sticking an air tube through the middle of your pot....

[bombtombadll]

Hi, this is an idea of mine I'm wondering if it's an advance technique or just silly.

I'm using Fox Farm soil and have noticed that it can get compacted and holds water a little too well. If my root ball is in the middle of the pot and I water heavily, the plant seems to choke a bit until it dries out.

SO, what I'm thinking of doing is running a tube with holes drilled into it through the middle of my pot. (and maybe a screen to prevent dirt from clogging the tube). I can run my fan through the tube to get air to the middle of pot.. Am I crazy or can this work? This might allow me to use larger pots and more soil as well without fear of over watering. It might also help dry things out if I need to flush.

 

[CrashMagnet]

It might work, but adding 20% or so perlite to the soil would be easier. Also, felt pots seem to dry a lot faster than others.

 

[bombtombadll]

It might work, but adding 20% or so perlite to the soil would be easier. Also, felt pots seem to dry a lot faster than others.

I'm using tons of coarse perlite now, almost 30 percent. I also noticed that too much perlite starts to float if you water heavily. It works well in a 3 gallon pot, but if I flush or water to drainage, it seems too much water sits in the middle. Hence, my idea to run an air tube through the middle. If it works, I can go with 5 or 7 gallon pots. Just an idea after a few bong hits... you know how that is...

 

[user 60570]

aeration

outdoor farmers do it by taking a rod or some rebar and punching holes in the ground around the plant

golf courses aerate the golf course yearly

but you Cats knew that already

and Perlite , I’ve grown cannabis in 5 gal hempy buckets with 100% Perlite and had very good results

 

[SubmarineGirl]

Hi, this is an idea of mine I'm wondering if it's an advance technique or just silly.

I'm using Fox Farm soil and have noticed that it can get compacted and holds water a little too well. If my root ball is in the middle of the pot and I water heavily, the plant seems to choke a bit until it dries out.

SO, what I'm thinking of doing is running a tube with holes drilled into it through the middle of my pot. (and maybe a screen to prevent dirt from clogging the tube). I can run my fan through the tube to get air to the middle of pot.. Am I crazy or can this work? This might allow me to use larger pots and more soil as well without fear of over watering. It might also help dry things out if I need to flush.

do All your plants get compacted and hold water wit the FF soil and perlite? Or just random plants. I ask because I have occasionally had this problem but haven’t figured it out yet and I also have been using FF soil

 

[oldfogey8]

Fabric pots have an effect on the roots called air pruning. The roots close to the fabric dry out and die. My guess is roots around the air tube would die as well(or possibly hydrostatic pressure would overwhelm the air pressure of the fan and create a reservoir for anaerobic bacteria) and reduce the root balls mass and as a consequence reduce the efficiency of water and nutrient uptake. There are many different soils out there that a lot of research has gone into to optimize plant well being for specific types of plants. I use Roots Organic Green Lite. It has very good drainage as well as absorption characteristics. Trying a different soil may be a better option than effectively creating a dead zone in the center of your rootball(or an area of anaerobic, stinky soil). Perlite or aeration are tried and true methods of providing roots with oxygen in soil that is too compacted as other posters have pointed out.

 

[WeedHopper]

I stopped using FF soils and went back to MG with 30% perlite in Fabric Pots and I am much happier with my results. The soil drains well and the fabric pots dry out nice. Lots of oxygen getting to my roots now. With this Texas heat and wind I've been watering every day. Plants are loving it.

 

[CrashMagnet]

do All your plants get compacted and hold water wit the FF soil and perlite? Or just random plants. I ask because I have occasionally had this problem but haven’t figured it out yet and I also have been using FF soil

My understanding is a plant can be growing just a little slower than the others, but still be receiving the same amount of water. Eventually its roots shut down from too little oxygen and stops drinking. At that point you have to wait for evaporation to remove the moisture which takes a lot longer than when the plant was drinking it.

I managed to over water all my plants on the first grow, and while waiting for them to recover humidity fell quite a lot. I guess water evaporates from the leaves a lot faster than from the soil.

 

[user 60570]

fun stuff

 

[oldfogey8]

The circle of life

 

[OGKushman]

Hey it left out sublimation

 

[OGKushman]

I planted an apple tree on a 3” leech line 24” under the soil a few days ago. I wondered if it would add o2 or if it would dry out the roots. I also figured it would be a great direct feeding tube. I’ll let you know end of summer how it did.

 

[spunom]

Try bottom watering. Set your pot on a tray and fill the tray with 25% water to total volume of soil once the container is dry. Remove the tray once the soil has sucked all of the water up (or don't) Your plants will love it.

 

[Dudermon444]

I stopped using FF soils and went back to MG with 30% perlite in Fabric Pots and I am much happier with my results. The soil drains well and the fabric pots dry out nice. Lots of oxygen getting to my roots now. With this Texas heat and wind I've been watering every day. Plants are loving it.

Hi. What kind of soil is MG?

 

[SubmarineGirl]

Miracle Grow I think

 

[WeedHopper]

Miracle Grow. I use the TWICE AS BIG. All my plants love it.

 

[SubmarineGirl]

Do you cut down your nutrients when using MG? And what about them advertising feeds plant up to six months with some slow release system. I’ve never actually looked at the ingredients but I imagine nitrogen would last a while maybe longer than the grow right?

 

[LabRat]

Do you cut down your nutrients when using MG? And what about them advertising feeds plant up to six months with some slow release system. I’ve never actually looked at the ingredients but I imagine nitrogen would last a while maybe longer than the grow right?

Six months my sweet patootie! For a little desk plant maybe but not vigorously growing plants like cannabis. MG, Scotts, Roots, Hawthorne, Monsanto and Bayer are all in bed together and working to dominate the pot growing industry like they are/have done with food agriculture, GMO crops and even home gardening and lawn care.

They've bought out a lot of companies like Gavita, General Hydro, (that never supported pot growers and still don't), Canna carbon filters and that's only a couple I found out a few years ago so probably a lot more are under that evil corporate umbrella.

I've never, and will never, knowingly support any of those companies with my money.

ProMix makes a Herb & veg mix that uses organic time release nutes that works pretty good but once I started adding a low dose of 3-part nutes it was like all the time release ones went off at once and burned the hell out of my plants. I'd mixed it half-and-half with ProMix HP which has no nutes so was quite surprised.

Just say NO to corporate takeovers!