Size of pot for vortex indoor under a 600 in a 3'X3' tent that is 5' tall.

MzFarmer

MzFarmer

Member
I will be using either Airpots or smartpots. Which do the nerds prefer and what size for a 2.5' plant? Thank you very much for your time!
 
wolfpack4ever

wolfpack4ever

Well-Known Member
It really depends on the strain/phenotye. But i think you could fit 4 5 gallon smart pots in a 3x3 tent.
check out main-lining if youre worried about height issues.

Wolf
 
MzFarmer

MzFarmer

Member
I have 5gal smart pots as a matter of fact!! How much does the 5gal pot vs a 3 gal pot increase the veg time? My worry with smart pots is that the roots wont get the proper lateral branching in order to take advantage of all that sweet sweet super soil!
 
MzFarmer

MzFarmer

Member
Well I found baby claws on 2 of my plants so it's to the graveyard for them. I'll save a male clone though so I can do some back crossing and save up some seeds for a while....
 
wolfpack4ever

wolfpack4ever

Well-Known Member
The lateral growth depends on how you train it. I grow in smart pots and nursery pots and I notice no difference in lateral or vertical growth, because that all depends on the pot size and how you decide to train it. I recommend using 5 gals for longer veg time and more desirable bigger nugs..

as as for air pots, I have not used them so I can't conclude what I think about them, I know smart pots are amazing, just sucks to transplant out of them, so if u use them, I recommend transplanting from a hard pot.

wolf
 
GrowBrooklyn

GrowBrooklyn

Well-Known Member
I have a 3x3 tent and find 5 gal pots too large. Especially fabric pots as they tend to be wide. I use 3 gal pots and keep my plants around 3 feet. I run four plants at a time. Yield is generally 1.5 to 3 ozs. So I can turn out .5 lb every every cycle, with the right strains. I use recycled Super Soil (home mix) at 100% starting from the last few weeks of veg and it usually has enough juice to take me all the way to harvest.

I usually veg for 6-8 weeks and top several times. I like the plants to be about 18" when put in flower. I keep them a bit shorter if they are sativas or look stretchy. For keeping plants short, I find that LED lights in veg work best. No idea why what is.

Check my journal for pixs or if you have questions.
 
MzFarmer

MzFarmer

Member
GrowBrooklyn said:
I use recycled Super Soil (home mix) at 100% starting from the last few weeks of veg and it usually has enough juice to take me all the way to harvest.
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Could you explain your 100% thing? (looked around and I assume you are talking about filling up your 3 gallon with nothing but SS when you transplant into the final container. I'm assuming you mix your Super Soil at home (as do I). You just transplant into the 3 gallon containers a couple weeks before flower. 3 gallons huh? I have 5 gallon smart pots. I could get 3 gallon ones if they will hold up enough juice in a 3 gallon. I don't have much height. So in a 3 gallon smart pot I could get a 3 foot plant. That's almost too big lol. I'm assuming I should get some 3 gallon pots.

Also: Is this applicable to all planting pots: *Please note that our pots are measured in horticultural TRADE GALLONS. A trade gallon is equal to approximately .71 U.S. Liquid Gallons.* If this is true then a 5 gallon airpot would support the same amount
 
S

seattlegrownewb

Member
use 5 or 7.. veg 45 to 60 days.. top day 15ish.. after day 30 take the tops and side branchs and use string to make them horizontal..in doing this all inner nodes will become tops..get another 600 and veg while flowering. u wont need a tent for plants in veg. ive found they dont require total darkness
 
GrowBrooklyn

GrowBrooklyn

Well-Known Member
use 5 or 7.. veg 45 to 60 days.
Click to expand...
For someone who says she uses a 3x3 tent (only 5' high) and wants 2.5 foot plants? I don't agree with that advice unless doing a single plant SCROG. I go by the old-school rule of thumb, one gallon of soil per foot of plant. Seems to work for me. The suggestions on training the plant to a more horizontal shape is very good. I do the same.

Could you explain your 100% thing? (looked around and I assume you are talking about filling up your 3 gallon with nothing but SS when you transplant into the final container. I'm assuming you mix your Super Soil at home (as do I)
Click to expand...
By 100% Super Soil, I mean that I don't bother with the recommendation to only use Super Soil on the bottom 1/3 or 1/2 your pot. I've tried doing that and I find that a 3 gal pot just needs more to take the plant all the way to harvest with just water. Some people say this will burn the plants, but I've never seen that happen with my own plants. Yes, I mix my own Super Soil. After the crop is done, I compost it, re-amend it, "cook" it, and use it again. The soil seems to get BETTER each time.

You just transplant into the 3 gallon containers a couple weeks before flower. 3 gallons huh? I have 5 gallon smart pots. I could get 3 gallon ones if they will hold up enough juice in a 3 gallon. I don't have much height. So in a 3 gallon smart pot I could get a 3 foot plant. That's almost too big lol. I'm assuming I should get some 3 gallon pots.
Click to expand...
If you already have 5 gal pots, they will work fine. You can fill them a few inches below the top and top fill with more Super Soil around week 3-4 if they seem to be running out of juice. Here are the disadvantages of 5 gal pots in a setup like yours (and mine), in my opinion:

- Wastes soil since a 2.5 foot plant will not use up the nutrients in 5 gal of soil.

- If you want to recycle your soil, have the nutrients depleted at the end of the grow makes it much simpler to re-amend the soil for reuse. Otherwise, you should use a soil test kit to figure out what to add.

- Extra root space will cause plants to grow taller and make it harder to control height.

- Pots are heavier. This can be a big deal in a small tent as you will find you have to take the plants out for TLC every couple weeks.

- Less space between pots makes it harder to work on your plants, harder to rotate the plants (which I do daily), and harder to slide them around in the tent.

- Larger pots are, of course, taller. I always keep this simple formula in mind: height of tent - height of pot - gap between plants and lights - height of light - gap between light and roof of tent = max plant height. In my garden, it works out like this: 6.5 foot tent - 1 foot pot - 1 foot gap - 6 inch light - 6 inch gap = 3.5 foot max plant height.

Also: Is this applicable to all planting pots: *Please note that our pots are measured in horticultural TRADE GALLONS. A trade gallon is equal to approximately .71 U.S. Liquid Gallons.* If this is true then a 5 gallon airpot would support the same amount
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure that is correct. The fabric airpots actually hold more soil in my experience than an equivalent plastic pot because the fabric stretches.


Lastly, with a 600 watt light in a small tent you are going to have to deal with a lot of heat. I used to use an air cooled 400 and my tent always ran 10+ degrees over ambient temp. Have a good plan for keeping your plants cool.

Editing to add one more thing: The smaller pot with soil growing will give you less yield, no doubt. It is a trade off for an easier to manage garden and less risk of the plants getting too tall.
 
PetFlora

PetFlora

Well-Known Member


What do you mean by Vortex?

I love APs, but I use them differently.

I top feed via Hydro Halo Rings, their 4" size forces me to use 4 liter APs. I have grown in 1 liter APS, but its too hard to feed with my method.

I have grown 5ft plants in 4 liter AP, as well as one liter. Hydro + polished ornamental rock is the key. I feed every 45 minutes during lights on

Inside AP.jpgClones in APs.jpgHP Rez 2.0.jpg
 
MzFarmer

MzFarmer

Member
PetFlora said:


What do you mean by Vortex?

I love APs, but I use them differently.

I top feed via Hydro Halo Rings, their 4" size forces me to use 4 liter APs. I have grown in 1 liter APS, but its too hard to feed with my method.

I have grown 5ft plants in 4 liter AP, as well as one liter. Hydro + polished ornamental rock is the key. I feed every 45 minutes during lights on

View attachment 2996491View attachment 2996492View attachment 2996493
Click to expand...

Vortex is the strain. TGA vortex
 
MzFarmer

MzFarmer

Member
New twist. I live in a less than friendly state and 2 people from the fish and game gov organization showed up at my house looking for someone I haven't ever heard of? Reason for alarm?
 
Shawns

Shawns

Active Member
depends did they ask to come in and check ? if so and you refused I might be a little worried they may come back with a warrant I guess it would depend on why they thought he may be there
 
MzFarmer

MzFarmer

Member
GrowBrooklyn said:
For someone who says she uses a 3x3 tent (only 5' high) and wants 2.5 foot plants? I don't agree with that advice unless doing a single plant SCROG. I go by the old-school rule of thumb, one gallon of soil per foot of plant. Seems to work for me. The suggestions on training the plant to a more horizontal shape is very good. I do the same.



By 100% Super Soil, I mean that I don't bother with the recommendation to only use Super Soil on the bottom 1/3 or 1/2 your pot. I've tried doing that and I find that a 3 gal pot just needs more to take the plant all the way to harvest with just water. Some people say this will burn the plants, but I've never seen that happen with my own plants. Yes, I mix my own Super Soil. After the crop is done, I compost it, re-amend it, "cook" it, and use it again. The soil seems to get BETTER each time.



If you already have 5 gal pots, they will work fine. You can fill them a few inches below the top and top fill with more Super Soil around week 3-4 if they seem to be running out of juice. Here are the disadvantages of 5 gal pots in a setup like yours (and mine), in my opinion:

- Wastes soil since a 2.5 foot plant will not use up the nutrients in 5 gal of soil.

- If you want to recycle your soil, have the nutrients depleted at the end of the grow makes it much simpler to re-amend the soil for reuse. Otherwise, you should use a soil test kit to figure out what to add.

- Extra root space will cause plants to grow taller and make it harder to control height.

- Pots are heavier. This can be a big deal in a small tent as you will find you have to take the plants out for TLC every couple weeks.

- Less space between pots makes it harder to work on your plants, harder to rotate the plants (which I do daily), and harder to slide them around in the tent.

- Larger pots are, of course, taller. I always keep this simple formula in mind: height of tent - height of pot - gap between plants and lights - height of light - gap between light and roof of tent = max plant height. In my garden, it works out like this: 6.5 foot tent - 1 foot pot - 1 foot gap - 6 inch light - 6 inch gap = 3.5 foot max plant height.



I'm pretty sure that is correct. The fabric airpots actually hold more soil in my experience than an equivalent plastic pot because the fabric stretches.


Lastly, with a 600 watt light in a small tent you are going to have to deal with a lot of heat. I used to use an air cooled 400 and my tent always ran 10+ degrees over ambient temp. Have a good plan for keeping your plants cool.

Editing to add one more thing: The smaller pot with soil growing will give you less yield, no doubt. It is a trade off for an easier to manage garden and less risk of the plants getting too tall.
Click to expand...
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to GrowBrooklyn again. You've been so helpful! Thank you very much!
 
PetFlora

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
I had several people knocking on my door (ignoring my No Trespassing sign). Turned out they were after the guy I bought the house from 16 years ago. Apparently he has been using my address on recent purchase- a motorcycle and was in default for some $17,000.
 
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