What are the advantages of larger buckets/barrels?

I'm assuming a larger bucket/barrel will allow for a larger root ball and therefore is a good thing. I am currently running a 6 site setup using 5 gallon buckets but have found a 20 gallon that has a low profile and am considering using them.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Is bigger better in this case?

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=20+gallon+barrels&hl=en&client=safari&resnum=2&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=768&bih=928&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=4723079559170518718&sa=X&ei=KADqTrvGMcrLtgf3p-j6CQ&ved=0CI8BEPICMAA

if you got the space time and equipment do the bigger one imo m8

larger buckets mean you need to veg longer to fill them.

skunkushybrid01 said:

larger buckets mean you need to veg longer to fill them.

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no it does not it just means you wont get a plant as big as it would of been if it was vegged longer.........

You will have room for the roots expanding.

Lemon from yemen said:

You will have room for the roots expanding.

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see this guy know, thanks m8

Do larger buckets = bigger yields?

HydroDawg421 said:

Do larger buckets = bigger yields?

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yep they sure do

HydroDawg421 said:

Do larger buckets = bigger yields?

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Yeah because you veg a monster in that system and by the end of flower the roots will still have plenty of room to soak up nutrients.

HydroDawg421 said:

Do larger buckets = bigger yields?

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Not on their own, no they don't.

Want to go big? Check out Heath's tree grow on here. Critical Mass Tree Grow I believe was the thread title.

1. Yes there is more room for roots and yest that can lead to better yield.
2. The larger bucket is easier to manage as far as temp, PH. and ppm.

Also IMO for most Canadians going big is the only way these days with the Harper gov'ts new mandatory minimums, unless you're fortunate enough to get an MMJ growers license.

3x Heath Trees + 1 in veg, rotating as best as possible (I believe he vegged a while which would make the rotation not quite ideal, but still nice!).... =)

Flo Grow said:

A larger bucket means the roots will feel/know they have plenty room to grow more, therefore allowing more growth above the medium.
For example, take 2 clones from the same plant (obviously) and put one in those Folgers coffee cans and the other in a 5 gal or larger container.
The plant in the Folgers will eventually get root bound from lack of space and only produce so much fruit.
The other clone will surpass it in the same amount of time, considering the ONLY different variable in the grow container, and yield much more.

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If you grow a plant for 4 weeks in a 5 gallon container and another similar plant in a 1 gallon container... they will both yield the same or you may even do better from a 1 gallon.

a container on it's own is not enough to increase yields. You need to veg longer to fill the space. If the container is too large you waste lots on nutrients, water and medium. approximately 2/3rds of the water and nutrients you pour in will be lost through evaporation, seepage (where the nutes fall to the bottom of the pot) and lock out.

If you add in a too small container then this is a separate variable.

If you take it that you have a normal pot and then go for a larger pot, then you should arrive at a different conclusion.

check out my root development v plant growth thread on this site. I've been experimenting in root restriction for over 4 years now.

You should state that bigger buckets will allow bigger plants and yield depending on other factors involved the bucket alone wont produce it on its own by using it.

Don't say they *will* as we will have a plethora of threads saying "you said bigger buckets will give me more bud..

skunkushybrid01 said:

...a container on it's own is not enough to increase yields. You need to veg longer to fill the space.

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Totally agree.
When I bought my gear initially for growing I decided to use a camping cooler for my res after reading BloomerBoomer57's posts on the subject.

However, after deciding on a 15-gallon/60-liter res to grow out 2 clones, I now realise I could have actually gone for a smaller res than that if I really wanted to.
Reason being is that I grow Scrog and I don't veg that long due to my screen above the plants being set at 10" above the res so that means about 4 weeks in the cloner and 3 weeks of veg before swithcing to 12/12 lighting for my current strain.

My roots on last grow and this grow are nowhere near filling up my 15-gallon res, although I know the res size defintely contributes to maintaning more stable res temps and pH levels, so for that reason alone I'll stick with the 15-gal res for now.
Next grow though I might put 3-plants under the screen for my space instead of just 2-plants, as my screen still has a few gaps after training plant stems for the first 2-weeks of 12/12 that perhaps 3 plants might have filled.

So the advantages of a larger bucket/barrel/cooler over a smaller res are:
- res nute solution temps stay lower for longer
- pH is more stable
- more scope to change grow style to add more plants if you want (e.g. try SoG instead of Scrog, etc.) - especially if you have cabinet height to play with.

As with a lot of things in life, it is better to have too much res space than not enough.

i've also experimented with root restriction in hydro and in regards to pH stability i found that pH is fine to swing anywhere from 5-7, even as low as 4 and as high as 8 so long as the pH drifts back again after a day or two. However this also depends on availability of nutrients, in hydro nutrients are far more available than they are in soil or any other solid media, so you can get away with feeding much less... but so long as enough nutrients are available, and the roots can release carbohydrates etc that will change the pH of the rhizosphere...

As explained by Heckman and Strick (1996), nutrients are absorbed by the roots of plants as cations and anions. The differential uptake of these ions can affect the pH of the rhizosphere. Among the most important of these ions are nitrate NO3- and ammonium NH4+. The absorption of ammonium ions, for example, promotes the efflux of H+ ions and reduces the pH of the rhizosphere, while the absorption of NO3- ion promotes the efflux of OH- and raises the rhizosphere pH. This change in pH is localized to the region adjacent to the root and does not affect the bulk soil pH.

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pH is not all that we give it credit for. The most important thing is avaialbility of nutrients. Of course pH has some effect on that, but it's usually in degrees... so no nutrient is locked out completely between 4 and 8, they are just available to the plant in lesser degrees. So if there are enough nutrients around, the plant can pick and choose what it takes almost regardless of pH, so long as the pH is somewhere between 5 and 7 (to be safe).
Just realised this is the hydro section... with hydro there is very little waste anyway and bucket size will still make no difference if that is the only relevant factor.

I jumped from 4 gallon to 12 gallon totes. I will however be going back to 4 gallons. I didn't see much if any decrease, actually a decrease. The main reason being; I believe anyway, is that while the whole root ball had bubbles flowing through it in the 4 gallon buckets (2-6" stones), this isn't the case with the broad and shallow totes. Most of the water is fairly stagnant except for right on top the airstone.

It should be noted that I have a 110 liter/min pump for 6 plants. It's NOT about DO levels, I can achieve max DO with a little aquarium pump..I tested it with a DO meter..it's about having bubbles running over the roots. So in my experience, I think it is important to have a shit load of air stones I your going to run really large totes.


I have found that you can veg a 5 gallon bucket for about 2 1/2 months with no root issues. That is a pretty damn big plant.

legallyflying said:

I jumped from 4 gallon to 12 gallon totes. I will however be going back to 4 gallons. I didn't see much if any decrease, actually a decrease. The main reason being; I believe anyway, is that while the whole root ball had bubbles flowing through it in the 4 gallon buckets (2-6" stones), this isn't the case with the broad and shallow totes. Most of the water is fairly stagnant except for right on top the airstone.

It should be noted that I have a 110 liter/min pump for 6 plants. It's NOT about DO levels, I can achieve max DO with a little aquarium pump..I tested it with a DO meter..it's about having bubbles running over the roots. So in my experience, I think it is important to have a shit load of air stones I your going to run really large totes.


I have found that you can veg a 5 gallon bucket for about 2 1/2 months with no root issues. That is a pretty damn big plant.

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I back this statement up I always had big plants in my 5 gallon igloos but I also had 3 to 4 six inch air stones in each bucket running off a 110 liter/min pump