# Is a 5 Gallon pot enough to grow a 4 foot plant?



## accid (Jun 10, 2009)

Simple question really. Is it optimal or would something a bit bigger be better ?

I will be using 4.75 gallon, they are square. I could increase to a 7 - 8 gallon but really.. how much of a diff would that make?

I am using 400w HPS to flower, this is my first grow.

Let me know what you all think and what you guys use. Thanks


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## HippyInEngland (Jun 10, 2009)

Hello Accid 

1 Gallon to 1 foot of plant height and you cant go wrong 

eace:


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## accid (Jun 10, 2009)

If i have bigger gallons, lets say 7-8, will it produce more bud?


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## bluealein56 (Jun 10, 2009)

well i just finished mine up a few months back. Used a 400w mh for veg and the 400 hps to flower. Used 5 gallon pots from seed and actually topped a few times. All my girls were over 4 feet. I had two that were eye level with me and im 6 foot 3. I did feed alot, my main point here is that upon cutting the girls down i took the time to look at each plants rootball. All my plants had become a little bit root bound on the bottom, one was bad. maybe go bigger, could be fun:hubba:


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## bluealein56 (Jun 10, 2009)

BIgger buckets = bigger plant=more pot


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## HippyInEngland (Jun 10, 2009)

bluealein56 said:
			
		

> BIgger buckets = bigger plant=more pot


 
Why dont outdoor plants planted in the ground grow to 500 feet each?



eace:


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## astrobud (Jun 10, 2009)

HippyInEngland said:
			
		

> Why dont outdoor plants planted in the ground grow to 500 feet each?
> 
> 
> 
> eace:


 
:yeahthat:


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## leafminer (Jun 10, 2009)

Answer to Hippie: Limits to growth built in to the genome.

To answer the original question: I have grown 10 foot sativas in 5 gallon pots with a yield of over 1 lb per plant and they would have got bigger if I hadn't had to top them because they'd be seen over the garden wall.
It depends on your strain. Pure indicas won't even be able to use a 5 gallon pot.


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## Hick (Jun 10, 2009)

a general "rule of thumb".. is 1 gal of medium for 1 foot of vertical plant.... however
 ..the size of the plant is in direct relation to the size of the root ball/zone. The more room you give the roots to grow, the bigger the plant "can" become. 
A larger pot and longer veg period will produce larger plants.


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## purplephazes (Jun 10, 2009)

HippyInEngland said:
			
		

> Why dont outdoor plants planted in the ground grow to 500 feet each?
> 
> 
> 
> eace:


because jack did'nt plant them and they are not beanstalks !! teeheehee ! hhhmmm could be a new strain idea ! take care !


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## umbra (Jun 10, 2009)

IMO vegging is all about root development. I have circumvented being rootbound in too small of a container by using the air pots. they air prune the roots, keeping root mass at its maximum.


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## Hick (Jun 10, 2009)

umbra.. this is the second time I've heard about this "air trimming" or 'light trimming'.. of roots.
  please elaborate.. or post me a link.  As you might have guessed, I don't 'get out' much..


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## umbra (Jun 10, 2009)

no problem

hxxp://www.superoots.com    

they have a great video of how they work at that site.


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## Hick (Jun 10, 2009)

.. TY I'll readup,....


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## BBFan (Jun 10, 2009)

IMHO 5 gallon buckets are more than sufficient.

Larger Buckets = Larger Area = Less Light Penetration.

I just finished growing out 8 plants in 5 gallon buckets under 2- 400w MH / HPS bulbs.  Vegged 6 weeks, flowered 10 weeks, yielded 3/4 lb (Sativa dom strain).  With lst, height was kept at about 3 feet.

Way too many variables involved to say emphatically what works best.  Once you've grown in your environment, you'll know what to do next time.  Experience will dictate what size to use next time.

Good luck to you.  Let us know what you go with and how it works out.


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## Friend-of-a-friend (Jun 10, 2009)

I've grown 6' tall bagseed in 5 gal. buckets, but had to water a BUNCH by the end and was hard to regulate ph because of how rootbound they were by the end. And I dont know about 500' tall hippy, but I've heard stories from Viet-Nam vets who claimed they climbed 30' tall pot "trees" to get some smoke over in the jungle.


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## Sir_Tokie (Jun 10, 2009)

umbra said:
			
		

> no problem
> 
> hxxp://www.superoots.com
> 
> they have a great video of how they work at that site.


Very cool design they have going on there and I like the concept of their products. I believe I am going to invest in some of these. Do you know if they sell these any where in the US rather than ordering from the UK? And thank you for posting their web site. I have allways preached about the importance of oxygen to the root zone and it seems they have it covered pretty well...take care..


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## NYC_Diesel x Jack_Herer (Jun 10, 2009)

I posted this in another thread but it is a funny pic and practical to your question.  This kity liter bin is actually a 5 gallon container, the plant has finished stretching at about 4 feet.  I had to tie the tops down.  It was flowered at a height of only 1 foot, but a lot of the vertical growth as you can see was from stretch, hopefully she fills out a lot by the time she is done.  but a 4 foot pant in a 5 gallon pot?  Yes, easily, as long as the pot is DEEP enough.

However with only a 400HPS for flowering your light does not have much penetration.  I would want the plants as short and dense as possible.  Your yield woud also greatly benefit from SCROG or LST to keep your plants short and bushy or create a flat canopy so that you can hit it hard with the 400HPS.


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## umbra (Jun 10, 2009)

Sir_Tokie said:
			
		

> Very cool design they have going on there and I like the concept of their products. I believe I am going to invest in some of these. Do you know if they sell these any where in the US rather than ordering from the UK? And thank you for posting their web site. I have allways preached about the importance of oxygen to the root zone and it seems they have it covered pretty well...take care..



hxxp://aroidiaresearch.org/airpots/terms.htm


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## 420benny (Jun 10, 2009)

Here's another version. I saw them at our hydro store. They feel like felt.
hxxp://www.smartpots.com/


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## leafminer (Jun 10, 2009)

Yeah, of course I was talking about outdoor grows ... it's quite true that my big plants all became very rootbound and it was difficult to get enough water into them, especially with a 40C ambient temp.


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## bluealein56 (Jun 11, 2009)

HippyInEngland said:
			
		

> Why dont outdoor plants planted in the ground grow to 500 feet each?
> 
> 
> cause your not using miracle grow silly:ignore:     ahahahahahahaha
> eace:



cause your not using miracle grow silly:ignore:     ahahahahahahaha


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## PencilHead (Jun 11, 2009)

umbra said:
			
		

> no problem
> 
> hxxp://www.superoots.com
> 
> they have a great video of how they work at that site.


 
Umbra, I'd be forever gratefull if you'd start a thread with some pics of these containers.  This is the smartest, most believable new contraption I've seen in a long while.

Thanks for the turn on.


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## accid (Jun 11, 2009)

I would like to hear from a few of you how long do you wait until you turn to 12/12 flower cycle? 4 weeks? 6 weeks? 8 weeks? how long do you guys wait?

What can one expect from a 4 month harvest typically? My guess is 1 ounce per plant? Let me know! THANKS!


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