Root bound

So I've been growing 3 plants, 12/12 from seed, and I have them in 6 inch pots. Its been almost three weeks and everythings going good besides a tiny bit of nute burn. Anyway I was curious as to if I should transplant them into a different container? I shouldve started them in bigger pots but I didnt have any at the time. So what do you guys think? Is it more risky to transplant when theyre in flowering?

They haven't shown buds yet, the research I've done tells me they have to reach a minimum height before budding.

It's hard to say without da pic
If their root bound you should transplant
How tall are the plants now and when you flipped them to 12/12?
What type of lights/dirt/nutes yo using?

Re-pot before flowering begins. Do not re-pot while in flower unless it is an absolute dire emergency.

Brick Top said:

Re-pot before flowering begins. Do not re-pot while in flower unless it is an absolute dire emergency.

Click to expand...

wouldn't a 6" pot be considered a dire emergency? What is that a 1liter pot?

How do I tell if they're getting root bound?

And they're about 6 inches tall now, I put them into flowering when they sprouted two more leaves after the oval leaves. And I've got one 96w T5HO and one CFL.
I'm not too sure on soil, Fox Farm something.
But I'm using BioThrive Bloom 2-4-4 for my flowering nutrients.
I shouldve switched containers before I switched them to flowering but now I'm afraid that they'll become root bound and I'll have to transplant. A couple days ago, some of the leaves on my plants became really dry, like they lost their waxy coating, I thought it might have something to do with root bound.

I'll post some pictures.

tops of the plants look fine...they don't look look like they are rootbound yet, but that size of a pot if you try and finish it you will probably have issues because of it...the lower leaves with damage did they get nutrient solution splashed on them by any chance?

Haha actually no, I haven't figure out whats wrong with them yet, they have a little nute burn on them but not enough to call a problem. But that damage literally happened over night. I'm not tooo worried about it though because the new growth looks good.

So what do you think, transplant now before they start to bud? Or try to finish them in those pots? My guts telling me to switch them but I dont want to make turn them hermie

massah said:

wouldn't a 6" pot be considered a dire emergency? What is that a 1liter pot?

Click to expand...

Given the present size of the plants and them not being in flower I would not call it a dire emergency. I said only re-pot while in flower if it is a dire emergency. Previous to that, it someone uses small pots and needs to up-can, then they re-pot whenever needed.

But I would never use tiny pots like that at any time. I mainly use 7-gallon pots, though I will use 5-gallon pots, and I start my seedlings out in whatever size pots I will be using for a grow and I never up-can/re-pot.

blackmath said:

So what do you think, transplant now before they start to bud? Or try to finish them in those pots? My guts telling me to switch them but I dont want to make turn them hermie

Click to expand...

As I previously said; "Re-pot before flowering begins. Do not re-pot while in flower unless it is an absolute dire emergency." Those are TINY pots. You do not want to attempt to finish your plants in them and re-potting while in flower is not wise and should only be done if absolutely necessary, a true dire situation.

oh yeah i forgot to mention...your soil is dense and does not have enough drainage...I would repot now to a larger one, but when you do mix in plenty of perlite into your soil...light and airy makes the root system happy...dense and wet makes the root system rot

Alright thanks guys, definitely going to transplant them tomorrow after I get some perlite. Any good methods to transplanting to keep the shock down?

blackmath said:

Alright thanks guys, definitely going to transplant them tomorrow after I get some perlite. Any good methods to transplanting to keep the shock down?

Click to expand...

Dont chop off the roots? Just pop out the root ball...put soil+perlite in the new pot...put the rootball in it, cover over the top of the ball with a small layer of the new soil, push it down slightly so you are contacting the rootball with the new soil, give it a soak, then continue on with your life

This will be for if you are right handed. If left handed, reverse the hands.

Prepare new pots with enough new growing medium in the bottom so when old rootballs are placed in the pots the plants should be at or close to the proper height.

It is best if the soil the plants are in is slightly dry and pulling away from the edges of the pots. The rootballs will slide out of their pots easier.

Pick up pot with left hand. Place right hand on top of the soil with the main stem between your index finger and next finger.

Turn pot/plant upside down.

Tap the edge of the pot on a counter top, table, workbench or something similar mostly holding the pots with your left hand and holding your right hand just under the plant/rootball with the main stem between your index finger and next finger so as soon as it slides out of the pot you will be holding it.

The plant and entire rootball should easily slide out and then be securely resting in your right hand.

There may be some loss of soil. That is OK. If the soil is loose and not filled with roots around the edges, or only has a few small ones, do not be afraid to lightly crumble some old soil from the rootball so the roots will have more of the new better growing medium to grow/live in.

If the rootball shows signs of being root-bound, many tightly wound roots circling the pot, take a razor knife or razor blade or a very sharp knife and make shallow cuts into the rootball, a half inch to one inch, up and down the sides and back and forth across the bottom. Root-bound plants will be slow to push out new roots into fresh soil and will tend to continue to grow in a root-bound state. Each cut root will branch off in two, just as if you pruned above soil growth, and grow down and out into the new fresh growing medium.

Place in new pot/new growing medium. If the level is right fill in around the sides of the pots with the new growing medium. If the plants are to high in the pots, remove the plant and remove some new growing medium from the bottom. If the plants are to low in the pots, remove the plants and add growing medium to the bottom.

Water well so the new growing medium settles and there are no air pockets or passageways for water to run through without first saturating all the soil.