What's the best pot size for full season given an unlimited plant count?

I was originally thinking of doing 800 gallon pots and quad planting but if plant count is less of an issue, what size pot would allow the most yield per sq ft in the same area the 800 gals would take up? A bunch of 200 gals? What other considerations am I missing?

I have only been pulling 1.5-5 lb plants with my average being around 2.5. So if I assume that average next year, I figure I would shoot for 3 plants in a 200 gal, but what happens if you have three really vigorous plants in a 200 gallon? Can you push out 11# from a 200? I assume you would eventually be watering twice a day and feeding constantly?

i wouldn't quad plant if you don,t have too , lots of waste on the inside thats sun can,t penetrate . plants competing for food especially in smaller pots .

i,m finding 300 are ok size for what your talking about ,

i presume your thinking of extra soil costs , end day its little compared to the reward .you did well last season no reason not to go all in

Beanz I did shit last season lol. 2.5 lb average. I just want to ensure yield. I would actually be buying the same amount of soil or more because there would be more pots. Ten 1 lb plants is a lot easier to bet on than 1 10#er, but there must be an in-between. 5 2#ers? You can pull 6# from one plant in a 200 gal but I can't bet on that. Say double planted 300 gals. That should be 3.5-6#. I think you might be right with 300gals which is convenient since I have some.

i dont see why your interested in quad or doubles , numbers are numbers .....run them in singles and you'll do a lot better imo . have some back ups at the ready to double up if a few are lacking in health or growth .

i doubled a few up towards the end of the season , though the originals will be out and not crowding the late start that was planted ...... but i,m not fighting a set finishing time and they are full blown sativa,s .

shit hay last season , hay lots guys be happy with 2.5 average if they are not sup lighting start season . don,t beat yourself up your not going to be an expert overnight . your going to learn somthing new each season . think strain ....... its the main difference i,m seeing , you have the ancient plant only them . dont mess with unknown strains do proven strains its always my biggest downfall i,m learning your interested in other strains test them as late starts see how they yield and smoke .

if your goals are 10 pounders then you need to follow the other boys that do them , and run 800 , work out what the goal is and keep going to you get there , its just time and learning and you'll be there soon enough .

do you not have a plant count ? do 200 x 300 gallons ..... you'll hit your target .

Thanks beanz. I don't take the shitty yield personal. Ifeel pretty proud actually. I just know yield should be much higher. Tho it is disheartening when I hear people pull 6 lbs out of 100gal.

Anyway, I have limited space, and no plant count per se but I wouldnt want to pack it full of 100 gals just because of what it might look like from the air. The reason for planting more than one per pot is because I haven't been able to take advantage of the soil volume with one plant. I don't trust that I will pull 6# single plants in a 200gal. Double triple or quad plants mean easier yield and it won't look as bad from the sky. Shcrews for example had some triple planted 800s that outyielded his singles. I could try singles in 800s but why would I expect 8# avg if I only pulled 2.5# avg out of ~400 gal. And that one plant better be the right one. If my growing skills are still developing(or maybe it's my 285 alkalinity water....) then I fgure I can make up for it with extra plants.

You never know, but... weed tree stories can be a bit like fish stories. The 3 lb'r becomes a 4, then a bit more whiskey and its a 6lb'r.

Also depends on what people harvest. Some people trim every little everything. Part of the reason outdoor has a bad reputation. You get a pound that has 3/4th of a pound of good bud, and 1/4th of hash material.

To the topic. Some of it should depend on when you want to plug your plants into the final homes. You could grow a 1lb plant planting very late in the season, making health and vigor easy.

I saw a 1.5 lb plant in a 45 gallon pot this last season. Was pretty impressive.

Try a couple different sizes, so you can actually get some real data.

I agree with Baked, don't plan on 2x, 3x, 4x planting. Better to do single plants with nice spacing. Mid/Late season if you have some empty canopy can always move some extra plants in.

Also don't use a smaller pot and plant super early. Don't want to be root bound at the start of July.

I thought about going in smart pots this year, was going to do 200s, each pot on top of a pallet. Seemed like a good amount, a lot of soil but not a wasteful amount. The pallet is nice, adds some airflow to the bottom and you can always move them around if needed.

Plant count is still a bit of a concern to us, otherwise would plug a couple 1000 in July in 45s. Canopy to thick or to thin, just adjust the pots.

Mr^^

MedResearcher said:

You never know, but... weed tree stories can be a bit like fish stories. The 3 lb'r becomes a 4, then a bit more whiskey and its a 6lb'r.

Click to expand...

fucking classic ,

triple planting 800 compared to 300 is a totally different thing . if anything it will counteract what your actually trying to achieve more than likely imo . test run this season before you fully commit would be a good idea ,

abandon any strains that haunt been proven in your area , your in safe hands with AOG , cause it proven and very mold resistant also .
your grow was dream beaver or something last year ? have i got it right ..... was yours the ones in rows planted together ? or have i got it mixed up .

put it this way .

go on instgram , have look at the big plant growers , 1 plant per pot . if quads were proven and a better way to go , well they would be doing it .
https://www.instagram.com/massiveseeds/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/benson.elvis/?hl=en

You guys bring up a great point- I have to make sure I don't overplant. And MedR I like your idea of trying multiple sizes and plantings. I just think you have too much faith in my garden. Plants per soil volume should be relative to plant start size, planting date, and expected growth. I have terrible water, below average direct sun hours, and a lack of experience. If I have one plant in an 800gal, and for shcrews thats like 5-13#, but for me that's like 2.5-7 probably. So the plant isn't making use of all that soil volume and it relies on plant selection way too much. If you had small late starts you would plant more per pot right? I am just anticipating that even with good starts I will need more per pot. So I base plant count per pot based on my avg per plant and what that size pot should yield. Ie, if a good grower with good water and sun can pull 6# out of a 200gal and I pull 2.5 out of 300gal then I should plant three per 200gal.. maybe 2, in anticipation that I do more things right this year. But I also dont have much experience with this. But look at Shcrews. You would think it would be a terrible idea for him to put three in an 800gal when you look at the size of his plants by harvest but it did great for him. Tho of course he knew which ones to trple plant based on his expectations of their growth.

Beanz regarding strain, half of them will be Blue Dream this time The other half are confirmed good yield and loud-- I do need some variety. And yea thatwas me- i had bodhi varieties like bbhp and db.

I pulled 1.5 lb plants my first year in 300s with 1gal rootbound plants planted in mid july. I think I will fill the space with 300s and double plant. Should pull 6#. Might try quad planting some.

well you got my advice , and i,m pretty sure if i was wrong , guys here be scrawling up my ass telling me/us different .

do one in a pot for me , ancient og cheers ,

I will single plant the biggest AOG f2 and the biggest Blue Dream for you beanz. And for me too because I do want to grow huge trees still.. Not cheater trees

I did a lot of forum searching and compiled these quotes on multi planting and pot size. I'll put em here to add to the convo anc for posterity. I am using a shitty phone so sorry about the non-formatting.



4 plants per usually yields 15 to 20 percent more. I did all 4 packs in 2011. There isn't much trail to blaze in this outdoor growing trip.


I planted 4per 150gallon pot in july and they caught up or passed the singles planted in june. def worth it with late starts.*


It was a great idea. We*double*planted our cherry pies and also triple-planted one pot with 3 seed plants, they really haven't crowded each other much, and helps insure a decent yield from each pot without having to rely on the performance of a single plant.*Damn these plant limits!!! Anyway here is my advice on the subject, i'm really stoned hope it makes sense:

-triple plant instead of*double*plant. triple fills out pots better and looks more like one plant.


My biggest year a lot of my mounds had 4 plants in them, just plant them as far as possible from one another. Plants communicate and don't grow in to each other as much as one might think. If you're already raising the plants you're planning on growing full term and able to keep them healthy stacking 4 plants isn't going to do you any better. Unless you're talking about doing it 12x12x2 mound...then you may end up with 15+ per depending on your skills and the fall.

If you're hell bent on growing OG, I'd stack those up and go singles on the glue


*triple plant clones in 300's ftw! in soil


I double planted CP my first year and got 4.5 off a 200. i did single plants the next year and only got around 3.5, i dont remember exactly how big they were but they didn't go out until may 28th and were around 3-4 feet probably.


i double planted my pots in 2012 because i got a late mid june start and still hit 3=4 per 200. double planting works great in some cases but ideally i would rather have one big monster.


Thats the general rule ive seen too...even talked to guys who did giant 6-8lb monsters who said they would prefer to do smaller 100-200 gallon pot plants...they are easier to maintain and stay healthier.


Guarantee I can out grow a 1000 gal pot with smaller pots no problem. Like I said, I have grown 4 pound plants in 65 gallon containers. Unless you can literally grow a 60 pound plant in that 1000 gal container you stand no chance. However, if you are only allowed 12 plants, then the extra soil makes it well worth doing.


ll tell you right now 1000 gal cant do what 3 plants in 300s will do thats a fact. and it will be much harder to maintain.


First of all I wouldnt even consider for a second, going for 1000gal containers unless you are getting full unobstructed sunlight from sunrise to sunset..........you can get 10 lb plants in the right conditions in 300 gallons of soil, no need for any more than that imo, if you still need more yeild per plant, maybe consider multi cropping. I realize most people are adhering to plant count numbers, but like OO said, 5x200 or 10x100 will absolutely crush 1x1000 in both yield and quality, if given a choice Id take more smaller plants over less bigger plants every single time.


If you don't have to take plant numbers in to account, I think more 200's would fill the space more efficiently. You definitely get more yield per pot out of the larger size. I like to put 3 plants in the bigger pots. instead of growing one monster plant. I just think the 1-2 lb plants are easier to manage.


Given the choice, Ill take 2 x 100s over 1 x 200 every single time, and especially 4x100 vs 1x400. Only way I would do otherwise is if I were forced to with plant count limits. I do have about 30% 200s in my gardens, the rest are 100s.

Well there's only one way to find out yeah?

A couple seasons back I did 1 1/4 elbows in 65gals (also east coast)... it was my first season outdoors and i beleive i could easily see 2 elbows in 65's with the experience i have now. although i go into the earth now... pm me and i'll send you some pics

Agree with easier to deal with smaller plants. Think like 3-4 lbs is plenty large enough. Start to loose all sorts of efficiency on the larger plants.

If I cant reach the center of the plant with my arms, its to big. Last year the garden was so overgrown. We would have to climb under the canopy then stand inside the tree and reach as far as possible to clean them out. We ended up using 3 layers of hortinova, and we still had colas laying on each other in the rain. Only way to get to the top of the plants to harvest was to harvest the side, then drive an ATV up the mound into the tree, and stand on top of a box strapped to the ATV rack. It was a nightmare of overgrown and overcrowded plants.

With a good harvest season, dry and warm. Its easier to get away with a lot of sloppy stuff. A tough harvest, like this last year, we had almost non stop rain during october you notice stuff that doesn't work well. Like spacing plants to close together.

I would rather have 3 plants in 3x 100 gallon pots, than 3 plants in a single 300 gallon pot. Being able to space them and get more airflow is crucial to quality clean product. Only reason I would even think about cramming plants together is if you were limited by square feet.

The real limiting factor is square feet. Some genetics will produce more grams per square foot. Also plant health will allow genetics to reach there maximum grams per square foot. If you add square feet you will harvest more weight. Space those fuckers out, who cares about yield per pot or plant, its all about total yield and quality of yield. More space, more plants, more yield. If your limited by space, then work on grams per square foot by adjusting genetics, pruning, training, root health, soil health, irrigation frequency, etc.. over crowding plants is just a recipe for disaster in many ways.

Id go more smaller pots. See a lot of guys jump into huge pots and not get very much at all. Watering a giant pot takes a little finesse to coach the roots to fill the whole pot. An unhealthy root system in 300, 500, 1,000 gallons isn't going to yield. Would be better off in a smaller pot, where you can get a feel for the irrigation better. So if you throw 3 plants into 300 gallon, its easier to not fuck it up, you don't need to coach the roots to the edge. It has nothing to do with the triple planting but more that each plant has only 100 gallons of soil. Better off spacing them, more light, more airflow, more room to work. All of those drastically help prevent issues, like pests, and mold.

Gl on the season, excited to see some pics. So many ways to skin a cat, whichever you choose I am sure will work fine.

Mr^^

Tech, i would prefer a bunch of small pots. My girlfriend grew a 2.5 lb plant in 20 gallons of soil (partially filled half wine barrel). Secret was the bottom was rotted and the roots grew into the native clay. Not sure how she pulled 2.5 considering 1) all the gophers around 2) how little she paid attention to it. There was some old dirt from the previous renters that she mixed some 707 into and maybe a quarter bag of chicken manure, i set up irrigation for her and the thing took off. I hit it with a little mkp in flower becauseit looked hungry and that was it. Barneys farm vanilla kush.

Anyway, MR thanks for the input. Your story of dealing with harvest is kind of amazing- it really paints a picture of a massive tree.

I worry a little bit about going in smaller pots. I would rather do 100 or 200s but 300s put my plant count (as it looks from the sky) as high as i feel comfortable with.

I was thinking 11' centers for 300s.