solo cups

[Spork]

I know a lot of you guys use solo cups but has anyone ever used the 32oz plastic cups from a gas station or Micky D's? I figure you could get a bigger root ball that way but there has to be a downfall somewhere or people would be using them. I ask this because I have a friend at the gas station that said i could get a couple sleaves for store cost.

A 32oz cup is about double the size of my 4 inch pots. I would start smaller and pot up to these.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Try a heated long Philips's Screwdriver. I stack 10 high, then heat the driver tip on the stove. Goes through all 10 cups like butter. I put a total of 5 holes in the bottom, (1 in the middle and 4 on the sides). Takes me me less than 10 minutes. Just make sure you have great ventilation and hold your breath when melting the plastic, those fumes are no good for you. 

I use that method but I only put one drainage hole at the bottom it seems to be good enough as long as you have a good soil. Good soil is a game changer and I found out after growing one of my plants that grew really slow and as soon as I changed to Happy Frog it exploded in growth and in a month doubled in size. 

 

[geeme]

Solo cups - I just use scissors on them, not a drill. Go in at the edge of the bottom - you know how they kind of have corners - I snip at an angle into each corner, effectively making a 'v' on top and bottom so it ends up like a folded diamond-shape.

 

[SL3]

Solo cups - I just use scissors on them, not a drill. Go in at the edge of the bottom - you know how they kind of have corners - I snip at an angle into each corner, effectively making a 'v' on top and bottom so it ends up like a folded diamond-shape.

Interesting. That is one I have not heard of yet. I will take note of that.

 

[Dulac]

I grew a plant last year in a 7/11 cup. It worked out very well. I prefer red solo cups to conserve height space. I use a knife to put holes in my red solo cups. I stab em! It's a good idea to get the bottom and the sides.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think there is anything wrong with using clear cups for starts or seedlings. I just wouldn't want to leave them in there to grow for to long. I have always heard light and roots don't mix. The plastic might just break up the light.

 
That's not really a problem. It didn't seem to affect my plants. However, algae would grow.

 

[beerbreath81]

I use 4" pots in a flat like these.
They are cheap and last several seasons.
 
 

 

I also use these, they maximize the soil space under the grow lights, with round ones there is alot of wasted space around the cups.

Where do you get these?

 

[Proud Marine Dad]

I bought mine from the Charlies Greenhouse website.


http://www.charleysgreenhouse.com/index.cfm?page=_productdetails&productid=8551&s=4%22%20pots&cid1=-99&cid2=-99&cid3=-99

 

[Walti72]

 
Where do you get these?

In SA we have shops that sells mainly plastic products. I found they sell pots much cheaper than the nurseries.

 

[catherinew]

Believe it or not, I saw some for sale at W.M. the other day.  Didn't see a price because I wasn't really interested in purchasing any.  It looked like they had the pots in the tray.  Same pic as above.

 

[spysee]

I too saw(and purchased) a similar setup at walmart. The "pots" are much shorter than the ones in that picture though. I plan on using them to hold these that I ordered( http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/square-coir-pots/coir-pots )
 
The one at walmart has black tray and orange pots that are all connected, but serrated to separate them.
 
If I remember right it was 4.97 with 18 cells.