Growing medium in Grow Box

I plan to use soil as my growing medium, and besides all the stuff about correct soil choice, ph, and nutrients, I just want to get some advice on how I should go about setting up my growing device (i.e. the plants in their holders, placed in the soil)

Would a plastic tub setup work? That is to say, one plastic tub with a few holes on top for the plant pots to sit in, and soil within the tub so that the roots can grow out from the planter. And maybe a smaller tub placed beneath this to catch water from holes in the above tub. Is there a better way of doing this?

And I understand that a hydroponic setup would probably be a better choice here but I want to avoid the use of extra electrical equipment as much as possible (ie the pump)

Hey man, I love hydro and DIY- PM me what you want/need and we'll get cracking at this. I do both hydro and soil.

Also, the pump I use costs around $10-15 dollars, or you could just manually dump your nutes from your bottom res to your top tray wit a 5 gal bucket. It would be better for you and your plants to just go with a tried and true method for growing. I love DIY but troubleshooting for a do it yourself setup can be a nightmare.

grandpa 1949 said:

Why not a tray with sides? That's what most of us use. Start with larger pots. If the roots grow out of your pots you could damage your plants. Plus you don't want your roots sitting in water. Root rot

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My thought was too have a large container of the soil I intended to use, and then place individual pots with soil into the soil in the large container. Each of these pots would have holes around them to allow roots to extend out of the pot. I heard somewhere else that this is good for the roots because you don't need as large as a pot for the plant and it still allows the roots to spread out in the soil. Or should I just stick with seperate pots for each plant and place them on a tray that will catch the water and moisture from the pot?

This idea will work yes. Plants will live. But there will be issues. It would be better to plant them in soil. Then repot later. If you want crazy roots, get an airpot or smart pots. Place on the tray that will catch moisture. Or use that tray for your top tray for ebb n flow...

Look up earth boxes on youtube. It's kind of what you are taking about but a passive hydro system. No pumps and you feed thru a tube into a rez under the plants. You can use soil with it too or soil-less mix.

I use aquare 12" square pots

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

12" x 12" Square White Pot, 12" Tall, case of 24 SKU: HG12X12SW

Heavy duty, lightweight white growing pots are available in multiple sizes to fit your growing space. Raised bottom and unique multi drainage holes and slits for optimum aeration of the root zone. Durable plastic will give you years of use, and the white color will help keep your plants' roots cooler in direct sunlight.

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Medical420MI said:

Look up earth boxes on youtube. It's kind of what you are taking about but a passive hydro system. No pumps and you feed thru a tube into a rez under the plants. You can use soil with it too or soil-less mix.

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Thanks man, this gave me a better idea of what I think I will end up doing.

Gerstinator said:

Thanks man, this gave me a better idea of what I think I will end up doing.

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Let me know how it goes. I've been growing in soil but my friend swears this is better. I might switch to the earth boxes or possibly hempy buckets cuz I have an abundance of perlite laying around.