transplanting?

[greenmeany]

hey all. gut about 10 plants that are about a fott tall in solo cups ready to be transplanted outside. when transplanting them i usually cut the cups and just stick the soil and roots into the ground or pots. my question is, is it better to break apart the roots or leave them be when transplanting? by break apart i dont mean break the roots. I mean loosen up the clump of roots. I typically dont bother doing it because im afraid it will harm the roots. and disturb the plant too much. what do yall think?

[jt45255]

i have just transplanted my plants for the 3rd time i started them in seed trays from there they went to 4 inch peate pots then i gal conatiners then as of wed into 3 gal cotainers i always loosen the soil and with them in cups i would really try to get them out of the cups completly giving the roots more area to grow into insted of forcing them down and out.http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-jour...ueen-grow.html

[ratty]

In my opinion you should deffinetly loosen the roots a little bit but be carull you dont want to harm them. When you loosen the roots whilst transplanting it encourages root growth you preferably want the roots to be able to grow out sidewase as well as down.

[greenmeany]

but wont they do that naturally as well? curently, there in 20 gallon tubs full of nice potting soil. i feel that the roots are gunna go everywhere just on their own and like i said, i dont wanna end up hurtin them til they cant grow. the stems are really weak because theyve only been under a flourescent with no real air exchange and no real wind to strengthen the stalk. so im tryin to be as careful as possible but i want the best condition as well. I dunno, im prolly gunna haveta just loosen the roots a bit. preciate it fellas