Transplant pot size and plant health

James Eaves

Member
I'm sure someone has asked this question before but I can't find the thread. I've found research (this for example: https://horttech.ashspublications.org/content/8/4/495.short) that shows that using pots that are too small hurts plant health (depending on the plant). But I have not found evidence suggesting that using pots that are too big hurts plants. I can imagine how large pots could hurt plant development if water and nutrients are not well directed to the roots, but I haven't seen a study that shows that.

My question: why not plant clones directly into the final pot so you can save time by not transplanting and potentially get to flower faster by avoiding plant shocks?

Have any of you done any experiments?
 

chiqifella

Well-Known Member
sometimes space is cheaper than time
otherwise thats the best way for me. when the roots twirl at the bottom
of the final pot....time to flower
 

BigHornBuds

Well-Known Member
What’s your angle with all the questions?
Do u plan on starting something?

Taking a clone n putting into finial pot size is a bad idea.
It’s a lot harder to determine if the plant needs water, if you make sure to give it enough water so there’s no dry spots in your pot, that little clone will have enough water for a month or more . I like my plant to have enough water for 24 hours, this gives me a fast wet n dry cycles so I can pound food to my girls, also the room it would take up is huge. A lot of wasted light hitting soil.
When u put a clone into a huge pot, terrestrial grow will slow till the roots get established.
 

James Eaves

Member
What’s your angle with all the questions?
Do u plan on starting something?

Taking a clone n putting into finial pot size is a bad idea.
It’s a lot harder to determine if the plant needs water, if you make sure to give it enough water so there’s no dry spots in your pot, that little clone will have enough water for a month or more . I like my plant to have enough water for 24 hours, this gives me a fast wet n dry cycles so I can pound food to my girls, also the room it would take up is huge. A lot of wasted light hitting soil.
When u put a clone into a huge pot, terrestrial grow will slow till the roots get established.
I'm about to run some test to try to understand profitability of following a more traditional transplanting process, versus just putting clones directly into 3 gallon pots. So I'm trying to anticipate the factors impacting the relative differences in profitability between the two strategies. For instance, I had thought about getting the right amount of water to the roots, but I hadn't thought about wasted light. At the same time, electricity is a small component of total costs in Quebec: Electricity is 5 cents/kwh while the market price is about 10$/gram. So the question is what is the net-impact on the time-to-havest of not transplanting, given things like plant-shock and slowed terrestrial growth (another interesting point of yours). So I'm just trying to crowd-source as much information on the topic as possible before starting the test. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks.
 

BigHornBuds

Well-Known Member
You can run numbers till your spinning
Just grow it, you can have a lot of knowledge but with out experience n confidence, it means little.

with a little know how, little experience
It’s easy to pull 2-3pounds a light (1000DE) in a 4x4 area. Once you know your strains n setup n dial it in, your numbers will go up,
 

James Eaves

Member
You can run numbers till your spinning
Just grow it, you can have a lot of knowledge but with out experience n confidence, it means little.

with a little know how, little experience
It’s easy to pull 2-3pounds a light (1000DE) in a 4x4 area. Once you know your strains n setup n dial it in, your numbers will go up,
I totally agree. I meant to say that we are doing the test with plants. We are staring at the end of February with 2 4x4s (one test, one control group). Thanks again for your help.
 
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