New Grower How much pot can I squeeze out of my grow space?

[Dopey Jim]

Having just read WVR's excellent first time auto grow thingy, I was ruminating over how to get the best out of the ring culture growing mentioned (often mentioned for tomatoes) in a small space.
If I sow regular seeds into cut off 1 ltr pots and then slip another complete pot over the base (I presume this is done to stop the soil falling out) put them under the lights until sexed, throw the males and then rather than sink them into individual pots fill a large plastic box with gravel for drainage and a drainage hole and then usual soil and sink the ltr pots into that soil so canopy density is high (a la SOG) but there is very little competition at the roots due to the volume of soil and the lack of pot restriction on the roots.

I think this would also cut down on watering and make feeding easier.

Would be interested to know what anyone thinks, or if anyone is growing like this or if I just have to suck it and see.

 

[Muddy]

Let me see if I'm understanding this correctly. You're thinking of basically using the tiered planting method, starting in small pots, then placing all of those into a larger container, not individual pots? I've seen this done before with good results if, and it's a big if, all the plants are the same strain. If you've got different strains their nutrient requirements may be different and with everything in one big pot it's impossible to address them individually. Also, should you get a deficiency on one plant it will make it harder to address it as well. Personally, it's not something I'd try. I prefer individual pots so I can move them around, rotate them, etc. as needed.

 

[Dopey Jim]

good points muddy, I tried something similar once with photos (just planted the seedlings straight into a big box altogether ie not tiered) but as autos can be less forgiving I will try a limited experiment next grow and let the AFN know.