How much more input cost do you have into more frequent waterings therefore more nutrients for the smaller pot size?
When we ran 18g Rubbermaid tubs, soil, Nectar nutrients, we would water 1x/3days.
Spent over a grand a round.
The migration to smaller pots, coco, different nutes has had a learning curve and I've lost a dramatic amount of quality and production. But I'm getting the hang of it now.
That said, this round on the smallest waterings yet (5sec/every 90min) has in a few weeks cost less in water and nutes. Why? The coco has to be moist and the 20-30% runoff has to be a daily total, not per feeding.
I saw on instagram the grower(s) doing numerous tiny waterings, with massive trees in tiny containers.
It convinced me so I'm trying to emulate it. I don't have it down. I'm not an expert on anything nor an authority on anything.
With big pots of SOIL that has outstanding aeration, I've grown big plants.
Now in a polar opposite (coco, small containers, regular tiny waterings), I'm seeing the smallest airpots ALWAYS outperform larger pots. 100% in my observations.
My goal is 1gallon pots all the way. Big enough to take a drip collar (I've got the black horseshoe shaped/U shaped ones, with holes bored out slightly to minimize clogs).
I'm not blasting through water and nutes. Plants are in moist media. They ... appear happy so far.
Time will tell and I promise to report more as I go.
Again, I'm no expert. The biggest trees are outdoor, soil, hands down. Indoor it appears the small pot regular coco beats larger pots. It dries out better. It has tons of O from h2o. It takes less water and nutes overall. So far so good. Not sure if that answers your question specifically? Glad to share my observations anyway.