Why Smart Pots And Not The Earth?

[donmekka]

I have been doing a lot of greenhouse research and it seems a lot of you are using smart pots of some sort or raised bed. So my question to you is why not just plant into mother earth?Even if you're using amended soil why not dig a hole and fill it ?

 

[The Terps]

There are lots of factors. Drainage, soil contaminates, gophers, not wanting to tear up the property, most ppl only use soil for a couple of grows and if done by hand they are easier to empty, you can move them to name a few.

 

[blazer]

Fuck Gopher's!!! Sorry but they will destroy some shit quick time!

 

[DANKSY]

its easier for me to keep an eye on the soil in a smart pot.. i have some raised beds and they are hard to figure out sometimes.. also, i live in an area that is pretty much rock everywhere.. i couldnt dig a hole unless i broke the jack hammer out..

 

[The Terps]

If I had a green house I would build it as a sealed system with a m/s and co2 and in my dreams it has a concrete floor with French drains on every slab so I would need to do some sort of raised bed / some kind of pot deal.

 

[donmekka]

Ok so its for more control or if you have poor soil pretty much . Poor soil is something that I guess I am not accustomed to.

 

[kolah]

I agree that planting them directly in the ground is best (IMO)....but (for me) growing here in the Rocky Mt's, the nights get cold quick and snow in Sept or Oct can happen quite often. Having them in pots makes it easy to haul them inside to a warmer area should frost or badass weather come-a-knockin .

 

[Bulldog11]

I just scooped up 10 yards of native soil, mixed it with EWC and lava rock. 4-2-1 ratio. I took soil samples of the native soil first and amended accordingly. Can't put the plants in the ground because gophers will tear them up. So I have raised beds with gopher wire underneath. With raised beds I can more easily calculate soil volume which helps with nutrient applications and soil amending.

As far as smart pots go...... They are great for a quick fix. They cycle water and air through the root zone very well. However raised beds will hold water much better. With water being short, every gallon counts. Mulch those pots also.

 

[Seamaiden]

I have been doing a lot of greenhouse research and it seems a lot of you are using smart pots of some sort or raised bed. So my question to you is why not just plant into mother earth?Even if you're using amended soil why not dig a hole and fill it ?

Main issue is tilth. But if you've got the tilth, you can amend the fucking living SHIT out of that soil, add some green manuring and cover crops and seriously rock that shit.

I'm moving away from Smart Pots because they cause such a huge loss of water, it's irresponsible.

 

[donmekka]

@Seamaiden while I'm not familiar with the word tilth I believe the soil is in good shape its loose and not compacted looks healthy I will be taking soil samples. Where I am i don't believe we have gophers but we do have moles and voles so I suppose it would be a good idea to line the beds with wire.Even though I never had a plant affected by them it would be better safe then sorry.

 

[Seamaiden]

Quarter inch hardware cloth. I've never had a problem with 'em, probably because my 'soil' has very poor tilth. I cannot grow large cannabis in my native soil unless I till it, because of its lack of tilth (due to low Ca levels in relation to Mg. Ca loosens soils generally, and Mg tightens, generally).

Tilth.

 

[Bulldog11]

Tilth, it's what's for dinner.

If your having problems with the texture of your soil, peat moss acts as a great conditioner. Doesn't add much else other than water retention, but it softens up dense soils.

 

[Seamaiden]

Don't forget the old-timer's secret! Gypsum. Lots of organic matter, and using cover crops such as... ok, there's a kind of turnip that's used for this, a type of radish, and mustards are all used to break up heavy soils. I was just readin' about it!

 

[Fastola]

Ima run smartpots in my little light dep gh b/c of rocky ground and less investment.

 

[donmekka]

Don't forget the old-timer's secret! Gypsum. Lots of organic matter, and using cover crops such as... ok, there's a kind of turnip that's used for this, a type of radish, and mustards are all used to break up heavy soils. I was just readin' about it!

Gypsum huh?At what rate do you recommend? I was just watching john at growing your greens and hes suggesting azomite @ 1lb per square foot!

 

[Seamaiden]

The rate really depends on the soil being worked. If the soil already has decent Ca levels, adding more may cause problems.

 

[Blaze]

Gypsum is a great amendment with lots of various benefits, but there is evidence that adding calcium to the soil isn't one of them. Most remains unavailable for the plant use apparently. This is based on some research and testing that was presented at a CCOF conference a few years ago - they found that gypsum applied at the recommended amount raised available calcium in the soil by less than 1 parts per million. Not particularly effective.

 

[Bulldog11]

I say get a soil test with whatever soil you decide to go with.

 

[Seamaiden]

Gypsum is a great amendment with lots of various benefits, but there is evidence that adding calcium to the soil isn't one of them. Most remains unavailable for the plant use apparently. This is based on some research and testing that was presented at a CCOF conference a few years ago - they found that gypsum applied at the recommended amount raised available calcium in the soil by less than 1 parts per million. Not particularly effective.

Interesting. Yet, it still breaks up heavy clay soils, which is one of the reasons why I use it.

 

[Blaze]

Interesting. Yet, it still breaks up heavy clay soils, which is one of the reasons why I use it.

Like I said, it's a GREAT amendment, there is something like 30+ benefits to it, I use it as well. I am just skeptical of how good a calcium source it is at this point, if we need more calcium in the soil I will use something else like bone meal.