Transplanting do's & don'ts - covering the root ball?

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NewGrower2011

Well-Known Member
So I've seen several topics where people talk about lanky clones/seedlings and many time you'll see feedback where they will tell someone to just bury them deeper when transplanting and that appears to be perfectly fine and common advise.

On the other hand, I've seen comments about larger vegged plants and transplanting for flowering where they say do NOT bury the root ball. I.e. in one video/show I was watching they were being very careful to keep "2 fingers" above the new soil line with the vegged plant's root ball.

This led me to wonder if it's truly okay for seedlings but not for a veg to flower type of transplant. And more importantly, I wanted to understand why you shouldn't bury the root ball. Reason being, I have some plants that vegged under inadequate lighting and they're a bit leggy and was thinking I'd just bury them a bit deeper but I knew that there was this topic around the do's & do nots. If it is okay to submerge the entire original root ball, are there special considerations to be aware of - i.e. over-watering and things like that.

Can someone share any real details around why it would be bad to submerge the old root ball when transplanting? Besides bro-science. ;-) I'm looking for the science, the facts, etc. It's intriguing to me if it's true that it's okay for a seedling - but not a vegged plant going into its final flowering container.
 
PadawanWarrior

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
NewGrower2011 said:
So I've seen several topics where people talk about lanky clones/seedlings and many time you'll see feedback where they will tell someone to just bury them deeper when transplanting and that appears to be perfectly fine and common advise.

On the other hand, I've seen comments about larger vegged plants and transplanting for flowering where they say do NOT bury the root ball. I.e. in one video/show I was watching they were being very careful to keep "2 fingers" above the new soil line with the vegged plant's root ball.

This led me to wonder if it's truly okay for seedlings but not for a veg to flower type of transplant. And more importantly, I wanted to understand why you shouldn't bury the root ball. Reason being, I have some plants that vegged under inadequate lighting and they're a bit leggy and was thinking I'd just bury them a bit deeper but I knew that there was this topic around the do's & do nots. If it is okay to submerge the entire original root ball, are there special considerations to be aware of - i.e. over-watering and things like that.

Can someone share any real details around why it would be bad to submerge the old root ball when transplanting? Besides bro-science. ;-) I'm looking for the science, the facts, etc. It's intriguing to me if it's true that it's okay for a seedling - but not a vegged plant going into its final flowering container.
Click to expand...
Bury it. Some say not to, because there's a chance of infection, but it's a super small chance that it'll hurt them. I've never had a problem doing it personally.
 
B

Bookush34

Well-Known Member
I’ve buried them.
I’ve left them high.
I top up the soil when it settles, which buries the stem a bit.

Never noticed, pros or cons to any of it.

But leaving them a little high can create some cool looking exposed roots that harden up like the main stock. (Buttrus roots?(sp?)..)
 
S

silk689

Well-Known Member
Bury that chick man lol and block any noise that tells you its gonna cause any sort of problem :mrgreen:

Remember to be generous with the watering immediately after u do any transplants so they settle in faster and reduce them from shock.:bigjoint:
 
N

NewGrower2011

Well-Known Member
Thanks. That's what I was thinking and I had done it before and escaped without any calamity. I do use Southern Ag BFF in my IPM so that may also have been a helpful preventative measure.

As for where I had seen it, various memories of things I had read in forums over the years. Some related to top dressing and not getting up against the stem, etc. Then recently on 'Growing Belushi' I noticed in his soil beds they commented about keeping them '2 fingers' above the top so that brought all of it back to my attention and made me wonder about my current plans.

It makes sense that it's fine given that top dressing regimens would otherwise have to be problematic by nature. Thanks for the input. Just didn't want to do something boneheaded before tapping into the collective knowledge here. ;-)
 
N

NewGrower2011

Well-Known Member
FWIW, I have had 1 single instance where a plant suddenly started drooping on me and then it slowly progressed across the plant - not all at once. Then the plant next to it got the same problems. In the end, I found a white funk all around the base of the stems on both so I think something got into it which was systemic in nature which explains why it slowly progressed in some branches before the other as the infection had gotten into the plant itself and spread.

The other 2 plants at opposite end of the room were fine through that ordeal and yielded an average harvest for me. It wasn't until I chopped & disposed of the 2 that wilted that I saw the white fuzz at the base stem and then I realized those 2 that were infected were closer to a cold (covered) window and they probably didn't have as good of air circulation.

So that ordeal was in the back of my mind, wondering if I could be setting myself up for a repeat if I buried them. That has only happened once to me and it was the first time I had tried using both ends of the room. So environment had to be the factor - at least that's my current theory.
 
HydroKid239

HydroKid239

Well-Known Member
Example of a buried stem at a point where there were once branches. There at 2 more nodes under the soil. So my rootball is down there.


NewGrower2011 said:
So I've seen several topics where people talk about lanky clones/seedlings and many time you'll see feedback where they will tell someone to just bury them deeper when transplanting and that appears to be perfectly fine and common advise.

On the other hand, I've seen comments about larger vegged plants and transplanting for flowering where they say do NOT bury the root ball. I.e. in one video/show I was watching they were being very careful to keep "2 fingers" above the new soil line with the vegged plant's root ball.

This led me to wonder if it's truly okay for seedlings but not for a veg to flower type of transplant. And more importantly, I wanted to understand why you shouldn't bury the root ball. Reason being, I have some plants that vegged under inadequate lighting and they're a bit leggy and was thinking I'd just bury them a bit deeper but I knew that there was this topic around the do's & do nots. If it is okay to submerge the entire original root ball, are there special considerations to be aware of - i.e. over-watering and things like that.

Can someone share any real details around why it would be bad to submerge the old root ball when transplanting? Besides bro-science. ;-) I'm looking for the science, the facts, etc. It's intriguing to me if it's true that it's okay for a seedling - but not a vegged plant going into its final flowering container.
Click to expand...
image.jpg
 
rootforme

rootforme

Well-Known Member
I transplant 3-4' tall vegged plants from DWC to soil and I bury the entire 5 gallons net cup including the stem that was previously out of the bucket. I've never had a problem.
 
calvin.m16

calvin.m16

Well-Known Member
I've noticed not fully burying them can result in a much beefier thicker stalk and I've heard commercial growers say that it helps the plants root system breathe. Personally I plant just to where its level from a 2 gal to a 10 gal in 70/30 coco/perlite.. Best of both worlds.
 
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