Square or round.

Probably an old debate but what do you all prefer Square or round containers.
Doing the maths I see square ones hold more compost and root space, for a given size, than round pots do.

But apart from those ornamental planters, finding bog standard large square pots seems to be difficult.
I'm talking cheapish now, not into stately home type stuff.

 

For potting on etc, I prefer the square ones. You get more on a tray. I wonder if rectangular, pottery or terracotta containers might be less frost resistant. I would think that the corners might be a weakness

 

For final pots, most of mine are round, except for some not-terribly-deep square ones that I got from B&M a few years ago, which I use to grow salad leaves, rocket etc in.
I like the small square pots (9cm I think) as the first stop for my newly rooted cuttings, and if I'm potting on plants I like to go from round to square or from square to round because it's easier to get the compost into the gaps. If I'm going square to square I'll put the rootball in katy-cornered.

 

Probably more difficult to make in terracotta perhaps.

 

Hi @pete I usually buy strong black plastic square ones. I think the last lot I bought were from Elixir Gardens - various sizes up to 11 litre: Square Plastic Plant Pots | 0.25, 0.75, 1, 2, 3, 5, 5.5 & 11 Litre Sizes
Cheap - 20x 11l = £35

 

I have three square terracotta, four standing tubular terracotta. three square concrete, two rectangle concrete, three triangular concrete and one six sided concrete ... and an assortment of pedestal and others.

 

Thanks @BobTG , I'm really looking for pots of 12 inches square or above, but nothing fancy, just a bog standard square pot.

 

I've got one or two plastic square pots that are old and I can't remember where I got them.
I haven't seen square terracotta pots though, although I have got a few fancy ones that don't look like terracotta at all.

 

I find round containers are easier to group nicely in the garden. For potting on I use whatever I've got handy as I always keep the pots when I buy plants.

 

The first post on the similar thread below dated Feb 24 2013 might help you @pete, depending on what you are planning to grow .

 

Yeah, I'm just looking at potting on a citrus and maybe a palm or two, the problems arise because of limited winter space, so I want pots that contain more compost but take up similar amount of space to the round ones.
I grabbed some pretty big ones from a recycling dump at a local nursery last year, but I was thinking square ones might be better regarding root room.

 

That makes sense. I have a palm in a square pot chosen not for the root space but for the contrast with the crown of the palm! Normally I choose round terracotta pots for a traditional look and reminder of Bill and Ben!

 

Reminds me of the advice that round planting holes are not as good as planting holes that have corners or preferably sharp corners, to help roots spread outwards from their new home (perhaps most applicable to trees and shrubs). Square pots may allow roots to travel a little bit further to the corners of the pot. I use both square and round - for smaller containers I have a slight preference for square.

 

I normally go for square over round so I can cram them into a seed flat. For a larger size, it seems the only easy way is to use troughs. This is the cheaper option for me, as over the years I've accumulated a fair amount of these

 

Any of these any good, @pete? https://www.amazon.co.uk/plastic-square-plant-pots/s?k=plastic+square+plant+pots
I have some quite shallow but large plastic things on hollow legs that someone gave me. The Bougainvilleas love them! Citrus definitely prefer a wide, fairly shallow root run.