B
bibiking
- 65
- 18
Hi guys, I would like to share with you my own way of growing in soil, using net pots. I think you would like it.
this K.I.S.S method is great for the home user (Keep It Stupid Simple).
If you have any comment - I will be happy to read and learn.
So it goes like this:
I plant my seed in a small net-pot (filled with soil, of course), and wait until I see it is full of roots, then I re-plant the net-pot into a bigger net-pot (without extracting the plant so no harm is done to the roots), and so on and so on.
the net-pots are "sitting" in tin cans, so roots are in total darkness (except for when I examine it, of course).
the advantages I see in my way are as follow :
if you would like me to add photos, or give more information, please reply.
thank you all, hope you found it interesting
this K.I.S.S method is great for the home user (Keep It Stupid Simple).
If you have any comment - I will be happy to read and learn.
So it goes like this:
I plant my seed in a small net-pot (filled with soil, of course), and wait until I see it is full of roots, then I re-plant the net-pot into a bigger net-pot (without extracting the plant so no harm is done to the roots), and so on and so on.
the net-pots are "sitting" in tin cans, so roots are in total darkness (except for when I examine it, of course).
the advantages I see in my way are as follow :
- drainage
- I am not worried about draining my soil. the net gives me a 100% drainage
- breathing roots
- the net-pots let plenty of air enter the soil. moreover, because I re-plant my pots, the size of the pot is always the same as the size of my roots, so the tip of the roots is hanging out from the pot. roots that touch this air can always breath, what makes them strong and healthy.
- because the roots touch the air, it is almost impossible to over water, avoiding root rot and other health issues.
- Examining the roots
- because I have easy excess to the roots, I can check the roots regularly. from my experience, looking at your roots gives you the best information about your plant needs.
- learning how much to irrigate
- only with net pots I learnt how slowly I need to water my plants. with net-pots you know exactly when the soil is 100% soaked with water.
- learning when to irrigate
- seeing the roots teaches you when to water your plants. when the roots are shrinking, it means the plant is thirsty. this is the most exact way I have found to learn the timing of my irrigating.
- if you wait until the leaves looks thirsty - you are too late.
- if you wait till the soil is light weighted - you are too late.
- only seeing the roots made me understand it.
- fast wet/dry cycle
- because I have the perfect drainage, I can water my plant every day, and by the next day it will be almost dry.
- because the size of the net-pot is always the same as the size of the roots, I only water soil with roots, avoiding watering "empty soil", which damages the wet/dry cycle.
- water without take the plant out of its closet (or wherever you hide it)
- the net pot sits in a tin can, and the tin can collects the small amount of drainage water. it makes my life much easier, being able to water my pot with a simple 90 seconds procedure. no moving pots around the house, which saves a lot of mess (and time).
- using the hole size of the pot
- roots grow downwards, then, when they reach the bottom of the pot, they spread to the sides. from my experience, when you plant a seed into a big pot, eventually most of the upper part of the soil will not have roots, they are all at the bottom. by giving my roots a small net-pot, I force them to grow horizontally, so eventually I have a pot full with roots in all the soil's volume.
if you would like me to add photos, or give more information, please reply.
thank you all, hope you found it interesting
