When to up pot

[stickygreen420]

If you don't have the time then it's not an option.
There is no guessing like soil.
You just feed nutrients every day.
Move work but faster growth.
Just stick with soil.

Stay safe
Bill

right! i'm also guessing soil allows for more mistakes correct? which i do sometimes because i'm really busy and i might neglect my girls at times

 

[stickygreen420]

It sounds like you just need to put them into larger pots then. It sounds like you are doing everything my method calls for except the uppotting when the roots get strong enough to drain the pot in 48 hours or less.

that's what's bugging me tho! i've been using your method for 4-5 different grows, i always get good, healthy, big plants with great harvests, but the root systems are always very small and weak!

i tried putting more perlite, trying to follow your method to the letter, but i just seem to not be able to get decent root growth.

could i the soil i'm using? (terra canna professional)

 

[Nunyabiz]

How do you "oxygenate water" ?

I use o2 emitters for about an hour.

 

[Nunyabiz]

That's Celsius.

It's weird my plant isn't getting enough oxygen, i used a lot of perlite too, can't put more because then I'll need to water way too often

Im gonna go to a 3 gal first then 7 gal.

20-25 gal you use????? Damn !!

First off, how much do you harvest per plant with a 20-25 gal pot?

On a good harvest I'll pull 300g of dry bud from a 5 gal container, is it possible to get much more than that in 5 gal soil?

I think I'm limited by weather i plant around end of april- beginning of may.


And the plants are ready to harvest at the beginning of November when it starts to get very cold, i think my limiting factor here might be the time?

I use large pots because I grow in living Organic Soil, I don't need many inputs mostly just fresh oxygenated water.
My average on my last few grows has been between 9.6 to 10 ounces per plant, but thats growing indoor with a 6 to 8 week veg and 7 to 9 week flower.
I can just about finish two grows to your one.

Growing outdoor in a 100 gallon pot you could probably get several pounds per plant.

 

[Bill284]

I use large pots because I grow in living Organic Soil, I don't need many inputs mostly just fresh oxygenated water.
My average on my last few grows has been between 9.6 to 10 ounces per plant, but thats growing indoor with a 6 to 8 week veg and 7 to 9 week flower.
I can just about finish two grows to your one.

Growing outdoor in a 100 gallon pot you could probably get several pounds per plant.

Only 8 pounds.
50 gal pot.

Stay safe
Bill

 

[Emilya Green]

that's what's bugging me tho! i've been using your method for 4-5 different grows, i always get good, healthy, big plants with great harvests, but the root systems are always very small and weak!

i tried putting more perlite, trying to follow your method to the letter, but i just seem to not be able to get decent root growth.

could i the soil i'm using? (terra canna professional)

Yes, without any other amendments that would be considered to be an ok soil, and you could do better, but that wouldn't necessarily produce inferior plants. You could also add myco, and I recommend one of our sponsors, @DYNOMYCO, you could add all sorts of good stuff that the plants would like. Something basic seems to be wrong, something you are doing that none of us are doing. It could also be your fertilizer, and how you are applying it... some people even think they can get by on 1/2 what is recommended. But as I mentioned, I didn't like the look of your roots there on the bottom. Something is different in that area. Something is not right.

 

[stickygreen420]

Yes, without any other amendments that would be considered to be an ok soil, and you could do better, but that wouldn't necessarily produce inferior plants. You could also add myco, and I recommend one of our sponsors, @DYNOMYCO, you could add all sorts of good stuff that the plants would like. Something basic seems to be wrong, something you are doing that none of us are doing. It could also be your fertilizer, and how you are applying it... some people even think they can get by on 1/2 what is recommended. But as I mentioned, I didn't like the look of your roots there on the bottom. Something is different in that area. Something is not right.

ok, let me try to explain everything so maybe we can figure out what's the issue.

soil: terra canna professional
fertilizer: mega crop one part, dosage: i follow MC's calculator and feed every watering
water ph: around 5.5-6.8
now, the ONLY thing i can think of.

the pots are sitting on stone, not soil. is it possible that the heat from the stones is disturbing the roots, and being that the hottest part will be at the bottom, that's why roots aren't growing there?

but that wouldn't explain why my 3gal and 5gal fabric pots also don't get a strong root system, as they don't grow a big root system even at the top of the container....

damn it i wish i knew what am i doing wrong, i wanna get the benefits from up-potting, but i feel like i'm not really getting all of them if i dont' fill out the pots with roots before uppoting

 

[Nunyabiz]

Get pot elevators for airspace under the pots

 

[Emilya Green]

ok, let me try to explain everything so maybe we can figure out what's the issue.

soil: terra canna professional
fertilizer: mega crop one part, dosage: i follow MC's calculator and feed every watering
water ph: around 5.5-6.8
now, the ONLY thing i can think of.

the pots are sitting on stone, not soil. is it possible that the heat from the stones is disturbing the roots, and being that the hottest part will be at the bottom, that's why roots aren't growing there?

but that wouldn't explain why my 3gal and 5gal fabric pots also don't get a strong root system, as they don't grow a big root system even at the top of the container....

damn it i wish i knew what am i doing wrong, i wanna get the benefits from up-potting, but i feel like i'm not really getting all of them if i dont' fill out the pots with roots before uppoting

it likely could be the heat, so instead of sitting on stone, try to raise them up on a wooden platform or something so there is an air gap between the radiant heat from the stone and the planters. Based on your description, I can't think of anything you are doing wrong other than that.

 

[SmokingWings]

ok, let me try to explain everything so maybe we can figure out what's the issue.

I spent most of my free time yesterday working on the vegetable and flower gardens and transplanting a few of my smaller 'weed' plants to their next larger sized containers. Then I spent some time mixing up compost and amendments to make 'aged forest products' for future potting soil.

During that gardening time I thought about this thread and what has been discussed so far. I figure that there might not be an issue to worry about.

The root issue that Emilya noticed is there but it does not seem to be causing any problem. The soil ball is holding together while you handle it and that is often a sign that the roots are keeping it in one piece. That plant does look large for the size of container but not a problem, at least not at this time.

I was going to ask if you added coco coir to the soil mix but after rereading through the thread it does not seem like you are adding anything.

Only other question I can think of is how long since you transplanted to that current container till you took the photographs. Is it possible that you are transplanting soon enough that the plant does not get a chance to grow all the roots that we often see on our grows or in other people's photographs.

Your mention of other growing sessions which had good harvests tells us that whatever is happening is working for you, and working very well at that. In other words, "if it ain't broke then done fix it".

 

[stickygreen420]

I spent most of my free time yesterday working on the vegetable and flower gardens and transplanting a few of my smaller 'weed' plants to their next larger sized containers. Then I spent some time mixing up compost and amendments to make 'aged forest products' for future potting soil.

During that gardening time I thought about this thread and what has been discussed so far. I figure that there might not be an issue to worry about.

The root issue that Emilya noticed is there but it does not seem to be causing any problem. The soil ball is holding together while you handle it and that is often a sign that the roots are keeping it in one piece. That plant does look large for the size of container but not a problem, at least not at this time.

I was going to ask if you added coco coir to the soil mix but after rereading through the thread it does not seem like you are adding anything.

Only other question I can think of is how long since you transplanted to that current container till you took the photographs. Is it possible that you are transplanting soon enough that the plant does not get a chance to grow all the roots that we often see on our grows or in other people's photographs.

Your mention of other growing sessions which had good harvests tells us that whatever is happening is working for you, and working very well at that. In other words, "if it ain't broke then done fix it".

this is the starting container, they hold a bit more soil than solo cups, after this, i go 3gal, then 7gal

"if it ain't broke then done fix it" i totally agree with that, but i'm just trying to see if i can further maximize my yield's, since i can only grow 2 plants at a time, i need to make the most of em, that's why i'm gonna be trying out 7gal instead of 5 this season.

after trying lots of different stuff, i decided megacorp is enough, i was able to get 1.2g/W indoors only using mega crop on a autoflower, using a shitty Chinese purple light ( i also noticed autos just don't wanna grow outdoors, i tried so many times to grow autoflowers outdoors and they always yield so little compared to indoors)


one thing i would llike to improve on is bud density. that's why this year, i'm not only gonna be using LST and TOPPING as usual, but i'll go super hard on the topping, before i'd let branches grow and grow, they'd grow very long and weak, buds weren't super dense and the branches easily broke from wind and the weight of the buds, silica don't help.

so this year i wanna try having much fewer branches, but bigger, stronger, with heavier and bigger flowers.


the way i hope to achieve this is, once a branch reaches X length, i'll just start cutting it so it doesn't grow further, thus allowing the plant to transfer energy to fewer but bigger branches. i'm hoping to achieve the same yield but with bigger flowers.

now this is all in theory, can someone confirm that what i wanna do will work? @Emilya @SmokingWings

 

[Emilya Green]

My current advice is to top between 4 and 5 and keep topping until alternating nodes set in, or use Uncle Ben's method, two different ways to get great yields. Sativias tend to be less dense than indica dominants no matter what you do and the biggest factor in all cases seems to be the need for lots of good light. I am also starting to recommend the use of deep and far red trigger lights to keep stretch at a minimum and to increase bud production all through bloom.

 

[stickygreen420]

My current advice is to top between 4 and 5 and keep topping until alternating nodes set in, or use Uncle Ben's method, two different ways to get great yields. Sativias tend to be less dense than indica dominants no matter what you do and the biggest factor in all cases seems to be the need for lots of good light. I am also starting to recommend the use of deep and far red trigger lights to keep stretch at a minimum and to increase bud production all through bloom.

i topped wrong, i topped the top, but i also cut the 2 new branches , thinking they would grow back from the lil hairs/leaves on the stem.

my goal was to keep the plant short and by cutting that allowing more energy to be directed at lower branches, but tho it would still keep growing vertically from the main stem. well it isn't anymore.


any way to fix? i'd like to let the main trunk grow vertically a bit still, too late?

 

[Emilya Green]

It will just start growing out from the next node down... you haven't ruined anything. Be patient and watch how the plant resolves the puzzle you just gave her to solve. And next time, chop on just the rising node in the middle... not nearly as confusing to the plant.

 

[SmokingWings]

i topped wrong, i topped the top, but i also cut the 2 new branches , thinking they would grow back from the lil hairs/leaves on the stem.

my goal was to keep the plant short and by cutting that allowing more energy to be directed at lower branches, but tho it would still keep growing vertically from the main stem. well it isn't anymore.

any way to fix? i'd like to let the main trunk grow vertically a bit still, too late?

It would not hurt to show us one photo of the plant from the side to get an idea of the size of it. And one or two photos of the area where you practiced the topping technique.

Most of the time there is no problem. The photo will help tell.

 

[stickygreen420]

@Emilya @SmokingWings

i'm kinda scared the main stem won't keep growing now thus making everything weaker to winds, which are pretty bad towards the end of flower

no way to make her keep growing from the main? i tho new branches would start growing form the lil hairs/leaves i circled

 

[SmokingWings]

no way to make her keep growing from the main?

Not that I can see.

But, like you mention, the side branches which still have healthy nodes will grow they own stems.

Easy enough to play around with different training methods using what you have growing off to the sides.

thus making everything weaker to winds, which are pretty bad towards the end of flower

Even if growing outside you could consider using some silica to help build stronger stems. I have become partial to using full doses of Calcium instead which has produced some rock hard stems on my indoor plants.

 

[stickygreen420]

Not that I can see.

But, like you mention, the side branches which still have healthy nodes will grow they own stems.

Easy enough to play around with different training methods using what you have growing off to the sides.


Even if growing outside you could consider using some silica to help build stronger stems. I have become partial to using full doses of Calcium instead which has produced some rock hard stems on my indoor plants.

i used silica and it seems to make no difference so i stopped, besides MC has silica in it

i'm just trying to figure out how to keep the branches from growing too tall, i always get good yield but the branches are always very long and skinny, how do people make plants with very thick branches and really heavy buds? i was only able to do it with autos by an accident

using LST to keep branches low makes them very weak and skinny in my experience, i get these very long sideways branches that act like a parachute when wind is around

 

[Emilya Green]

I think that instead of confusing the plant, I would re-top, on the next node down, this time leaving the two side buds.