whats wrong with a big pot?

[FarmerGreen]

I have read on various threads people saying not to put a plant in a pot which is too big. Why is that? One theory I heard was that the tap root needs to hit the bottom before the plant really starts growing.

Everytime I've chucked a seed in the ground they've grown into a tree bigger than myself, surely thats a pretty big pot?

 

[Guest]

big pot equals big pile o pot

 

[wishbone420]

room size should determent pot size. 2cents in the bucket

 

[DrKatz420]

It's about efficiency, and the analogy that the ground is just a great big pot doesn't really hold up here. When you are using pots, you have to fill them with soil, perlite, etc, all of which cost money (unless you're very lucky), take up space, and also usually need to be disposed of at some point. If you had a huge yard that would make this easy, you would just grow in the ground anyway, so it's mostly indoor growers who have to consider pot size. If you put a small indoor plant into a 50 gallon container, it probably won't get much bigger than if it was in a 5 gallon container, so it's a huge waste. Also, most indoor growers are limited on space, and you can obviously fit more small pots into the same area than big pots.

 

[FarmerGreen]

But if the plant is eventually gonna fill the big pot its ok? I was under the impression you should be repotting until your in a big pot, waste of time i thought.

 

[FarmerJoe]

Give them just enough room to grow, and then flower away.

 

[Johnny Rotten]

But if the plant is eventually gonna fill the big pot its ok? I was under the impression you should be repotting until your in a big pot, waste of time i thought.

It is far from a waste of time if you want big healthy root systems. The root limiting during veg. by re potting its what makes the root systems so dense. They grow for a bit then hit the walls and fill in, then it happens again.

It also sucks to have a whole lot of soil because it stays wet too long. You need to be watering every two-four days, it helps with air exchange and nutritional homeostasis...keeps the roots in the food, from my exp...

A big pot is great if the plant needs it.....

 

[ureapwhatusow]

its relative to a few factors

Law (plant count can dictate SOG or big and mean) for here peole do 9 big plants under a 1000 so they can run 8 lights and conserve plant count

strain (DJ Short had writtena great article about matching the enviroment for the soil down such as substrate depth and width)

 

[stinkyattic]

http://boards.cannabis.com/basic-gr...nuous-canopy-s-all-about-efficiency-baby.html
http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-faq...-pot-my-plant-why-not-put-seed-large-pot.html

There's an explanation in these two threads. I hope this isn't terribly poor form- we have LOTS of wicked useful ICMag threads linked over there, too, lol!

 

[saintgr8one]

The problem w/ growing them(asuming they r from seed) is probably disposing of the waste. (unless of course u can decompose) IF u can decompose, the bigger the pot the better. If u dont believe me, grow 23 plants(from seed), put 7 of them in the biggest container u can actually use, put 7 of them in what would normally be considerd the next phase, and stunt the rest, IF you can dispose of the waste, you will always give them as much root space as u can.
Good Luck!! Stay Safe

 

[gramsci.antonio]

http://boards.cannabis.com/basic-gr...nuous-canopy-s-all-about-efficiency-baby.html
http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-faq...-pot-my-plant-why-not-put-seed-large-pot.html

There's an explanation in these two threads. I hope this isn't terribly poor form- we have LOTS of wicked useful ICMag threads linked over there, too, lol!

So if you have just one plant and no space issues, but with time issues (less waterings=less care needed) using a big pot is better?

 

[stinkyattic]

So if you have just one plant and no space issues, but with time issues (less waterings=less care needed) using a big pot is better?

You still want to stick to a re-potting schedule that allows for fresh soil every 6 weeks. A funny thing, given 2 plants, one repotted on a schedule and one stuck in a big pot, the one started in the overly-large pot will actually have rootbound issues a lot faster than you might expect, and you could end up forcing an even LARGER pot than it would have needed, just to keep it healthy.

If you can't get there to water, an automated drip-to-waste in coco or another soilless is a good option.

 

[Microwido]

I have grown plants transplanted from 1 to 3 to 5 gallons, and grown one sitting in the 5 gallon from seed. The one that was in the 5 gallon its whole life grew faster.

Explain that someone? This contradicts what a lot of people will tell you. Transplanting from smaller to larger pots while it make the roots more compact, did not aid in a faster growing plant.

 

[mk6]

It also sucks to have a whole lot of soil because it stays wet too long. You need to be watering every two-four days, it helps with air exchange and nutritional homeostasis...keeps the roots in the food,

that... and it makes it diffucult to tell when they need to be watered again.
I lift my pots to see how heavy they are so to see if they can be feed.

I want to feed them (must resist) so they will grow bigger, faster, but I dont want to over water them - as they will wilt or get root rot fungus ect.

I find that in larger, deeper pots, the water goes to the bottom and sits,
the roots may not be able to reach it 'yet' so there it sits doing no good while
the top is all dry with no nutrents for the roots.

solution: transplant to a larger pot when needed - when is that? I let my plants tell me.

 

[gramsci.antonio]

I have grown plants transplanted from 1 to 3 to 5 gallons, and grown one sitting in the 5 gallon from seed. The one that was in the 5 gallon its whole life grew faster.

Explain that someone? This contradicts what a lot of people will tell you. Transplanting from smaller to larger pots while it make the roots more compact, did not aid in a faster growing plant.

Yeah.

I was used to repot, then once i have been too lazy and i put the seed straight into the soil.

I noticed a 20% faster grow, still maybe it has just been a better genotype.


I use big pot of coco: at the beginning i water just around the seedlings, after 3 weeks i do one big flush and then start watering as usual...

 

[Saibai]

I've recently transplanted some pretty small plants into some big pots I had from last years guerilla, its been raining heaps and I notice that one or two of them are seriously drooping...too wet. The big pots are holding too much moisture. The ones in the ground are fine.