Grow Mediums Multiple pots 1 tray?

[Odissey]

Hi everyone,

I decided to try autopots after my previous grow was too demanding: hand watering coco 5x a day. Since I already have enough thc for a while, I am primarily focused on growing a cbd plant for my partner who suffers from severe anxiety. So I have a 2 pot system and was wondering if it is possible to put more than one pot in the same tray? As in for instance adding 3 solo cups of different strains instead of the 2gal pot it comes with? Would this work?

Thanks for the help!

Odissey

 

[Nosias]

Hi everyone,

I decided to try autopots after my previous grow was too demanding: hand watering coco 5x a day. Since I already have enough thc for a while, I am primarily focused on growing a cbd plant for my partner who suffers from severe anxiety. So I have a 2 pot system and was wondering if it is possible to put more than one pot in the same tray? As in for instance adding 3 solo cups of different strains instead of the 2gal pot it comes with? Would this work?

Thanks for the help!

Odissey

Yes, you can put more than one pot in there, but why? The trays are very close together as it is now. Too many pots is a crowd in your set up. But that is just me. You can do any experiment you wish, just have fun dong it.

 

[Odissey]

Yes, you can put more than one pot in there, but why? The trays are very close together as it is now. Too many pots is a crowd in your set up. But that is just me. You can do any experiment you wish, just have fun dong it.

Thanks for the reply! Well the reason is because I would rather do a little sog with solo cups to sample different strains as I have more than sufficient of a single (thc) strain already.

 

[Olderfart]

Yes, multiple pots will work for what you have in mind. I may do the same at some point. Keeping the plants small in solo cups and organizing them with netting is the way I would do it too.

A couple niggles you might want to keep in mind though. First, it may not be helpful to have a lot of liquid exposed around the bottoms of the solo cups - maybe too much humidity, maybe stuff growing in it and making mischief. Second, the small pots and plants may not use the nute mix quickly enough to aerate the flood zone as often as a large plant with a full sized pot would. To deal with these two issues, I would consider placing sand around the bases of the solo cups to reduce the water volume in the tray. This would also help support the solo cups in the vertical postition. I would also make sure that the medium in the bottom of the solo cups has ~50% perlite to make it drain really well. You could keep the sand out of the valve area of the autopot tray by placing the sand and solo cups in one of the autopot pot socks. This would also keep roots contained if they get out of the solo cups, which they will likely do.

Should be fun, please let us know how it works out.

 

[Odissey]

Yes, multiple pots will work for what you have in mind. I may do the same at some point. Keeping the plants small in solo cups and organizing them with netting is the way I would do it too.

A couple niggles you might want to keep in mind though. First, it may not be helpful to have a lot of liquid exposed around the bottoms of the solo cups - maybe too much humidity, maybe stuff growing in it and making mischief. Second, the small pots and plants may not use the nute mix quickly enough to aerate the flood zone as often as a large plant with a full sized pot would. To deal with these two issues, I would consider placing sand around the bases of the solo cups to reduce the water volume in the tray. This would also help support the solo cups in the vertical postition. I would also make sure that the medium in the bottom of the solo cups has ~50% perlite to make it drain really well. You could keep the sand out of the valve area of the autopot tray by placing the sand and solo cups in one of the autopot pot socks. This would also keep roots contained if they get out of the solo cups, which they will likely do.

Should be fun, please let us know how it works out.

Sounds like great advice! I have a question though: so if I were to add sand to the bottom, would it not basically get everywhere from the displacement of the water flooding?

 

[Olderfart]

Sounds like great advice! I have a question though: so if I were to add sand to the bottom, would it not basically get everywhere from the displacement of the water flooding?

It would need to be contained, which is why I suggest containing it with the pot sock. There are lots of ways that this could be done, but it would need to be kept out of the autovalve area one way or another. A chunk of landscape fabric might also work, but it might not be as resistant to penetration by roots - I have never used it for this purpose. The only certain requirement is that it be both permeable to nute solution, and hold the sand back from getting at the autovalve. I don't know offhand whether pot socks are available for the smaller trays, they are normally sold with the XL smart pots. However, for this purpose, the larger socks would probably still work fine in the smaller trays. They certainly work a treat on the bottom of the xl smart pots.

 

[Nosias]

Thanks for the reply! Well the reason is because I would rather do a little sog with solo cups to sample different strains as I have more than sufficient of a single (thc) strain already.

That should be fine. The issue for me would be how to keep them in place and not move around in the tray. Some are thinking about using one aqua valve in a larger tray, one they would modify to use the valve. Good growing.

 

[MassMom]

I was going to try using a piece of cardboard over the top of the tray, cutting a couple of holes, and slipping in the solo cups.

 

[Nosias]

I was going to try using a piece of cardboard over the top of the tray, cutting a couple of holes, and slipping in the solo cups.

That could work. An issue could be that they get TOO big!!

 

[Odissey]

I was going to try using a piece of cardboard over the top of the tray, cutting a couple of holes, and slipping in the solo cups.

What an interesting idea! What about the roots? Would you let them grow freely?