts!

Korloin

 

[donpaul.p]

so your not using nutes then gig, your relying on whats in the soil, be careful with soil like that as it can cause problems for young plants, plus the soil will only be suited to one part of the growth either veg or flower, so at some point you will need to add some nutes, possibly when you flip to flower, these plants take everything out the soil quicker than house plants,

 

[miwa]

Domes are old school..do like me ..go Aero ...

 

[Heirloom]

Hey GIGa!

I've been following for a while watching how the trash bin pots are working out for you.
I'm planning on creating something similar using milk crates lined with a porous landscaping fabric.
Have you considered placing the bins in a black kitchen trashbag? Just dawned on me that they might help you retain
soil moisture similar to how the domes work for your clones. Not sure though.


Korloin

Hey Korloin - I was going to share this with GiGa, but since your post has to do with it to, I'll quote ya and talk to both.

As I've been thinking about what material to use to help retain moisture, it occurred to me that we need to choose carefully what is used. I think a trash bag, as Korloin suggested, would do the trick, except it would do it too well. I think the roots would grow right out of the pots into the dark, humid air. Thus negating one of the purposes of the air pot/mesh pot......GiGaPoT.........air pruning the roots. Landscape fabric is perfect, even the thin cheap stuff at a home improvement store.

I am sourcing raw material to sew up my own smart pots. Scaled down to solo cup size and up to whatever I want. With Velcro or zipper seams so it's super easy to get the root mass out. Probably cost me about a buck (what's that worth now....a couple pence?) each.



EDIT: Another fabric that just occurred to me is the shade cloth stuff. 90% shade cloth has a tighter weave then a 30%. Air movement would be similarly blocked as well, possibly allowing for adjustment????. Just something to consider.

 

[miwa]

Good idea Heirloom..i need some large cloth pots..but we better compare prices..might be less expensive to buy ready made...but again...ready made don't have velco nor zippers..good post...

 

[ajagunle]

Have you considered adding a small amount of silica gel to your mix, it makes moisture available but stops compost being wet?

Should slow down evaporation.

 

[Korloin]

Hey Korloin - I was going to share this with GiGa, but since your post has to do with it to, I'll quote ya and talk to both.

As I've been thinking about what material to use to help retain moisture, it occurred to me that we need to choose carefully what is used. I think a trash bag, as Korloin suggested, would do the trick, except it would do it too well. I think the roots would grow right out of the pots into the dark, humid air. Thus negating one of the purposes of the air pot/mesh pot......GiGaPoT.........air pruning the roots. Landscape fabric is perfect, even the thin cheap stuff at a home improvement store.

I am sourcing raw material to sew up my own smart pots. Scaled down to solo cup size and up to whatever I want. With Velcro or zipper seams so it's super easy to get the root mass out. Probably cost me about a buck (what's that worth now....a couple pence?) each.

EDIT: Another fabric that just occurred to me is the shade cloth stuff. 90% shade cloth has a tighter weave then a 30%. Air movement would be similarly blocked as well, possibly allowing for adjustment????. Just something to consider.

Excellent point. I knew there was something nagging a my peripheral thinking there!

I was gonna start putting mine together this evening. I've had a roll of fabric hanging out waiting for a new purpose for a while now.
I'm no seamstress, so I'm not quite sure how I'm gonna get them to hold together just yet.

But enough hijacking. Sorry GIGA.

Hey AJ, are those silicon crystals the same that are used as odor absorbents?

 

[ajagunle]

I'm no seamstress, so I'm not quite sure how I'm gonna get them to hold together just yet.

Hey AJ, are those silicon crystals the same that are used as odor absorbents?

Not sure to be honest, they come in little bags when you buy electronic stuff, or you can get in a garden centre or The Rainforest. It is a desiccant, absorbs 10 times its own volume of water, and swells to a Gel, it is this swelling ability that prompts the ‘Do not Eat’ warning, I add 1 teaspoon to 11l of compost for Chillis and Tomatoes, stores about 1/2pt of water that is accessible to the roots but is not wet. If you have a small sachet of ‘Silica Gel’ from something you have bought, dunk it in water and test it out.

If you are making bedding for your pots, try iron on ‘wonder web’, it’s heat activated glue designed for turning up trousers and stuff, much more Male-friendly than needle and thread.

 

[Curso]

so your not using nutes then gig, your relying on whats in the soil, be careful with soil like that as it can cause problems for young plants, plus the soil will only be suited to one part of the growth either veg or flower, so at some point you will need to add some nutes, possibly when you flip to flower, these plants take everything out the soil quicker than house plants,

I haven't used a "nute" in my soil in over 5 months, my plants do great. Just have to take care of your soil, if your soil is properly maintained n-p-k, ph, ppm, aren't even a thought.

 

[donpaul.p]

@Curso, do you add anything to the soil or do you just use an all round feed type soil, i have been looking at different types of soil/compost and i can only find ones that are suited for the veg stage but dont contain enough of the P or K for flower, so i think nutes would need to be added, so do you mix your own compost or just use a ready made strait out the bag type,

 

[Curso]

@curso, do you add anything to the soil or do you just use an all round feed type soil, i have been looking at different types of soil/compost and i can only find ones that are suited for the veg stage but dont contain enough of the P or K for flower, so i think nutes would need to be added, so do you mix your own compost or just use a ready made strait out the bag type,

High brix bro I add bristol forte and planters II and 6-5-3 docbud talks about, and weekly tea (natures own)/foliar spay's (amaze pgr bloomit). I start with Pro-Mix hp though, but I never use salt based nutes, its not how nature intended things to grow.

 

[GreeenFingers]

I never use salt based nutes, its not how nature intended things to grow.

My opinion exactly

 

[Korloin]

Not sure to be honest, they come in little bags when you buy electronic stuff, or you can get in a garden centre or The Rainforest. It is a desiccant, absorbs 10 times its own volume of water, and swells to a Gel, it is this swelling ability that prompts the ‘Do not Eat’ warning, I add 1 teaspoon to 11l of compost for Chillis and Tomatoes, stores about 1/2pt of water that is accessible to the roots but is not wet. If you have a small sachet of ‘Silica Gel’ from something you have bought, dunk it in water and test it out.

If you are making bedding for your pots, try iron on ‘wonder web’, it’s heat activated glue designed for turning up trousers and stuff, much more Male-friendly than needle and thread.

Ahh silica packets!

My wife has these silicon jelly globule things she hides inside anything that potentially smells. not the same.

Got a plan for the milk crates. I'll elaborate on my journal, but the gist is to cut a 3'x3' section of landscaping fabric and do some creative origami-like folding.

 

[Heirloom]

Got a plan for the milk crates. I'll elaborate on my journal, but the gist is to cut a 3'x3' section of landscaping fabric and do some creative origami-like folding.

Can't wait to see it!

 

[GigaGrew]

wow never seen so much activity on my thread =D
i love the name GiGaPots =D
i think we are moving towards an epiphany when it comes to growing in soil. it needs to breath and the old suffocating pots of yonder are on their way to being extinct. any breathable material will do as long as it doesnt rot, or if it rots, its part of the plan....before i settled on my mesh pots i was certain that using hessian potato sacks was the way to go and it still holds merit.

as to feeding the plants from the soil. this soil has an 8-9 on a scale of 10 for built in food, but its time release for an entire season or longer...so far it hasnt burned my plants and they look to be responding positivly.

im hoping to follow the spirit of high brix, if not actual highbrix. it might be possible to achieve a high brix reading by using conventional soils and foliar feeding them with a mineral spray...i still think strong mineral water is still viable and will be trying it out when i find one that seems compatible (ph, mineral compostition e.t.c)

as to my current soil only being good for veg...if that happens i do have potash and bonemeal lying around to help convert the ratio to flowring.

is it superthrive thats suppose to bring a plant out of shock? whichever one it is that deshocks a plant is the only additive i wouold like to add, i mess with my plants a lot and they seem to spend most of their time in shock, lol.

i will try to get a update going today. been hectic recently with house diy =/

 

[donpaul.p]

im trying to find out if fish tank water would be good for feeding the plants with, i have got tropical tanks and when i change the water in them i throw it all away, but i do grow water plants in the water and they always grow well, so i wondered if the old fish tank water would be beneficial to my plants, i know the ph is where it needs to be and no chemicals are added to the tank, the only thing added is water safe, this takes chlorine out the water so it dont make the fish ill, but i dont always use it as i usually fill buckets with water and let it stand and that removes the chlorine, i know the water contains nitrates and nitrites and i think these would benefit the plants, but i dont know what else is in the water or if it would harm the plants

 

[Heirloom]

Ummm, hell yes it's good for the plants. Aquaponics man. Plants love it. BUT, as I suspect you would, do a small controlled test.


EDIT: For anyone who may not be aware of Aquaponics, it is a method of raising sustainable food. One half of the system is a large tank in which you have fish, like trout, tilapia....something that is easy to raise and tasty too! The other half of the system is one or more grow beds. In an Ebb-n-Flo type setup you pump the fish tank water into the grow beds. There are also filter beds and other stuff, but that is the basic idea. I have friends who do tilapia and grow veggies in the grow bed.

 

[donpaul.p]

ill try it with one of my plants and see how they respond, im not sure if i should add my normal nutes to it or not, ill try just the water on its own, ill check the ph when i get back and make sure its all good

 

[Heirloom]

I wouldn't suggest adding anything to it. It is fine as is.

 

[donpaul.p]

thanks mate, ill give it a try with one of my plants and see how it responds to it