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Is Pot Size really that important?

LordHill

LordHill

I see alot of posts on here about pot size. Stunted plant? Ya gotta pot up to the biggest pot you have access too!..

While I agree a bigger pot will ultimately get you a bigger plant and higher yield, in my experience a stunted plant is more likely poor soil or lack of nutrients. I have had 2 foot tall plants with pods on them in red solo cups. I have also had a 6 inch plant in a 5 gallon pot that did nothing for months.

My point is if your plant is in a quality medium with proper fert/watering and good sun/light it will thrive reguardless what pot it is in. I had a bonchi all winter that was about bowling ball size. It was in a pot 1.5" deep x 6 inch long x 4 inch wide.

Yes, a bigger pot will ultimately allow for a bigger plant, but if your plant is struggling, there are probably bigger issues than the pot it is in
 
Actually, it depends upon the variety and not so much how big the plant is above ground, but how big it is below ground. When I overwinter, part of what I do before bringing the plants inside is to remove them from their pots, give them a good wash to remove as much soil from the roots as possible, then repot them. This has helped me understand what size of pot each variety needs. I've never grown a jalapeño, for example, that had a large root system so they go into fairly small pots. In fact, most annuums that I have grown have had fairly small root systems as compared to baccatuums, pubescens, and chineses. And that list is in the order of the general root sizes that I have found. Individual plants within a species may be smaller or larger than others, but so far that order has remained pretty true. So far, of the types I've grown, the chinenses in the 7-pot family have had the largest root systems.
 
Congo trinidads also get fairly large in the roots. I have grown those for the last several years, putting them into very large pots. This year, however, I chose not to grow them for myself but did start some to give to someone. Because I was going to give them away I did not put them in very large pots, but only in 1-gallon nursery-type containers. They grew quite quickly at first, but ended up in those small pots much longer than anticipated, as the person I started them for never came over to pick them up. He ended up saying he changed his mind, so I still have them. Point being that they are much smaller than the congo trinidads I've grown in the past at this point. I moved them to large pots a couple weeks ago, so now it's a race to see how big they get before snow hits. 
 
Thats what I was looking for. Actual information as opposed to a generalized "bigger is better" .. While I dont dispute bigger may be better, its not always the case. Especially here in Michigan where our growing season is severely limited.
 
Bigger pots are not better in the northern climate. To big a pot in my 90 day growing season and they never really produce. They also stay wet for a looooong time. For my neck of the woods, a gal to 1.5g is about optimum. My season and climate is the biggest reason why I've had to change things up from conventional soil to coco coir.

Neil
 
Blister said:
 They also stay wet for a looooong time.
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Probably should be using a more porous mix for that climate. Less peat and vermiculite and a lot more perlite.
 
Heckle said:
 
Probably should be using a more porous mix for that climate. Less peat and vermiculite and a lot more perlite.
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Before I made the switch to coco, I had been using Promix HP. It has a lot of perlite in it. I've never used vermiculite. I agree with you on the porous part though. That's one of the benefits of coco coir. It has a higher air to water ratio than soil mixes. Even despite this, my climate still limits my usuable pot size. I can grow big plants in small pots and even bigger plants in large pots, but there is a breaking point because my climate and short growing season still limits the average temperature and overall time to grow.

Like soil, I've been down the road with both large and medium sized pots with coir. Too large and my plants never dry out enough to wilt and produce hot peppers. Too small and my overall pepper size is smaller, but much hotter because I can let my plants wilt a bunch. A 1.5 to MAYBE a 3 gallon pot is about optimum for my particular situation. I can water often, let it wilt when I need it too, and get decent sized hot peppers. It would be a completely different story if I was able to grow indoors all year or if I lived in place like Texas or Australia. I can't even imagin the size of plants I could have with 5-10 gallon buckets filled with coco down there!

Basically what I'm saying is that pot size is dependant on the climate, growing season, and the genetics of the plant. Growing medium also plays a factor from what I've found. There is a relationship that goes on between all the factors.

Neil
 
Well if it works for you then who am I yanno?
 
Aside from that...
I use Pro-Mix HP pretty exclusively. I would say it has more perlite, but not a lot. Just my opinion.
 
Blister said:
Like soil, I've been down the road with both large and medium sized pots with coir. Too large and my plants never dry out enough to wilt and produce hot peppers. Too small and my overall pepper size is smaller, but much hotter because I can let my plants wilt a bunch. A 1.5 to MAYBE a 3 gallon pot is about optimum for my particular situation. I can water often, let it wilt when I need it too, and get decent sized hot peppers.
Click to expand...
 
 
There is a thread somewhere here on THP where one guy grew his peppers under a tree (or some kind of heavy shade) and one out in the open. I think they were brothers. Anyway the shade peppers came out hotter and more numerous too IIRC. Its an interesting read. I just told you everything I remember about it though, so I doubt I could find it now.
 
I havent tried it. I dont know if its a lack of enough sunny days or the rain, or maybe even a combo of both, but it does seem to dilute the heat.
 
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