How-To: Choose the Right Size and Type of Pots

Determining the right size and style plant pot can be a tedious task, but is often overlooked. How often you have to water your plants, the size of the plants, what grow medium you are using, and even strain are all considerations when choosing the right pot. With a variety of pot sizes from a Solo cup to a 100 gallon Smart Pot, it’s one of the first decisions to make when setting up your grow.

Pot Size

You’ll often hear growers throughout communities claim “the bigger the roots, the bigger the fruits.” This is often true as plants grow a long and spindly rootball. While you generally want a deeper/taller pot than wide, there are often height restrictions to keep in mind when growing indoors. A good guideline for pot size when growing in tents is “1 gallon per foot of height.” In other words, if you are running a 5 foot tall tent, use 5 gallon pots; if you are growing in a 7 foot tall tent, try using 7 gallon pots.

Pot Style

Plastic pots are the most common style pot for growing indoors. They are cheap, reusable, and simply put, effective. However, in the days of indoor growing innovation, we have seen a variety of newly designed pots released.

A recent addition to the standard plastic pot is the Smart Pot. Smart Pots are fabric pots that automatically “air prune” your roots to keep the plant from getting root bound. This is important in maintaining a healthy plant, especially when keeping a plant in the same pot for longer durations.

In addition to air pruning the roots, fabric pots also allow for better oxygen access of the rootball which, in turn, creates a healthier plant. However, this will also mean your medium will dry out faster than if you were using the standard plastic pot.