transplanting gradually into bigger pots vs once and for all

People ask how I average 5 oz in a 6.5 quart potters...I transplant every 2 -3 weeks... 3 times in veg... RR to cup to 3 quart to 6.5 quart into flower she goes

You get more of a controlled growth so to speak...there is no shock when transplanting if done right

you can leave a rootball out for hours and have no issues

colonuggs said:

People ask how I average 5 oz in a 6.5 quart potters...I transplant every 2 -3 weeks... 3 times in veg... RR to cup to 3 quart to 6.5 quart into flower she goes

You get more of a controlled growth so to speak...there is no shock when transplanting if done right

you can leave a rootball out for hours and have no issues

Click to expand...

I'm with you on that. With the exceptions of my first 2 attempts, I never see any signs of stress from transplanting. I get the fresh soil in the new pot, with a spare empty pot placed in top of the pot, with the soil underneath and all around, leaving a perfect size whole when removed. If you transplant at the right time, a gently squeeze on the sides, and a tap on the bottom , they root ball comes out easy, fits straight into it's new home, with a little soil on top.

Airpots are great, just started using them after a year of growing...wish I had started sooner. Spend a few bucks and buy some. I only use airpots for the final containers, and regular pots for the smaller. I start seeds in pete pellets, then when established into half litres, then to 7litres. For your size plants, 7 litres will be perfect, and allow good control of feedng and watering.

colonuggs said:

People ask how I average 5 oz in a 6.5 quart potters...I transplant every 2 -3 weeks... 3 times in veg... RR to cup to 3 quart to 6.5 quart into flower she goes

You get more of a controlled growth so to speak...there is no shock when transplanting if done right

you can leave a rootball out for hours and have no issues

Click to expand...

5 oz in a 6.5 quart potters (6lit) ? woah that's amazing, and I LOVE that rootball on the pic it looks solid as fuck
do you have any thread/tips for trasnplanting? like do you use any hormones, special feeding schedule before/after, special watering scheme or flushing? how do you avoid the shock?

Hettyman said:

I'm with you on that. With the exceptions of my first 2 attempts, I never see any signs of stress from transplanting. I get the fresh soil in the new pot, with a spare empty pot placed in top of the pot, with the soil underneath and all around, leaving a perfect size whole when removed. If you transplant at the right time, a gently squeeze on the sides, and a tap on the bottom , they root ball comes out easy, fits straight into it's new home, with a little soil on top.

Airpots are great, just started using them after a year of growing...wish I had started sooner. Spend a few bucks and buy some. I only use airpots for the final containers, and regular pots for the smaller. I start seeds in pete pellets, then when established into half litres, then to 7litres. For your size plants, 7 litres will be perfect, and allow good control of feedng and watering.

Click to expand...

clever tip about using a same-sized pot to hold space for the transplanted rootball !
aslo, how do you know when to transplant at the right time?

sensisensai said:

Lmk if u find a good alternative. I used reusable grocery bags with some success. Didn't achieve the overall idea and only held about 2 gallons. But I'm sure it worked to some degree.

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I did some googling for diy smartpots and fabric pots, but I'm not impressed with what I found. Some suitable materials might be canvas bags, cloth laundry bags, and what I believe is the best, shade net / filter cloth. It's typically green or black and they sell it for camping or farming either for shading or to cover the ground/soil.
http://img.tootoo.com/mytootoo/upload/25/254053/product/254053_b1c6abc8456554cce8f903fc3c935022.jpg

Off course you'll have to sew it in order to create a bag out of a straight piece, and you can use rather thick chicken wire to create a basic frame around it to hold it. But the main problem is that I'm not so sure that this kind of fabric has similar properties in terms of aeration/drainage as the real smartpots. It's not a risk worth taking for small grows.

PS: now I'm thinking that canvas may be a bad idea...uh mold anyone? Yes it's safer to use only plastic/inert materials. But the idea of growing a cannabis plant inside a bag made of cannabis is pretty cool! Add some compost from cannabis leaves, water it only with the water remaining from a water hash extraction tek, and maybe a THC wormhole opens in the space-time continuum, who knows

It took me a year to figure that one out, but it does make it easier.

As far as when to repot, its a case of learning as you go. I generally find, that after about a week or ten days of going into the 0.5 litre, my plants go from being a 3" seedling (just about a "plant") to being 6-8" and when I take them out of the pot, the roots have reached the bottom and started to circle, but not quite like colonogs pic. You can leave the plant in there a lot longer (indeed i've flowered many a small half Oz plant under CFL's, in a 0.5), but I like to put them into the final container now, so the roots aren't working back into the original pot, and spread out more easily. Here I veg for about 7-10 days to let the roots get into the new soil, and the nutes to be used up for growth, then flip to 12/12, as I have been led to belive that plants only really shoot out new roots in a big way during the first few weeks of flower. And with my understanding of the plants, this seems to make sense.

I use Hesi root complex, as I was given a free sample, and it did seem to make a difference. Just 2ml per litre, after repotting and every other watering. My 100ml sample has lasted 6 months already, on a small perpetual grow and look to last another couple of months more. I also use it after any stress, damage or training/topping (as suggested on the bottle). I also have Gold Label roots, but yet to try that. Might do a comparison with my next seedling that have just broken the surface of their peat pellets.

Ultimatily, pay attention to what you see as you grow, and adjust for next time. Maybe a cheap diary to make notes. I bought 2, one for recordng feeds, and the other for detailed notes. Each plant and environment works differently, I've only been growing a year, and don't have a PHD in Botany, but this is just what I've seen and learnt with my different set ups

thanks for all the tips! eventually yes, it's trial and error and finding out what works best for a particular plant
notes are a must, too (but they should be kept hidden and private, let's not forget!)

I recall some member said a couple of posts above that a plant cannot pretty much overgrow the size of its roots. I've been browsing pics of various indoor plants shown in their pots and I noticed that it's a good rule of thumb. So if you imagine the pot extending as a cylinder, when the plant reaches the cylinder's periphery on the horizontal plane (fuck, that's too simple but I can't express it in a simple way), that's a good indication that you should transplant.

Lol. Same issue I found here. The grocery bag was the best substitute I found and it was barely sufficient IMO. They're readily accessible in my area so I'm not worried but I'd definitely be open to sewing some together to save a few bucks if a good material was found. The few I found that seem like they'd be good to use were so spendy that it wouldn't have saved any money doing it myself.

sensisensai said:

Lol. Same issue I found here. The grocery bag was the best substitute I found and it was barely sufficient IMO. They're readily accessible in my area so I'm not worried but I'd definitely be open to sewing some together to save a few bucks if a good material was found. The few I found that seem like they'd be good to use were so spendy that it wouldn't have saved any money doing it myself.

Click to expand...

how about burlap? it should offer good aeration/filtration though I would still worry about mold a bit. But maybe such a concern has no grounds, I'm not experienced so I prefer to play it safe. Acutally, gunny sacks http://thesoutherninstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Gunny_Sack_400x30017.jpg have the right form factor. But you have to find an old style burlap gunny sack, newer ones are made of plastic material and they seem too "tight" to me

https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/10340-when-transplant.html

an older thread with some more great tips about transplanting, good read