Plants finishing faster in smaller pots

Im in the 6th week of flower. I have some in 5gal pots and a few in 1/2gal pots of coco. I also have some in 5gal pots of soil. All hand watered.

What i have seen is that the soil is growing slowest obviously, and the 5gal coco's are doing great. The ones in the 6" pots look like a week ahead as far as resin production and density.

Am i totally high or is there a reason for this?

The smaller pots dry out faster and i have to water them daily vs every ~3days with the 5gal pots off coco. My guess is this gives them a more hydro-like watering schedule and boosts their metabolism?

If i could replicate this for my next grow that would be epic. I would love to hear what some of the more experienced growers around here think.

The size of the pot has nothing to do with the finishing time of a plant. This is genetically programed in the seed.

PW

I understand what your saying but thats not exactly what I'm asking. These have all been cut from from the same mother and should have the same flowering time. I have also flowered this strain 3 times.

Clones from the same mother, veged the same amount of time, and put into 12/12 at the same time. The ones in the small pots are far closer to being "finished" than the ones in the larger pots... swollen calyx's more resin etc. I guess i should try to get pics up, i'll work on that.

Maybe they're stressed so they're trying to finish faster..never heard of smaller pots being faster

Im still pretty much a newb and I've stressed more plants than i would like to admit lol but unfortunately it never made them flower quicker. After a good flush they would start to get back on track but it would set them back about a week or two.

I see how that could make sense but if stressing your plants causes them to flower quicker and produce more resin i think people wouldn't spend so much time trying to avoid stressing their plants knowaimeen?

Ive also wondered this. Not so much the pot size, just if the increased availability of fresh, pH'd water to the roots in the smaller pots allowed for faster growth and development.

More perlite in your coco, say 50/50 will give a more wet dry cycle. You will be watering everyday for sure and every time you water your drawing oxygen into your root zone and getting a substantial amount of run off....

Oxygen, water and light are the basic components of plant life and when combined with a balanced nutrient schedule=faster growth and larger yields....

More perlite in your coco, say 50/50 will give a more wet dry cycle. You will be watering everyday for sure and every time you water your drawing oxygen into your root zone and getting a substantial amount of run off....

Oxygen, water and light are the basic components of plant life and when combined with a balanced nutrient schedule=faster growth and larger yields....

Gracias colafarmer! Whaaat buying less coco and getting more yield? Sounds good to me. Double bonus il definitely be trying 50% coco next round. Now time to figure out why the caps on all my canna coco nutes leak

Edited by potweed, 18 July 2012 - 09:13 PM.
DRAMA

Now time to figure out why the caps on all my canna coco nutes leak

Mine too! Bugs the shit out of me. I put my h&g in canna bottles cos i like the bottle, now when i squeeze that shit up it comes out the cap and runs down the side...

I can totally see why the smaller pots would "finish" faster vs the 5gal. And you hit the nail on the head in my opinion.

Say you watered a 1/2gal pot and a 5gal pot the same day, and poured enough h2o through each to achieve 10-30% runoff, the amount of h2o needed would be the obvious variable because there is more media to saturate in the 5gal vs the 1/2gal.

That being said, the pot with less saturated media will go through its wet/dry cycles MUCH faster than the 5gal pot would. I would almost say its safe to say for every one wet/dry cycle of a 5gal pot you have three wet/dry cycles in a 1/2gal pot.

That being said one could assume that if more cycles of growth are completed in less amount of time that the plant could mature "quicker" than its counterpart. But then you have to ask is it just because one is being fed on a more hydro level, vs the 5gal which is a bit more on the soil side.

also like others have said, adding perlite helps, and if you have long flowering strains, or large plants i think 5 gal is a GREAT idea, I recently just finished a Nevilles Haze plant that took 110 days to finish, in a 5 gal pot, I ended up getting approx 8 oz off of ONE plant of 90% sativa buds.

Again, its all in how you read the plant, they are all different, and in all honesty, there is a MILLION different ways to grow GREAT weed, so even if yours is not like mine, who's to say you aren't still producing great bud?

Grow on ;D

Mine too! Bugs the shit out of me. I put my h&g in canna bottles cos i like the bottle, now when i squeeze that shit up it comes out the cap and runs down the side...

Haha good to know its not just me. I have a feeling they all suck

I can totally see why the smaller pots would "finish" faster vs the 5gal. And you hit the nail on the head in my opinion.

Say you watered a 1/2gal pot and a 5gal pot the same day, and poured enough h2o through each to achieve 10-30% runoff, the amount of h2o needed would be the obvious variable because there is more media to saturate in the 5gal vs the 1/2gal.

That being said, the pot with less saturated media will go through its wet/dry cycles MUCH faster than the 5gal pot would. I would almost say its safe to say for every one wet/dry cycle of a 5gal pot you have three wet/dry cycles in a 1/2gal pot.

That being said one could assume that if more cycles of growth are completed in less amount of time that the plant could mature "quicker" than its counterpart. But then you have to ask is it just because one is being fed on a more hydro level, vs the 5gal which is a bit more on the soil side.

also like others have said, adding perlite helps, and if you have long flowering strains, or large plants i think 5 gal is a GREAT idea, I recently just finished a Nevilles Haze plant that took 110 days to finish, in a 5 gal pot, I ended up getting approx 8 oz off of ONE plant of 90% sativa buds.

Again, its all in how you read the plant, they are all different, and in all honesty, there is a MILLION different ways to grow GREAT weed, so even if yours is not like mine, who's to say you aren't still producing great bud?

Grow on ;D

Hey thanks for the reply. Next time il be doing 3gal pots with a 50/50 coco/perlite mix. I like the idea about the longer flowering strains in larger pots so i think i will do the headband in the 5gal and everything else in the 3's. The bubba really like the small pots but ones in the 5gal were not that much bigger. The headband on the other hand is loving the 5gal.

Thats epic about the 8oz of one plant, I have never some near that number on one plant.

Thanks again!