# Pot size

> Pot size is the volume of medium a plant roots into; bigger pots give bigger plants within reason, but feeding frequency can let small pots punch well above their size.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/pot-size.html
- Also written: container size, pot volume, root volume, rooting volume, what size pot
- Glossary category: Cultivation and training · Evidence: Supported
- Status: Draft: awaiting expert review · Updated: 2026-10-31
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay cannabis glossary"

Pot size is the volume of growing medium available to one plant, usually given in litres or US gallons (1 US gal = 3.785 L). Across many crops, plant biomass rises with rooting volume: a meta-analysis found that doubling pot volume increased plant size by roughly 43% on average.

## In practice

Common indoor sizes are 11-25 L (3-7 gal) for [photoperiods](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/photoperiod.md) and 11-15 L (3-4 gal) for [autoflowers](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/autoflower.md). Larger pots buffer water and nutrients, so they forgive missed waterings. Smaller pots dry faster, which allows more frequent feeding and tighter control.

## Myth check

House position: bigger pots give bigger [yields](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/yield.md), within reason, but root volume is not the whole story. It is a trade-off against feeding frequency. The founder has grown more than 4 oz (113 g) dry from a 16 oz (about 0.5 L) cup by pushing water and nutrients hard with [high-frequency fertigation](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/high-frequency-fertigation.md). A small pot fed many times a day can match a big pot watered every few days; a small pot watered like a big one will starve. See [drain-to-waste and crop steering](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/systems/drain-to-waste-crop-steering.md).

## Don't confuse with

- **Root-bound**: a symptom of a pot being too small for the watering regime, not a fixed property of pot size.

## Related terms

[Root-bound](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/root-bound.md), [High-frequency fertigation](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/high-frequency-fertigation.md), [Fabric pot](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/fabric-pot.md), [Up-potting](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/up-potting.md), [Yield](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/yield.md)

## Read more

- [Choosing your growing system: soil, coco, rockwool or hydro](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/systems/choosing-a-system.md)
- [Drain-to-waste drip and crop steering (generative vs vegetative dryback)](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/systems/drain-to-waste-crop-steering.md)

## Sources

1. Poorter H, Bühler J, van Dusschoten D, Climent J, Postma JA. 2012. Pot size matters: a meta-analysis of the effects of rooting volume on plant growth. Functional Plant Biology 39(11):839-850. https://doi.org/10.1071/FP12049
2. Raviv M, Lieth JH, Bar-Tal A (eds), 2019. Soilless Culture: Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/C2015-0-01807-5