First Grow- Failure?

All I use are smartpots. Its a cloth pot. works awesome. You can forget the 1 gal per foot rule.
I grew a monster in a ten gallon, like 13 footer and I bet she would have done fine in an 6 or 8 gallon.

You can grow a 4 foot plant in a 3 gallon easy.

Air pot = smart pot, cloth fabric part. When the roots get to the end they terminate because they get exposed to the air through the cloth. When they terminate they continue to grow behind the termination -- very fine roots. In plastic pots, when they get to the wall , the roots just circle around the pot. They grow very thick and do not have a lot of surface area to take up water.

Is 5 gallons too big? The only thing that limits the pot size is the area that you have under the lights. There is no too big if it can fit. Think of planting outside. Your pot is the size of the earth.

Good luck and definitely tell us how your next grow goes. I know it will be good.