are 5 gallon pots to big for indoor?

jswett1100

Well-Known Member
Ive been runnings 5 gallons for a couple indoor harvests my temps and everything are more then fine and lighting but they take forever to dry out! so should i just use 3 gallons? i only veg for 4 weeks.
 

macsnax

Well-Known Member
Pot size has to do with how big of a plant you want to grow. A four week veg may not be all that different between 3 & 5 gallon pots when it's finished. I would imagine they would be at least a little smaller come harvest.
 

jwreck

Well-Known Member
it all depends on how much you are willing to water.
i have flowered in 6 inch pots vegging for 6 weeks and have gotten close to if not better results than using bigger pots but i had to water almost daily.
try it for yourself, i did it cuz i was pheno hunting, didnt think i would get such high yield in such small pots
 

DonnyDee

Well-Known Member
Ive been runnings 5 gallons for a couple indoor harvests my temps and everything are more then fine and lighting but they take forever to dry out! so should i just use 3 gallons? i only veg for 4 weeks.
If you want them to dry out faster, why not add some perlite to your soil mix? It may be just the solution you need, as it'd probably improve growth as well.

Keep the pots big, give those roots space to grow!
 

jswett1100

Well-Known Member
If you want them to dry out faster, why not add some perlite to your soil mix? It may be just the solution you need, as it'd probably improve growth as well.

Keep the pots big, give those roots space to grow!
I run promix and thats got a good amount of perlite in it.
 

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
Ive been runnings 5 gallons for a couple indoor harvests my temps and everything are more then fine and lighting but they take forever to dry out! so should i just use 3 gallons? i only veg for 4 weeks.
I've been running 5 gallon pots in flower for years for this reason. I get to walk away for days at a time without water worries.
4 week veg...meh, wasting alot of dirt in a five pail but so what if its not an issue. I veg in one gallon bags and up pot a week or two before initiating flower into five gallon pails.
 

jswett1100

Well-Known Member
I've been running 5 gallon pots in flower for years for this reason. I get to walk away for days at a time without water worries.
4 week veg...meh, wasting alot of dirt in a five pail but so what if its not an issue. I veg in one gallon bags and up pot a week or two before initiating flower into five gallon pails.
I just started vegging in 1 gallons i was vegging in 2 before
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
It really comes down to how often you're willing to water and somewhat on the type of pot. I use the fabric pots (they dry out faster) and just ran 6x 3gal's with 4 weeks veg, left them in the 3gal pots on purpose knowing I'd be watering every other day. That was fine because I knew I'd be around. Now for summer I'll probably run 3gal's with 2 week veg which will need water every 3rd day, or veg for 4 weeks and run them in 5gal's so I can gain a day. I don't mind watering larger plants in smaller containers, yields are great when considering how much they produce per gallon of medium, but they are a pita without some form of automated watering system.
 

cindysid

Well-Known Member
I veg for about 6-8 weeks before flowering. I move seedlings or clones from solos to one gallon to 3 gallon and then to 7 gallon for flowering. I find that the bigger the pot, the better the yield. As mentioned above, just add more perlite and they will dry out a lot faster. I overdid it on some of mine this round. I like to water every 3-4 days.
 

bigsteve

Well-Known Member
I've heard that each gallon of pot size can support 30 days of growth. So 5 gallon means you could grow up to 20 weeks. Most of my plants finish in pots that are 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 gallon. I do use 3 gallon pots for clone donor moms.

Good luck, BigSteve.
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
I've heard that each gallon of pot size can support 30 days of growth. So 5 gallon means you could grow up to 20 weeks. Most of my plants finish in pots that are 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 gallon. I do use 3 gallon pots for clone donor moms.

Good luck, BigSteve.
Plants are bound by root limitations in traditional containers like plastic etc. In fabric pots those guidelines go out the door, it's just a matter of whether you want to water daily or not. These (3 pics) were flowered in 1 gal fabrics and went 9 weeks in flowering, door knob is 37" from the floor. Only pita was watering daily for the last few weeks. From my experience in fabric pots there's no set limit, it's just a matter of how often you want to water.

BPP1-Day64-Harvest-COBs-1.JPG BPP3-Day64-Harvest-COBs-1.JPG BPP4-Day64-Harvest-COBs-1.JPG

These (2) sativas (Panama's) in my current run will take somewhere around 12-13 weeks. My decision to put them in 5 gal fabrics was strictly based on not wanting to water them every other day for 12 weeks.

Panamas-Day46-Day40-1.JPG
 

bigsteve

Well-Known Member
Plants are bound by root limitations in traditional containers like plastic etc. In fabric pots those guidelines go out the door, it's just a matter of whether you want to water daily or not. These (3 pics) were flowered in 1 gal fabrics and went 9 weeks in flowering, door knob is 37" from the floor. Only pita was watering daily for the last few weeks. From my experience in fabric pots there's no set limit, it's just a matter of how often you want to water.

View attachment 3945497 View attachment 3945498 View attachment 3945499

These (2) sativas (Panama's) in my current run will take somewhere around 12-13 weeks. My decision to put them in 5 gal fabrics was strictly based on not wanting to water them every other day for 12 weeks.

View attachment 3945505
Good info on the fabric pots! Thanks. BigSteve.
 

cookie master

Well-Known Member
im finding out some weird shit. Like it seems the amount of water run through the plant and the yeild arent correlated. i used to think it was all about the roots and id have issues with being overgrown. its hard to train a closet of huge plants to take full advantage of a little 1000 hps, But 7 gal pots get dry just as fast as 3 gals, the plants in 3 gals have higher bud/leaf ratios. The ones in big pots veg out more and are more thirsty because of all the leaves. = im switching to 3 or 5 gal smartpots instead of the 7 gals I had been using. Theres the occasional plant that can yeild pounds and a 7 gal is good for that.
 
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GroErr

Well-Known Member
im finding out some weird shit. Like it seems the amount of water run through the plant and the yeild arent correlated. i used to think it was all about the roots and id have issues with being overgrown. its hard to train a closet of huge plants to take full advantage of a little 1000 hps, But 7 gal pots get dry just as fast as 3 gals, the plants in 3 gals have higher bud/leaf ratios. The ones in big pots veg out more and are more thirsty because of all the leaves. = im switching to 3 or 5 gal smartpots instead of the 7 gals I had been using. Theres the occasional plant that can yeild pounds and a 7 gal is good for that.
Yeah there's a lot of variables too, you're getting more evaporation from the heat under hps. I run under LED's, less heat/evaporation. If you were running fabric pots same size under hps you'd probably lose another day and have to water even more often. For me the fabric pots are worth it though, the root systems fill the pot top to bottom by harvest and that's what we're really growing, strong root systems = big buds.
 

Huckster79

Well-Known Member
Keep container big, scrap the promix, vent your containers, circulate air by containers..

I go up to a 20 gallon, train the plant to be 3'x5' when veiwed from above. I switched from promix to straight coco and havent looked back, dries faster and doesnt need extreme dryness promix does to get oxygen, you can water the piss out of em with no overwater symtoms. I too am a fan of fabric style pots, but i make my own, either paddle bit big holes in regular container or smaller sized container just use a laundry basket or milk crate and just line with weedblock fabrick. If im ever uncomfortable with time between water needs going to long i throw a box fan on floor pointing at container
 

Odin*

Well-Known Member
This question is subjective, heavily determined by skill/knowledge.

Too much info to answer with, I generally run 5's and those need water every day from ~10 days into bloom (even GSC is now pushing for the 7). Some strains need 7's (watered daily), some need 15's (watered daily), Average finished height ranges from 5'-8', 4-5 weeks veg. The largest I've had to use was a 20 gal, GG4x my "Mystery".
 
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