flower in 2g or 3g pots with coco?

[vindiesel]

i'm making the switch from promix bx to canna coco. i start seedlings in 1 or 2qt pot, transplant to 2g after 3 weeks veg, and finally to a 3g once they are ready for flowering. i read sometimes alot of experienced guys flowering in 2g pots??? is this right. it makes more sense to me flowering in a 3g since coco will have faster and superior roots compared to promix or soil...thx.
vin

 

[Mr. Bongjangles]

I believe the answer depends on your watering methodology, though in general I'd go with the bigger pots assuming they will fit without trouble.

If you are using an automated method, like flood and drain or drippers, you can likely get away with the smaller pots without much, if any, impact on yield.

As they flower though, you will need to increase the watering frequency, potentially up to multiple times per day to prevent the medium from drying out and keep up with the plants needs. I strongly suspect the grows you've seen with smaller pots are using some kind of automated watering setup.

If you handwater, I most definitely recommend larger pots, as you don't want to end up having to water them 2 times a day yourself or whatever for the last month.

Some strains root more than others in flowering, so if you're monocropping a known strain, that could factor into your decision as well.

 

[The Wild Eep]

Mr Bong I agree with ya on the strain's rooting rate in flower.

Other than that, I'm doin some 1 gal monsters (for a 400) and some very respectable ladies in 32 oz cups. What's more, I'm hand-watering and never more than once a day in either size container.

Vin, it really depends on strain, veg time, and light intensity. Since this is your first time in coco, I'd say do 1 gallon for flowering with a 30 day veg from seed. However, we need to know veg time, strain, lights, and whether you're from seed or clones.

Good luck with the switch! You'll never go back to pro-mix, buddy!

 

[vindiesel]

i hand water. i veg 5-8 weeks, usually 6. strain i just harvested was GHS cheese and nebula. cheese is weak yielder. nebula pretty decent supposedely. light is a 400CMH. usually from seed, for now. soon mostly clones. but seeds plentifull if need be. thx 4 any help guys. first strain with coco will either be sensi star clones and/or jillybean or sour banana OG. the SBOG and JB are known for heavy yields. but so is nebula...so....

 

[The Wild Eep]

Hmm, I dunno man. The fact you're vegging 6 avg I'd say 2 gallon containers would be best, but then you're only running a 400w so I'd say 1 gallons. I'm conflicted, lol. Maybe get 1.5s or try running side by side 1s and 2s, see what works better first hand.

How many plants and total sq ft? Training? You say the first coco run will be clones - does that mean you're still going for a 6 wk veg? I'm guessing you're at most 8 sq ft, so if you went with 3 gallons (which I'd suggest with a 6 wk veg from rooted clones) you could do 6 or so plants efficiently.

 

[Mr. Bongjangles]

Mr Bong I agree with ya on the strain's rooting rate in flower.

Other than that, I'm doin some 1 gal monsters (for a 400) and some very respectable ladies in 32 oz cups. What's more, I'm hand-watering and never more than once a day in either size container.

Vin, it really depends on strain, veg time, and light intensity. Since this is your first time in coco, I'd say do 1 gallon for flowering with a 30 day veg from seed. However, we need to know veg time, strain, lights, and whether you're from seed or clones.

Good luck with the switch! You'll never go back to pro-mix, buddy!

Hey eep, that's a good point about the light/environment, I run a 1k and exchange the air pretty rapidly so humidity never builds up, both making my plants use more water than they would under a smaller light or recirculating air setup.

That said, I stand by my recommendation to use the largest pots possible, regardless of environmental or setup differences.

You can take rootbound plants to flower, and they might even get used to drinking once a day, but you're just cheating yourself out of yield. Even if not technically rootbound, once the roots have to struggle to find new area to grow that will have an adverse effect on growth.

I've put this to the test with clones.. 1 month veg time, then either left in their 2.5 gallon pots or transplanted into 4 gallon pots.. The plants in the 4 gallon pots out-yielded the smaller pots by a significant margin.

We're talking an extra quarter to half ounce of bud per plant that took up the same amount of space and cost me 1-2 dollars worth of extra coco. That's about 6 extra ounces per round off my 1k, for doing nothing different but using larger pots.

I know coco is magically awesome and you can make things happen in smaller pots that is just impossible in soil, but I don't see that as a reason to use a smaller pot than you can fit based on the total amount of plants you intend to run.

 

[The Wild Eep]

How does a 2.5 gallon container take up as much space as a 4 gallon?

Thing is, he didn't say how many plants he intends to run.

I'm saying for square footage efficiency you can SOG more 2.5s in your space than 4s and yield more. More plants, more bud if done right. Try doing all 2.5s next round, I bet the added plants do ya better than 6 ounces.

But yes, coco is magically awesome!

 

[Mr. Bongjangles]

How does a 2.5 gallon container take up as much space as a 4 gallon?

I'm saying for square footage efficiency you can SOG more 2.5s in your space than 4s and yield more. More plants, more bud if done right. Try doing all 2.5s next round, I bet the added plants do ya better than 6 ounces.

Each plant took up the same amount of space in the tray, specifically about a square foot each. Nothing to do with the container size.

As for your suggestion/statement, no, adding more plants in the 2.5's will not increase yield. I already veg the plants to the appropriate size to fill the tent with the plant numbers I've chosen, so that could only increase yield were there extra space to fill with colas.

It's about making the colas that fill the space bigger and heavier once you're stacking your space efficiently.

Here's a hypothetical - 2 coco growers, both running 50 plants under their light in high density with the pots as close together as possible. Identical feeding and environment.

One difference - one uses round pots and one uses square. Which grower yielded more?

Based on my experience and trials with clones, the grower with the square pots will yield more due to the extra rootspace that is not lost with the round pots.

So yea, I'd say - more roots, more bud. Not more plants, though that is one potential route to more roots.

 

[The Wild Eep]

Your analogy is flawed. Round v. Square and 2.5 Gallon v. 4 Gallon are not the same. When you go from 2.5 to 4 gallon pots you're either increasing square footage or taking away plants, assuming you have your containers as close together as possible. It's the basic principle of a SOG, which is accepted to yield the most of any method. Get your containers closer together, increasing canopy density. If that means you veg a little less, then bonus! Remember, Gram per watt per month.

Containers' size and proximity to one another for efficiency.

 

[Mr. Bongjangles]

Your analogy is flawed. Round v. Square and 2.5 Gallon v. 4 Gallon are not the same. When you go from 2.5 to 4 gallon pots you're either increasing square footage or taking away plants, assuming you have your containers as close together as possible. It's the basic principle of a SOG, which is accepted to yield the most of any method. Get your containers closer together, increasing canopy density. If that means you veg a little less, then bonus! Remember, Gram per watt per month.

Containers' size and proximity to one another for efficiency.

No, your assessment is flawed.

That was just a device to help you understands that "more plants" is really a secondary matter, and that with the same amount of plants, more root space will yield more.

And when did I say my pots were as close together as possible?

Your arrogance regarding my growing method is really astounding considering you have *one* coco grow under your belt.

Get back to photoshop and whip up some more ugly fake drawings, as I'm done responding to you and your inexperienced opinions.

 

[~fvk~]

3 gallons is almost way overkill unless you're running them with a shit ton of perlite or amending it with other stuff... You have no idea how big of a plant you could grow in a 3 gallon container of pure coco...

 

[The Wild Eep]

LOL! Somebody's pissy today! I hope you're not really done reading my posts but if so that's fine we won't muck up this dude's thread.

I'm not being arrogant in the least bit, man. You're refuting the evidence that SOG yields most. Did you bother to read my post?

Glad you stopped in to my diary! You do realize you sound like a 12 year old with that comment, right? I've got an idea, post your thoughts in that thread.

Still not sure what got you so hot and bothered but whatever.

 

[CMoon]

rough guide in my experience, 5 plants grown in 3 gal coco under 1x 600 = 15/20oz strain related.

in the same area' 8 plants grown in 2 gal under same 600 = 15/20oz but with one weeks less veg

bests cmoon

 

[vindiesel]

yeah when i transplant from 1qt to 2g at 3 weeks with promix, the roots are good but not abundant and white and covering root ball. same when i go from 2g to 3g. doesnt really look necessary. if i'm already used to doing it like this now, wouldnt bigger pots with coco just mean stronger more abundant, faster roots...? if u give coco plants room with big pots, will coco fill up with roots alot faster than with promix? i would like the little extra room though flowering in a 2g instead of 3g.

 

[AndreNicky]

I have 12 plants in 1 gal grow bags atm, i planning on transplanting them into 3gal for flower but after seeing this thread maybe i should just go with 2gal? Probally only gonna have around 6-10 plants going into flower depending on how many males i got(all under a 1k light), growing in 100% coco

 

[Mr. Bongjangles]

I have 12 plants in 1 gal grow bags atm, i planning on transplanting them into 3gal for flower but after seeing this thread maybe i should just go with 2gal? Probally only gonna have around 6-10 plants going into flower depending on how many males i got(all under a 1k light), growing in 100% coco

If you can fit the larger pots, go for it.

Your plants are from seed I gather since you're removing males, so you won't know how much they will continue to grow roots in flower. It is likely you will have some plants that root more during flower than others unless the strain is extremely consistent. I would play it safe and use bigger pots for that reason alone.

Even if the strain doesn't do any better for the extra root space, you'll be able to decrease your watering frequency. When I hit about 30 days into flowering, I needed to water the 2.5 gallon pots every day with most strains, and with the 4 gallon pots I can water every 2-3 days at that point.

Its no big deal when I'm doing rounds of clones hooked up to my drippers, but when I'm doing seed runs or mixed batches, some plants are going to be on pots and stuff to maintain an even canopy, and I prefer to handwater at that point than re-do all the drip lines. Having some run further would make them uneven as well.

Anyways, you'll know for sure after the first round when you get to inspect the rootballs and have seen which ones demand water sooner than the others as they flower. If the larger pots seem unnecessary at that point, right on, but at least you gave them the chance to show you what they can do with more.

I also suspect you'll find the plant that produces the most is the one that has grown the most roots in the container, and thus the one that would benefit the most from increased pot size.

 

[B00st3d]

Welcome to the dark side Vin. I use 5 gallon buckets under four 600's but Im also growing in cococan/perlite mix. Cococan is coco with worm castings premixed in there. I have 6 plants in my other flowering room right now that are in 2 gallon containers under a 600 and they just cant compare with the ones in 5 gallons. I personally think 2 gallons is too small but then again Im only on my 4th coco grow in the last year so Im not yet an expert. I would say get 3 gallons since youre not running alot of watts. But 2 gallons just seems so small to me. Call me ole fashion I guess

 

[AndreNicky]

Thanks Mr. bojangles!

 

[The Wild Eep]

^^ 1 gallon, 25 day veg from seed under 400w in straight coco.

^^ 1 quart, 20 days veg from seed under 400s in straight coco.

"bite me troll" LOL! Thanks for the negative rep, Mr Bongjangles, ya fuckin' child.

 

[~fvk~]

rough guide in my experience, 5 plants grown in 3 gal coco under 1x 600 = 15/20oz strain related.

in the same area' 8 plants grown in 2 gal under same 600 = 15/20oz but with one weeks less veg

bests cmoon

How long did you veg for? That's the thing right there... I think that 3 gallons should be left for straight up trees, I mean TREES... Big ass hempwoods in the cannazon forest and shit... If your plant isn't rooted up nicely in the 3 gallon when you go to flower, it's gonna be somewhat counter productive, and you may run into overwatering issues... Just my two cents...