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DrGreenThumb said:
Use containers without holes. I had the same problem and eventually said "screw it, no holes". 5 gal. buckets without drainage works like a charm.

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DrGreenThumb said:
Root rot was a worry at first, but turns out, it's not an issue. The trick is in the transplant.

When you take your clones or seedlings out of the starting cup they need to have a real good root zone, almost root-bound by some people's standards. When you transplant, use moistened soil so you don't need to add water after transplanting.

The next day, water just the area of the original container with a watering can. The idea is to keep the plant thriving while the roots stretch through the new bucket. Do this for about 3-5 days.

You will notice that the bucket gets lighter by the day and the surface of the soil getting dry and crusty, this is good. You will eventually  a feel for when it's light and needs it first real watering.

For the first real watering use an entire 1 gallon jug of nutrient water. Pour gently but fast and try not to disturb the soil surface, it happens though.

After this you're in the clear, when the bucket gets light again, give another full gallon. Eventually the surface will harden as the roots circle to the top and watering becomes a breeze, as you can just pour it right in. Makes a tedious job quite easy.

Once the roots fill the bucket, they start using water really quick. Just make sure the bucket is light when you water. They go from watered  to dry so quickly that the roots are unaffected.

While it's true that irrigation runoff contains an average of 10% more "salt" than the original irrigation water, the amount that builds up over the 3-4 month life span of a plant is so insignificant that it won't affect your plants.

I had no way to drain runoff personally, so I eliminated it. Now I know that everything that goes in my jugs, goes in the plants and you're not washing money down the drain.

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Magash said:
Ok, keep the plastic saucers and water less. There is no need to empty the saucers. You can't empty the pot if you plug the holes right? What you can't do is flush. What if you overfeed the plants? you're putting yourself in a position that you can't flush the plants to save them. You also can't flush before harvest. This really isn't something that should be done when you're new to growing.

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Before I read your last sentence I thought to myself that a person with a lot of experience wouldn't run into this problem as often. I agree someone like me definitely wouldn't want to try this. Also you bring up the point of flushing, what do you do for the final flush at least, DrGreenThumb?

I would definitely think you would want to flush out the chemicals/ferts so you would have a decent tasting bud, right?

Mag: You say water less, what about the water till you have some runoff rule? Would the water that sits in the saucer cause any sort of problems? Rot? Fungi or pests? Or is it not enough to really matter?

I thank you guys for all the responses!

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what about the water till you have some runoff rule?

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Yeah you can do that in two ways. Just water till you get the runoff. You can give a half a watering and let it sit for a few minutes so the water absorbs then finish watering a few minutes later. You will still get runoff but less of it.
Myself I just do it the first way when I was in soil.

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budgrowerwannabe said:
I like the second way. I think it gives the soil time to really get wet. I grow in bags and if I just water till run off it just runs out the easiest way. When I go to put it back it would be way to light. Meaning not watered enough. So I now water a little at a time till I see run off. I catch the first couple drops of run off to see the Ph of my soil.

Im like Res. I water over a Rubbermaid with a bread grate works great.  I start watering. Roll a joint. Then I check them give them more water! Now I sit back smoke the jammer!!  By that time I can put them back  under the lights but I still use the plastic trays lol









In this pic I built a table with a drain like you were talking about so I didn't have to move them. It works but I still move my plants to the tub to get watered. The table would just let all the extra water run into a bucket.

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Oh I fully agree with you the second way is better but when you have several gardens of this (these are in bags like yours)

your talking about hours of work so I'd just go the first way and let excess water soak in from the bottom but like I said the second way is better.

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After reading The organic myth. by Magash, it got me on a crusade to debunk a lot of well ingrained growing practices.

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Weren't you amazed by the amount of bullshit that is out-there and thought of as the right way to do things?

I could write a book just on the bullshit alone.

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Watering a flowering 5 gal. bucket gradually or lifting it up to put in a Rubbermaid is impossible later in flowering as I'd end up with broken branches and falling buds. Not to mention the time involved. I came up with this method out of necessity to save time watering. It's so easy to just mix a jug and be able to pour in as fast as you can and walk away. When you go larger and start getting overwhelmed by the plants keep this in mind. Personally, if I could drain the floor I'd use holes.

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Tank333 said:

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Watering a flowering 5 gal. bucket gradually or lifting it up to put in a Rubbermaid is impossible later in flowering as I'd end up with broken branches and falling buds. Not to mention the time involved. I came up with this method out of necessity to save time watering. It's so easy to just mix a jug and be able to pour in as fast as you can and walk away. When you go larger and start getting overwhelmed by the plants keep this in mind. Personally, if I could drain the floor I'd use holes.

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This right here is one of the biggest reasons I do hydro rather than soil. In a room that's packed wall-to-wall with flowering plants, you can't always reach everything. In hydro, everything always gets watered (provided no pump or controller failures) perfectly evenly and you have complete control of the entire system from one point (the main rez).

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TribalSeed said:

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Tank333 said:

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Watering a flowering 5 gal. bucket gradually or lifting it up to put in a Rubbermaid is impossible later in flowering as I'd end up with broken branches and falling buds. Not to mention the time involved. I came up with this method out of necessity to save time watering. It's so easy to just mix a jug and be able to pour in as fast as you can and walk away. When you go larger and start getting overwhelmed by the plants keep this in mind. Personally, if I could drain the floor I'd use holes.

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This right here is one of the biggest reasons I do hydro rather than soil. In a room that's packed wall-to-wall with flowering plants, you can't always reach everything. In hydro, everything always gets watered (provided no pump or controller failures) perfectly evenly and you have complete control of the entire system from one point (the main rez).

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That's what is making hydro really attractive to me, but I am still a n00b to the growing experience so I went for soil because of the forgiveness that soil gives. I thought about doing a little Rubbermaid 4 or 6 site hydro setup just to get a feel for it and see if its the route I want to take later on, but for now I gotta stick with the dirt.lol.

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It's a myth that beginners shouldn't do hydro.

Remember with hydro there is complete control. Find a problem and it's taken care of in minutes rather then flushing the shit out of a bunch of soil pots. Watering, ph control, nutrient strength to the plants, all easier to do with hydro. Last as long as everything is on timers and dialed in you can leave for days without needing a person to check the plants.