Of the four i have two of my northern lights seedlings have small roots coming out the bottom. I'm worried about root damage but i think they are probably not big enough to transplant. Looking for some advise on weather or not to go ahead and transplant or to wait. They seem pretty small still for transplant, the second set of leaves is just starting to come in. Anyone know what to do to keep the roots from getting damages if i need to wait? I have 7 " pots ready to go tomorrow if i need to transplant, just really worried the roots aren't developed enough to have the rootball needed to hold the soil together. Thanks as always, you guys have been an enormous help to me already 9 days into this.
Go for it I've transplanted with younger ones you should be ok just give them time to heal after the transplant and all will be ok
The reason you have roots coming out the bottom is because your cups are standing in the runoff. Roots will always seek moisture. Don't worry about it though, those roots will air prune. Give those seedlings another week before transplanting.
No no, the cups wet because i just sprayed it, the plastic it was sitting on was bone dry as was the soil at the bottom of the cup. Seriously though talk about two conflicting replies =P . I'm gonna be pulling my hair out by the end of this grow, Anxiety disorder + first grow = Nervous wreck. So part of the root will die off but the plant will survive if i give it a week? And any advice on what to put the cups on if a plain flat piece of plastic isn't going to do the trick? I don't plan on this being my last grow win lose or draw, eventually i'm going to win.
I should add maybe that when i planted the seeds i dug down an inch- inch and a half and put a little bit of rooting hormone then covered it back up and planted the seed at 1/4 inch thinking it should help the root build, was that a mistake?
^ what he said. roots do not come out of the bottom unless there is some access to moisture. This could be because of sting in trays of run off or just water getting trapped under the cup. Without any moisture what so ever roots will air prune. I can show you plants that have spent months in the same pot and are as root bound as it gets and they still won't have roots growing out of the bottom. Despite the fact that you may be able to get away with it those plants do not need transplanted and knee jerk reactions like that are why most new growers screw stuff up.
Ahh ok, there probably was a little water there for a day after i set the cup back down. When i picked it up it was dry that's what threw me off but you guys are probably right, i'll try waiting a while. I should just ignore the root and give them no special attention though right?
Yea, as long as what ever was causing them to grow out of the cup is corrected them they will air prune. In terms of stuff that can go wrong, it's really no problem. Just water as normal and they should be ready to transplant in a week or two.