TIME TO GET A LITTLE DIRTY
I've been thinking about my upcoming trip and having to leave my grow in a friend's hands for 4-5 days and I decided I'm going to move the mom's to a soil mixture in 1 gallon SmartPots.
It will cut down on my space a little, but not by much. The 2-L's are abou 4" wide and the 1 gallon SmartPots are 5.5"x7". I'm ASSUMING that the 5.5" is the width, in which case, it's not that much more of a footprint. If they turn out to be more wide than tall, I may need to reconsider the options!
With a container that's about twice the size as the current 2L's and a soil mixture, I would think the moms could easily make it the 4-5 days without too much trouble. Also, in the long run, they'll need a lot less attention and nutes, so I think it will reduce some of the maintenance.
I've been mixing my own soil for the container & raised bed gardens and I'll do something similar for the moms. Technically, I guess it's really a "soilless" mix, since I don't put any soil in it, but it has two different types of compost, peat moss, vermiculite, worm castings, two different types of rock dust, and some blood meal. It will also give me a chance to test some of the Humate Supreme products that came with the MOTM/POTM but aren't really conducive to hydro.
I couldn't begin to tell you what the guaranteed analysis would be on the mix, but the garden plants seem to love it! The blood meal boosts the Nitrogen content and the rock dust provides the micronutrients. I'll also continue to use the BPN on the moms in soil.
I just ordered the SmartPots, so probably next weekend, or so, I'll do the transplants and keep you all updated.
Happy Harvests!
K