One of the things Sprout considers most important is to size your grow pot correctly for every stage of life. First off, we recommend felt pots as your plants will never go root bound, they are easy to clean, and eco-friendly as you can use them season after season. Sure, the upfront cost is more when using felt pots but the lifespan of your pots is far greater than using plastic containers and you’re helping the planet in the process.
There are multiple brands of felt grow pots, however, we recommend GeoPot for their velcro feature that makes transplanting that much easier. VivoSun also has great felt pots that you can get in packs of 5 or more.
The main thing you need to worry about when choosing pot size is during the earlier stages of the plant’s life. It is too easy for a young plant to get over-watered. Using a smaller plant pot gives the plant a chance to use the water in the medium. The risk of using too large of a pot is creating too moist of an environment and thus creating conditions that induce damping off disease.
Damping-off Disease is the result of over-watering and results in the medium going anaerobic which causes stunted roots and mold.
Here is a general guideline for plant stages and grow pot size:
Seedling: 3”-4’” grow pot
Early Vegetative: ½ gallon to 1” gallon
Late Vegetative: 3 gallon to 15 gallon (final transplant)
Flower: Same as vegetative
A good way to figure out how much space your plant wants is to match the amount of the plant's spatial volume above the surface to the plant’s root's spatial volume below the surface. For the first transplant in early vegetative, they usually move up to a 1 gallon unless they are ready to plant outdoors.
The texture of the soil is also very important in pot size. When adding amendments to your medium, always use light and airy soil so the roots go crazy. For any young plants, try to use a seedling mix that will not need to be flushed before use.
You may experience shock after transplant if your medium is too hot (nutrient-rich). In that case, flush until your PPM levels are optimal for the stage of life.
Wishing you all a blissful growing journey!
Sprout