help me decide

now i’m struggling to choose between buying new smart pots or plastic pots. i’m either gonna go with 25lt fabric pots or plastic but my main concern is the drying time with fabric. somehow i started feeling like fabrics are making me overwater because the outer edges are drying too fast while the middle stays wet for longer but i want to keep the outer edges moist too so i water even when the middle is still pretty wet.

also one other downside of smart pots is when i water from the top i get leakage from the side of the pots which seeps under my trays and its just a lot of cleaning to do. so somewhat messy.

now i‘m pretty much planning on vegging in a 2x2 and using my 4x4 for just flowering so the plants will spend between 2-4 months in their final container (either plastic or fabric). so plastic would actually help with this leakage thing and control the drying better but i’m also concerned about the possibility of them getting root bound. i’ve used smaller plastics for my bonsais and seedlings and still using them actually but when talking about 3-4 feet 16 week sativas i don’t know what i should do.

which one would you prefer? especially with living organic soil and just as the final container for flowering.

ps: even terracota pots are not off the table at this point lol

Sounds like you've already made your mind up.

i’m mostly concerned about root bound situation and reduced access to oxygen in plastics

atm the only thing i made up my mind about is to give something other than fabric pots a try

so mostly looking for experiences from people who switched between fabric pots and another form of container either way

Just build yourself a SIP and all your problems will go away.

myke said:

Just build yourself a SIP and all your problems will go away.

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yeah i really cant add anymore vertical pot space i can barely keep one of my cultivars at 25cm away from the lights as it is and if add a reservoir beneath the pots its just gonna take up more vertical space.

i also heard this geotextile or aqua breathe pots which supposedly has another membrane sown onto the fabric and this layer sustains air exchange and air pruning but doesnt let water to seep through and the water can only drain from the openings at the bottom. so this could probably a viable option for me too.

if its doing what it claims no leakage no root circling and i’m guessing air permeable membrane is probably a little less permeable than felt so outer edges would dry a little slower which may work well overall.

anyone used these? this geotextile/aqua breathe pots.

I'm a dirt farmer and only use #5/#7 cheap plastic nursery pots with stand offs and saucers. No cloth or air pots. This is how I've been doing it for the last five years or so. Sprout seeds in solo cups, transplant at two weeks. Only use water for two weeks. Starting the 3rd week they get 1ml of cal-mag and either liq silica or powder and a tablespoon of molasses per gallon of water ph to 6.3/6.5 and a half dose of Bloom City dry ferts. 4th week go to full dose of the dry ferts a week and keep the water mixture the same until flower. Then go to 2ml of cal-mag and silica with 2 tablespoons of molasses per gallon and switch to the Bloom City Flower dry fert. A very simple watering and fert program that has been great over the years. I started doing this because I had no time to mess with the grows. Work was demanding 12 and 14 hours of my day five days a week and there was nothing left of me. What I found out was this simple system was turning my soil either Ocean Forrest or #8 into a compost if you will over time and the plants were eating everything in the pots. So by the end of the grow 80% of the soil its self was gone. It had all converted into nutrients and fed the plants. And all have been great grows with really good buds, smooth, flavor and head.

yesterdaysnews said:

I'm a dirt farmer and only use #5/#7 cheap plastic nursery pots with stand offs and saucers. No cloth or air pots. This is how I've been doing it for the last five years or so. Sprout seeds in solo cups, transplant at two weeks. Only use water for two weeks. Starting the 3rd week they get 1ml of cal-mag and either liq silica or powder and a tablespoon of molasses per gallon of water ph to 6.3/6.5 and a half dose of Bloom City dry ferts. 4th week go to full dose of the dry ferts a week and keep the water mixture the same until flower. Then go to 2ml of cal-mag and silica with 2 tablespoons of molasses per gallon and switch to the Bloom City Flower dry fert. A very simple watering and fert program that has been great over the years. I started doing this because I had no time to mess with the grows. Work was demanding 12 and 14 hours of my day five days a week and there was nothing left of me. What I found out was this simple system was turning my soil either Ocean Forrest or #8 into a compost if you will over time and the plants were eating everything in the pots. So by the end of the grow 80% of the soil its self was gone. It had all converted into nutrients and fed the plants. And all have been great grows with really good buds, smooth, flavor and head.

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so you had good experiences with plastic pots. no root problems for them being in the same pot for a couple of months?

what i basically do is this i got a compost bin where i use peat and coco as bedding for my worms and add stinging nettles fruit peels eggshells coffee and whatever organic material i can find to feed the worms so after a while all that stuff turns into compost much like in your pots.

then when i harvest a plant i remove 1/3 of the topsoil (that goes back into the compost bin) and add new compost from the bin mixed with bat guano and manure and aeration material and mix the soil up a bit but dont disturb the lowest 1/3 of the pot.

plants go in directly to 12/12 and i repeat the process when i harvest. this provides enough nutrients for a while and especially during stretch. then i topdress when i remember to do so and give them some organic nutrients and aloe, spirulina, sometimes a bit of liquid silica etc.

so you’d say plastic pots and organic soil does go well together in your experience?

Try various types of pots and see which you prefer/ have better results with. I'm currently using plastic pots, someone on here did tell me the roots may get too hot in the plastic pots but so far they seem good.

I grow sativa dominant strains. And actually like the clay pots (believe it or dont). I start seedlings in the small pots. then repot 2x until they are ready to put under later veg and early bloom lights.

At about midway into veg I then do my last repot- into 3 gallon black cloth bags. It may not be the best for materials and methods but it works for me. I have been doing this under HIDs for well over 5 years. I just started the conversion to LEDs and use the same soil containers and it works there also .

With roots organics potting soil and Lucas formula for nutes along with some fish emulsion.............and thats about it. I go from a 400w metal halide bulb (for the young plants) to a 600w and that is when I go to the black cloth bags............... and also transfer to more intense LED fixtures.

I use these containers over and over so they dont get thrown away.............. the clay pots are kinda fragile and dry out faster than plastics............. they will leave a white residue (from hard water) on the outside of both the clay and the fabric.................... my PH pushes 7.0 on the scale.

Well, I think the smart decision is the size of pot that gives your plants the best root space for the desired size of plant you want to flower.

As an organic soil enthusiast, living soil will break down materials that you put in and thus plants can get big.

So it's going to be a learning curve to get the right size for the size of plant you will flower based on your grow space.

If I might suggest try and grow from start to finish ( seed or clone ) in "your" full sized pot so that the roots are not disturbed.
The reason I say that is because while we focus on what grows above the ground with cannabis there is actually the "Root Brain" part that is the direct influence of plant growth :

The Darwins' 'Root-Brain' Hypothesis
The most controversial of the Darwins' propositions is that roots behave as do lower animals with their apex seated at the anterior pole of the plant body where it acts as a brain-like organ (Box 1).

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That is Charles Darwin and his Brother who wrote the book on it.

Now I'm also learning about pot size and growing in tents. I own Zeny tents 2 foot by 4 foot. This is the first time I have been exposed to tents and LEDs in those tents so I am learning.
Three gallon seemed to grow okay for flowering. Two Gallon is too small in my opinion and for the Blue Dream "Side by Side" breeding program I hope to be successful at, I am going with Solo cup/ small pots to five gallon today. Six 5 Gallon pots will fit in there I think. Then when I start the feminizing crosses I will move some to a second tent. I think also I will rotate pot positions from time to time.

So what seems logical is probably at least three gallon as a rule of thumb for organic soil.

Other types of growing medium I can't comment on.

That's my take on it. Oh and Plastic nursery pots work for me.

Synchronicity said:

I grow sativa dominant strains. And actually like the clay pots (believe it or dont). I start seedlings in the small pots. then repot 2x until they are ready to put under later veg and early bloom lights.

At about midway into veg I then do my last repot- into 3 gallon black cloth bags. It may not be the best for materials and methods but it works for me. I have been doing this under HIDs for well over 5 years. I just started the conversion to LEDs and use the same soil containers and it works there also .

With roots organics potting soil and Lucas formula for nutes along with some fish emulsion.............and thats about it. I go from a 400w metal halide bulb (for the young plants) to a 600w and that is when I go to the black cloth bags............... and also transfer to more intense LED fixtures.

I use these containers over and over so they dont get thrown away.............. the clay pots are kinda fragile and dry out faster than plastics............. they will leave a white residue (from hard water) on the outside of both the clay and the fabric.................... my PH pushes 7.0 on the scale.

Click to expand...

Interesting fact:
You can modify this Pot-in-pot refrigerator to allow drainage of an inner clay pot and yet keep water in between the inner and outer clay pot and that can keep the soil and roots cool in hot climes.

Clay pots are cool ( pun intended )

Synchronicity said:

I grow sativa dominant strains. And actually like the clay pots (believe it or dont). I start seedlings in the small pots. then repot 2x until they are ready to put under later veg and early bloom lights.

At about midway into veg I then do my last repot- into 3 gallon black cloth bags. It may not be the best for materials and methods but it works for me. I have been doing this under HIDs for well over 5 years. I just started the conversion to LEDs and use the same soil containers and it works there also .

With roots organics potting soil and Lucas formula for nutes along with some fish emulsion.............and thats about it. I go from a 400w metal halide bulb (for the young plants) to a 600w and that is when I go to the black cloth bags............... and also transfer to more intense LED fixtures.

I use these containers over and over so they dont get thrown away.............. the clay pots are kinda fragile and dry out faster than plastics............. they will leave a white residue (from hard water) on the outside of both the clay and the fabric.................... my PH pushes 7.0 on the scale.

Click to expand...

i wonder how would they work in flowering. the porous nature of the terracota would work better towards air exchange at least better than plastic i guess. did you ever flower in the terracotas? also does your plants get circling roots in terracota? the only downside is a 25lt terracota would be too heavy and i need about 9.

Friendly_Grower said:

Well, I think the smart decision is the size of pot that gives your plants the best root space for the desired size of plant you want to flower.

As an organic soil enthusiast, living soil will break down materials that you put in and thus plants can get big.

So it's going to be a learning curve to get the right size for the size of plant you will flower based on your grow space.

If I might suggest try and grow from start to finish ( seed or clone ) in "your" full sized pot so that the roots are not disturbed.
The reason I say that is because while we focus on what grows above the ground with cannabis there is actually the "Root Brain" part that is the direct influence of plant growth :


That is Charles Darwin and his Brother who wrote the book on it.

Now I'm also learning about pot size and growing in tents. I own Zeny tents 2 foot by 4 foot. This is the first time I have been exposed to tents and LEDs in those tents so I am learning.
Three gallon seemed to grow okay for flowering. Two Gallon is too small in my opinion and for the Blue Dream "Side by Side" breeding program I hope to be successful at, I am going with Solo cup/ small pots to five gallon today. Six 5 Gallon pots will fin in there I think. Then when I start the feminizing crosses I will move some to a second tent.

So what seems logical is probably at least three gallon as a rule of thumb for organic soil.

Other types or growing medium I can't comment on.

That's my take on it. Oh and Plastic nursery pots work for me.

Click to expand...

that growing in the final pot idea doesnt really work for me in my setup and some plants actually like to be transplanted ime but nonetheless i would atleast go with 3-4 gallons for flower especially with fabrics and what i’m thinking doing is to fit 2 7 gallons for my sativas and 1 4 gallon for hybrids in each 100cm tray and i will veg them in a seperate 2x2 in 1 gallonish plastic pots before transplanting into their 4-7 gallon final pots.

crimsonecho said:

i wonder how would they work in flowering. the porous nature of the terracotta would work better towards air exchange at least better than plastic i guess. did you ever flower in the terracotta? also does your plants get circling roots in terracotta? the only downside is a 25lt terracotta would be too heavy and i need about 9.



that growing in the final pot idea doesn't really work for me in my setup and some plants actually like to be transplanted ime but nonetheless i would at least go with 3-4 gallons for flower especially with fabrics and what I'm thinking doing is to fit 2 7 gallons for my sativas' and 1 4 gallon for hybrids in each 100cm tray and i will veg them in a separate 2x2 in 1 gallon-ish plastic pots before transplanting into their 4-7 gallon final pots.

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We all learn from each other that is for sure!

Good luck! Happy Growing!

Friendly_Grower said:

We all learn from each other that is for sure!

Good luck! Happy Growing!

Click to expand...

thanks man happy growing

I went from fabric pots last year to square plastic containers this year and have been very happy with the switch. Comparing side by side would be very interesting. I have found that transplanting into a container four times larger at the start of flower avoids root bound issue. I also top dress. Fabric pots are really good for rapid growth. They seem to get stale in flower though, and dry out too quickly in part because of the rapid growth of the plants. Earth worm castings in good amounts seem to help greatly with the solid plastic container grow

What about airpots ?

New weed grower said:

Try various types of pots and see which you prefer/ have better results with. I'm currently using plastic pots, someone on here did tell me the roots may get too hot in the plastic pots but so far they seem good.

Click to expand...

I read that bigger is better if temperatures are an issue. More root space and more evaporation surface.
I agree cool root zone is the right thing.

Budzbuddha said:

What about airpots ?

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I'm dumb here.. What's an "airpot?"

Chapl said:

I went from fabric pots last year to square plastic containers this year and have been very happy with the switch. Comparing side by side would be very interesting. I have found that transplanting into a container four times larger at the start of flower avoids root bound issue. I also top dress. Fabric pots are really good for rapid growth. They seem to get stale in flower though, and dry out too quickly in part because of the rapid growth of the plants. Earth worm castings in good amounts seem to help greatly with the solid plastic container grow

Click to expand...

so would you say after the switch your plants grow slower in plastic pots compared to fabric?

Budzbuddha said:

What about airpots ?

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same story with side leakage? i havent used them before but i’d guess water would flow through the side holes right?