Experienced Growers Thoughts On New Setup?

[bdank]

SO I've been a hydro guy for awhile, I'm in 5 gal buckets with net pots filled with hydroton. I top feed every hour for 15 min. I do decently but was wondering if anyone ever tried to place a 5 gal coco pot in a 5 gal bucket.

Because my buckets are already connected with 3/4 hose for recirc i was thinking i could use the plumbing to pump water out of the buckets for drain to waist. I would still top feed the coco and let it just fall into the bucket.

My concerns are that there is always an inch or two of water sitting at the bottom of the bucket. Even thought theres probably 5 inches of air gap in between bucket and pot I'm not sure if that will create an environment thats to humid all the time in the root zone? With hydroton it works just fine but not being so familiar with coco (tupur) I'm not sure if it will be able to dry out enough.

Thoughts,...?

 

[ken dog]

What do you want to do? Recirculating, or drain to waste?
.http://sdhydroponics.com/2012/05/14/recirculating-vs-drain-to-waste-systems/

 

[bdank]

@ken dog i want to run DTW although i have friends that run recirc with coco and kill it.

Basically I'm wondering if the coco will give a better support structure for the root system thus giving better overall yeilds.

 

[ken dog]

Hopefully someone more experienced in drain to waste will chime in, but I don't see an issue as long as the roots are not sitting in un-aerated water... and the gap of air should be good for the roots.

 

[ken dog]

@ken dog i want to run DTW although i have friends that run recirc with coco and kill it.

Basically I'm wondering if the coco will give a better support structure for the root system thus giving better overall yeilds.

I'm sure Coco will be excellent for your roots to develop a very solid structure in.

 

[Hate Life]

Well there is no chance that the roots will get bigger in the coco pots, as opposed to the 5 gallon buckets....
There is less room for roots with all the coco in the 5 gallon pot as opposed to just growing the roots in hydro buckets, suspended in water.

But, there should be no problem with a little excess water in the bottom of the buckets from run off.

I would stick to the hydro unless you are experiencing heat issues.

However, it is always fun to do bad things as they say.

Get your grow on.