30 gallon tan triple hem close up with cannabis leaves.

Oregon Commercial Grower Tour: What size fabric pot should I use? And in which color?

Growers often ask about pot size. Which is the best size and should I get black or tan?

Shawn McCreery

We’re using 65 gallon pots

Rob and Dan

I’ve always used 200

Fish from Wild West Growers

300 gallon Justin: 300 gallons.

Tyler from Hitman Farms

I chose 600 gallon pots

As you can see, the choice varies per grower. Why does it matter so much? These professionals had specific reasons for picking the pots they did. What sort of things did they factor in to their decisions?

Fish from Wild West Growers

We had to come up with, you know, a good layout. Something that accommodated our square foot space that we were using. We chose to go with the 300 gallon pot and that is what fit us and the style that we’re growing in. It gives us a large root mass and plenty of height above the ground to get away from the gravel that we’re using.

Okay, so factor in how much space you have and how high you want your plants. Makes sense. What else?

Rob and Dan

I’ve always used 200. I’ve seen guys use 300 and it seems like I do just as good as… Less dirt, little bit less money, more space, more abundancy with the plant really. And you don’t take up half the space either.

Save money on some dirt and get more plant abundancy in a small pot. But, how small is too small?

Shawn McCreery

We’re using 65 gallon pots because we’re gonna do mini plants. Smaller plants are a little more compact and seems to be more robust. Gnarlier. Faster flowering time. And just all around better weed when you grow in a little bit smaller pot. Not trying to get them so big and overfed.

Interesting. Gnarlier, more robust plants and a faster flowering time? Makes sense, because there is less pot to fill. The plant will grow denser instead of taller. At Shawn’s farm, things are even more interesting. His 65 gallon pots are all folded down.

Why, you ask? Here’s his answer.

Shawn McCreery

Well, we were running out of time. We were waiting to get our Rec license, our application approved and every week we were just running out of time so I knew I didn’t have enough time to really absolutely need 65 gallon pots so I figured we’d fold them in half and fill them up and it’d work out perfectly for the time we have and so far is has.

Fold a pot and have a smaller size for a season? Cool strategy. So, if having a smaller pot means a denser bud, why would you ever go for a large pot? Say, a 600 gallon?

Tyler from Hitman Farms

That’s for the medical side growing big plants, you know, you plant one in a 600 gallon pot and you’re going for a bigger plant and fewer numbers of plants. If I was going to go for more of a sea of green style I would definitely go with a smaller size pot or I would plant several plants in a 600 gallon pot. I know there’s people that go all the way up to 1000 gallons. It just is a grower’s preference and I just chose the medium, 600.

Tyler wanted more weed for fewer plants. Makes sense, he had the property to pull it off.

So, what does this mean for you? When picking your pot, factor in how much space you have, how much time you have, and what you expect to get out of each plant. Smaller pots mean a faster flower, denser buds, and they take up less space. Larger pots take longer and take up more space but your harvest per plant will increase dramatically. Don’t forget, you also have Shawn’s decision. Buy a pot larger than you need and fold it down so you have the versatility.

Now about the color.

Fish from Wild West Growers

I personally like the tan pots better just because of the heat factor. I mean if you maybe were going in the ground or something or had grass around it to keep the pots cool, you might be okay, but I personally like the tan just because it keeps the root ball cooler. We’re on gravel as it is, so tan works for us.

Shawn McCreery

Just keep the soil cooler, keep the roots cooler, everything moves a lot better along in tan pots.

Okay, so just use tan? Sounds easy enough. For an outdoor grow, it might just be that easy. If we had interviewed indoor growers, we would have had a lot more talking about black fabric. Tyler, from Hitman Farms, uses both colors outdoor, though. How does that work for him?

Tyler from Hitman Farms

Definitely recommendation: use the tan pot over the black pot. We’re still able to do really well in the black pot, so who is to say?

So, the color isn’t a HUGE deal, as long as you are taking close care of your plants to make sure that the temperatures are where they need to be. But generally, tan for outdoor, black for indoor.