OVER POTTING PLANTS- Dont do it

[RangiSTaxi]

OVER POTTING PLANTS is the biggest factor i see on this forum regarding slow grow rates in veg, once they have ample lighting.

People you need to stage your pot sizes, start small get a good strong root surface area within the pot then move up, this is also so true in many hydroponics systems as well.

Cannabis is a relatively shallow rooted plant. Your Growth rates can double, your crop times halve. less root/watering, nutrient problems.

So Many people have slow growth at the start and this is largely the reason why.

 

[Headgrinder]

I just wanted to add. I agree 100%. Putting half a liter of water a day in a 7 gallon pot is going to drown the crap out of a cutting with a root system the size of a pop can. Now put the right sized plant in there and you be dumping almost 5 gallons of water a day. To a person on their first couple grows it might take some time to get a feel for the soil. it seems to me, quite a few problems arise because of what rangistaxi said, and the plants just dont have the roots to work that water through the soil and stuff gets stagnant.

 

[BigSsecrets]

Have these issues now I transplanted but I think a bit too early ( first grow) plants are short but thick deffinetly need to hit the learning curve

 

[RangiSTaxi]

Here is a Classic example of what happens if you over pot plants.

Why are all my leaves falling ?

So this is an auto about 9 weeks old but pistols are still white and plant looks as it needs to develop but I’m not sure if the leaves are dying because of it being near the end of life cycle or just plant error?...HELPP

www.rollitup.org

and this is so common, 40-70 percent of growers here are doing it.

 

[RangiSTaxi]

That is nutrient salt burn from over feeding due to over potting a plant. Had the Plant been potted in staged pot sizes the roots would much stronger and likely would be able to cope with the nutrient level given. It must be also noted many people are over feeding a plant, which is like a human drinking salt water, it dehydrates them. nutrient salts dehydrate plants if those nutrient salts are too strong, just like if you only drank sea water you would die, as will a plant.

 

[RangiSTaxi]

As root tips finds a pot barrier wall they branch out increasing root surface area, if your pot is too large this root branching doesn't occur at the same rate, thus slow growth and less root surface area. Think of it as tipping/topping a plant, it helps the plant branch out, its the same for roots but the pot size does it for you. Its about terminating root apical dominance, so as the root can branch and divide, and thus increase root surface area.

 

[TheDifferenceX]

I agree 100%

I only run autos and i've heard a lot of people say to put the seedling in its final home to avoid stress. But you cause more stress by over watering a pot too large for the seedling.

I start in a solo cup for 2 weeks and then transplant to a 3 gallon grow bag (final home). Even at that point, I go 5-7 days between watering.

 

[youraveragehorticulturist]

I grow in soil with convential (photoperiod?) "regular" clones.

I like to start rooted cuttings from the clone machine or peat pellets in One gallon pots. They stay in there for 2-3 weeks. This is enough time for the roots to fill the pot and make a nice root ball, so all the soil and roots stay in one nice, stable price without the soil fumbling and ripping apart young roots. It makes for a stress free repot.

From there it's 2-3 weeks in a three gallon pot to repeat the process.

Finally my plants go into a 7 or 10 gallon pot for a week or two to get established before flipping to 12/12. I've finished in the 3 gallon pots before but I had to water often and feed/topdress a bunch. I like the bigger pots for a little less work.

 

[TheDifferenceX]

While we are on this subject.

What is everyone's thought on watering from the bottom of the pot? Every other water day, I put my 3 gallon pot in a plastic tray and pour the water in the tray. The pot soaks the water up pretty quick.

 

[tylerc]

What about growing in organic soil?

 

[RangiSTaxi]

While we are on this subject.

What is everyone's thought on watering from the bottom of the pot? Every other water day, I put my 3 gallon pot in a plastic tray and pour the water in the tray. The pot soaks the water up pretty quick.

yes that is a Perfect way to water, bottom up, next water top down.

 

[matty-berk]

OVER POTTING PLANTS is the biggest factor i see on this forum regarding slow grow rates in veg, once they have ample lighting.

People you need to stage your pot sizes, start small get a good strong root surface area within the pot then move up, this is also so true in many hydroponics systems as well.

Cannabis is a relatively shallow rooted plant. Your Growth rates can double, your crop times halve. less root/watering, nutrient problems.

So Many people have slow growth at the start and this is largely the reason why.

this is very good to know! thank you

 

[Kassiopeija]

As root tips finds a pot barrier wall they branch out increasing root surface area, if your pot is too large this root branching doesn't occur at the same rate, thus slow growth and less root surface area. Think of it as tipping/topping a plant, it helps the plant branch out, its the same for roots but the pot size does it for you. Its about terminating root apical dominance, so as the root can branch and divide, and thus increase root surface area.

people that start out in the final pot may find it more convenient to do it this way - some of them even fire a 600w HPS at them at max distance.
And because of the big pots they cannot move the pots close together so that a 2*75w t5 would suffice...

But the uppotting creates a better rootball later in the final pot - it also allows for more wet & dry circles.
It also gives the chance to alter the soilmix suitable for the plants stage.

 

[TreeFarmerCharlie]

What about growing in organic soil?

I have this question too. I’m trying organic for the first time and I’m totally confused about how to properly water it because keep reading that you aren’t supposed to let it dry out as much as a regular soil grow. I know for sure mine are currently over watered so I need to let them dry out a lot longer.

 

[RangiSTaxi]

If your pot size is correct and your growing media free draining which it should be, you simply cant over water.
The problem starts when people over pot. Hence Im trying to educate people.

There is no such thing as over watering in the correct pot size, but you should still do a wet dry ish cycle to fluctuate Ph for the best nutrient availability but even that is not really that important if in the correct pot size as you have the correct root surface area for the plant size to pick up all the nutrients.

 

[TreeFarmerCharlie]

If your pot size is correct and your growing media free draining which it should be, you simply cant over water.
The problem starts when people over pot. Hence Im trying to educate people.

There is no such thing as over watering in the correct pot size, but you should still do a wet dry ish cycle to fluctuate Ph for the best nutrient availability but even that is not really that important if in the correct pot size as you have the correct root surface area for the plant size to pick up all the nutrients.

Yeah, my issue is that I went from 1.5gal into 10gal. I was so worried about the new soil in the pot drying out that I gave each pot 2.5L of water the day after I transplanted them. I’m just having a hard time figuring out how to water these properly. The biggest part of my issue is that this is my first organic grow and I’ve never grown in 10gal pots before. Pretty much all of my previous grows were in 5gal pots.

 

[RangiSTaxi]

Yeah, my issue is that I went from 1.5gal into 10gal. I was so worried about the new soil in the pot drying out that I gave each pot 2.5L of water the day after I transplanted them. I’m just having a hard time figuring out how to water these properly. The biggest part of my issue is that this is my first organic grow and I’ve never grown in 10gal pots before. Pretty much all of my previous grows were in 5gal pots.

I think its more of a issue if over potting a seedling or small plant into the final flowering pot from the get go, once the plant is a certain size it matters less as there is leaf there to power a new root system. With cannabis 2-3 stages is fine, once the first small pot say 15cm is fairly root bound its tolerant to up sizing a lot ,so you might go 1 litre, root bound to 15 litres, from there you can go to 100 litres, if you flower in 15 litres you only need 2 pot sizes, the initial 1 litre stage is the most important. so what im saying is you have a seedling pot, get it semi root bound before moving to a veg/flower pot. but too many people are starting seeds/clones in the final flowering size pot.

This is the perfect Starting size


Once you have a strong root system , roots out the bottom, then you upsize.

 

[Kassiopeija]

but too many people are starting seeds/clones in the final flowering size pot.

and then most of the rootsystem will be at the bottom and circle around the plastic which is bad. Unlike the uppoted ones have more roots in the middle and these can settle better overall in the final pot.

 

[RangiSTaxi]

What about growing in organic soil?

The same apply s, grow your Clone or seedling in this size pot first


Then plant in the soil out doors once established, it doesn't matter if your in organic soil or not.

Never plant or sow a seedling or clone directly in the soil outdoors, or the final flowering pot, first establish it in a small pot like the one above,

once healthy and strong (roots out the bottom) then up pot to a larger size flowering pot or plant outdoors in soil.

 

[Kassiopeija]

Once you have a strong root system , roots out the bottom, then you upsize.

yes then its also stress-free because if one does the transplant directly before watering the rootball is very light and will hold together so no roots get ripped apart.