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Pot size

M

Merkinz

Hi All,

The grow season in the land down under is nearly upon us and I'm gearing up. However for the past few weeks I've been trying to decide what size of pot to buy. I have two sizes cheaply available (Black plastic PB plant bags). Its either:

PB40 - 19L (5gal)
or
PB65 - 36L (9.5gal)

This is quite a difference and will make quite a difference when it comes to filling them with dirt (I'll be using bought potting mix). I hope to have about 30 pots all up.

What size do you pot in. And what are your thoughts.

NOTE: There is nothing available in an "inbetween" size where I live so please don't suggest that :)
 
Go with the 19 liter ones as standard and decide later one what plants are close to your heart and re-pot them into a 36 liter pot. older plants, especially C. chinense would greatly benefit from the extra rooting space. the 36 liter pot isn't really necessary, but more of a extra care for the special plants you want to grow bigger, taller and produce more pods. usually plants you plan on keep for the next few years.
 
I would weigh up the cost of extra mix and pot up accordingly.
Like my brother has already mentioned some plants like chinenses' like more soil.
I have always found that more size is better for dampening effects that may be caused by a noob grower. (Myself that is).
 
Hope you have a good back if you're going to move around that 9.5 gallon with any regularity, especially when wet. That's a lot of potting soil! Peppers grow great in 5 Gallons, but will get bigger in a larger container - wonderfully in the ground.
 
Thanks for all the reply's! Very helpful. I'll do the math tonight.

I should have given some indication of what I'm going to grow: :cool:
• Habanero Pumpkin - 3x
• Trinidad Perfume - 5x
• Paper Lantern - 3x
• Trinidad 7 Pot - 4x
• Fatalii - 6x
• Jalapeno - 8x
• Tobasco - 6x
• Rocotto - 3x (these will be in the ground cause I know they can get BIG!)
 
I think a lot of this has to do with preference and obviously space restrictions. For myself, I couldn't decide on getting a bunch of 5 or 10 gallon containers, so I split the difference and just got several 7 gallons nursery pots. Normally it wouldn't matter, because if they're the flimsy plastic kind you could probably afford both, but since I bought them all injection molded plastic (heavy duty), is was a bit more of an investment. Ultimately it comes down to a harvest-benefit to space-cost compromise.
 
Merkinz said:
Hi All,

The grow season in the land down under is nearly upon us and I'm gearing up. However for the past few weeks I've been trying to decide what size of pot to buy. I have two sizes cheaply available (Black plastic PB plant bags). Its either:

PB40 - 19L (5gal)
or
PB65 - 36L (9.5gal)

This is quite a difference and will make quite a difference when it comes to filling them with dirt (I'll be using bought potting mix). I hope to have about 30 pots all up.

What size do you pot in. And what are your thoughts.

NOTE: There is nothing available in an "inbetween" size where I live so please don't suggest that :)
Click to expand...

I bought 200 5gal pots at .80 cents each and I regretted because I thought the 10gal pot was too big and heavy. But I totally forgot that there are 7 gal pots out there.

My personal reference would be to use the 7 gal pots for all chilli plants.

I bought 200 5gal pots at .80 cents each and I regretted because I think the 10gal is too big and heavy. But I totally forgot that there are 7 gal pots out there.

My personal reference would be to use the 7 gal pots for all chilli plants.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

A few people have suggested 7 gal pots. This would be ideal for me but like I said have no choice of size between 5 & 9.5 gal Its one or the other :( And that's what my dilemma is!

Turns out its gonna cost me ~ $150 USD to fill 20x 5gal pots or $300 USD to fill 20x 9.5gal pots. :confused:

Now I'm wondering if I should instead: Half the number of plants I grow and grow them in the bigger pots. ... :think: :think: :think:
 
Merkinz said:
Thanks for all the replies.

A few people have suggested 7 gal pots. This would be ideal for me but like I said have no choice of size between 5 & 9.5 gal Its one or the other :( And that's what my dilemma is!

Turns out its gonna cost me ~ $150 USD to fill 20x 5gal pots or $300 USD to fill 20x 9.5gal pots. :confused:

Now I'm wondering if I should instead: Half the number of plants I grow and grow them in the bigger pots. ... :think: :think: :think:
Click to expand...

Unless you're talking about clay or ceramic potting, I don't know why it would cost you $150.00 for twenty 5-gallon pots. If you don't have any aesthetic criteria, and simply want a practical solution, I'd stick with plastic. There's a few reliable merchants on eBay who specialize in plastic nursery pots who would give you an infinitely better deal than the prices you mention here.
 
Merkinz said:
...

Turns out its gonna cost me ~ $150 USD to fill 20x 5gal pots or $300 USD to fill 20x 9.5gal pots. :confused:

Now I'm wondering if I should instead: Half the number of plants I grow and grow them in the bigger pots. ... :think: :think: :think:
Click to expand...

I would probably decide on cutting on the number of plants. You are growing several plants of the same varieties so reducing each variety in 1 plant shouldn't make a big difference.
But then again I grow for self consumption so I don't need thousands of pods per season.

You have to decide based on your needs.

Bleash
 
FireAlchemy75 said:
Unless you're talking about clay or ceramic potting, I don't know why it would cost you $150.00 for twenty 5-gallon pots. If you don't have any aesthetic criteria, and simply want a practical solution, I'd stick with plastic. There's a few reliable merchants on eBay who specialize in plastic nursery pots who would give you an infinitely better deal than the prices you mention here.
Click to expand...

No. The pots are cheap... It's filling the pots with dirt that is going to cost me. I have no alternative to filling other than buying in dirt.

Bleash said:
I would probably decide on cutting on the number of plants. You are growing several plants of the same varieties so reducing each variety in 1 plant shouldn't make a big difference.
But then again I grow for self consumption so I don't need thousands of pods per season.

You have to decide based on your needs.

Bleash
Click to expand...

Some good thoughts there.

For those people who grow for their own consumption (+ a few bottles of sauce etc.): How many plants do you grow?

Cheers :)
 
"I have no alternative to filling other than buying in dirt."

i think "dirt" can be had for "dirt cheap"

maybe you can consider some recycled materials for part of your "GROW MEDIUM"

i am dabbling in 'vermiculture' ( ten dollar word ) and it can be done 'for dirt cheap'

please think outside the box if 'i had to' i could consider human waste as a growth medium :crazy:
 
How about going with half 5 gallon and 1/2 9. You can always pot up or down depending on the plants growth speeds and health. My 2 cents! :hell:
 
:think: :doh: :doh: :doh: :doh: :doh: :doh:

Was musing on this at work today and realized I got my math all wrong and it'll cost me alot less to fill the pot! Less than half of what I quoted.

Good to hear other peoples recommendations and thoughts on this tho. I think I'm going to slash the number of plants I'm growing in pots down to about about 10 - 15 and just go with the bigger pots.

Cheers for all the input everyone. :beer:
 
Merkinz said:
Hi All,

The grow season in the land down under is nearly upon us and I'm gearing up. However for the past few weeks I've been trying to decide what size of pot to buy. I have two sizes cheaply available (Black plastic PB plant bags). Its either:

PB40 - 19L (5gal)
or
PB65 - 36L (9.5gal)

This is quite a difference and will make quite a difference when it comes to filling them with dirt (I'll be using bought potting mix). I hope to have about 30 pots all up.

What size do you pot in. And what are your thoughts.

NOTE: There is nothing available in an "inbetween" size where I live so please don't suggest that :)
Click to expand...
Depends on what kind of garden/plants you want. If you want as much produce as possible, you go as big as possible. The bigger/more fibrous the roots, the bigger the shoots. On average the plants I over winter, stay in 5 gallon pots. But come spring they get put into the biggest container I can find or the ground. Come late fall, I dig em up, chop the roots and the shoots, and transplant to start the cycle all over again.
 
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