Plant seed in 5g pot?

Any drawbacks to putting the sprouted seed directly into the 5 gallon pot instead of a 1 gal pot first? If I can cut out the transplant entirely, that's be great.

I have a nice soil mix for seedlings that I usually use in the 1 gal, then switch to fox farm at the 5 gal. Think they are ok with just the fox farm ocean?

No, No, No... And don't go into a 1 gallon first either. 4" pot til fully rooted then 1 gallon till fully rooted then 5. If you want quality and control, transplant. The soil is good for 30 to 60 days. Maybe.

Thx, that's why I asked.

Knew there had to be a reason. So let me take it a step further. My current grow, I was struggling to get the plant out of the 1 gal pot. So I cut the pot top to bottom on 2 sides and put the whole thing soil and all into the fresh soil and 5g pot. Was this a bad thing to do?

DutchHaze said:

Thx, that's why I asked.

Knew there had to be a reason. So let me take it a step further. My current grow, I was struggling to get the plant out of the 1 gal pot. So I cut the pot top to bottom on 2 sides and put the whole thing soil and all into the fresh soil and 5g pot. Was this a bad thing to do?

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not sure I understand you fully, are you saying you cut the bottom of the plant container and planted the old container along with the plant? that wouldn't be ideal as the roots could only go down-wards.
Next time fully soak the plant container prior to transplanting, and it should pop out when you put it upside down, due to the soil being wet/heavier.

No, I cut the 1 gallon pot from top to bottom on 2 opposite sides. That let me fold the 2 sides right off and the soil held the shape of the pot and was filled with root. So I just put the whole thing into fresh soil. Leaving a core of old soil inside the new soil. Haha I'm not explaining it well but it was very basic.

Cannasutraorganics said:

No, No, No... And don't go into a 1 gallon first either. 4" pot til fully rooted then 1 gallon till fully rooted then 5. If you want quality and control, transplant. The soil is good for 30 to 60 days. Maybe.

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I'm new to all this myself. So why wouldn't I want to plant in 5 gallon right away. Other than the fact that I'd be wasting soil and water if the bean don't sprout. I mean think about it. Plants don't get transplanted in nature. If it pops in the 5 gallon pot then who cares. No need to transplant. I don't think we need to start in beer cups and work up to 1 gallon then 5 gallon. Just my opinion. I only have one very successful grow under my belt but I sure as hell didn't go that route.

If you dont have to transplant dont... the downfall is the soil stays moist/wet for long periods. Which helps create more bugs. The roots will grow before you see big growth happening up top if you have the room by all meams do it. Apply water or etc sparingly wick from bottom might be smart to help roots stretch while looking for water/nutes. The less transplants the less stress. My 2 cents

DutchHaze said:

Any drawbacks to putting the sprouted seed directly into the 5 gallon pot instead of a 1 gal pot first? If I can cut out the transplant entirely, that's be great.

I have a nice soil mix for seedlings that I usually use in the 1 gal, then switch to fox farm at the 5 gal. Think they are ok with just the fox farm ocean?

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i do it all the time ..... i water the seeding with a syringe ....easy ive been doing it years

You can do it, it will grow, it just won't be as effective as up-potting once or twice through the grow. Speak to anyone in the nursery industry or any old school gardeners, they'll tell you to almost root bind them before up-potting to build a better root system. It's more work but more effective/productive in the long run. I re-use the soil, mixed in with new soil in the first couple of containers as they never sit in there for more than a 2-3 weeks before their final container.

GroErr said:

You can do it, it will grow, it just won't be as effective as up-potting once or twice through the grow. Speak to anyone in the nursery industry or any old school gardeners, they'll tell you to almost root bind them before up-potting to build a better root system. It's more work but more effective/productive in the long run. I re-use the soil, mixed in with new soil in the first couple of containers as they never sit in there for more than a 2-3 weeks before their final container.

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I agree with this, if for no other reason than to be able to apply mychorrizae at each transplant.
You end up with a much more dense rootball, and more roots equals more growth.
You can absolutely plant a seed in a huge container if you want to, but the roots will shoot out the deepest and widest areas first, and from there the roots don't tend to fill up the remaining space as well.
I'm making this statement based solely on my post harvest rootball examinations, which I urge every new grower, that is trying new methods, to do, you can tell a whole lot from the rootball, what worked and what didn't, after you dial in your mix and technique, then you can go to a ROLS setup if you want

DutchHaze said:

No, I cut the 1 gallon pot from top to bottom on 2 opposite sides. That let me fold the 2 sides right off and the soil held the shape of the pot and was filled with root. So I just put the whole thing into fresh soil. Leaving a core of old soil inside the new soil. Haha I'm not explaining it well but it was very basic.

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Um, well, i'm a lil confused, isn't that a normal transplant procedure? or do you do something different than that? I always transplant that way.

Ha! I don't know to be honest. The first time I did this I was able to get for the most part just the plant and roots out of the 1 gal pot, with a lot less soil. I think this time there was just more root so it held together. If that's normal procedure, great. That's pretty easy. Always thought the less soil carry over the better.

Yeah....I thought he meant he put the pot into the soil as well. But he didnt. You are supposed to add all the old soil within the root ball, its cool.

Shoot I knew that, just testin you.

Thanks for the help. Guess I did it correctly without realizing it

But seriously, you can cut all the corners you want.....IM not sure how this plant can get any easier to grow tbh

Ya I'm learning that it is a pretty resilient plant.

DutchHaze said:

Ha! I don't know to be honest. The first time I did this I was able to get for the most part just the plant and roots out of the 1 gal pot, with a lot less soil. I think this time there was just more root so it held together. If that's normal procedure, great. That's pretty easy. Always thought the less soil carry over the better.

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yeah, that's what I do as well, in fact specifically my transplant method is preparing the new container, by digging the smallest hole possible for it, I re-use my soil, and it's important to not disturb the soilweb when transplanting, so I keep the plant being transplanted in it's original pot, then I make the hole "fit" the container by putting the old root-bound container in to make a "cast" sorta, then take it out, you'll see a perfect sized hole for it, then when you are ready, I pop out the plant and spray the rootball with a spray bottle to get the rootball nice and wet, then I sprinkle the mychorrizae all over the roots (the sprayed water makes the myco stick to the roots), covering it liberally then you slide it on in. fits like a glove.
Works like a charm, everytime.

Diabolical666 said:

But seriously, you can cut all the corners you want.....IM not sure how this plant can get any easier to grow tbh

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hahahaha, love the avatar....
didn't catch it at first

DutchHaze said:

Any drawbacks to putting the sprouted seed directly into the 5 gallon pot instead of a 1 gal pot first? If I can cut out the transplant entirely, that's be great.

I have a nice soil mix for seedlings that I usually use in the 1 gal, then switch to fox farm at the 5 gal. Think they are ok with just the fox farm ocean?

Click to expand...

also keep in mind, with organics a 5 gallon pot isn't a whole lot of room, if you have big strains you'll need more room.
5 gallons is enough for about a three foot plant, depending on other variables.
inside I prefer the 10 or 12 gallon smart pots, the eight gallons work too if you don't vege them too long

If your taking pot requests, look up Rootmakers hard plastic 1,3 and 5 gallon root trimming pots. The one that looks like a upside down tiered cake.