Should I transplant these to the ground?

Hey, bigjohn, welcome to GC! Congrats on your first post!

Great question! These plants do look big for their containers, and larger soil mass being available to the plant has multiple advantages -they don't get rootbound, and they have increased nutrient and water availability, among others. Cannabis is also interesting in that it can grow more roots out of the stem that is currently exposed, if you bury the stem! (kinda like tomatoes)

I'd recommend either getting containers that are twice as deep and a few times wider OR dig similar sized holes in the ground and amend that soil (with compost, kelp meal, etc., maybe some aeration amendment like pumice, if needed) or replace it with higher quality soil, and then transplant them in. They'll want separate holes, and you'll want to place them far enough apart to give them room to grow and get enough light and air on all sides of the plants. This is a great time to transplant them because we've only just barely passed the summer solstice so they haven't started flowering yet. When you transplant them, bury a few additional inches of exposed stem. Additional roots will grow out, over time, and it will help the plants be more sturdy in the wind. I like to add mycorrhizal fungi in the hole before I stick the plant in, allowing the roots to touch the fungi. The fungi infect the plant and make it stronger. Water deeply after transplant.

Have fun, blade!

 

I probably would, yeah. They're reaching the size limit for the pots they're already in, and transplanting them to bigger pots just to eventually dig them back up to put in the ground would probably be far more stressful then just putting them in the ground now. I'd like to go on record I have close to no experience with outdoor growing, in fact this year will only be my 2nd time doing it myself, so take what I say with a disclaimer. A violent gust of wind, or storms with heavy wind, could probably damage them at that size. Something to keep in mind if you have bad winds where you're from.

 

Agree that they should be in bigger pots or in your soil. I'd also recommend topping them because they look to be stretching a bit. That will force the plant to grow out more instead of up, which equals more colas, more buds, and a stronger plant that will not tip over or stress in a strong wind. Other than that, nice looking plants. Good luck!

 

Yes there is topping and fimming. This is a cool video on it.....