Adding new soil to old plants & transplanting before flowering

[Amphora420]

i have 5 plants in a small closet cfl set up all in 1/2 g pots , been in veg for about 1 1/2m and transplanted from solo cups with ff ocean forest about 4 weeks ago ...

question 1 - since watering and spillage i've lost a few inches in my pots of soil / also didnt fill it to the top , was wondering since ocean forest has nutes is it ok to add a few inches of new soil if needed threw out the grow ?

question 2 - i also wasnt too informed on pot sizes and your plants growing based on pot size and was wondering if it would make sense to upgrade to full gallon pots when i start flowering , since plant will need more room to grow and im convinced my plants are not as big as they could be in 1/2g pot .. and if so should i use all my last soil plus new to fill the gallons? since i just transplanted 4 weeks ago?? and will the 2 transplant be to fast and stress the plants... not sure if any of this is worth it since its my first grow and i plan on starting my second well educated , thou i would like to salavge some decent yeilds on what i have .....thanks

 

[KingstonRabbi]

1) You can always add more soil to pot but you shouldn't need to more than once unless you are compacting it. In small containers like yours it probably didn't settle at first so it makes sense that you would need to top up after the first watering. Nutes in OF soil won't cause problem just watch for nute burn/deficiencies as you would any way.

2) If you transplanted 4 weeks ago then they are ready to be transplanted again, you won't over stress them. I would pot up to 1 gal and let them grow at least 2 more weeks before flowering. 1 gal is about minimum size pot to be able to get harvestable buds. A grower here named old school grew a decent bud in a shot glass sized solo cup but he also didn't sleep for 8 weeks. Main point is to let plants grow roots to fill 1 gal pot before flowering. Roots growing during flower would take energy away from buds rather than feed the buds. If space becomes an issue I think you would get better yield from 2 1 gal plants than 5 1/2 gal plants.