O2, to the roots

[Emilya Green]

Best is to not repot at all and use fabric pots that way the entire pot gets full of roots with 100s more root tips and never gets root bound.
And roots get more oxygen.

I wouldn't use the word best here.. everyone has their own style. I personally totally hate trying to peel a plant out of a fabric pot to up-pot, so I use hard sided containers until my final sized container. So again with the debate between hardside and fabric... it does seem logical that more oxygen is available in a fabric planter... but only to a certain depth into the rootball. I submit that in a properly maintained wet/dry cycle, a hard sided container pulls down "just about" as much oxygen as does a smart pot from all of its sides.
Secondly, there is something to uppotting after constricting the previous roots in a smaller space that lends to an overall stronger root system. If a large fabric container at the start would accomplish the root systems that I can get by creating a solid rootball prior to going into that final, I would be all for it because it would certainly be less work. Smart pots are great... but they are not an excuse to be lazy in my garden.
Lastly, I did try once to grow in a 2 gallon fabric pot all the way through, thinking just what you did... that I could not get root bound. It was a good theory while it lasted.

 

[Bud]

Self pruning roots in smart pots, allows 02 to reach the plant all the way around no just top and bottom. The roots grow any direction they choose not just down. There making smart pots with Velcro for up potting now.

 

[Nunyabiz]

A 2 gallon fabric pot is way too small and unless it was sitting flat on a hard surface then even then it shouldn't have gotten actually "root bound" but roots just flat out filled every square inch of the pot because it's only in at best 2 gallons of soil. And compared to a 2 gallon plastic pot will have a much better root system.
But just because it's in fabric doesn't mean you can grow in a thimble.

There is no comparison between a hard sided plastic pot vs a fabric pot.
The fabric pot will always create many MANY times more root tips.
The roots air prune and double each time they do, creating a far larger root system which then can be used by the mycorrhazae which is a force multiplier that spreads out very tiny spider web like roots all throughout the pot.

And I would never transplant from a fabric pot as it destroys way too much of the roots when you do.
I always plant a germinated seed right into my 25 gallon fabric pots.
Unless you grow with regular non feminized seeds where you need to weed out males then there is no reason whatsoever to keep transplanting into larger and larger pots.

My plants are 7 weeks old right now and I can see root tips all around my 25 gallon pot top to bottom.
So at 7 weeks they have basically already filled the pot with roots and are busy air pruning and creating more and more root tips.

My main goal is the biggest and healthiest root system that I can possibly get, the roots and mycorrhazae take care of the rest.
The roots are everything.
Fabric breathes on all sides it literally allows oxygen to flow through the soil, plastic pots only breathe from the top.
If you have proper soil with at least 30% aeration and especially if you add in worms and also a cover crop to keep the soil loose and aerated and you're in fabric pots then you literally can not over water unless you just toss the whole pot into a pool.
I water every single day usually at least a gallon in each pot. Occasionally I'll skip a day.
That's how I know my soil is properly aerated and my roots are getting the proper amount of oxygen.
If I had to wait 4,5 6 days between watering then my soil isn't right, isn't breathing.

I honestly can not imagine an easier and better method of growing than LOS no-till in large fabric pots.
No deficiencies, no toxicities, no need to worry about pH, just simply water with the cleanest purest water you can find and sit back and watch it grow.
Plus the added plus of it being the tastiest, stickiest and most potent bud makes it a no brainer in my book.

 

[Barney86]

I wouldn't use the word best here.. everyone has their own style. I personally totally hate trying to peel a plant out of a fabric pot to up-pot, so I use hard sided containers until my final sized container. So again with the debate between hardside and fabric... it does seem logical that more oxygen is available in a fabric planter... but only to a certain depth into the rootball. I submit that in a properly maintained wet/dry cycle, a hard sided container pulls down "just about" as much oxygen as does a smart pot from all of its sides.
Secondly, there is something to uppotting after constricting the previous roots in a smaller space that lends to an overall stronger root system. If a large fabric container at the start would accomplish the root systems that I can get by creating a solid rootball prior to going into that final, I would be all for it because it would certainly be less work. Smart pots are great... but they are not an excuse to be lazy in my garden.
Lastly, I did try once to grow in a 2 gallon fabric pot all the way through, thinking just what you did... that I could not get root bound. It was a good theory while it lasted.

You don't need to pull it off mate. The whole point of fabric pots is that the roots grow through them easily. Just plant the whole thing
I've only done that once cos ended up having to veg for 11 weeks in 10L fabrics and didn't think there's be enough space for bloom.

 

[Nunyabiz]

You don't need to pull it off mate. The whole point of fabric pots is that the roots grow through them easily. Just plant the whole thing
I've only done that once cos ended up having to veg for 11 weeks in 10L fabrics and didn't think there's be enough space for bloom.

True you certainly can just plant the whole pot and if you used very cheap like flour sack or burlap type pots just for say the first 3 weeks or so then just plant the whole flour sack into at least a 15+ gallon standard fabric pot that would be a good way to go for those that need to transplant for whatever reason.

In fact that gives me an idea for my next grow.
I am going to grow two autoflowers next grow and would like to get a two+ week jumpstart so that when I plant into final pot they should be ready to harvest in like 6 weeks.
Since it's never a good idea to transplant autos from a fabric pot, I was just going to plant the day after harvest but if I can make some super thin cheap little burlap or whatever pots that I can just plop right into a hole that might work.
They can just grow right through the cheap pots with no transplant shock, theoretically.

 

[Emilya Green]

Apologies in advance, but I get torqued when I see misinformation being presented as fact. This thread originally wasn't about autos specifically either, but since we have gone down this road, let me clear up a couple of things.
Spreading the concept that transplanting is harmful is one of the easiest ways to annoy me. I think you really have to mistreat these plants in a severe way to introduce any kind of transplant shock and I see absolutely no reason that transplanting an auto is a bad idea. In just about every case, transplanting produces a growth spurt, NOT SHOCK.
.
Regarding autos... the whole concept of introducing the inferior ruderalis low THC gene to a cannabis variety so as to change its fundamental characteristics, makes that plant by definition inferior to its photo cousin. Selling Autos is a marketing method to convince the buying public that autos are easier to grow than photos and that you don't have to do any of the normal indoor horticulture things to them like up potting and pruning or messing with light schedules. Growing an auto is marketed as easy peasy and even though they are by definition an inferior product, thanks to clever marketing, Auto plants of all varieties have become the bee's knees! Easy cannabis growing for everyone!!! Just get an auto. It is after all, automatic.
.
Please. There is a lot of unproven hype out there regarding autos and it is no wonder that so many people end up with 1 oz plants after all of their automatic hard work and thinking that somehow their Frankenplant doesn't need to follow the rules. Then, seeing that they can get decent product using these abbreviated methods with these abbreviated plants, successful Auto growers then tout that they have proven that no one needs to follow rules... that uppotting is for the uninformed, traditional watering methods are old school, and that autos are the way to go. I just don't buy into it, and never will.

 

[Nunyabiz]

I dont particularly like autos, have only grown one and got just under 5oz, but have free seeds that got that I'd prefer not to go to waste.
Proper transplanting shouldn't shock a plant but it adds just one more thing that "could" go wrong no matter how careful you are and the fact remains that transplanting is entirely unneccessary which I get "torqued" about.
You can plant a seed right into a 25 gallon pot and in proper soil those roots will completely fill that entire pot.

My one and only concern was that I wanted to start growing my next grow BEFORE my current grow is harvested and you cant really transplant from a fabric pot or you really are looking for trouble, so just plopping a perfect little root filled bag right into a hole sounds like a good solution to those of us that hate plastic pots.

 

[Bud]

I’ve done plastic milk crates lined with landscaping material for a outside grow. Did very well at harvest. If u dig a hole and buried the smart pot without proper drainage she will just drown!
U got to dig a foot or more down and place crushed stone at the bottom of the hole first before
The pot goes in. Lol

 

[Jackalope]

Just as I thought. Lots of different ideas on the subject LMAO. Do to the fact that I have little stress from re-pots I tend to do it at least 3 times for each plant.

I have tried the fabric bags before with mixed results. I now tend to just use basic greenhouse pots for simplicity.

 

[Barney86]

Just as I thought. Lots of different ideas on the subject LMAO. Do to the fact that I have little stress from re-pots I tend to do it at least 3 times for each plant.

I have tried the fabric bags before with mixed results. I now tend to just use basic greenhouse pots for simplicity.

Yeah I generally start in 1 inch cubes, then 4 inch cubes, then Into final media. Even with autos. No harm from transplanting if you do it right

 

[Barney86]

Apologies in advance, but I get torqued when I see misinformation being presented as fact. This thread originally wasn't about autos specifically either, but since we have gone down this road, let me clear up a couple of things.
Spreading the concept that transplanting is harmful is one of the easiest ways to annoy me. I think you really have to mistreat these plants in a severe way to introduce any kind of transplant shock and I see absolutely no reason that transplanting an auto is a bad idea. In just about every case, transplanting produces a growth spurt, NOT SHOCK.
.
Regarding autos... the whole concept of introducing the inferior ruderalis low THC gene to a cannabis variety so as to change its fundamental characteristics, makes that plant by definition inferior to its photo cousin. Selling Autos is a marketing method to convince the buying public that autos are easier to grow than photos and that you don't have to do any of the normal indoor horticulture things to them like up potting and pruning or messing with light schedules. Growing an auto is marketed as easy peasy and even though they are by definition an inferior product, thanks to clever marketing, Auto plants of all varieties have become the bee's knees! Easy cannabis growing for everyone!!! Just get an auto. It is after all, automatic.
.
Please. There is a lot of unproven hype out there regarding autos and it is no wonder that so many people end up with 1 oz plants after all of their automatic hard work and thinking that somehow their Frankenplant doesn't need to follow the rules. Then, seeing that they can get decent product using these abbreviated methods with these abbreviated plants, successful Auto growers then tout that they have proven that no one needs to follow rules... that uppotting is for the uninformed, traditional watering methods are old school, and that autos are the way to go. I just don't buy into it, and never will.

You really don't like autos do you lolI.
It's not that they're easier to grow, just treat them exactly the same as photos. Top them, tie them down, scrogg them, no difference in how you treat them other than the lighting. That's the selling point. Can have many strains at many ages in veg and bloom under 1 light.
Yes, when you put an auto next to the photo of the same strain it's not as strong but doesn't mean they can't still put you on your ass.
Plenty companies have mastered autos these days that pump out insane yields of high strength lovelyness in 100days or less.
Dutch passion, Seedstockers, Mephisto and fastbuds I can vouch for. I've been sponsored by all of them and out of about 15 auto strains I've only had 1 that I wouldn't happily grow again.
Any of those 4 brands are pretty safe for high strength pounders in 3 months from seed. Ooohhh shit!! ZAMNEZIA!! WOW! Those guys have got it sussed. Zamnezia caramel can hit nearly a pound in 65 days. I've seen the same guy do it repeatedly over on AFN where I used to frequent.
I've done it with a few Dutch passions. It's pretty easy with the right genetics.
Kinda hard to not get them massive if you hit it at least half right. I had 6 autos in 10L pots last year getting handwatered only once every other day and they ended up taking over half my attic. Took a 600w HP's and 2 X 250 LEDs to cover them and that was me trying to keep them small with only 400w of CMH.
If I'd had those plugged into my reservoirs I hate to think how big they would have been.
Oohh bluedreamatic by fastbuds was one of them (The other was the aforementioned cabbage one I wouldn't buy again)
Try that stuff, it's beautiful. Really hazy, daydream kinda stone at small doses. Bit trippy at mid doses and I never went up to full strength but I imagine it would be fairly euphoric by anyone's standards. One of the most enjoyable stones I've had in 17 years as a toker

 

[genesis1vs29]

I'm cheap & returns are maximum, easy to Co2 the roots, laugh if you must but it darn sure works! Put straws, yea drinking straws together, tape where each straw is inserted in the other, make it as long as you like, put the straw end to the bottom in your container, when your plant is growing, each time you open the tent blow several times into each straw to put carbon dioxide directly onto the roots with warm air from you! Say what yo want but hey, if it works what's the cost for straws, put 3 around each container & make them so you don't even have to bend over to blow, I usually give each straw 10 easy breaths & go on about my business.

 

[Nunyabiz]

I'm cheap & returns are maximum, easy to Co2 the roots, laugh if you must but it darn sure works! Put straws, yea drinking straws together, tape where each straw is inserted in the other, make it as long as you like, put the straw end to the bottom in your container, when your plant is growing, each time you open the tent blow several times into each straw to put carbon dioxide directly onto the roots with warm air from you! Say what yo want but hey, if it works what's the cost for straws, put 3 around each container & make them so you don't even have to bend over to blow, I usually give each straw 10 easy breaths & go on about my business.

Roots dont use C02.
I suppose there could be some bit of "oxygen" getting in there through the straws but your best bet to get lots of oxygen to the roots is first to be in fabric pots, and second to have very aerated soil and then when you water try to get as much dissolved oxygen as possible into your water.

 

[Aroxol]

The key is they have to be crazy straws, and when used in the last 3 days of flower they increase trichs by 30%!

 

[Bud]

Who needs immature trichs ? IMHO