Container Size In Relation To Plant Size.

I see so much wasted space throughout this site it almost makes me feel ill. Why are people buying 2 gallon containers then only vegging for 4 weeks? What's the point? A whole gallon of wasted space.

In soil, now this is cold hard truth, if you veg' for 4 weeks you are looking at around an oz per plant, maybe a little more, maybe a LOT less. This should be the same yield whether you use a 1 gallon or 2 gallon container. In a 1 gallon container you're fine for up to 6 weeks of veg' (maybe longer) from seed. From clones 4 weeks is about it in a 1 gallon.

If you only intend to veg' for 4 weeks buy 1 gallon containers.

Its the added food in the soil, or thats what I at first thought, but after dropping to 8" pots from 12", ive increased my plant to space ratio and will be pulling about the same if not more from the smaller pots

say 1/2 oz each plant maybe more for a total of 6oz dry every harvest
{12 plants}

From my finding bigger plants have at least a foot at the bottom of each plant not getting any light so why not just {for me} grow 1-1/2 ft plants, after all you still have to feed the 1ft of nothing

yup, precisely why I've gone to SoG cramming 24 plants in the space that I used to house 2 plants in. I'm not using 1000watt hids and am getting tired of harvesting a gallon of popcorn buds. I'm trying to dial my setup in and get as much out of the space that I have.

I'm left wondering though, particularly about a comment made by fdd' where he surmised that there was no such thing as root bound, just how much bud we can cram out of a tiny 1/2 litre container.

True yes, we can veg' for 3-5 days and maybe accomplish anywhere between an 1/8th to a 1/2 oz per plant, depending on strain, expertise etc...

But... what if we vegetated them for longer? Gave them a 2 week veg' in those little containers instead? I've done a lot of experiments in the short amount of time I've been growing in an attempt to learn as much as I can.

I look at fdd's trees, then the tiny little pots that they sit in... and this gets me to thinking.

since you mentioned my name, i'll jump in......



maui wowie clone, put into this pot at 6" tall in april, been outside almost 6 months. it measures 5' 5" tall from the base of the plant to the tallest bud. the pot is not measured, just the plant. it is 5' across. it is flowering. i could add another 2 to 3 inches of soil if i really wanted to. i see no need.

I'm glad you have jumped in, as this has now strengthened my resolve to try this out. I'll use 1/2 litre containers and veg' them (clones) for two weeks. Ordinarily out of a 2 week veg' I expect something approaching 2oz per plant. So this is what I hope to achieve, i have the clones rooting now, should be only a couple of days before I can start.

Do intend to transplant into larger containers at flowering and if so, what size is best? ddymichael newbie

Bigbud said:

Its the added food in the soil, or thats what I at first thought, but after dropping to 8" pots from 12", ive increased my plant to space ratio and will be pulling about the same if not more from the smaller pots

say 1/2 oz each plant maybe more for a total of 6oz dry every harvest
{12 plants}
From my finding bigger plants have at least a foot at the bottom of each plant not getting any light so why not just {for me} grow 1-1/2 ft plants, after all you still have to feed the 1ft of nothing

Click to expand...

yo man how are you planning on growing a 1 ft plant and still get a decent yield? because i only have space for a 1-1 1/2 foot tall plant but i think it might be a bit too smaller space so i need to keep the plant tiny. any help would be good.
also the reason i looked at this post is to see what size plant pot i would need for a plant that tall.
any help is much appreciated.
cheers.

fdd2blk said:

since you mentioned my name, i'll jump in......



maui wowie clone, put into this pot at 6" tall in april, been outside almost 6 months. it measures 5' 5" tall from the base of the plant to the tallest bud. the pot is not measured, just the plant. it is 5' across. it is flowering. i could add another 2 to 3 inches of soil if i really wanted to. i see no need.

Click to expand...

U could use a smaller pot and less medium if u used airpots and fed them everyday and still pulled woteva u would out that pot!!

Do you suppose you could grow a plant in a 1 gallon container to 18 inches and then transfer to a 5 gallon bucket and get good results, or would you transplant sooner?

Zoysia714 said:

Do you suppose you could grow a plant in a 1 gallon container to 18 inches and then transfer to a 5 gallon bucket and get good results, or would you transplant sooner?

Click to expand...

If you're planning to grow trees...why wait for the plant to be 18 inches? The sooner you can put that plant in its permanent home the better. Unless of course you have an 18 inches plant already. In which case, you can transplant, assuming you know how to transplant and let the plant recover, though you might lose a week or 2 in the process.

Good result is subjective, depending on many variables. I've grown plants in a 4x4 rockwool only and pulled 2+ oz a plant average. Current grow is 1lb fabric pot with 4x4 rockwool and hydroton combined, I'll find out if that makes any difference in yield soon.

Pot size depends on how often you want to water.

If you go away for a week in the middle of flower id prefer to be in a pot that can hold a weeks worth of water.. Lots of people work week on, week off these days and lots of us just like to get away for a few days every month, larger pots helps us do this.

Hmmmm.
Old school rule of thumb. 1 # of pot size per zip grown.
Reality?
You can go over dbl that.

My rule... 6 ft finish. Solo to #1 as the roots coil the bottom of the solo. From #1's to #3's at the same point. Veg to needed height for finish size and trans to a # 5 and run 10 more days in veg and flip....This is especially for my SS organic soils. Some times (strain dependent) I use #7's for the SS... These get more topping for bushier plants too.
I do the same for any synthetic feeding I run (cept for the #7's).... Average 8+ zips from a #5 with GG4. About the same for some other strains as well. Best was over 12+ from a Blue Dream Pheno...

When running smaller pots with larger plants. You run the edge of getting build ups and pH problems. This is even more of a danger if you keep the soil wet for long periods (pH wise).
I prefer to water a metered amount, everyday.....I do "push" feeding to leaf tip's showing yellow. About an 1/8 of an inch.
I run for "potentials" and feel I get better results with most strains in those #5's, the way I run.....

I recycle my soils too....

Experimenting is the way for you to find "your" sweet spot.