OK, so I see a lot of people on here talking about how to transplant their plants and such. Especially plants that are started from seed, or from clones. I thought I would share my method as it's pretty much fool-proof, and is about as stress free as possible. Notice, that I start all my seeds in solo cups, and I start all my clones in rockwool cubes, that go into solo cups as soon as they show roots. For this "how-to" I'm using some 2 week old autoflowering Ak-47 x blueberry plants and transplanting them into 2 gallon containers. Note that it doesn't matter what size container you use, the same method works. I choose these containers for my autos because it's just about all the soil they need, and takes up very little horizontal space. Also, Grasscities picture uploading is being really lame atm, so deal with some big arsed pictures. Sorry, don't blame me. What you will need: A new pot you will be repotting to. I suggest 3 gallons or more if using a regular 12/12 strain. An empty solo cup to form your cast. A very sharp knife, the sharper the better. Note that in the picture, I am using a pocket knife. Usually I use a medical knife (very sharp) but I broke it and had to resort to this. Soil - I choose fox farms ocean forest, you can use whatever you want. I highly recommend it though. Optional: A nice bong with some fine herb... Once I have gathered all my materials I fill the pot with soil almost to the brim, leaving enough soil where I can place my solo cup where the top of the solo cup is level with the top of the pot. When I reach the desired level, I then start to fill the soil around the solo cup, making sure to keep the solo cup as centered as possible, while at the same time packing the soil in around the cup. If done correctly, I will have a perfect cast ready for my plant to be placed in. The soil should hold pretty firm if packed correctly. If not, I just put the cup back in and fill more soil in around the cup. After the pot is ready for my new plant, I have to do the tricky part. It's tricky because you have to cut the solo cup, and usually after a week or two of being in the cup the plant is root bound. You want to make sure you are cutting the cup as lightly as possible so you are not cutting the roots. Generally I cut the bottom of the cup off first, by cutting a circle all the way around the cup. Then I cut from the top of the cup down to my bottom cut while holding the plant/cup to maintain it's shape. After this I place the entire cut cup into the pot, and slip the cup out from around the plant. If done right you will have done absolutely no harm to the plant. The cup should be able to slide right out from the whole (over the leaves). Then I pack the plant in, and the soil around the plant tightly to make sure they all form together. It's important that once you do this to water thoroughly. This will make sure that the soil from the old solo cup mixes well with the soil in it's new pot. Sadly I didn't check the pic for this step, and didn't realize it was blurry as all hell... When I transplant another I'll make sure to take a new one and add to this post. Until then picture 5... After I watered and check to make sure that everything looks good I put them back under the sun to enjoy themselves. Generally I'll see new growth the very next day which means that everything went well! Picture 6 is a group shot of them enjoying their new room to grow under the sun along with their hashberry sister. The entire process is pretty simple, but does take a bit of practice to not mess up when cutting the cup. If anyone has any questions let me know!
maybe its just me i just never see the need for that ive always had stress free transplants out of solos, never haulted growth just need to be careful. Maybe its the soil I use its cocoa fiber and not 1 piece of soil falls out once i transplant
great idea thanks alot... ive been worrying about this, i have my seedling in a cup too. hey is keeping my plant covered by a box a good idea? it might get too hot but its only being lighted by 1 27 watt CFL daylight right now.
Yea, there is a lot of things I could use. But I choose to grow in soil (when I'm not growing hydro) and a whole lot of others do too, and always talk about transplanting and effective ways of doing it. This was how I do it, and it's rather effective .
good post.i have been one of the guys wondering diff transplanting ideas.im now starting my babies in red cups of roots organic,light warrior and a coco mix.i hate to throw away the cups so before transplant i dont water em that day and they slide out the cup fine..just have to be gentle with them. do you give them any supplement in the water like superthrive when transplanting?>
correct me if im wrong, but i remember discussing this with B.O.G. back in the day on the old OG forums, and i believe this was his method for transplanting when space was an issue , instead of repotting in wide containers that take space, he just cut the bottoms out and burry the bottom 5-6 inches into a pot that was very tall to be able too have lots of root space while still saving space to put max # of plants. well, i had actually forgotten bout this method, but its great for sog grows, gj dowork for bringing it back up, +rep...if its not the same its very similar
I just use hygrozyme. Good point though as when I do transplant I always water with just water and 1 tbls / gallon of water.
One more bump, and then I'll let the tags do their work. (not that people use the search function anyway...)
I do the same thing but without "remocing" the plant from the cup first. I think usong Solo cups, or ay type of party cup for that matter make for the most smooth transplants, because it can basically slip into a small hole like you have done. Good for people who dont know much or worry, +rep.
Meh... I kind of eye ball it . It's never quite a full tablespoon with any of my measurements because I don't want to spill it when dumping it into my gallon and waste it. So maybe it's a little over 10 ml which is a few drops. But yes, I use hygrozyme after I transplant just to stimulate my roots in their new home.