hydroponic Hydroponic plant support

Okay so I can't be the only one who ends up in a frustrating situation and are left with the thoughts, "you stupid idiot! Why didn't you see this coming and do something about it sooner!!"

Well last week I went through that when my two largest plants in dwc gave up in the battle for support and they both laid right over. They became so top heavy and the 6 inch net pots of hydroton was unable to hold it up. A problem everyone trying to grow big plants in hydroponics will come across. Well not wanting to look like an idiot and ask all you geniuses on here how you all managed to overcome this easily foreseeable problem that I was too stupid to predict, I decided to ask the only source that wouldn't judge mindless daft questions... Google!!

So I googled "hydroponic plant support" and like all searches based on hydroponic subjects, a plethora of marijuana sites pops up. They all advise drilling holes in the bucket cover around the net pot and pushing a tomato cage down into the cover and letting it rest on the first ring. This is really Genius and would work great if moron Dan didn't already have 4 foot high plants that are stretching 3 feet wide. Other people suggest using ropes to support from loops on the wall and roof etc but isn't it hard enough to lift the plant out of the bucket for nute changes?

Well I thought long and hard and decides that a plant stake will have to work. I went to lowes and bought the thickest plastic stakes I could find. The ones I got have ridges going down the stake which is perfect! Two of these would work great and I even realized how to put it in the bucket! You drill two undersized holes 180 degrees apart and force the rods down into them until they touch the bottom of the bucket. The plant can then be tied loosely to these stakes with zip ties or something similar. The fit in the lid is so tight and the ridges help to make the fit very secure that they stand upright and do a great job at providing support. So for those of you who didn't have the gift of foresight, it's not too late! Go out and buy some stakes!









Good luck all!

I like your idea. I was thinking about tying 3 stakes around the outside of the bucket to provide support, but since I have 8 and 10" pots, the plants haven't gotten heavy enough to topple those larger net pots yet. Actually, my Butch T in a 10" pot has so much rock in the bucket that I have stakes just shoved into the rock holding it up.
 
The tomato cage is a great idea...for next year since we obviously all lack the foresight on how we are going to support the plants.

This is how I did my setup to support my tomato hydro grow. Cage and as they have gotten bigger i just keep running lines to the top for support. Its working great so far. Only issue i have come across is the container I have them in isn't as sturdy as I thought so when its really full the sides start to buckle out on one side. Lesson learned though. Next season i will use a better box.  The plants are MUCH bigger now. almost to the top of the support. Pic is from when i first setup the support.
 

Here is what I finally ended up doing on my two largest hydro plants. 
 

They are zip tied to the bucket at the top and go down through the deck boards and the twine holds them in place. I should also mention that the handles of the buckets are secured to the wall behind the plants so they can't fall over. 
 
 
Butch T below .

 
Brain Strain yellow

 
 
The twine around the top of the plants will help train them to grow up, not out. They only have about 3' or so in the hydro area for each plant and the canopies on these two were at least 4' across before I staked them earlier today. 

It will keep me from breaking branches if I get any more pods on that brain strain. Must be 20 large pods on there and it is only the middle of June. 

Looking really good, Jeff.
 

Loving everyone's ideas here. I too became the victim of a "you stupid idiot! Why didn't you see this coming and do something about it sooner!!" moment. My tomato fell over and partially crushed my Douglah, and Brain Strain. Casualty photos can be seen in my glog.
 
I'm really liking what I see here, and will be taking some of these ideas back to the drawing board for future grows!

Dan, just use your bunghole sprayer 9000, you won't need to worry about your plants getting too large

I've thought about this subject a lot, a I've had plenty of hydro plants get top-heavy. After looking on the MJ sites(cause those guys are pros at hydro) I've come up with an idea, but have yet to implement it.

Why not build a screen with PVC and twine and mount it on legs attached to the bucket lid at a height of 6" or so? You can easily remove the plant for res changes, and you can train the plant to grow out to the edges of the screen, while keeping an even canopy. Think SCROG for chiles.

SCROG?

It's an MJ growers term. Screen Of Green.

Thanks for the link Jeff....perfect!!!!

scratchzilla said:

I've thought about this subject a lot, a I've had plenty of hydro plants get top-heavy. After looking on the MJ sites(cause those guys are pros at hydro) I've come up with an idea, but have yet to implement it.

Why not build a screen with PVC and twine and mount it on legs attached to the bucket lid at a height of 6" or so? You can easily remove the plant for res changes, and you can train the plant to grow out to the edges of the screen, while keeping an even canopy. Think SCROG for chiles.

Click to expand...

 
LST (low stress training) is a fun technique that can be used to reduce plant height.
10" of plant using no more than 2" of height above the pot.

Tank said:

LST (low stress training) is a fun technique that can be used to reduce plant height.
10" of plant using no more than 2" of height above the pot.

Click to expand...

Would this in any way affect pod production?

sp33d said:

Would this in any way affect pod production?

Click to expand...

 
I find, that depending on your climate, this may have a tendency to affect air flow through the plant.  This can result in some pretty nasty issues with things like powdery mildew. 
 
I have used this technique with mixed results.  I've gone permanently back to vertical training.

Heres one of my older plants that was LST`d in its early years. I let it do its own thing these days but it stays fairly compact. Everything in the pic is this seasons growth, so far its 4ft round and 18" above the pot. no shortage of pods. For scale the planter is 400mm across the flats.