I was able to purchase white pots at the dollar stores for reasonable prices a couple of years ago. I started many seedlings in white pots, black pots, orange pots, and even in a big blue tub from Lowe's. The vigor and growth rate of the seedlings in white pots far exceeded everything else, and somehow those in the big blue tub all died. The black pots get overheated in the hot summer sun, unless they are painted white or kept out of the sun somehow.

The down-side to white pots is that they have no UV protection, and the cheap ones only last about one season before they crumble to pieces. I do have a number of 5-gallon white nursery pots that are still good and will use them again. I wish I could find a source for them.

I assume that not only are the daylily's roots kept cooler when grown in white pots, but the sunlight reflected back onto the seedlings from the sides of the pots enhance the growth rate. I'm no scientist, though, so I only know with absolute certainty that my seedlings grow much better in white pots than in black ones here in Texas.

Some people start their seedlings in 1-gallon pots. If I intend to keep the daylily in the pot for an extended period, I will use 5-gallon pots.

Nancy

Thanks for your comments on the white pots. I think that I had actually read this same thing (probably from you?) on another forum post, but I had totally forgotten about the white pots.

My foam stone-lookalike pot is a lighter color (but not beige or white) and is somewhere in the 3-5 gallon size (something that I am bad at estimating), so from your experience with the white pots, it sounds like it might be a reasonable compromise choice between looks and optimal growth - and for anything potted outside my shady lair, looks are important.

I only have one of these though, and will have to find a source for another one. (They were very popular a few years back, but I haven't noticed them lately at the nurseries. They are a bit pricier than most of the rigid plastic pots, which might be why. There do seem to be some available from amazon.com in different designs and lighter colors than the one that I have, but *cringe* at the price!)

Re white plastic pots, if you don't mind how the pots look, I did find this source of 12" x 12" x 12" white pots for hydroponics, but they only come (in that size) in 24 lots: hydroponics-garden (Another source sells the same pots individually for $6.97 each, which is a significantly higher price per pot than the first site: gyostuff ) I don't know how many gallons that would be though... maybe only 1.5? That is the largest white pot that they have.

(Both sites sell the white pots in smaller sizes, which might be good for growing seedlings until they first bloom. I would want a form factor, though, that would fit into either some tree pot crates that I have, or else at least the standard rectangular drip trays.)