Are 5 gallon pots really necessary with solo cup results like this?

[CF89]

This has me reconsidering everything. I’ve got 5 gallon pots now and wanted to go up to 7 or 10s. But is it really worth it??

These guys are growing nicer plants in solo cups and getting higher yields than I got out of a 5 gallon bucket.

 

[Grownsince95]

I regretted going 7 gal fabric on my first run even though I was trying for big plants. I found one problem was just too much wet media in the tent at any given time. That plus a lot of foliage = rh nightmare. Im trying 3 gals currently.
Solo cups just leave you no room for errors. Every thing has to be just right with ph/ec and perfect watering because they are going to basically live most of life root bound. Im doing a solo cup experiment recently too because of an awesome thread on here but I just started. Trying something either crazy or genius idk we'll see haha

 

[Grownsince95]

You can see on the cups the water line where they probably sit in a tray of fert h20 and it's like wick hydroponics, im trying something similar.

 

[Harvard]

I get 10+ oz a plant with my 5 gallon pots, obviously it depends on the strain. Pretty impressive buds you have there I must say!

 

[Madbud]

Sheet of plywood with cutouts over a trashbag, love the ghetto stuff

 

[chemistry]

Stand up well for such big plants grown in solo cups.

 

[Harvard]

Sheet of plywood with cutouts over a trashbag, love the ghetto stuff

After I reread it I noticed it’s not the op’s plants, but yeah looks like a black mold factory!

 

[CF89]

No. Not my plants. Just some I found in a solo cup 2020 competition thread while googling it and really has me wondering.

So these are basically root bound with holes in the cup and kept submerged in fertilizer water their whole life?

 

[JWM2]

The soil isn’t the expensive part of growing. I use it liberally.

 

[MIMedGrower]

This has me reconsidering everything. I’ve got 5 gallon pots now and wanted to go up to 7 or 10s. But is it really worth it??

These guys are growing nicer plants in solo cups and getting higher yields than I got out of a 5 gallon bucket.

No. Unless you can veg long enough to truly fill the bigger pot with roots there is no benefit. I use #3 pots to save soil water, and nutes and when i tried 5 gallons in the same system it didnt make a difference in yield.

 

[CF89]

I veg for two months in 5 gallon smart pots.

I had a buddy do autos in a 5 gallon and his looked pretty rooty on the outside. Not sure if that’s considered root bound or not.

how long does it take to be root bound?

 

[MIMedGrower]

I veg for two months in 5 gallon smart pots.

I had a buddy do autos in a 5 gallon and his looked pretty rooty on the outside. Not sure if that’s considered root bound or not.

how long does it take to be root bound?

I dont really believe in root bound and cloth pots are supposed to help with circling roots.

Smaller pots can need more often watering and will eventually limit the size of the plant. Although i am still getting bigger yields here and there so i have not reached the limit of a 3 gallon even at a half pound dry plant.

How long before the pot is filled has many variables. Light intensity, nutrients, environment, grower skill, etc.

 

[Madbud]

Based on experience “rootbound”happens in buckets. The roots circle around reaching greater lengths that become inefficient compared to cloth bags where the root reaches the edge, terminates and shoots off lateral root branches, shorter and more efficient, less prone to heat stress too.

 

[tomatoesarecooltoo]

No. Not my plants. Just some I found in a solo cup 2020 competition thread while googling it and really has me wondering.

So these are basically root bound with holes in the cup and kept submerged in fertilizer water their whole life?

Key word is competition. You can good yields out of tiny cups, but its not super easy, which is why its a fun competition.

 

[Lamsbread]

You can see on the cups the water line where they probably sit in a tray of fert h20 and it's like wick hydroponics, im trying something similar.

Those are my solo cups Ruby, spirit Walker Which are Strains from the Autoflower Portal(of which I am a member) bred by Stone.
I should also mention in other forums I am "Arty Zan"!
The 4' ones on the chair is Critical Orange Punch by Dutch Passion.
My plants are the ones with brown squared Solo Cups 18OZ.
I do not leave in H2O or nutes, when a solo cup get root bound (which the will) leaving in water with a root bound plant will just lead to root rot, as the roots are so tightly packed there is very little oxygen getting to the roots!
Cannabis likes a wet/dry cycle, allowing for the nutrients to be taken up, letting the coco dry a little and then watering again draws oxygen down to the roots!
There is a line because I had to feed multiple times a day, one of the benefits from working from home.
I would feed and let it sit for 15 mins to make sure the maximum nutrient had soak the coco and then would empty the tray/small tuppaware container!
Nice to see my work else where, first posted by me arty zan/Lamsbread on Autoflower Portal and Autoflower network

 

[Lamsbread]

Key word is competition. You can good yields out of tiny cups, but its not super easy, which is why its a fun competition.

Definitely not kept submerged! Watered multiple times a day, especially so for the 4' Critical Orange Punch Auto. I'm just about to start a new Solo Cup show&grow with Seedstockers Wedding Glue Auto, somewhere on the net but it's not right for me to say where, that would be disrespectful to THCFarmer forum.

 

[Lamsbread]

Key word is competition. You can good yields out of tiny cups, but its not super easy, which is why its a fun competition.

Brown Solo Cups are my plants!

 

[Lamsbread]

Brown Solo Cups are my plants!

Ruby and Spirit Walker both yielded 46g dry apiece, i never bothered to weigh the Critical Orange punch.
Ruby and Spirit Walker were my first foray in to growing in solo cups but I have been growing for a long time, so not my first rodeo!

 

[Lamsbread]

Based on experience “rootbound”happens in buckets. The roots circle around reaching greater lengths that become inefficient compared to cloth bags where the root reaches the edge, terminates and shoots off lateral root branches, shorter and more efficient, less prone to heat stress too.

Shame they don't do solo bags huh?

 

[Lamsbread]

I regretted going 7 gal fabric on my first run even though I was trying for big plants. I found one problem was just too much wet media in the tent at any given time. That plus a lot of foliage = rh nightmare. Im trying 3 gals currently.
Solo cups just leave you no room for errors. Every thing has to be just right with ph/ec and perfect watering because they are going to basically live most of life root bound. Im doing a solo cup experiment recently too because of an awesome thread on here but I just started. Trying something either crazy or genius idk we'll see haha

Yup you have to be on point with solo cup grows, ph'ing isn't difficult, I'm sure people here, do it all the time.
I'll let you in on a secret..... coco with perlite or seramis (1 part perlite or seramis to 3 parts coco) then use coco specific nutes keep around 5.8pH.
Coco is far the best substrate to use for solo cups, you will get a much smaller yield from soil grow solo cups!
Never let coco dry out completely, it is a hydroponic substrate,it might look like soil but it is not!
Letting dry out completely will stress the plant and cause a pH fluctuation.
Don't you guy's have a solo cup challenge or competition?
For smaller strains in veg once a day feeding is cool, in flower twice daily, for really tall plants wake up - water, have lunch - water, mid afternoon pee - water ad infinitum throughout the day, they will take up and transpire a fair bit of nutes through the day and the solo cup is nearly all roots, so it holds very little nutes.