Hi All, I was wondering, if a plant becomes root-bound during flowering, will it stop or slow bud production? Or is being root-bound more of a problem during veg? when the root-system is being established? I had a few too-many plants for my flowering chamber, so I let a couple get root-bound during veg in 1 gallon pots for a bout 3 weeks or so, just to see what would happen. They slowed growth, then seemed to stop entirely. I then transplanted them into 3 gallon pots yesterday after loosening the soil in the root-ball. Both plants have sprung to life, and they look great. (I'm waiting to see if my 2 plants in flowering produce any males. If so, I'll switch it/them out with the plants in veg.) Anyway, If my plants become root-bound during flowering instead of veg, would that be a problem? I'm going Fox Farms soil/nutes, veged for 6 weeks in 3 gallon pots, and am on day 3 of veg. So far they are fine.
during flowering root-binding can seriously decrease your yield. the buds and leaves wont continue to grow because the plant cant grow new roots to suppport them. Its a problem though that usually works itself out. as long as you transplant them to bigger pots and water them they almost always get better. just remember plants need 1 gallon for each foot of growth. also its good to give 1 gallon extra for flowering since roots will also expand then. i doubt youll have any problems though
Man, talk about a fast reply! Thanks! I'm a little paranoid about using 3-gallon pots, so I figured flowering at 6 weeks instead of 8 would give me a little wiggle room. If, perchance, the plants DO become root-bound at some point during flowering, can I still transplant them, or is it too late once they are flowering?
Heres the thing, you can transplant anytime really. but you have to realize that a shitty transplant is very stressful to the plant. and if you kill roots or cut some off, the plant is gonna kill some of itself to compensate and the buds will be the first part to go. ensuring a clean, proper transplant is very important. if you suck at transplanting(and some people really struggle with it) then i would say make sure you have big enough pots before flowering or ask for help. i myself think transplanting is a breeze(though kind of a hassle) and i have a pretty efficient strategy for tackling it. if you need help just ask.
Thanks, Buddha! I've never found transplanting to be a problem. Short and sweet. I can only fit 3-gallon pots in my flowering chamber, so I guess I'll just keep an eye on them, and maybe cut the bottoms out and stack them in another soil-filled pot if it seems they are getting root-bound. Thanks!
I almost forgot- In your opinion, do you think 3-gallon pots will be big enough for a 6-week veg and full flowering? Most folks have said it should be fine, but a few said they grew out of their 3-gallon pots and would never use anything under 5 gallons again.
for my first grow i used 2 gallon pots and had no issue. i had very low plants because i used the LST method i would have had better yeild then i did but my plants turned hermi due to light leak and that was that. the buds stoped growing and seeds started poping out. imo you should really try to compensate to get a 5 gallon bucket in there. but... if your trying to have a stealth grow. LST may be your best option!!! easy cheesy!!
im gonna pretend you havent recieved a reply yet, and answer the original question.... Rootbound is more an issue for continuing vegetative growth, not so much for flowering. In fact, if you keep up with the frequent waterings (youll water a ton if rootbound), there's no ill effects within the flowering period new roots = new growth. Growth that already exists is already "rooted" so to speak. Flowering is not considered new growth, in that it requires no additional root mass...it uses what is developed during the vegetative state. to that extent, root development halts anywhere from 1-3 weeks after the onset of flowering, meaning that a transplant beyond this point is not only useless, but probably harmful (stress the plant for no benefit). having said all of that, a plant wont stop producing buds as a result of being rootbound, but there could be some complications (too frequently watering can be a hassle, for one)
I recently had a rootbound affy-bullrider that i wanted to stop growing so i left in the 2 gallon pot bound. she yielded more than the others i transplanted and tasted better because she flushed great the last few weeks and showed a nice color display. its all personal prefrence and sometimes up the the strain. but yes in most cases the more space the roots have to grow the more the plant can expand. good luck
Thanks, Mack! I guess I won't freak-out about it and I'll just stay on top of watering/feeding and LSTing, and let the plants do their thing. So far, so good! Thanks, All!
amoril. you are a boss and just saved my favorite girl, rez IBL diesel to be exact. thank you. i was just about to listen to what all these fools have been saying, and do the trans from 3gal to 5gal when i'm already 5 weeks in! i was dreading what the shock might have done to my colas if the roots were to get damaged. i even was about to cut the bottom of the planter and do a semi trans. no idea how the hell that would have worked. what you're saying makes perfect sense... that the roots really stop going crazy after the 3 week stretch, so a trans after that is technically utterly pointless. this is a problem i'm sure many people will run into sooner or later, if they haven't become sativa lovers just yet. thanks for saving me bro. i owe you one.
1 gallon pots.... Day 19 flowering.... Still watering every 4-5 days and a healthy mictoherd. Thought it was rootbound due to pots size, but watering is way to infrequent and growth is good. New pistils/calyx everyday now it seems. Idk. I kinda agree that after the first few weeks it is what it is as far as big root growth. Like when the main Cola forms and growth stops pretty much. Second. I used beastie bloomz for the first time the other day and barely sprinkled like 20 grains of this stuff into my water w/ biothrive from GO.... Amazing. 2 days later it has some tad burnt spots, but wow what bid growth. Just added that for you guys to know! Lol. Ffof soil is very ligjt/airy soil.... I was lifting the pots for watering signs. When it felt it's lightest after a few days... I'd get concerned because it felt like no water was left at all judging by weight/first few inches of soil.... But this stuff drains well bit seems to be light as shit lol. I over watered several times now pretty significantly and caused yellowing lower leaves and the whole bit.... And they felt light as a feather!! Beware if you use light soil/small pot! =) Dark period prevents me from a current photo from today, but this is from yesterday afternoon, and today the buds are blown up! Tons of pistils and growth. It's insane how fast this stuff occurs. Overnight buds lol. -Waldo NewLifeCannabis "The best teacher is experience and not through someone's distorted point of view." - Jack Kerouac Everything seen here is taken from sources online and in No WAY is this real at all. These posts are purely for entertainment value only and hold NO truth.
What? Is no? =/ -Waldo NewLifeCannabis "The best teacher is experience and not through someone's distorted point of view." - Jack Kerouac Everything seen here is taken from sources online and in No WAY is this real at all. These posts are purely for entertainment value only and hold NO truth.
I'd love to see your definition of root bound.....how close are you to this....? Too root bound will suffocate and kill a marijuana plant....in any stage of its life...
So many factors not mentioned, what's the strain, grow medium, kind and size of light, what are your day and evening temps, what's your humidity during night and day, too much not mentioned to even give you an accurate answer as far as veg time and pot size and what can be done....
What your calling "root bound" May just be a big yet healthy root ball....with plenty of inner and top space to finish...