Cloth Pots - What size?

Hello,

Newbie to growing and newbie on this forum.

I’m about to do my first indoor grow and I plan to use cloth pots. I’ve heard nothing but good things about them. I understand they help pass air to the root system as well as promote root growth when re-potting as the root tips that are in contact with the pot tend to break and then split, making them double.

I’m just wondering what size pots to use. I plan to put my seedlings in plastic cups with holes in the bottoms for the first few weeks (?? - not sure how long) then transplant them to 1 gallon cloth pots. I know they make 3, 5, and 10 gallon pots as well.

Can anyone suggest what size pots I should be using?
Also, what indicators can I use in determining when to move to the next size pot?

Thanks in advance,
F

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Most of the indoor growers here use 3 and 5 gal pots.
@Countryboyjvd1971 @hillbilly103

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I should also mention that I’ll be planting BlueBerry seeds I bought from ILGM

I can’t wait for them to arrive…

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@garberfc. Blue 5gal with a coco liner

Hi @hillbilly103,

It appears you’re making your own cloth/bucket pots. Clever… I was planning on buying some reusable ones from Amazon. They seem like they’d be pretty handy and they’re cheap.

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It would depend on the type of seeds you are growing indoors.
Photo period plants you would want a 5 gallon pot.
If you are growing autoflowers 3 gallon pots are perfect for indoors.

As for time to transplant if you are growing autoflowers it would be best to transplant from your small cups directly into there final pot (3 gallon). It’s best to transplant autoflowers as few a times as possible.
For photo period plants I actually do the same as with autos and transplant into there final pots from the small cups/pots they were started in. You can certainly transplant into a 1 gallon and then into a 5 gallon later on I just like to limit the amount of times i transplant as it can shock thenplant and slow down its growth a few days. I usualy transplant once I see some roots growing out the bottom of the initial pot.
I use small peat pots to start rather than solo cups but solo cups work just fine. It’s best to use the red ones (not clear) so that light doesn’t penetrate to the roots.

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If you plan on reusing the smaller sizes, I might suggest that you shop for the more flimsy black felt pots though black is less than ideal. The reason is they’re really easy to unroll from your root ball when you transplant. Unlike @Jmesser80 I transplant 4 times in soil to allow me to assess the health of the root system and for my physical setup at the house. I don’t go into fabric pots until 5 gallon so 3rd transplant and I finish in 10 gallon but I’m growing fems and 10 gallons of soil makes me feel good hahaha.

@garberfc
Yea I was worried about mold underneath the bags
The buckets will set on 2" galvanized angle Iron so air can freely flow under them

As far as pot size what size is your tent? How tall or wide do you want you plant?
How much weed do want? The bigger the pot the bigger the plant the more weed to harvest.
I my self use 1-2-3-5-7 gal pots , I keep plants short and wide during veg. Cloth pots let plants get bigger than they would in a container pot.

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I plan to grow just 2 plants in a 4x4 tent. I plan on using the scrog method.
If bigger pots mean more buds, then I’ll plan on using 10gal cloth pots! :wink:

GSCX 7gal smart pot 32"-32" tent


Use a lot of lst and super cropping. And remember your plant will double in size maybe triple. Flipping the switch on a big plant creates monsters that get out of control fast.
My plant was 20"-20"wide and 8" tall before the switch and well you see what happened .

@Wishingilivedina420state,

A couple of questions; do you have the cloth pots sitting on anything to allow air flow under them? How many plants are in your photo?

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I use them and they rest on wooden (cedar) slats of a table in my grow box.

@garberfc so sorry for the delay I got lost for a minute. But there are 4 pots in that tent (3) 3gal and (1) 7gal. Other than a collection tray there on the floor. Once again I’m very sorry that took so long.

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I would suggest 7 gallon smart pots… they have a really nice diameter to allow for root growth.
for drainage,…go to home depot and buy a few of those 14" wide paint roller trays…allows water to drain out and run down into the pan which allows for easy checking of your runoff Ph

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@garberfc

First I would iike to welcome you t ilgm " WELCOME "

if i were you i would use the 5 gal cloth pot’s. That way yu only have to transplant one time.
You can transplant when they have 5 to 6 true sets of leafs

Hope this helps

Will thumb

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Thanks @Wishingilivedina420state, that info will help make my decision in which potsvto use…

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@Jmesser80 For outdoor autos, would 3 gall pots be big enough?

For outdoor autos you will want to use 5 gallon pots.

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