This is my first thread, I figured it would be the right thing to do instead of flling up the no-till thread with more annoying questions. I've been growing in an organic no-till setup now for 5 cycles with amazing results, thanks so much to this community for sharing this invaluable knowledge. Ive done very well cloning clones of clones, they love my organic soil! I need some transplanting tips. I thought I had this technique down until my most recent transplant of 2 seedlings from 4" pots to 7gal fabric pots in fresh, cooked, mofo soil - have been a little sluggish. General drooping for a week now, particularly upper leaves. Ive become accustomed to super lush vigorous green growth without t.p. shock until now. These 2 seedlings were about 3-4 weeks old when transplanted with 4-5 nodes. I top dressed with a little ewc and watered in with minimal fish hydrolosate and silica. One looks OK now however the other seems to just not really be perking up at all, stunted and has droopy upper leaves. I gave them a little water last night after about 5 days from initial t.p. which didnt help... which my common sense is now telling me not to water or anything until signs of improvement. They are under a 200w t5 light. Any tips from the organic experts in here? Id really appreciate it.
When I TP from small pots to a much larger pot I notice it does take a couple days to start seeing signs of new growth. Are you sure that this is abnormal because previously you've done this and experienced an immediate transition with vigorous growth? Previously have they vegged longer in the 4" pots? When my plants are kind of getting to that point of root bound, I notice a much quicker TP transition than if I TP earlier. When my rootball stays together when I TP than if it hasn't been as long so when I TP the soil falls away from the roots, always transition right away. Sounds like you got a good plan.
Hey thanks for the reply, that's helpful. I always find it's the most basic horticultural stuff that I need to revisit with this hobbie of mine! What you said makes sense, I transplanted before the roots filled the 4" pots and the rootball fell apart a little. I was too eager to get them out of the tiny pots and into the larger body of soil. Whats also interesting is that I finally gave the sad looking seedling a good watering yesterday and this morning it had perked up considerably. I think best practice is simply allowing time for roots to fill small pots a little more before transplant to avoid shock. Thanks for the reply!
I need to add to this... the temperature has been very low here and transplants both in my garden and others have been very sluggish. When temps are low, pay attention to environment and watering practice particularly during transplant as plants tend to get stressed much more easily.