I have been researching and planning for my grow. Just one annoying problem I seem to be having. Pot sizes?? This SOB question is driving me nuts! OK here it is, how do I find out how many gallons a pot is? Also how many gallons per week of growing time? What is the formula or is there a chart somewhere? I tried Pi*daimeter*height now I got Cubic inches, but what's the gallons? Anyways thanks for any help! M R
from memory it's one foot of height to every gallon. So 3 gallons would be good for a 3 foot plant Right??
Yeah I know what you mean by that George. I am hoping for about three foot myself, maybe less. So now how do I know what size container is three gallons? M R
5 gallon bucket? go from there. Or fill up an old gallon milk jug and see how many you dump in pot. Not sure I only have a 3rd grade education. (Edited by georged5150 at 9:52 pm on Mar. 4, 2005)
I use a 12" wide X 12" deep pot. I usually get a 30 litre bag of potting mix in that size pot. 30 litre's=30 kilo's=approx 13.36 pound's. If my conversion's are correct. (Edited by novice grower 2 at 1:24 pm on Mar. 5, 2005)
As the amount of avaiable medium increases so does the foilage. Imagine flipping the plant upside down. The roots are now above gound the leaves are underground. The space they both take up is relatively the same. So if you want more roots or foilage you will need more space or dirt. Get a few gallons of good dirt and you're on your way to success. OH-IO
Large container = large plant---not always true. I had a friend with a 3.5' tall plant that had a football-sized cola, and the plant was in a 6" pot (the size house plants come in). He was by that plant several times a day and watered it multiple times/day. If you provide as much food/water as the plant can use, it should do fine.
Hey Max, you can get a 3-4 gallon plastic trash can from the market. That will give you an idea. Or are you from somewhere metric where gallons don't exist? I ordered 3 gallon round plastic containers from a growshop and had then delivered. I do a Jog grow, so surface area is more important for me than plant height. (Edited by jerkypete at 8:25 am on Mar. 5, 2005)
I can get plenty of pots i was really stoned when I posted so here is clarafaction(SP). I can buy 6" pots and 8" pots and so on..... The problem is really how many gallons is each size? I want to start with maybe a 4" pot then transplant into a three gallon pot. How many inches would that be? 10"? If you dont know maybe someone can tell me how to convert cubic inches into gallons? Thanks for your reply guys, helpfull as always. M R
Max, It is not always a question of diameter. Some pots are wider at the base than others, some have a narrower top with more depth. Where are you intending to purchase your pots? The 3-gallon pots I use vary in size. All of these pictured below hold 3 gallons:
max, basically these are the "standard" sizes: - 6" == 1.0gal (probably a little less) - 8" == 1.5gal - 10" == 3.0gal - 12" == 4-5gal you were close with your formula for volume. this is the correct formula: VOLUME = PI x RADIUS x RADIUS x HEIGHT you were using the diameter instead of radius-squared. if you're using inches for your measurements then you want to take the final number and divide by 230. this will approximate the number of gallons. for example, a pot that is 8" tall (assume you fill to 7" ) with an 8" diameter (4" radius)... VOLUME = 3.14 x 4 x 4 x 7 = 350 cubic inches 350 cubic inches / 230 = 1.5 gallons of course these calculations are not exact because most pots are not shaped like a perfect cylinder -- they are narrower at the bottom. however, you'll find that you get results fairly close to whole- or half-gallons. as for your other question, i would suggest starting clones/seedlings in something very small like a plastic drinking cup or a 4" pot for no more than 2 weeks. then move up to either a 6" or 8" pot (1-1.5gal) for the remainder of vegging. then just before or after switching to 12/12 move them to a 10" pot (3gal).
What we do is go to the local dollar store and buy 12 quart buckets, 12 qt=3 gallons...4 qt per gallon...drill holes in the bottom, and bam..a 3 gallon pot! :LOL: It may not be all fancy and ****...but hey, it's worked well for us the past 5 years
Cool Mellow, thanks for the formula. Not too shabby though since college is about 15 years in the past:LOL: I was not sure about the volume I knew it would be close but not 100% accurate. When I first starting growing I thought the number on the pot was the gallons. You can imagine my horror when I learned my 6 gallon pot wasn't!!! Anyways I like your plan but I think I want to only transplant once. I will be using clones so... and I am lazy JP I try to buy all garden stuff with cash if possible but good idea! novice grower 2 Thanks for the info man! Eddie Cheba I wanted to be sure I had enough room for the roots! rangerdanger sure that wasn't me? Nah it died!:LOL: Hicountry2 If I had paid attention I would have seen you got me closer than anyone till MD llIndigoll I know what you mean with the differrent sizes i wanted to be able to look in the stores and find somehting that fits well into my cabinet and gives me the root space I need! DoUJuana Thats a good idea I am always looking for chaeper stuff, after all the less I spend the less I have to earn! M R
I was gonna say after that last coupla posts, max you should have the general idea now... Side note: I have grown in 2-3 gallon containers for years in soil...never once had root bound problems surface...and some plants would clock in as tall a 6 ft...boggles the mind...what a great plant this is...and it's a weed...gotta love marijuana...medicine of the meek, wise and gifted.
