I have a couple 7-10 day stretches out of town already for next summer, which isn't exactly conducive to a grow. Won't be until at least spring, as the tent it would go in is occupied until at least mid-Feb. If the bottom 2" is underwater, is another 1"-2" going to make that big of a difference? Thus, a 12x12x3 or 12x12x4 could work as well, as may be easier to find something in those dimensions. Something I'm wondering about with this is back to the air pruning and the entire reason for thinking of this in the first place. If I can find something 16"x16"x4", or even 18x18x4, that would be ideal. Benefit there is it comes with a lid.Īlso found a 4'x1' flood tray that is 3" tall but a little pricey for something like this. I've also considered a storage tote, and cutting the height down to size. So far I've managed to find an oil change pan that is a 16" diameter and 4" tall for $3 a pop at the auto parts store. Pretty easy, and you'll keep the fabric pots much cleaner without the dirt. Something else I though about is cleanup. So it's doing the same overall as a standard Dutch bucket, but we're replacing the bucket with a fabric pot and moving the water containment to an outer shell. Heck, a 1" gap may work, but I'm not sure. I'm just guessing on the 2"-3" gap and it being sufficient enough for an air gap so that air pruning works. That would make for a 16"-18" tray to give a 2"-3" gap all the way around. Thinking for fabric pot size, either a 7gal square (which is ~12" on all sides), or 5gal round (which is 12" diameter and 10" high.) With a 2" water level, and only a 3"-4" high tray, you want to make sure it drains faster than the max input. This would make for 2 drains instead of 1, but would also help curb overflow situations. The outside is the same, but once it comes into the tray, I think into a tee, and then have the drains there. I'm thinking of a slight deviation from the standard Dutch bucket due to the fabric pot. You would probably lose the air pruning in the bottom 4" though, so probably not a great idea. I'm thinking that a 2"-3" gap around all edges should be sufficient, but maybe the answer to the light issue is to just have the pot fit the tray without a gap. So other than the change for the fabric pot, the rest of the Dutch bucket concept is the same. Could be felt, could be reflective sheeting, whatever. Would have to find a way to block that, either by finding a tray with a lid, or making some kind of cover/sock to go around the pot that covers the gap between the edge of the pot and the tray. However, the perlite should be wicking up from the bottom, so maybe it's not so bad.Īt face value, the biggest issue I see is light and its introduction to the outer tray. Bringing a fabric pot into play, the number of watering cycles may need increased to combat the quicker drying out. It almost becomes like an octo-pot concept, but a bit different. So you get the benefit of air pruning, plus the benefit of the dutch bucket. The idea would be to have that water res, just the same as the bucket, but you're simply taking the sides down and using a fabric pot. Now taking the nuances aside for a minute (like light on the outside tray, etc), could that work? "What if" I were to take say, a 3" or 4" tall tray that was 14"-16" either square or diameter, and then put a fabric pot inside of that? This part is where my deviation comes in. Easy peasy cleanup, and perlite doesn't escape or clog the overflow drain. Put strainer in bucket, add perlite to that. One of the tips for a system like this is to use a paint strainer bag (mesh bag that fits in a 5gal bucket) to keep the perlite in. The big thing for this is the water in the bottom. But here is where my mind started to wander on the "what if's" and such. It also wicks up moisture from the bottom, etc.Īll this I get. As it's not constantly watered, plenty of O2 for the roots. Perlite being inert, and holding moisture, works well and cannot be over watered. So the main parts from this I get are that the bottom water level is sort of a way to mimic the bottom of a normal pot that usually holds a constant moistness. This replaces the bottom water, plus hydrates the perlite. Then you fill the bucket with perlite, and water it 4-6 times per day. So for a quick recap/overview, you take a bucket, put an overflow on it so there is a 2" or so water level in the bottom. ) about certain aspects of this and that. Then I got to thinking (yes, here I go again. So I'm curious on Dutch buckets, and am planning an experimental run at some point to see how it goes.
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