Medium Plant Pots

A medium pot sits in the 4-to-5-inch range — large enough for established small plants and nursery purchases, small enough not to overwhelm a plant that isn't ready for more space. The 4-inch is right for plants that arrived in a 3-inch grower pot six months ago. The 5-inch is right for plants that have been in the 4-inch for a year and are showing signs of being ready to move up.

The best pot for a snake plant is ceramic, 4 to 5 inches in diameter, with a drainage hole. Snake plants tolerate being slightly root-bound, which means the medium pot is often the correct long-term pot rather than a transitional one. Ceramic is the correct material because snake plants can get top-heavy as they grow and a ceramic pot provides the stability that a plastic pot does not. The Chive Liberte in a 5-inch is the specific pot that works for most snake plants in the middle years of their indoor life.

A medium ceramic pot works as a gift for plant lovers because a 4-or-5-inch pot fits the largest number of plants. A Chive pot has a drainage hole on most designs and comes in a glaze that doesn't need to be explained. It works regardless of what's already on the windowsill.

The best pot for a pothos is a medium ceramic pot — 4-inch for a small newly purchased pothos, 5-inch for an established plant — with a drainage hole and a glaze in the white or terracotta range, which pothos look best against. Pothos grow quickly and will need repotting roughly once a year once they are established, so the medium pot is a starting point rather than a permanent arrangement, but it is the correct starting point for a plant that is being given a real home for the first time.

Repot into a medium pot when you can see roots coming out of the drainage hole, when the plant is drying out very quickly after watering, or when the grower pot the plant arrived in is smaller than 4 inches and the plant has been growing for more than six months. The rule is to go up two inches in diameter — from a 2-inch grower pot to a 4-inch Chive pot, from a 3-inch grower pot to a 5-inch Chive pot. Going too large too fast causes soil to stay wet too long and increases root rot risk.

A medium pot is 4 to 5 inches. A large pot is 6 and above. The practical difference is which plants fit correctly. The Chive medium range covers both diameters, multiple glazes, drainage holes on most designs, saucers included on drainage designs.

A medium pot is 4 to 5 inches. A large pot is 6 and above. The practical difference is which plants fit correctly. The Chive medium range covers both diameters, multiple glazes, drainage holes on most designs, saucers included on drainage designs.

A 5-inch pot is correct for: established pothos, small snake plants, peace lilies in their first season, spider plants that have been growing for a year, small philodendrons, herb plants that have been established for a season and are being moved from a nursery pot, and small ZZ plants. It is also correct for any plant where the 4-inch pot has been showing roots at the drainage hole for more than a month, which is the plant's way of indicating that it has run out of room and would like more.

Most people hold the pot up and think it looks about right. In many cases it is about right. In some cases it is not about right, and the plant spends the next year in a pot that is slightly too large or slightly too small, which is not a tragedy but is also not optimal. Measuring takes approximately twelve seconds. The measurement needed is the diameter of the current grower pot. Then go up two inches. That is the pot. Chive makes the 3-inch, 4-inch, 5-inch, and 6-inch versions of that pot, in ceramic, with a drainage hole, ready for the plant that someone finally measured.