I go from either 18oz Solo Cups, or 32oz Uline Deli Containers to 5 gallon pots usually. And I go to the 5 gallons only because I can get more of them under the light for vegging.. This is also for seeds, and determining sex.
I use a 1000w
Hortilux HPS for seeds-harvest. I start them ar 24in from the light, and lt them grow towards the light. Ill raise the light as needed, when they start to show any stress. I can get them closer in the fall-winter, than I can from Spring-Summer.
I also have 2 x 1150w
Gavita DE, and they are always 36- 40 inches from the canopy. Any closer and the infrared fries them.
But I usually veg in 5 gallon containers, grow bags are easiest to re-up pot. I grow larger plants, and flower in 20 Gallon containers of
Promix BX.
But I only use the 5 gallon containers for saving space. I myself like to use the bigger container from the start. The trick is learning to water. Which is an art/science unto itself. But if you aare good at atering, and dont need to save space, from what Ive read, its best to have your plant in the same container from start to finish.
When I transplant from 5 gallon grow bags into 20 gallon Totes, I simply fill the 20 gallon container up with enough space left over for the 5 gallon container. I simply CUT the bag away from the plant, and slightly rough up the roots, if need be. Ill veg another week so the plant can reacclimate to the bigger container, and then flip it.
Ive got a few strains/mother plants that when the clones are done, the 20 gallon containers are completely filled with roots, and when the soil is dry, I can lift the whole root ball, and medium out in one piece.
Now some/many strains wont grow like this. I can get 22ox from an old 1010 Barneys Farm G13 x Haze plant, a 2010 Mr Nice Super Silver Haze, and a 2004 Willie Nelson cut. If I veg the SSH, and the G13 x Haze for 60 days in a 5 gallon container, and then repot into a 20 gallon, I can get from 18oz-24oz from 1 plant, under a 1000w
Hortilux HPS. The Willie Nelson will go crazy if you let it veg that long, and would take 2 lights to grow it. I also Bend the plants over, and they grow into a huge bush. 1 plant will easily fill a 4 x 4, and a 1000w
Hortilux HPS. The Willie Nelson stretches for at least 80 days after flip ad will take up 2 lights, and get 2.5lbs from 1 plant. Ive actually gotten 16oz from the Willie in a 5 gallon container, and 30 days veg. And it took up 2 lights length wise to light it. Flipped at 12 inches, and it was 6.5 feet long and 3 feet wide when finished. I didnt think it would ever stop stretching. And this was on the Edge of the garden. The Willie will stretch 6-7 times is veg size. and a smaller container doesnt seem to hurt it as much as other strains. If I grow the G13 x Haze in the 5 gallon container, and I leave it in a 5 gallon container vs putting the same size cutting in a 20 gallon container. The G13 x Haze will be lucky to get 7oz, as when the 20 gallon pot will get 18oz-24oz. The Willie takes 105 days to finish.
We also have an old pre 2000 genetics AK47 mother, and at most it will produce 14oz per plant, but the weed is incredible, and reeks of catpiss, and flowers. Has an Anise Seed, and floral taste when dry toked, and a floral Anise taste when smoked. But the stench off of this stuff is second to none. You can have it growing in your basement, and you can smell it outside in the street 75-100 feet away. Its a bust if you have unfriendly neighbors, or the cops smell it.
We also have an old 2000 Afghani #1 cut, and in a 20 gallon container will only produce about 8oz, and doesnt fill up the 20g container with roots. . So its best to grow it in a 10 gallon container. But its one of the best producing pure Afghanis Ive seen, and is very potent.
