how small of pot is too small?

[RuralRoute420]

.

.

i once grew plant in soil in an 8" pot, inside of a slightly larger pot. i would just fill bottom container full of water, let it sit in it till it sucked it dry, bone dry, and would repeat the process. worked good, but then i gave to a friend in need, and is still living. now, are there any drawbacks to this method of watering? i would occasionally flush through the top if any salt buildup occured....

 

[dre86]

So the size of pots used is very important to maximize yields?

I used 11 liter (2.5 gallons) pots on my previous grows and when pulling the plants out I noticed that the roots had reached the bottom of the pot.

So what size of pots you need to have the maximum yield and don't need to worry about the roots reaching the bottom of the pot? The biggest I have is 14 liter....

 

[Tutu]

So the size of pots used is very important to maximize yields?

I used 11 liter (2.5 gallons) pots on my previous grows and when pulling the plants out I noticed that the roots had reached the bottom of the pot.

So what size of pots you need to have the maximum yield and don't need to worry about the roots reaching the bottom of the pot? The biggest I have is 14 liter....

Probably about a 400 gallon pot, really. Cannabis will use upwards of 1000ltr of soil in the wild and has a long tap root. Don't worry about roots hitting the bottom of the pot, if they're rootbound more worrying. I seem to recall if your plants need watering more than 2-3 a week they're almost certainly rootbound(This only applys to soil of course).

Most important for yields isn't just pot size but good potting practices, you'll get more from a 6.5ltr pot that has been properly potted up than you would out an 11ltr pot that you put the plant straight into.

 

[dre86]

hmm can you explain me what you mean by potting up ? My English (or lack of) holds me back there.....

 

[aeric]

dre86: if you put them in a large pot immediately the roots all reach straight down to the bottom, then form a ring, concentrating on the lower portions of the container...if you go from small, to slightly larger, then slightly larger again - you get much more rootmass. That is potting up. So it is not just container size that is important, but size of root mass. In peat based soil this is the most likely scenario, with more 'hydroponic' mediums such as rockwool or coir the roots tend to spread throughout the medium more, rather than just straight down.

Plant size,pot size, rootmass, dryness or wetness of media in relation to oxygen capacity, frequency of irrigation all work together.

RR420: one of the drawbacks to bottom feeding are like u said - salt buildup. I like the traditional: feed every week or two with a stronger feed, then water from the bottom with plain (pH adjusted) water. If water is alowed to sit too long u get root rot. If u have a whole tray of them and say a constant 1-2" of water u can add airstones, or just an open airline to prevent rot and increase yield, then it becomes a very shallow water culture (VSWC lol) type setup. Otherwise they have to suck up all that water in a few hours.

 

[dre86]

thanks!!!

thanks!!!

Aeric you just teached me something wherefor I thank you, it's much appreciated!
I always went from very little (550cc) pots to 11l (3 gallon) pots.
/goes buying medium-sized pots

 

[RuralRoute420]

.

.

so root rot won't occur if i add airstone for added DO? well hell that sounds simple enough. but......wouldn't that make the roots want to grow out of cup. it's a fine line between soil and dwc, but i've wondered about this before. thanks your patience.

 

[hogleg hunter]

we been playing with some sewer pipe. 3" p x36" long we got some last grow 3 and 4 foots so dis grow we cut back to 2' pipes, for height reasons They were very root bound in the 3 footers after 60 days. but so far this grow in these shorter pipes all well. It's probably pretty gheto by some of your standards but we smoke it all the same. There's some ppp and k2 in the bloomroom right now and we're all waitng patiently for another 20 days or so nice talkin wit chu.

 

[pontiac]

For SOG plants you can use anything between 16oz SOLO cups and 1 gallon pots (even bigger if you wish). For plants that require a long veg cycle, such as ScrOG or LST plants you should aim for 2 gallons and more.

 

[RuralRoute420]

UPDATE

UPDATE

HERE THEY ARE TODAY, NOT MUCH TO LOOK AT, SITTING ON OUTSIDE OF PERIMETER OF 250HPS, SO NOT EXPECTING MUCH, BUT OTHERWISE, A WASTE OF SPACE HERE.

 

[bigjayworks]

i regularly go hydro, but i've run out of hydro setups to use, so i have these clones in 16oz dixie cups right now in soil. question - i've seen people flower in these before, is it hard? otherwise, i will rinse the roots and take them to the tray.

your clone has brown and yellowing tips.. did you find the problem.. i have the same things going on to my seedlings but not ass bad.. did you do anything to stop it from yellowing and turing brown

 

[aeric]

It looks like the typical yellowing that can happen sometimes during cloning. It's only on the lower, cut leaves.

 

[Guest]

I believe 1Gal is good enough. Here's an example of a plant with some 2 weeks left to go.

 

[Ronley]

Experiment as much as you can. Growers find out new thing all the time. I think this is good way of learning.

You are going to be sorry,
Just transplant them into bigger pots, they dont have to be in very large pots, but bigger. This way you will get a decent amount of buds, and the roots will not get rootbound.

I tried out an experiment last year where I planted a few strains in a smallish trough,
By the time of harvest there were 5 females all growing, very nicely. But I could have gotten a much better yield by just transplanting into a bigger pot. Not a hard thing to have done. In the end I was sorry.
Here are photos of the trough.

 

[RuralRoute420]

.

.

ronley, thanks for the advice, but our setups differ slightly. my plants are all in seperate containers, being bottom fed the whole way, and they are pretty much all the same size, and i did a major pruning on them, going for the main cola. plus as i've already stated before, this is for the helluva it. they are sitting around my E/F tray which is #1. i'm just catching some wasted light. i never do soil, i just wanted to see what happens. maybe i'll save others time also. i'm betting that i can pull something off of these.

i looked up the dates on these. day 12 of flower today.

 

[roflnade]

Is it okay to veg plants in dixie cups until they show sex, and THEN transplant them?

 

[aeric]

It's better not to confine them like that when they are from seed.

 

[RuralRoute420]

.

.

i'm just screwing off here guys, don't try this at home, i'm just one that likes to see for myself.....why, i ask

 

[Guest]

Have fun then! Don't forget to report results!

Speaking on efficiency: if I can fill a plant's pot with its buds harvested I'm a happy man.

 

[Verite]

Rules of thumb are a gallon of mix to every month/foot of growth.