When to transplant and why not just start in a bigger pot?

Hello latro,

I'm going from experience with my regular houseplants, which I like to raise from small babies - my guess is this (someone correct me if I'm wrong, cuz I know we're talking about weed now): I think you still have plenty of time for transplanting, particularly since you're using soil - my guess is that you still have a good week or two to move them before hitting the rootbound problem. My best guess from what I've gleaned on the forum thus far, is that you can safely transplant anytime after 3rd set of true leaves are out. Maybe even before!

Yes, I've seen lots of pics here that show plants starting in little containers also. Maybe people do this just for the veg state, then transfer shortly before moving to the flowering stage. I imagine much depends on physical setup, space, lights, do you have 1 space for flowering and a different space for vegging, and so on... so kinda depends on what else you've got going and what stage they're in, and/or physical limitations...

As for 10" pot though... how deep is it? If you're growing a small auto plant, you might be ok - anything else, I would strongly recommend a *much* larger pot to take her the rest of the way. Do you have fem seed(s)? If so, no worry about wasting space or pots on males. And myself, being a new grower also, have heard over and over (and over again) to do your best to start ONE in the pot (which you have) - best case scenario is to make the pot big enough to take her all the way.

I hope this is helpful, and will listen for our more seasoned gardeners to chime in with anything further.

Looks very healthy, good luck!

 

Some autos get bigger than others, but imo I think you're fine with the lowryder 2 from what I've read. Yeah, the pot sounds big enough for it and everything... but, sounds like height could still be a problem, since you gotta figure you're already 11" up off the bottom of your bin with the pot heighth itself... I've been looking at flatter containers myself, the kind that are somewhere in the same area as the rubbermaid bins in the store - it would keep your heighth down and let the roots spread out like a carpet rather than running straight down, and heard it works just fine.

If you still run into any problem with getting light underneath/around the plant to the lower/bigger fan leaves, you might want to read up on "low-stress-training" (lst) - click back to "absolute beginners" page and there is a faq on how to do it... and speaking for myself, I will NEVER again put more than one plant in a pot (I'm a hydro person, so in my case it is one per reservoir)... that is not hard for me as I only really want to grow a couple at a time.

 

Some people like to start in big pots and just grow the whole way like that. I have been growing like this: start in a jiffy pellet or rapid rooter, when roots pop I transplant into either a styrofoam cup or 4" pot (it's easier to cut drainage into styro cups, but I have used red "party" cups too). When I start to see more than a few roots at the drainage holes, or the growth seems to slow, I move to a 2 gallon pot, then right before flower, I move to a 5 gallon pot.

The reason, as I understand it, is that in order to encourage rapid growth, you want to keep your plants in a small enough pot so that it only produces enough roots to suit it's current needs but a large enough pot that it doesn't need constant watering or get rootbound. I could probably go from a jiffy pellet right to a 5 gallon pot, or even plant directly into a 5 gallon pot, but it means that I have to waste a lot of light because the seedlings will have to be so much further apart. Small pots means I can pack them together and use all of the light available.

 

There is only one reason to start in smaller pots and work your way up. In smaller cups, the first few roots will cover the basic area(growing to the edges, and then down to the bottom), and then later roots will just make a very dense root ball that is about as big as the pot. However, if you just start in a large pot, the roots just keep growing as far as they can, and do not get as dense.

That's just all I know. Personally, I'm about to start my own grow in a double-high Rubbermaid box. I have everything all set up, but I have one question-what are you doing for drainage? I know that your cups have drainage holes, but what do they drain into? Do you take your cup/pot out of the grow area to water?

Stick with me here, I was thinking of putting a few things under my grow area(like little blocks or something) to raise it up maybe 4 or 5 inches. Then poking a small hole in the bottom of the container, and putting a little collection bin for the drainage water underneath the whole thing.

 

That setup is very impressive! I would never have thought to double-stack the bins - at any rate, looks like you have definitely made enough space. And, looks like you have everything else going perfectly... you guys are so mechanically-minded - rather than calling it ghetto rigging, you should be proud of your ingenuity and call it McGyver rigging Love the way you can just stick them with other garage/basement junk --- certainly gives me another idea!

 

the one and only true reason you would start in smaller pots is the space issue. If you can start your plants from the get-go in their final large pots, DO IT. You will get the best root growth, translating into kick-ass veg and flower growth. Transplanting done right should have no negative effects on your plant, however there is a bit of time the plant has to have to spread its roots through the new soil, especially if you allow your lants to become rootbound. Any slowing of growth that you can eliminate will result in a faster overall flowering time.

 

Yep, that makes all kinds of sense, after all. I know when I have repotted regular houseplants in the past, always heard to go only to the very next larger size pot. After everything I read, I kinda wish I had started in soil/soiless mixture - but the Aerogarden seemed so easy that it set me on the hydro path...

Think I am luckier in this way using hydro, as far as transplanting. Once I get the first mess I made finished off, I will do my next try differently. Of course, I made a huge mistake at the start and ended up with 5 plants and one huge ball of roots in the 3/4 gal. res of the Aerogarden.... and they are not fem seeds, so I blew it this time. Even though I did save their lives by carefully extracting the root ball from the AG unit, then transplanting the whole mess into 20 gal. res, and all of them are doing well - quite a surprise to me.

Anyway, am now seriously thinking about trying to grow a little auto all by itself, using your setup or something very similar, latro... I have 3 fem afghan kush ryders in my seed container, and it says they get from 40-80 cm tall... so still pretty short. If I do this, I will use soil this time, even if there is more transplanting involved.

 

You quote them, not me. that's funny.

 

There is absolutely no reason why you wouldnt just start a seed in its final flowering container, other than your seedling area wouldnt have the space. Why do you think plants grow so big and healthy outside? They have ALL the room they need from the get-go. Growth is totally uninhibited, plus the sun is a plus....

 

If you are using the final pot from the get-go, that means you stay with the same soil throughout the plants lifecycle. Is that a bad thing or should one sometimes change soil to keep it fresh?

 

Do not worry about that, You can keep mother plants for clones for years. I have one about seven months old. if you properly feed, there shouldnt be any problem.

 

I have read that the main reason for starting in small pots is nutes & watering. Larger pots require more water to saturate and you're basically washing your nutes right out the bottom. Also you get the best root growth by letting them dry for a short period and get some oxygen between waterings, if you have a large pot it takes longer to dry, thus delaying root growth... $0.02

 

now its recommended to start autos in your finishing pot..guess they didnt know that SIX YEARS AGO lol

 

I start clones and seeds in solos and then straight to their final container. Autos and plants in organic living soils are both recommended to start in their final pots. Its silly to think bottle fed photos can't. There's the theory that slightly root bound plants explode in growth when transplanted. I never found much basis behind it. There's a few generally accepted techniques I think are pointless. Up potting being one of them. If you're a noob it is easier to water a small plant in a small container. After you get watering figured out there's no point imo.