So I harvested my first "organic" crop and will post pics and info of the last stages soon. My issue is with the new plants I transplanted into the existing water only soil I used for the last crop. (The first crop went very well with no transplant issues into the newly cooked soil ) I transplanted my month old clones from their 1 gal pots into the hole I dug the original root ball from in their15 gal eco pots. They have stopped growing and gave started to decline in a manner similar to issues I had with my hydroponic system when the PH got out of control or when pythium set in in a couple of crops. The leaves have turned light colored and some have started to have leafs die and drop off. I believe the roots are the issue and I am wondering if I did something wrong during transplant? I cut a hole around the existing rootball in each pot with a bread knife a little larger than the 1 gal pot I was growing the clones in and pulled it out and placed the new plants into said holes. I am pretty sure I pushed soil down into the small gap between the new root ball and the edges of the soil. I then bottom watered the eco pots. Right from the get go the plants never perked up like the original plants had after the original crops transplant. They have been in place for 11 days and have gone nowhere but downhill. I am confused by the fact that the first transplantees did so well right away but the 2nd set are not. It is possible that the soil in the 1 gal post may have been a little dry at time of transplant but I assumed immediate watering right after would cure this. Any other ideas would be appreciated for my next attempt at transplanting. The first pic is right after transplant 10 days ago 2nd pic is same plants today 3rd pic is of one plant 4th pic shows a close up of leaf sclorisis and poor overall look and color 5th pic is of one of the leftover clones that I replaced the worst plant with today (nice dark green color etc)
When I transplant I water them in good. Also, it is a good thing to disturb the soil a little around the roots and expose some of them so they can come in contact with the new soil. (Sprinkling them with mychorizal spores is even better.) The watering in from the top helps to settle the new soil against the root ball as well.
Get some azoz that stuff works great for new root growth and purling up a plant Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
I say do a seed sprout tea with alfalfa sprout to get at the triacontanol. Id also mix in a 1/4 cup of kelp meal in a 5 gallon bucket and brew it! If they dont bounce back from that....they wont imho.
Ya know man that just plain sucks. You have what appears to be a really nice set up and gut instinct tells me you've wrasseled with your good share of many a plant in the past. So let's just throw all of that "stuff" about growing in general right off the table and don't even bring it up. If I were attempting what you are describing I don't think I would have done it any differently of any major difference in what you did. I probably would have used high quality vermicast to fill the gap around the new transplant but otherwise IDK how else one could accomplish your goal any differently than how you did. I like to water from the bottom up but I also believe in watering from the top down. Was that a major issue? You're the one on the ground and you have to make the call on that question - you're there. I'm most interested in your last question, "Any other ideas would be appreciated for my next attempt at transplanting", and here's my suggestion. Scrap the 15 gallon notill approach and when you transplant your next batch of clones plant them in recycled soil. I'm guessing you're desiring "no-till" by reading between the lines a bit. Looking at your flowering room I think your ladies are going to need quite an energized soil if they are going to achieve their full capabilities, withstanding all other environmental and grow parameters being spot on and in the zone. My suggestion is to have a recycled soil mix for your flowering transplant and when those are harvested compost and/or otherwise recycle that soil and rootball and use the recycled batch that's just finishing up. I understand the potential logisitical problems associated with a task like that but bottom line I don't think you'll have the results you are needing and wanting from your flowering space using a 15 gallon no-till program. In fact, I'll suggest that if those geopots are not totally rootbound and hard as an 80lb punching bag something else needs to be tuned but in any event you need fresh soil mix or new, recycled soil mix. Bottom line is to start a recycled soil program. I don't think a 15 gallon no-till is a good bet on "hassle free" growing for what appears to be a very dialed in and fully capable indoor garden space. And jolly good on your first "organic" harvest. We'd all like to see up that skirt so show us whatcha got mate! My opinon. Good luck and high times... ... G'day
I agree with the kelp/alfalfa tea. I did a transplant recently and used it as a foliar spray and root drench. Plants didn't skip a beat!!!
That's your problem^^^^^^^^ You REALLY have to water in transplants and work the soil to be firmly against the root ball. If there is any gap the roots won't cross it. Same principal as a smart pot, but not in a good way. I'd enlarge those holes somewhat so you can work some mix in between the root ball and the no till. More water.lol I bet they come right back. VOE Wet
This is exactly what I was thinking, that there could be air gaps between the transplant root balls and the soil in the pots. I'm thinking that things are just too dry around the root ball and the roots might not be making full contact with the soil in the pots. I'd water the hell out of them from the top and make sure that there's good contact between root ball and soil. J
When I was young and gardening, I was always taught to press the dirt down and in towards the transplanted plant to help establish contact; I also like to take a coffee-cup and pour that much water around where the rootball should touch the new soil, I think that helps the soil crumble and make contact with the roots, too.
Yeah, I do a no till in my soil garden and 'somewhat' in a 25 gallon container outside, but for me, it just didn't translate well for anything smaller inside or out. Most of my larger containers are 5gal buckets and the one 25gal. Wet
Update... I pulled out two of the worst off plants and dumped the soil from those ecopots into my cement mixer and spun it for a bit and replaced into the pots. I then transplanted two of my excess clones into these two pots. I made sure i broke up the root ball a bit before planting. I then top watered them. These two didn't suffer as badly as the initial plants but they definately did suffer some transplant shock and show some of the same symptoms as the original plants (just not as severe) lightening of the leaf color and a couple leaves show a bit of sclerosis. Overall the are doing better and I assume it was the better rootball contact with the re-mixed soil. Also most of the other plants are showing signs of recovery. New leafs are darker green and they are starting to grow again. I am curious as to why they are all suffering somewhat in a soil that the last crop absolutely loved right after they were transplanted? This time I may have left the clones growing in too small a container for too long while waiting for the main rooms to be ready and hurt the roots a bit from this? Questions: are 15 gallon pots large enough to re-use right after cropping? I ran water through a sample of the soil and tested runoff PH out of curiosity. Is sitting at 6.8..is this OK? Any other ideas as to what may be going on?