stvitusdance
Well-Known Member
Should i wait a few days until more pot-bound or do it now? THANKS!
When should I transplant into 5 gallon buckets?
- Thread starter stvitusdance
- Start date
trippoptionattackWVU
Member
Dude I don't know how u made it that far with clear cups roots don't like light! How old are they?
TheSnake
Well-Known Member
The answer to this is always as soon as or as soon as financially/spaciously possible. If we all had room, in our grow rooms, and enough soil to go around, we would bring up seedlings, or clones, in there final habitat, it causes the least stress, more room for malfunction and overall faster growth from start to finish with no chance of shock. that's just the plain and simple, transplants are only done because of lack of space, or money, both or some other degree of not being completely balls to the wall.
SweetestCheeba
Well-Known Member
How old are they? IMO i think u should give them a little more time, like u said to acheive a stronger root system. As for the bio-cups u can put them straight into the bigger pots.
@WVU it is tru that roots dont like light but i have grown in a 2L soda bottle from seed to harvest with no complications as far as root health.
Do not soak the cups with that much water like edgar suggested, instead jus water them as u would and when the soil is moist (not soaked or wet) then transplant.
Happy Growing
stvitusdance
Well-Known Member
Thanks everybody for all your suggestions! The big ones are 4 weeks old. They seemed to get off to a slow start but have really taken off in the last 10 days or so. The clear cups were a bit of an experiment since the peat pots wouldn't fit in the red solo cups I have. Not sure if I'll do the peat pots again. They seem to wick off the moisture way faster than the solo cups, although that might not be a bad thing. Seems like the red solo cups are just easier. I'll transplant soon! I need to mix my soil first. I'll send pics. Thanks again! 
Here they are this morning-White Widow, Liberty Haze, Royal Flush
Here they are this morning-White Widow, Liberty Haze, Royal Flush
@sweetestcheeba I didn't say soak the cups with that much water I said soak the 5 gallon buckets with that much water.
I also disagree with you in that he should transplant now. It's been shown that plants that get rootbound don't do as well. In fact, for 4 weeks old those "big" plants he has are tiny. If he would have transplanted much sooner they would be 8 times as large. You want him to keep waiting? Are you kidding me??
By the way I also looked at your journal entry and you say you use a 60/40 soil perlite mix so it's obvious you don't know what you are talking about. It's a well know fact that too much perlite is bad and you should be at about a 90/10 to even about a 95/5 ratio.
Perlite retains water. If you use too much perlite the soil will stay wet and you can get root rot.
MYOB
Well-Known Member
Always be cautious when using the phrase "you dont know what youre talking about"
Perlite retains water?
stvitusdance
Well-Known Member
Thanks again everybody. I done a few grows but I'm still basically a noob and make a lot of mistakes. I have the room for the 5 gal containers. I'll do it real soon. I didn't realize transplanting as soon as possible was the way to go. Is it possible to just skip the solo cup thing all-together and plant directly in the 5 gallon bucket?
Perlite is porous and it retains water. Even though is increases drainage the porosity of the perlite causes it to stay wet and if you use too much of it you end up with a soupy mess.
MYOB
Well-Known Member
If you put it in a bucket with no holes for drainage and fill it with water than sure but who does that?
A soupy mess? Tell that to 100% perlite hempy bucket growers.
They're in 100% perlite which gives total drainage. If you use too much perlite with soil the soil will stay wet b/c you don't have the same amount of drainage as 100% perlite and at the same time the perlite does retain water. Thus the soupy mess.
I speak from experience. I grew using too much perlite once and the medium had a hard time drying out.
MYOB
Well-Known Member
So if 100% perlite provides total drainage, how can it retain water?
My guess is that watering caused the perlite to "float" to the surface and the heavier soil sank to the bottom where it compacted, hindered drainage and created a soupy mess.
Perlite is porous with 3 sizes of pores. It has large, medium and small sized pores. The small pores retain water. If something is 100% perlite everything will eventually drain well. If you add soil into the picture and there is a high amount of perlite mixed into the soil the small pores in the perlite will keep the soil wet since the combination of perlite and soil won't drain as well as 100% perlite.
Try it yourself. Take a 5 gallon bucket and do a 50/50 mix of soil and perlite and see how wet it stays.
