5 gallon pots vs 7 gallon pots

swiggy

Member
I cant really find 7 gallon pots for under 10$ each with shipping so for now I'm in 5 gallon buckets. anyone think this is going to make a major difference? I'm still looking but i havent really had any luck.
 

myfather

Active Member
I've been using 5 forever. Always done fine, but i throw a 7 in there every once in awhile and get overall sturdier stronger bigger plants. Thinking about dropping my plant # and going will less 7's. But i'm a strain variety freak. I like a whole cabinet of different head jars.
 

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
$10+ vs $2.50 What was the question?

I'm liking the silver ones from Lowes the best, better than the orange HD buckets, or the white TSC ones.

Wet
 

myfather

Active Member
you definitely do not want anything that light will remotely penetrate. that will kill your roots. White is a very bad idea for pots.

And if you are comparing spending $10 vs. $2 on pots.... the increased yield you see in 1 7gallon pot will more than justify the upfront cost of buying the pots. If you have 7 foot ceilings, get 7 gallon pots.

I ran smart pots last time and honestly didnt see much difference. Harder to flush if anything. Water just runs out of the sides instead of straight down through the roots.

Next run, im going all 7s.

the experimentation never ends :)
 

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
Hmmmmmm Had 5 very successful outdoor seasons with the white buckets, so I'm not buying that light penetration hoorah. When I harvested, the roots looked just fine They were the coolest temp wise, the orange much warmer. Just used the silver buckets (Lowes) this last season, but they seem to be best of all, for temps and opacity. Use ~25 all told (drilled for containers, another 10 or so still solid), and need another 10 for this falls Allium grow. $25 for buckets vs $100 or more for 2 more gallons makes no economic sense to me.

I do agree about the larger pots and have a few 7, 10, and 15 gallon 'Lerios' left over from my nursery. These are galvanized steel and over 25 years old (quality lasts), but I could not afford them now. Back then, I bought in case lots. Now, I'm poor. LOL

Wet
 

olylifter420

Well-Known Member
im using hydrofarm dirt bags and they work great. my plants are very happy, although temp and all that is well controlled, so it might be the pots or the enivronment


you definitely do not want anything that light will remotely penetrate. that will kill your roots. White is a very bad idea for pots.

And if you are comparing spending $10 vs. $2 on pots.... the increased yield you see in 1 7gallon pot will more than justify the upfront cost of buying the pots. If you have 7 foot ceilings, get 7 gallon pots.

I ran smart pots last time and honestly didnt see much difference. Harder to flush if anything. Water just runs out of the sides instead of straight down through the roots.

Next run, im going all 7s.

the experimentation never ends :)
 

Da Almighty Jew

Well-Known Member
invest in some nice quality pots, you and your plants will be glad you did. That is one of the cheapest investment you can make for a more successful grow. :eyesmoke:
 

bigskymtnguy

Well-Known Member
15 gal Hydrofarm "Dirt Bags" work great outdoors and I just scored some for just over $6 ea. Talk about return-on-investment, that was a no brainer!
 

NecterSecter

Well-Known Member
I am on my first grow I used all 5 gallon buckets fromn Lowes. I had one plant that got messed up a light fell on it and burnt the one side of it. It recovered but it was half the size of the other 4 plants. I put in a 10gallon tub a week before flowering. Now that plant caught up to the other 4. They are 4-5 weeks into flower and they were all about the same till a week ago. The small plant in the 10 gallon tub has buds more then twice as big as the other 4 plants, and they are all the same strain udner the same light and have same exact growing conditions. So I would have to say I am going to use all 7-10 gallon pots from now on.
 

m4s73r

Well-Known Member
My local nursery guy hooked me up with a dozen 5 gallon nursery pots for free. I bought the soil to fill them. Nice guy, go there lots. Currently I use 20 gallon geo pots from build a soil. 9.55 per vs almost 18 on amazon. I really like them. Way better then the 3 gallon roots pots i first used. Thinking of getting 4 of their Velcro xplanters.

Build A soil has the 5 gallons for 5.25, the 7s for 6.40 and 10s for 7.55. Personally id proly go for the 10s. give yourself some growing room/topdressing room. YMMV
 

NecterSecter

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the info m4s73r. Ima check that out. I just ordered a 10gallon smart pot to put a plant into to see if the buds outgrow the 3 in 5gallon pots by alot. So I can use that info to base my next set of flowering plants pots size on, I bought a lot of 5gallon buckets but it looks I can only use them a few weeks into flower if I want max yield
 
You can't beat a 5 gallon container for $2.50.
It's the damndest thing, but I just grew a NYC Diesel feminized auto whose only about 5 inches tall, with about a week left to harvest, & the root ball filled the entirety of a 5 gallon HD bucket!
Where tf is my yield? Lol.
I don't take "failures" like this too hard since I'm up & coming & just learning the ropes, but when something like this happens & I can't figure out the cause so that I can correct it in the future, it's kind of a hard pill to swallow.
 
Top