Squak Talk Blog

A guide to nursery pot sizes

On our shop.squakmtnursery.com site we are providing you the opportunity to select and pay for plants. You may then come and pick them up from our parking lot safely and easily.

Here is a guide to pot sizes and abbreviations:

Note in the nursery industry “trade sizes” are not actual units of volume measurement! So a 1 gallon pot only holds about .75 gallons of liquid. Who knows why, it is a long-standing part of the nursery world!

Plants in smaller pots are less mature than larger pots. More mature plants take longer to grow (and more space in a greenhouse) and therefore have higher values.

A guide to pot size abbreviations we use on our website, starting with smaller pots, and proceeding to the largest.

2″ or 2″ pot – Pot measures approximately 2″ in diameter at the top

pack – holds six young plants in one pack. Like a six pack of soda.

jumbo pack – holds six plants in one pack. The jumbo pack is twice as large in volume as a “pack”, and therefore the plants are more mature

4″ or 4″ pot – Pot measures approximately 4″ in diameter at the top

qt or qrt or quart = quart pot. Larger than a 4″ pot and smaller than a one gallon pot

6″ or 6″ pot – Pot measures approximately 6″ in diameter at the top

8″ or 8″ pot – Pot measures approximately 8″ in diameter at the top

#1 or 1 gal or 1 gallon – One gallon pot

#2 or 2 gal or 2 gallon – Two gallon pot

#5 or 5 gal or 5 gallon – Five gallon pot

You get the idea! Pots can be as larger as ten or 15 gallons for some larger trees and shrubs.

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