Halman9000
Well-Known Member
Experimental Poor Man's Flood and Drain .
Explanation after these two PIX .
The plants growing in the Medium is completly all Wildflowers .
This rectancular plastic pot is 4" width by 10" long and 2" tall '
There are no drain holes in the rectangular pot , by design and objective .
There is a bottom layer of Perlite that is about 2/3" tall along the bottom of the pot .
There is about 1 1/2" of Coco Coir that lays on top of the bottom layer of Perlite ,
The Perlite on the bottom allows me to add water or liquid diluted nutrients flow evenly along the bottom layer of Perlite .
From experiment I found out that it works better to fill the pot all the way as high as I can to the point that if I add any more water or diluted liquid nutrients , the liquid would flow out of the pot onto the floor ,
So far I let the grow medium coco coir soak in the flooded pot for about 5 or 10 minutes at a time to make sure the roots have plenty of time so get water or diluted liquid nutrients into the plant , I discovered by trial and error and by observation that filling the pot to the brim is the only why for the roots to absorb the enough water or liquid diluted nutrient to guantee life and avoiding plant death , When using Coco Coir I have found out that if using a pot with drain holes in them , that I have to feed water to the pots like 5 times the volume of the pot , to get enough water to the plants . So far it seems that I cannot overwater pots with drain holes , With the flood and drain pots that have no drain holes it become a simple process of discovering how long to keep the no drain hole pots flooded with water or liquid diluted nutrients all the way to the brim . So this experimental poor man's flood and drain method seems to simplify the watering and nutrient feeding simpler and more successful quicker growth of the Wildflowers .
If I am feeding water or nutrients I drain it after 5 or 10 minutes and if I could try is to save the nutrients when I drain the flooded pot ,
The advantage to this design is that I can flood it and give the grow medium enough time to absorb water or nutrients ,
The advantage to having a layer of Perlite on the bottom is that it makes it quick work to flood or drain the pot .
Halman9000
Explanation after these two PIX .
The plants growing in the Medium is completly all Wildflowers .
This rectancular plastic pot is 4" width by 10" long and 2" tall '
There are no drain holes in the rectangular pot , by design and objective .
There is a bottom layer of Perlite that is about 2/3" tall along the bottom of the pot .
There is about 1 1/2" of Coco Coir that lays on top of the bottom layer of Perlite ,
The Perlite on the bottom allows me to add water or liquid diluted nutrients flow evenly along the bottom layer of Perlite .
From experiment I found out that it works better to fill the pot all the way as high as I can to the point that if I add any more water or diluted liquid nutrients , the liquid would flow out of the pot onto the floor ,
So far I let the grow medium coco coir soak in the flooded pot for about 5 or 10 minutes at a time to make sure the roots have plenty of time so get water or diluted liquid nutrients into the plant , I discovered by trial and error and by observation that filling the pot to the brim is the only why for the roots to absorb the enough water or liquid diluted nutrient to guantee life and avoiding plant death , When using Coco Coir I have found out that if using a pot with drain holes in them , that I have to feed water to the pots like 5 times the volume of the pot , to get enough water to the plants . So far it seems that I cannot overwater pots with drain holes , With the flood and drain pots that have no drain holes it become a simple process of discovering how long to keep the no drain hole pots flooded with water or liquid diluted nutrients all the way to the brim . So this experimental poor man's flood and drain method seems to simplify the watering and nutrient feeding simpler and more successful quicker growth of the Wildflowers .
If I am feeding water or nutrients I drain it after 5 or 10 minutes and if I could try is to save the nutrients when I drain the flooded pot ,
The advantage to this design is that I can flood it and give the grow medium enough time to absorb water or nutrients ,
The advantage to having a layer of Perlite on the bottom is that it makes it quick work to flood or drain the pot .
Halman9000
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