TheFertilizer
Well-Known Member
I had an idea of veg'ing out some big plants for a long period of time, because I haven't done it before, and it would work well with my environmental conditions. Normally during the late summer months, I either live in an oven or shut down my grow. I'm thinking that instead I will use a low wattage light like a T5 and veg out some plants over the course of Spring/Summer and then flip them into flower come Fall.
I'm not really sure what to expect doing vegetative growth for that long. For example, how often am I going to need to up-pot, and what final pot size will I likely end up in. I don't think that with this cut, having low lighting is going to slow the roots down that much. I veg'd a cut of it under ridiculously low lighting (like 18 watts), thinking it would just hold itself in "stasis" but it just kept getting root-bound about every 6 weeks first in its 1gal starter and then in the 3gal it was in when I finally culled it.
I'm guessing that with more light will be even more accelerated root growth. I'll need to veg these for twice as long as the previous one under low-lighting, so I think I could reasonably expect the roots to outgrow a 6 gallon pot by the end of this. Probably even more since I'm jumping the wattage up a whole 180 watts. I am thinking 7 or 10 gallon pots by the end of it? I need to be able to fit them in a 4x4 tent though is the thing.
When a plant DOES get root bound is there any other remedy besides up-potting? I've heard something about people cutting the bottom few inches of roots off and then lining the bottom of the pot with fresh soil for it to root into, but that seems very aggressive. Others have mentioned it's more a matter of pruning the top growth to keep the lower growth from getting out of control in the first place?
Anyway I don't even know what else to ask about. I've typically used several smaller pots, 5 gallons or less, and short veg times, like 2 months or less, so this is a much different arena than I'm used to.
I'm not really sure what to expect doing vegetative growth for that long. For example, how often am I going to need to up-pot, and what final pot size will I likely end up in. I don't think that with this cut, having low lighting is going to slow the roots down that much. I veg'd a cut of it under ridiculously low lighting (like 18 watts), thinking it would just hold itself in "stasis" but it just kept getting root-bound about every 6 weeks first in its 1gal starter and then in the 3gal it was in when I finally culled it.
I'm guessing that with more light will be even more accelerated root growth. I'll need to veg these for twice as long as the previous one under low-lighting, so I think I could reasonably expect the roots to outgrow a 6 gallon pot by the end of this. Probably even more since I'm jumping the wattage up a whole 180 watts. I am thinking 7 or 10 gallon pots by the end of it? I need to be able to fit them in a 4x4 tent though is the thing.
When a plant DOES get root bound is there any other remedy besides up-potting? I've heard something about people cutting the bottom few inches of roots off and then lining the bottom of the pot with fresh soil for it to root into, but that seems very aggressive. Others have mentioned it's more a matter of pruning the top growth to keep the lower growth from getting out of control in the first place?
Anyway I don't even know what else to ask about. I've typically used several smaller pots, 5 gallons or less, and short veg times, like 2 months or less, so this is a much different arena than I'm used to.
