How many times do you experienced growers transplant in the plants life cycle, from seed to flower. I need to consider how many times to transplant in order to save space, soil, nutrients and effort. I've considered once the seedlings have developed in their large cups to put them into either 5 gallon containers straight away for the rest of their life....or....put them into two gallons to save on the nutrients I have to use and water. Also I have 5 seeds that are regular seeds and might have males. Therefore I don't want to waste space and resources on them. Also, putting plants into 5 gallons right away would spread them away from the lights quite a bit I think. I'm only using a 400w T5 and a 90w LED, along with two 85 watt cfls hanging around the T5. What do you guys think is best? Put em in 2 gallons till the end of veg, or put them straight into their 5 gallon finishing pots? Thanks for any info The pots they are starting out in
Thanks man. Yeah I've read several threads on how they should be transplanted before flower to reduce stress. But I've also heard several people say that transplanting after they show their sex worked out fine for them. Anyways, this thread is about how many transplants you guys personally do per grow, and when. Anybody else with experience wanna chime in? August West, Toastybiz, Chunkydaddyo?
I start seeds in a 2.5"x2.5" pot. Once established I put them in 1 gal. containers. 1 week before flower I put them in 5 gal smart pots. From clone I go straight to the 1 gal then same with the 5 gal.
think either way would work just transplant forsure my friend had one in the same pot for veg and flowering looked like a dwarf plant so transplanting is a must...or else will hold ur pplants back..
How come you go to 1 gal before 5 gal. Why not just skip right to the 5 gallon? Does having it in smaller pots make it easier to manage? Couldn't you just transplant a seedling into a 5 gal bucket?
If time is a factor the 3 steps up in size is probably best. If only going from the cup to the 5 gal. You should let the plant root bound in the cup just a bit. Then put in the 5 gal. The 5 gal pot will be to big for the plant and will hold to much moisture. Be sure not to over water at this point. It may be 6-9 days or longer depending on soil type, before water is needed again. So you may see, that root bound will slow growth and a over sized, over moist pot, will slow growth. Your plant will flower just the same though. You could probably go into flower 4-8 days sooner with the 3 step up in pot size. I'm just guessing on these number but you get the idea.
It really depends on 2 things. How long you veg them and whether your growing from seed or clone. Seed root systems grow a hell of a lot faster and bigger than clones most of the time. If you're growing from clone and going straight to 12/12 then you could start in a party cup, then move to a one gallon and be fine. But if you're growing from seed or vegging for a long time, you would need to step up more. A good rule of thumb is to double the size container you use every time it fills the current container with roots. For indoors I would go from party cup, to one gallon, to 3 gallon, maybe up to 5 gallon as needed. As I said, it depends on how long you veg and how big your plants get. My straight to 12/12 clones never fill a 3 gallon with roots. They can easily stay in 1 gallons.
My last indoor grow was with seven feminized seeds planted in soil in the full size pots they finished in. No transplanting!
The reason we transplant is to use all the available soil space with roots. If you start in your final pot, the roots will grow to the edge and then start wrapping around, totally missing all the soil in the middle. If you start in a small pot, the graduate up, you force the plant to fill the whole pot with roots instead of having open soil in the middle. That way you can have the same sized root ball in a smaller place (a denser love).
Yeah, and if you know what you're doing it helps. When you transfer with a sturdy root ball that won't fall apart, and use the same soil, it shouldn't really shock the plant at all. The only time it slows me up is if I flub the rootball.
Plus the couple of days growth you may lose is more than made up for by being able to fit more roots (and therefore more plants) into your grow area.
Whoa sweet, I got a bunch of good replies, Thanks guys! Yes I agree with mjmama, I think allowing it to fill up and then transplanting allows the root system to build up "shells" or layers of roots as one poster put it in another thread, therefore creating more roots in the end when it gets transplanted into a new one. I think I'll go from these pots to 2 gallons, then to 5 gallons. I plan to veg for about 30/35 days. And Russy I'm sure knows his shit, I've seen his grows. Hell, all you guys, thanks a lot! This is the kind of shit you don't learn watching the popular grow videos that just cover the basics.