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Yes, those small square planters are
very restrictive as far as giving adequate room for
rootmass. They are really only productive if you are
growing from small clones, otherwise they tend to stunt
growth and thus reduce potential yield.
Modifying them to have more holes around the
sides near the bottom is a must, it will encourage a
nice healthy root mat in the tray around the planters.
Building
a cover plate to suspend the square planters over the
tray will allow the roots to freely flow out of the
planters without any possible damage caused by the
weight of the planters sitting on the root-mat and
blocking the holes. (similar to picture below)
Better yet, use orchid pots or net
pots, suspended over the tray by a cover plate with
holes cut to place the pots thru.
The suspended
planter or *orchid pot method provides the maximum for
root mat development. The optimum root mat develops when
a modified orchid pot co net pot is used.
Modified (left) and standard (right) Orchid pot
co netpots
*Orchid pots are heavy duty net pots
made by the Orchid pot company, they are better than
ordinary net pots because they have a flange molded into
the top of the pot, allowing for the net pot to be
suspended in a hole without the risk of the combined
plant/pot/rocks weight causing it to fall thru the hole.
Orchid pots are available from grow stores and they
usually sell for about $1.50 each (10 for $15.00), good
cheap and easy to use.
The modified net pot
allows for superior root growth and prevents common root
damage which can happen when the roots hang down over
the sharp edges of the plastic net pot openings.
Another option is to simply fill the entire tray
with grow rocks and forget about using any pots or
planters, this will give an adequate root growth space.
*Almost as good as the suspended orchid pot method.
10k
See also DWC
conversion of ebb & flow tray systems
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