Today we start the post with a philosophical reflection. And that we are going to talk about pots! But it does not matter. There are maxims that can be applied to any discipline, including the cultivation of marijuana. And when we refer to the amount of soil for growing your pots need, we think that the best recommendation we can give you is the same that Aristotle would give you: “In the middle is virtue.”
Relax, we are not going to leave you with doubt because of course this phrase can give rise to many interpretations, especially if we apply it to horticultural issues. So throughout this post we will analyze the reasons why it is advisable or not to have more or less soil in your cultivation pots.
Adequate containers and quality soil
Before asking yourself the question of how far you should fill the pot with soil for cultivation, you should ask yourself if you are working with the right materials. It is usually an overlooked detail. The rush and being able to save a few euros, especially at the beginning of the crop, when we realize that you have to buy enough material to have everything ready, can make you make the mistake of buying an inappropriate pot or buying the cheaper soil than you find in a non-specialized store.
If this is your case, we can tell you without any remorse that you are starting off on the wrong foot. It would be better to rethink the situation because these are those kinds of mistakes that pay dearly over time.
First of all is that you have to adapt your pots to the cycles of your plants so that it is not a waste of resources: neither soil, nor water nor any other product that you need to use in your pots. But most importantly: they have to allow your plants to grow with space (down, up and across).
The second thing is that the type of substrate you use must be of quality. Think that the main food of your plant will be there. Just as you cannot be eating fast food, your marijuana plants are not going to sit well at all with cheap soil, with few nutrients, which quickly becomes caked and does not give you any guarantee of quality. That’s not healthy!
Many varieties, the same way of taking root
That said, there is something you should be clear about. When you choose the seeds of the marijuana varieties that you want to plant, you know in advance that each plant has some peculiarities in terms of its growth, the characteristics of its branches, its leaves, its buds. There will be plants that grow taller, others that grow wider and some that surprise you with their lushness.
But do you know what all your marijuana crops have in common? What you do not see, what is growing inside the pot, is always the same way. The root system of a cannabis plant (and of any other plant in general) always has the same behavior: it will try to lower and lower and later extend towards the sides of the pot.
Think of your plant as if it were a house. For it to grow in height it will need a good foundation and those foundations are in the development of the roots. That is why it is so important that the germinated seeds have space to develop their roots towards the bottom of the pot and also have lateral space to later extend towards the walls of the same and give the plant the stability it needs for its growth. vertical.
With these simple equations we have already given you the key to make correct use of pots and soil. Have you been able to find out the relationship between the height of your growing medium and the size of the container? In case there is any doubt, we will explain it to you below.
The pots are to fill them
If you are still in the first phase of growth and do not want to spend a lot of soil, do not place your plant in a giant pot with a capacity of 12 liters. What a waste! Filling the pot only halfway is not going to do you any good. The roots of the plant will soon touch the soil of the pot and instead will take longer to spread to the sides of the pot.
In addition, the edges of the pot itself will be shading the plant, it will not be able to to breathe good and you will not have the same options to photosynthesize correctly. Definitely, you will be drowning your plant and condemning it to slow growth. As they say, this plant will not get grab well and in the long run it will be much less productive than the rest of those that make up your crop.
Something similar happens if you skimp on the amount of soil you use in your pots during the flowering cycle. If you think that nothing will happen by saving a few inches of soil on the edge of your containers, you are making a mistake. At this time of cultivation we should be talking about large-capacity pots (about 7 liters in indoor crops and about 40 liters in outdoor crops), that is, practically double the initial pot.
As during growth, cannabis plants need to throw. That is, they have to put down very strong roots that can develop widely. Otherwise, it will be as if we had never transplanted them. If the roots do not develop strongly, flowering also stops., the leaves begin to fall and the buds may rot if the plant has stayed too long buried in the pot. To avoid this disaster in the final stage of your cultivation, your large pot has to be well filled, leaving only a margin of a centimeter of edge that allows you to water it correctly.
As you can see, filling a pot of soil seems a simple thing, but it also has its science. What is the middle ground? Use logic: don’t buy a giant pot if you don’t want to fill it. Adapt the size of the pot to the needs of each moment and do not cut back on these types of resources because they are very important for the proper development of your marijuana plants. What you invest now will pay off during harvest.
