What Is Your Transplant Philosophy?

[NACnCO]

So, your baby needs a bigger bucket. How do you know? Do you decide to transplant based on the size of the plant vs the size of the bucket? Or is it all about the roots? Do you sneak a peak at your roots and decide from there?

I know a fellow grower who transplants, like, once a week in the grow room. I think that is WAY TOO MUCH. But he thinks the more soil the better. I tend to go the other direction. When they look root bound then that's the right time to transplant. However, both myself and the fellow I speak of are complete noobs and I wouldn't trust either of us.

How do you decide it's time for a bigger bucket and how do you decide how big of a bucket you should transplant to?

Pictures if you got any, please.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

From seed or cutting intill roots develop it stays in a plug.

From plug to early veg i keep mine in a one litre pot, in good conditions can be transplanted 2 weeks later for final transplant of a larger sized pot, i use a 6 litre pot for final veg & flowering.


Different countrys have different measurement systems so the conversion from litre to gallons is a myth to me for soil containers at the moment, with pot size being more of a personal choice between growers & size of plant you choose to grow.


P.s - I check the roots to see if they are balling in bottom of pot.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Cuttings with a mixed stage of root developement about 2 weeks old in root roit plugs.

About 18 days from seed in 1 litre pot, germinated in root roit plugs.

About 38 days i think from seed in 6 litre air pot.

 

[OrganicTreees]

clones and seedlings I place in small 3" square pots until I see roots start to come out the bottom or they are showing a deficiency (typically start to yellow on the oldest leaves, this tells me the nutes in the soil are all used up, and it's time for a bigger pot. From here it's all about what my plan is.

If I plan on flowering right away, they go into 1 gallon pots and are flowered (SOG type grows).
If I want to veg them, they go into 1 gallon pots to veg until the same thing happens (deficiencies begin) and then I feed them a couple of times, get the growth really taking off, and by now they are ready to go into bigger pots. I throw them in 2 gal pots and flower.

I just got some air pots so I'll be using those from here on. My plan is to plant clones directly into the 1 gallon pots, veg them until I'm ready to flower, transplant to the 3 gallon air pots, wait a few days for the shock to pass, then flower.

Rule of thumb is they need transplanted if you can see roots come out the bottom and they are showing signs of being hungry. Air pots are supposed to give you more time between transplanting as the plant forms a more efficient root mass.

Another tip I'll share is if you have a really stretchy strain you want to minimize the stretch on, transplant a few days after it starts to stretch. It will temporarily slow the growth for a few days, and reduce the total amount of stretch you have

 

[QueenTokelove]

My plants can start off in anything from a milk container to a soda bottle. When I see roots or leaves turning that is when I transplant to 1 gallon containers. Due to them having a tray that connects to the bottom, the roots seem to love this and come out the holes in clusters. From there I transplant to 3 gallon pots until harvest.

Right now though, I have more plants than pots and space. So, recently when my plants became root bound, I trimmed the roots. Hoping this will slow it down a bit. I also use coco instead of dirt.

 

[JJ Bones]

I try to avoid transplanting as much as possible. Obviously cuttings must be transplanted but hopefully only once, if done right and space permits.

If I do transplant it's based upon the size of my plant vs the container, along with any signs of roots getting crowded, ie how many come out of the bottom. The root mass will, in general, be pretty equal to the canopy.

Always transplant into nice wetted down soil, put mychorrizea in the transplant hole and powder the cuttings roots in Azos from Xtreme Gardening.