I might be rusty and stoned but i’m thinking its 1:2 ratio, as the minimum working format.
It’s not about Rez capacity but is about hight you fill for each maybe : )
I’m stoned to so unsure I’m right lol
10-10 inches being the minimum height recommended. yes.
Are both pots and Rez and net pots the same hieght for 6 and 3 gaallon systems ? Or are they scaled to suit the different hight of pots
same 6 gall sleeves.
Why are people trying to re engineer His pots?
He put lots of trail and effort into these and he is very sharp . The price he asks for them is more than fair and after one run using them I defy anyone to say otherwise .
I’m sticking with his setup see zero need to mod it , it’s a blown big block already .
just want to grow in a smaller space. I have the 6gall and the 3 gall. he mentioned a mini-octo in one of his videos…whe they come out I’ll buy them. till then i’ll frankenstein my stuff.
@Jetdro i agree , not worth the Agro I just like problem solving : )
And see everyone always talking about it : ) drawing me in lol
Do a wick feed system then they work excellent in smaller pots .
Small soil/ coco pot sitting on larger pot acting as rez with wicks running down from plant to rez . They work really well
I hear ya I know your feelings on them . It’s kinda hard to argue against them after you have run them in person . I still marvel at how simple yet complicated they are and just exactly what they achieve .
Bottom feeding is the bees knees
: )
eh, I like to tinker. getting old allows for foibles.
I meant build a wick system what I’d do if I wanted smaller pots as the 3 gallon octos suck in my opinion . Gonna run them once then with them
I will never top feed again unless I am forced too .
I get you. thank you.
I like the size of the mini octo pups
Res is 10” x 10” only holds 1 gal
But I could fit 4 Easley in the small tent for moms and I believe I can fit 4 in the big tent with the big boy octo’s
Now I’m running 8 plants in fabric bags in the same tent as the Octopots , top watering sucks
I’d cut down to 4 extra plants instead of 8
But with more yield win win I believe
Add a auto fill food to go
Paps
Nice bag
I gotta measure my Frankenstein Mom’s pot. Doubt its that tall, but its the perfect diameter for these minis.
Perfect plant to use as an example here. She’s a BIG bush in a little pot now, consistently can drink 1g of water a day, yet STILL has considerably less roots in the reservoir than any other plant I have grown like this. My netpots reach almost to the bottom of the res, and are filled with hydroton.
Top of the soil is dry. Bottom of the bag has a ton of roots air pruned. Yet this plant grows like a monster.
I think ya’all focusing too much on bag size, and not enough on the material you fill it with. We’ve seen big plants grown in solo cups, its just a matter of care.
So when we’re discussing pot size, because of its ability to hold water / wick water, its literally only half the equation, and the weak half at that. The actual wicking ability of the medium is hardly discussed and I think needs more understanding.
Hydroton, gravel, peat, coco and even soil. Stuff the netpot with each. Top off with soil. THEN do it again, but top if off with different soil / soil less mixes. THEN discuss how water moves thru the medium… I used to build water features (waterfalls, streams, fountains). Wicking ability is one of the MAJOR things you learn to be able to troubleshoot leaks. Not ALL leaks were from holes. Or low liner edges. A good number of leaks were due to material overlapping land / water, and just wicking up the water, transferring it to the other side. A good rule of thumb is water seeks a level balance. Interpret that how you choose, could be 2 vessels connected with a hose, could be two mediums (wet gravel streambed / woodchips and mulch spread too heavily and touching land and water). Water will seek to balance itself, to go from where there’s more to where there’s less.
Depending on the medium, the rate of transfer increases or decreases. Fill the netpot with dirt and you’ll have a very wet pot. Fill it with gravel, and it will be a very dry pot. Hydroton is a great middle ground, but coco and peat work too, just might be a little wetter (more wicking ability).
Why are so many growers tinkerers? Cause its the nature of the beast. Plus they needed options for smaller areas. I don’t think there’s any re-engineering here. The basic premise remains the same, its a SIP / WICK watering system. Been around much longer than Octopots really (I used clotheslines as wicks into 16oz solo cups when I grew in college back in the 90s). He just put it in an easy to use bundle.
The minis are the same. But you gotta make your own bundle.
The hard part for many is a basic understanding of hydrodynamics, and the ability of water to move upward in different mediums…
Nice read. Thanks for sharing. In your opinion, these 12" tall bags i found, would you use Coco or hydroton in the basket?
I would use hydroton every time, regardless of bag size. I think it wicks the ideal amount at a time. Considerably more than gravel would, but not as much as the others. If I had to choose and keep eliminating? Hydroton > Coco > Peat > Gravel > Soil would be my order of choosing. Gravel before soil because soil really just makes mud. But gravel doesn’t wick much so its almost as useless. Coco and Peat are decent wickers (like woodchips, the fibers are mini water highways if you will), and would be an acceptable substitute, keeping in mind your soil mix can / will be wetter depending on what your soil mix is composed of. If using coco or peat, might be wise to lean towards a dryer mix to balance the wicking out.
Hydroton really is the best of both worlds. Being clay based pellets, they can wick nicely, but not as fibrous as coco and peat, so its like its got a “speed limit” on the highway, and only transfers so much at a time. Also think of clay pots. Think of Blumat watering systems. All using basically a similar base clay material.
Think of it this way too. Pretty much most of the other “hydro” methods use hydroton as their base. There’s a reason for that. Not too wet, not too dry, just right