too larry
Well-Known Member
The kiddie pools are not too shallow. At least not the 45-50 gallon ones. Nine inches is plenty if you mulch them good. Pot roots grow out way more than down.
Pot size for outdoor?
- Thread starter Booger mama
- Start date
Booger mama
Active Member
I'm growing Harlequin outdoor. They'll get 6 to 7 ft tall. I live on the coast with very high winds! I would be so afraid they wouldn't stand up in a strong gust! I might try that with my Dance World CBD though they get 4 ft Max.
too larry
Well-Known Member
T-dub drove rebar in the ground and tied wire to it, making a cage around the plant in veg. Then when the flowering started, put more wire over the top. With that kind of weight, it has to have support. Gorilla growers use stakes stuck down into the pot for support. Maybe you could do that, and still have a movable plant.
Good luck.
Booger mama
Active Member
Yep, I'm probably going to have to stake. Thanks for your help.
Humanrob
Well-Known Member
I'm also in Oregon, but the wind I deal with comes from the Gorge not off the ocean. My first year growing outdoors I followed all the internet advice and went as big as I could, which was 100 gallon pots. In subsequent years I just put them in the ground, and what I found was there was little to no difference between 100g pot and the ground -- because at that point the limiting factor is the length of our grow season. The plants didn't have time to get big enough to outgrow a 100g pot.
I don't know what your med needs are, but I would let those requirements be the guiding factor and not simply try to grow as much as you can. Huge plants can be a lot to manage and then harvest, cure, and store. I ended out making a lot of hash, budder, and tincture because it condensed everything down.
I've also grown outdoors in smaller pots and moved them, in my case I finished a couple in the garage under lights. Keep in mind that the smaller the pot, the more critical your feeding routine will be. Towards the end they'll eat and drink a lot, and you have to balance giving them enough nutes with not burning them in the small amount of soil relative to the the large plant size. For me, I found that 20 gallon fabric pots were as big as I wanted to go when it came to one I planned on moving. (As Always-) Depending on the strain, you can get a heavy producer in a 20 gallon pot and get a LOT of good meds from it. I found that 10-15 gallons was too small, and the plants would grow huge while vegging and then tend to fall over, and get root bound and deplete the soil and need frequent feedings. Even the 20 gallon fabric needed to be watered daily. I ended out putting a couple of pin-holes in the bottom of 2 liter plastic bottles and leaving them upside down in the pot to drip feed them.
It's a good thing you have a greenhouse, I suspect you'll find the biggest challenge of the whole season to be the last few weeks before harvest, when the buds are getting fat and dense and the moisture in the air is rising and you're trying to fend off powdery mildew and mold/bud rot. Most of the photos I've grown outdoors here in Oregon were harvested earlier than I would have if they were indoors, I just ran out of time and had to take them down. If I were on the coast I would plan on not growing plants that were so big that I could not get them through my greenhouse door -- because that is where I'd want to finish them. I had to tie them up like xmas trees to get them into my detached garage (which no longer has a 'car door', just 'people' doors on it).
Sorry for the long post, but last thought -- now I only grow Autos outdoors, they are done by early September before the rains come...
(Edit: This is a Jillybean in a 20 gallon pot...
)
I don't know what your med needs are, but I would let those requirements be the guiding factor and not simply try to grow as much as you can. Huge plants can be a lot to manage and then harvest, cure, and store. I ended out making a lot of hash, budder, and tincture because it condensed everything down.
I've also grown outdoors in smaller pots and moved them, in my case I finished a couple in the garage under lights. Keep in mind that the smaller the pot, the more critical your feeding routine will be. Towards the end they'll eat and drink a lot, and you have to balance giving them enough nutes with not burning them in the small amount of soil relative to the the large plant size. For me, I found that 20 gallon fabric pots were as big as I wanted to go when it came to one I planned on moving. (As Always-) Depending on the strain, you can get a heavy producer in a 20 gallon pot and get a LOT of good meds from it. I found that 10-15 gallons was too small, and the plants would grow huge while vegging and then tend to fall over, and get root bound and deplete the soil and need frequent feedings. Even the 20 gallon fabric needed to be watered daily. I ended out putting a couple of pin-holes in the bottom of 2 liter plastic bottles and leaving them upside down in the pot to drip feed them.
It's a good thing you have a greenhouse, I suspect you'll find the biggest challenge of the whole season to be the last few weeks before harvest, when the buds are getting fat and dense and the moisture in the air is rising and you're trying to fend off powdery mildew and mold/bud rot. Most of the photos I've grown outdoors here in Oregon were harvested earlier than I would have if they were indoors, I just ran out of time and had to take them down. If I were on the coast I would plan on not growing plants that were so big that I could not get them through my greenhouse door -- because that is where I'd want to finish them. I had to tie them up like xmas trees to get them into my detached garage (which no longer has a 'car door', just 'people' doors on it).
Sorry for the long post, but last thought -- now I only grow Autos outdoors, they are done by early September before the rains come...
(Edit: This is a Jillybean in a 20 gallon pot...
)
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Gdub51
Well-Known Member
I grow in the back yard, near the coast in Southern CA. Coastal/Desert weather here is dry and temperate to warm. I have decided on pots that are tall because of seeing the shape of the roots from plants pulled after harvest from the ground. The natural shape is a tall V with the roots going down as far as they can as long as the plant lives, and getting no wider than the plant is above ground. I think they grow "out" in the shallow kiddie pools because its the only way they can go. The shallow shape will inhibit strength and make plants too susceptible to wind blow over. Also, the shallower the pot, the hotter the soil and the quicker it will dry out. Wind is a problem here so I stake as well. My pots are Tall round cylinders on wheels; 36 tall, 23 wide at top 15 wide at bottom, beige plastic double wall on roller dolleys. I had the black wide ones but they cramped the roots and got too hot for the roots in our never ending sun. The tall shape fits the natural shape of the roots better, going down naturally to seek water and COOL earth. Wheels help move them into the sun and out of the wind when necessary. Even into the house once when it got into the 90's and they witherd. The taller V allows for a more stable plant in the wind, the roots are cooler and the result is much better. So I recommend the tallest pot to best match the natural shape and wishes of the plant. This makes the plant more stable in the wind and keeps the roots cooler (very important here, black pots were bad) The cast plastic ones are much cheaper than ceramic, easier to move, especially on wheels, cooler for the roots and hold their water longer than shallower options. They can also be very attractive. Mine are a beige faux stone look and blend with the color of the stones used in the landscape. You need to strike a balance between the need for mobility vs. weight and the plants natural tendency to grow DOWN.
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Booger mama
Active Member
On my Greenhouse the sides roll up to the ceiling. This makes it a whole lot easier to pull larger plants in. In addition to grow lights and fans I also keep a dehumidifier and small radiant oil heater for cool fall weather. I'm hoping to complete this grow before the Oregon rainy season starts but just in case I have all the above things ready to go. Yes pot size has been a huge issue for debate. I've ordered & returned pots, shopped local stores, then I finally found a seller that makes fabric grow pots to size. I initially ordered 100gal but changed it to 40gal at the last minute. After hearing everyone's advice & considering the Oregon coast weather, I decided 40gal will be fine. On the advice of another well-known member from N.California I decided to use Maxsea as a fertilizer. I already use it on all my carnivorous plants & orchids so I was overjoyed to find it works well on cannabis too! I'm going with the diluted recipe. Using it during reg. watering instead of weekly feeding. This should also help with the smaller pot size. I also FIMed for the fist time yesterday. This should help keep the height down too. As far as my medical needs.. I do not smoke except for the occasional select Harlequin cartridge. I have nothing against smoking, I just know edibles work better for me. I have a 13yr old son to keep up with & I can't be stoned. So everything I grow is turned into edibles. Yesterday I made Rick Simpson oil for the first time. Thanks for taking the time to help me! My disability keeps me at home 90% of the time so it's nice to have people I can talk to about growing issues. Have a great day!
Booger mama
Active Member
I finally went with 40gal. fabric pots for the plants I'm going now. If you'd be kind enough to give me the name of the place you bought your rolling pots, I will look for them here on the coast. I'm germinating more seeds now so I'll have to buy pots again very soon. Thank you!
Gdub51
Well-Known Member
Home Depot they were only $22! Every one I've seen at a comparable size is at least twice that. The dolleys were separate, also at HD.
NirvanaMesa
Well-Known Member
Heres my 10gal plant I am doing now.
Dougnsalem
Well-Known Member
Thank you for your service. We respect and appreciate it much!
Great thread here too! I'm coming up on my second grow, and have had to deal with the same issues as Booger mama. Although, I know my wind isn't a fraction of what she has. There's some nasty stuff going on out there at the coast!!! Lol. Thanks for all the info guys/gals. You're helping more than one person here....
Seawood
Well-Known Member
I grew in 12 gallon pots last year on my deck. The plants got thirsty a lot but I ended up with 8-12 oz per plant...and this was my first go at growing. Pretty much the same yield as my buddies who grew in the ground. You don’t need monster pots to get decent yields. All depends on your setup and expectations.
Booger mama
Active Member
I don't have a Home Depot
Bummer! I'll look on the website. Maybe I can order? Thanks!
Booger mama
Active Member
That's exactly what I did last 2yrs. They were all indica/auto flower. 10-20gal work great with those!
Booger mama
Active Member
Nice looking lil girl! That's what mine looked like last year. Same pot!
Gdub51
Well-Known Member
Anybody else deal with the wind storm in SoCal yesterday? It lifted the table cover my sprouts were sitting on completely OFF the table!! spilling the infants onto the stone! I had to re-plant, bringing everything in the house after to get out of the relentless blow. They are all droopy today. I hope they will recover. It may be just an auto grow this year, too late to start over. It's always something, isn't it?
Gdub51
Well-Known Member
I found one more of those planters at another HD yesterday. It had a sticker showing it's capacity as 17 gallons. I'll be happy if they reach six feet. After pruning, (just inner growth thinning) I harvest plenty for my years use including cooking and concentrate as well as vaping. I don't want a plant that shows the neighbors what's going on. There's plenty of teens in the hood that will know what it is and an 8 foot bush would stick up in sight line here. Besides I get PLENTY from what I'm doing so I don't need a bigger plant, I spend my efforts at increasing THC/CBD content. I'll post pics at late veg. IF I make it this year, after the wind storm yesterday lifting and throwing my little sprouts all over the back yard!
Gdub51
Well-Known Member
Wow! check out these rolling waste bins; https://www.google.com/search?q=plastic+waste+bins+on+wheels&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=ztjnpWbAHYFTPM%3A%2Cyd-QjObxILaeFM%2C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kRseeDBs6tF3xhOO3J52Kk6dIszhw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwitjfPHkKPiAhUKna0KHQWoD9UQ9QEwAHoECAkQBA#imgrc=ztjnpWbAHYFTPM:
Imagine drilling the bottom and painting with a textured paint! Killer planters and easily moveable!
Imagine drilling the bottom and painting with a textured paint! Killer planters and easily moveable!
NirvanaMesa
Well-Known Member
Its not too late to start over?
too larry
Well-Known Member
Especially if you are wanting shorter plants.