Roots growing out of net pots!

I have a top feed drip system over a 4 x 4 flood table. My roots are coming out of the net pots i have and is being exposed to light/air and stunting plant growth. I have two questions:

1. Can I fill the entire 4 x 4 flood tray with hydroton to let my plants roots grow into? Would there be any problem with this?

2. Is there a better way other than transferring into a bigger net pot?

Net pots are generally used for DWC systems, however yes add some hydroton pebbles to your system, roots should not be exposed to light.

Yeah I should have guessed that. What pots should I use for drip?

Actually any pot will do as long as there are holes in the bottom to allow drainage.

True dat what he said

yes fill the tray is the best solution. Also you can just use a piece of panda film and cover the top of the tray preventing light, but air will still prune.

I covered the table with a lid cut holes in it and put the pots in the holes..... This was my first attempt and I have since used 3" pots, with 10 in each lid. I personally would not use hydrotron in the res with the roots as its a huge mess when done. And the roots like air BTW! My system is bottom feed also so that might make a difference. You can buy sheets of plexiglass as a cover and use hole saw to cut spaces for pots. If needed cover the lid with aluminum foil tape to stop light penetration..works great!

Or you could just put them in bubble buckets and lose the table and drip all together and make life easy on yourself..

I haven't seen a picture of your system so I don't know... that much hydroton in a 4 x 4 foot table can get really frickin messy, really frickin quick.

They sell HUGE rockwool cubes, 12 x 12 x 12's(or are they 10 inch?) anyway.. DIg out the centers a little, set your net pots inside.. set up your drip.. You should be good to go.

The flood tables are great for rockwool cubes but still perform better when covered and flooded not dripped, really shine for sog growing. In the mean time you can cover the tray with typar (exterior house covering cloth) or some other material that breaths but is light blocking, just tape up the slices that you make getting it around the stalks. Just throwing this out there as I have never tried it lol.