Pot Size???

[BrokenBone]

Ok i hear a lot out there that the bigger your pot the bigger the plant, well that is an issue for me. right now im playing with some bag seeds in small flowering pots(maybe like 16 fl oz) and i know it will be a small plant but i want to go out and buy a clone from the store and was wondering what size pot i should put it in if i dont want it to grow no more than 4 1/2 ft at most. so maybe some help n how big a pot i should get maybe a gallon? im a little limited on space cause its a closet grow room.

 

[mcpurple]

4 1/2 ft is a big plant to flower inside even under a 1000 watter. what are you flowering under and i think 2-3 gallon pots are good sizes.

 

[StonedBlownSkiller]

A 4 1/2 footer will require a 5 gal bucket in my opinion. Root masses get larger than you think my friend....lol

 

[Danthebull]

Rule of thumb is 1 gallon to 1 foot of growth.

Dan

 

[StonedBlownSkiller]

you will want to vegg it to 1 1/2 ft. by end of flowering it will be between 3-4 ft roughly....depending on strain and what not, whats your clone gonna be??

 

[BrokenBone]

right now im just playing around with growing nothing i plan on taking too seriously. i plan on getting an indica for sure but not sure of what strain(what ever is available. i actual adopted a shopping list from: http://www.how-to-marijuana.com/marijuana-grow-equipment.html
im still waiting on my light and some other stuff in the mail and i still need to go get the mylar and ph meter.
so with the rule of 1 gallon to 1 foot of growth does that apply to after its done flowering or before it even starts flowering

 

[mcpurple]

a 3 gallon pot is the most you should be using if you ant them smaller. ive had plants that would have been 4 ft tall if they werent lsted in 3 gallon pots,

 

[StonedBlownSkiller]

5 gal will get them through flowering and all....without worry of rootbound plants IMHO...seems like a easy way to go...I mean grow..

 

[BrokenBone]

another question, how do you get your plants to grow 7ft +? i have a friend that had them that big and he said to use goat milk but in my experience milk makes the soil very nasty smelling.

 

[mcpurple]

5 gal will get them through flowering and all....without worry of rootbound plants IMHO...seems like a easy way to go...I mean grow..

thats more soil then needed if a small grow and that can cause probs wit watering. and it takes up more room and he has limited grow space and root bound plants dont die.
and the rule of thumb of 1 ft per 1 gallon is an estimate of what you think your final plant size will be so say you think it will be 3 ft at the most then use a 3 gallon pot. but like i said you can grow bigger plants in small pots with no prob

 

[mcpurple]

another question, how do you get your plants to grow 7ft +? i have a friend that had them that big and he said to use goat milk but in my experience milk makes the soil very nasty smelling.

you dont want 7 ft tall plants indoors its a waste of space and time if you dont have alot of lighting. and dont water with milk its a myth growing is all about common sense really.

 

[anomolies]

I think the more branches / main colas your plant has the more roots it will need hence bigger pot size.

In coco you can get away with a smaller pot size because coco is really soft and the roots meet no resistance so they can entirely fill up the medium.

I recently had some plants that were wilted (not from watering issues) and I thought had root rot, but when I took a look there was no root-rot or signs of root-bound. I figured they just didn't have enough roots to support all the stems/leaves. They're gradually doing better now after transplanting

1 gallon per foot of growth sounds about right, but it's hard to say cus when you switch to 12/12 they're going to stretch, and possibly the pot will be too small by then.

Personally, I don't think transplanting is a big deal, even in flower. My plants plowed right on.
However, it's best to make sure you have a large healthy root system, or flowering will be delayed.

 

[BrokenBone]

food for thought, thank you every one for all your help i have a better understanding of what pot i should get and estimates for pot to plant ratio. i think im going to stick with a 3 gallon pot since i dont want my plant to grow no more than 4ft.

 

[anomolies]

If you don't want more than 4 feet you should flower when they're 1 ft to 1.5 ft tall.

My understanding is that the pot size doesn't limit the size of the plant, it limits the root mass which affects the health of the plant.

Alternatively you could get a larger pot and train your plants to grow into larger short bushes, but still keep em under 2 ft cus they'll more than double in size during the stretch.

 

[BrokenBone]

... how do i check for root rot??/ is that a common problem if so how do i cure it? i seen this rooting stuff but wasn't sure of its uses.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BO3DU4/ref=s9_qpp_gw_p86_ir03?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=0X051VKE4FDJD9NYWETY&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846

 

[anomolies]

not a common problem if you have proper drainage and don't overwater.

I haven't seen serious root-rot in person but according to other descriptions the roots look as if they're decaying, brownish/blackish, & disintegrate to the touch.
If you do get root-rot I think a diluted solution of 30% hydrogen peroxide (1 tbps/gal) will help, and cutting away the affected roots so it doesn't spread.

I've switched to growing in coco and root-rot is almost an impossibility.

 

[Magnificient]

I used 3 gallon pots for my white widows and no problems at all. They may have grown bigger with 5 gallons, but big enough is big enough. The new clones I started went straight into flowering to keep the size down a bit.

 

[BrokenBone]

not a common problem if you have proper drainage and don't overwater.

I haven't seen serious root-rot in person but according to other descriptions the roots look as if they're decaying, brownish/blackish, & disintegrate to the touch.
If you do get root-rot I think a diluted solution of 30% hydrogen peroxide (1 tbps/gal) will help, and cutting away the affected roots so it doesn't spread.

I've switched to growing in coco and root-rot is almost an impossibility.

growing in what?? coco???

 

[anomolies]

http://www.horticulturesource.com/product_info.php/products_id/1311

basically ground up coco fiber. it's awesome stuff, I'm probably never going back to soil unless I do outdoors in the ground

 

[BrokenBone]

omg that stuff looks awesome! what does it look like and do you just use it like regular soil? maybe a thread link? im going to have to look further into that coco stuff later today!