Does starting pot size make a difference in yield?

Im about to plant some sprouts and am wondering if I start them in 5.5" pots or 2 gallon pots, if it will make a difference in the yield of the plant. I would obviously transplant the 5.5" pots into bigger ones eventually. I have 5 lowryders and 2 blue cheese, 2 white widow. Someone please help this noob

You just don't want your plants to get root bound.

The bigger the grow container, the better chance you have of producing more weed.

It does not matter what you start in. I personally use dixie cups to start my plants in and transplant them 2 times, eventually ending up in 5 gallon buckets.

Just give them enough soil for the roots to spread out.

I heard its best to start with smaller pots.And work up to bigger ones than if you start from seed in a large pot.It can cause the roots to grow to fast & not allow proper growth.Wich I think is bs.Alot of people start with the same pot it will be in for harvest.I haven't tried it yet.But it seems starting in the pot youll end up using for the whole grow is beter.Because you won't have to risk anything from doing transplants.

The only problem with starting them in the container that they will be in all the way through the grow is that they take up too much space.

Like I said, I end up in 5 gallon containers but my grow area has only enough space for 6- 8 of them.

I try to germinate 10 seeds at a time, some of them get stunted or turn out to be males so I need to start in small containers to work them up and weed out the bad seedlings.

I guess if you are growing feminized seeds and plant them in the biggest pot available, then you don't have to worry about transplanting.

I look at it this way...Transplanting and giving your plant nice fresh fertile soil is the best thing you can do for the health of your plant. Why would you want to skip this process? Just my take on it.

DownOnWax said:

The only problem with starting them in the container that they will be in all the way through the grow is that they take up too much space.

Like I said, I end up in 5 gallon containers but my grow area has only enough space for 6- 8 of them.

I try to germinate 10 seeds at a time, some of them get stunted or turn out to be males so I need to start in small containers to work them up and weed out the bad seedlings.

I guess if you are growing feminized seeds and plant them in the biggest pot available, then you don't have to worry about transplanting.

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First off, thanks everyone for the help. Down on wax, yes, this is my biggest reason for thinking of going with a smaller pots- ROOM. Maybe I shoulda got smaller pots or dixie cups, but I guess Ill have to go with 5.5 " pots to start. Thanks again!!

The size of your root mass directly relates to plant size. Bigger Rootball = bigger buds!

if you think of it in proportions whatever is on top above ground is bout the same size as the roots under ground if your growing in the ground itd almost be a mirror shape but in pots this doesnt happen so as your plant gets bigger give it enough room to comfortablly grow without hinderance and i agree with the transplanting gives your plant freash soil to grow in they love it so theyll return the love in buds man

kho20 said:

transplanting gives your plant freash soil to grow in they love it so theyll return the love in buds man

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YEA!! thats my motto you get as much love back as you put into it. i've done 3 transplants only thing is i made the mistake of using 1gal pots for the first transfer ended up doing it again a week later because the roots were already coming out the bottom.

I'm a noob on my first grow.

My research tells me that transplanting = stress.

Because of this, I plan on putting germinated seeds into large pots for entire veg cycle, then transplanting for flowering. that way I'm only transplanting once.

I'll chime in on this one.

I agree with all the reasoning mentioned so far. But you have to remember that a little plants roots don't take up the whole pot. So when you water, the plant 'drinks' from right under the plant where the roots are and the other soil just stays saturated and isn't absorbed into the plant. So you end up with a trade off: A) You water whenever the plant needs water, in which case the area where there are no roots will just stay wet causing problems like mold etc., OR B) The plant doesn't get as much water as it could use because the soil where there are no roots hasn't dried out.

The plant will pretty quickly stretch its roots out over the pot to mitigate the difference. But then you have a new problem. The new problem is that the roots aren't working efficiently. So you water the small plant in a big pot and it takes longer for the plant to use the water, because it takes more water to saturate a big pot. So the soil is damp longer which leads to mold etc. etc.

Growing outside naturally, the plants roots stretch out as far as they can so that they can get maximum water per rainfall. Basically its needs to do it to survive. But inside, in a controlled environment, it's much better to have an efficient root structure since the plant gets watered regularly.

You know what i mean?

Pot size effects the growth of the plant. I would start them in the biggest pots you have room for. I think bigger pots can increase the yield also. Check out my grow, you'll see the difference. https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/209052-master-kush-white-berry-grow.html(The (ones in the cups are much smaller than the one in the jug)

* Chuckb made a great point tho

nah, you need to start small then work up. It works like this, in a small pot like a 16 ounce cup the roots will expand and fill up the cup and realise they are at the pots edges and more roots will expand and fill up the area. This gives a bushier plant. Then you repot to the next pot and it does the same thing, filling up this pot and getting bushier. Then you go to the final pot and you got a big efficient root structure trained.

If you stay in one pot a few roots will shoot out and find what they want and you will only have a few shooting roots and no real root structure to feed and support your plant and no big good bushes. Smaller yeild.

This is all common knowledge not a theory. I explained it a little bad but it is late I am starting in 16 ounce, then going to three gallon then too seven gallon. That is the best way.

I might go just to 16 ounce and then to one gallon then to seven gallon. One repot is what a lot use but for cloning and germing I use 16 ounce cups, it is what I know.

Does it make all that much of a difference?? once you start with the right soil mix, feed and flush properly... its down to a matter of preference. Personally I transplant once. I start my seeds in paper towel. When they germinate I plant them in an 8" pot.... right before I switch to flower I move them into a 13" pot with a nice mix of high PK bat guano. My 2¢.

Cheers

Airwave said:

I'm a noob on my first grow.

My research tells me that transplanting = stress.

Because of this, I plan on putting germinated seeds into large pots for entire veg cycle, then transplanting for flowering. that way I'm only transplanting once.

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yea i think it might affect your yeild....because if you plant in a big pot and leave the plant it will still prolli get root bound...starting small then working your way up will stop root bound... trust me start small......if anything i said here help u dont forget to +rep

Airwave said:

I'm a noob on my first grow.

My research tells me that transplanting = stress.

Because of this, I plan on putting germinated seeds into large pots for entire veg cycle, then transplanting for flowering. that way I'm only transplanting once.

Click to expand...

This is what I also believe but I do see peoples point to give them fresh nutes and so forth.

if you trans plant right there is no stress on the plant.....dont let thew roots get direct light and try not to disturb the roots at all the best time to transplant is when the dirt is really dry its stays togather better then wet soil....if anything i said here helped you dont forget to +rep

stink hole said:

if you trans plant right there is no stress on the plant.....dont let thew roots get direct light and try not to disturb the roots at all the best time to transplant is when the dirt is really dry its stays togather better then wet soil....if anything i said here helped you dont forget to +rep

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I'm going from rooted clone to 5 gallons just because I dont want to stress them/stunt them and im lazy..plus transplanting is something else that I could mess up

im not saying that you cant do that i am just saying there is a chance that your clones can get root bound that way...dont be lazy....the only thing lazy will get you is a week crop

it is true transplanting is stressful but done right and careful the plant can easily comeback.... were not saying hey transplant every 2 weeks to renew soil thats crazy lol even tho they do love it the trick is to get close to root bounding your plant but not letting it reach that point beacause growth slows to a crawl if any when root bound and most growers will transplant twice if not more but twice is basically standard but the reason for not starting in a big pot is the pland will wanna fill the pot with roots ya kno claim its territory and spend alot of its valuble energy on root structure instead of foliar structure witch after a plant reaches maturity it relies on its foliage to provide nurishment and less on its root although a suffeciant root structure is required but a good rule of thumb you can expect a root mass the size of the foliage mass so yeah wish i could spell but here ya go hope this helps and remember "there's no love like ganja love"