When to start giving nutrients?

Fluken1

Member
Hey whats up everyone. Later on tonight, Im going to be transplanting my plants into their bigger pots. The question I have is, since the soil is fresh again, (FoxFarm Ocean Forest), should I hold off on giving the plants nutrients for a week or 2? Also, since I only have a couple plants for now, I was going to make 1/2 gallon batches at a time since I read you cant store it for a long time. Can anyone offer any info up on the questions that I have? Thanks
 

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
hold off until they root in their new home. you'll be able to see them flourish and then need nutrients.
what kind of nutrients are you planning on pre mixing?
 

Rook07

Active Member
Give them a decent plain watering to bed them in the new pot and if they're big enough to need feeding start with a weak solution the next time around. I always use freshly mixed solution.
 

Fluken1

Member
You shouldn't need nutes for a month at least depending on the size of the plants and pots. That soil has lots of it's own nutes built in. Probably get to the flip then add a good dose with bloom booster added to power them thru the stretch.

Hard to be more specific with so little info.

:peace:
What info would you like? The plants were clones. I had them in their plastic pots since 10-17. I just transplanted them the other night in 8" clay pots. The clay pots are bigger, but not by much. Spaceis a huge issue, so thats why i couldnt get bigger pots, but kinda wish i did. One question that i have is that on the fox farm feeding schedule, it shows the light being switched to 12/12 at week 5. With the size pots i have now, and letting them use the nutrients in the soil now, wont the roots be bottomed out in the pot? What should i do if that occurs? Can i start nutrients in a week or 2 instead?
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
The point is with fresh soil they shouldn't need nutes for a while but if you only need a bit of soil to fill the new pots it won't last so long so after a couple weeks you should probably start feeding. If going from a small starter pot to a multi-gallon sized pot then they don't need feeding for a lot longer. The size of your plants in relation to pot size has a lot to do with when they should be fed or watered. Soak good, then let dry before soaking again.

Clay pots aren't the best thing. They wick a lot of water out of the soil unless they are glazed and can dry out fast. I just use plastic pots and the biggest I ever use is 4gal.

Just use 1/4 of the max for the first feeding to see how they like it then go up from there if they look hungry. Any sign of yellowing lower leaves means they want more if you're seeing them get taller day by day and especially if the centers of the the grow tips are lime green until they get larger. That means they are growing fast and it can take a day or more for them to "green up".

If space is an issue some square pots will maximize the amount of dirt in the pots and fit snugly in a tighter space.

There's no specific time you HAVE to switch to 12/12. That's up to you. You want to give them some bloom nutes and any bloom booster at that time but they need lots of N too as they go thru the stretch for about 3 weeks. They eat up to 4X as much during the stretch so that's when they need it all.

When I repot I saw the bottom inch off the rootball with a bread knife to get rid of all the stringy roots at the bottom and shave down the sides if they are wound around there too. Then the roots branch out like when you top a plant and the side branches grow out faster. At the end of the grow the whole rootball is full of fine roots and there are no long ones at the bottom at all. Repot when the plant is at the point of needing water so the ball stays together.

:peace:
 

Fluken1

Member
The point is with fresh soil they shouldn't need nutes for a while but if you only need a bit of soil to fill the new pots it won't last so long so after a couple weeks you should probably start feeding. If going from a small starter pot to a multi-gallon sized pot then they don't need feeding for a lot longer. The size of your plants in relation to pot size has a lot to do with when they should be fed or watered. Soak good, then let dry before soaking again.

Clay pots aren't the best thing. They wick a lot of water out of the soil unless they are glazed and can dry out fast. I just use plastic pots and the biggest I ever use is 4gal.

Just use 1/4 of the max for the first feeding to see how they like it then go up from there if they look hungry. Any sign of yellowing lower leaves means they want more if you're seeing them get taller day by day and especially if the centers of the the grow tips are lime green until they get larger. That means they are growing fast and it can take a day or more for them to "green up".

If space is an issue some square pots will maximize the amount of dirt in the pots and fit snugly in a tighter space.

There's no specific time you HAVE to switch to 12/12. That's up to you. You want to give them some bloom nutes and any bloom booster at that time but they need lots of N too as they go thru the stretch for about 3 weeks. They eat up to 4X as much during the stretch so that's when they need it all.

When I repot I saw the bottom inch off the rootball with a bread knife to get rid of all the stringy roots at the bottom and shave down the sides if they are wound around there too. Then the roots branch out like when you top a plant and the side branches grow out faster. At the end of the grow the whole rootball is full of fine roots and there are no long ones at the bottom at all. Repot when the plant is at the point of needing water so the ball stays together.

:peace:
Thank you for the reply. It sounds like from what you said, I kinda shot myself in the foot alittle. I went with the clay pots just trying to save a bit on money, but next time will get different ones. Right now they are still growing well. Hopefully after the transplant, everything goes ok. I will start out maybe next week with a weak solution on their feeding schedule and go from there. Thats good to know i can control when i switch them over to 12/12. I wasnt sure about that at all. After what you said when you do when you repot your plants, you kinda have me wanting to fix mine, but i dont wanna kill the plants by messing something up. Thank you for replying to my questions though! I do appreciate it!
 

Buba Blend

Well-Known Member
Thank you for the reply. It sounds like from what you said, I kinda shot myself in the foot alittle. I went with the clay pots just trying to save a bit on money, but next time will get different ones. Right now they are still growing well. Hopefully after the transplant, everything goes ok. I will start out maybe next week with a weak solution on their feeding schedule and go from there. Thats good to know i can control when i switch them over to 12/12. I wasnt sure about that at all. After what you said when you do when you repot your plants, you kinda have me wanting to fix mine, but i dont wanna kill the plants by messing something up. Thank you for replying to my questions though! I do appreciate it!
Glad to hear you say you are going to switch. I had some going last grow after not using them in a long time. They performed horrible for me compared to my plants in plastic pots.
 

Lite

Well-Known Member
in between the 2nd and 3rd set of leaves coming in. typically a week to 10 days after sprouting.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Thank you for the reply. It sounds like from what you said, I kinda shot myself in the foot alittle. I went with the clay pots just trying to save a bit on money, but next time will get different ones. Right now they are still growing well. Hopefully after the transplant, everything goes ok. I will start out maybe next week with a weak solution on their feeding schedule and go from there. Thats good to know i can control when i switch them over to 12/12. I wasnt sure about that at all. After what you said when you do when you repot your plants, you kinda have me wanting to fix mine, but i dont wanna kill the plants by messing something up. Thank you for replying to my questions though! I do appreciate it!
I go thru about 3 or 4 repottings with plants that will be grown out to flower. You can just start plants in their biggest pots and that's the way to roll with autoflowering plants for the best yields. With regular photo-period plants you're best to go in stages. The tap roots will just head for the bottom and wrap around down there started in large pots and you end up with the bottom half of the pot full of roots and hardly any up top.

For now I'd just let them grow in those pots until they are getting big enough you want to flower them. Then repot into something about twice the capacity a week or so before flipping to 12/12. See if you can get square pots a bit bigger than what you got now. Even an 8" square pot will hold more than an 8" round one and fill the pot right up to the brim as it will settle down an inch or more in no time.

Lousy time of year to find gardening stuff in the northern hemisphere but often decent containers can be found at dollar stores. I use our empty tobacco cans for pots. The smaller ones hold 1L and the larger ones 2L. Then I'll go right to a 3 or 4 gal pot. I just transplanted 7 sprouts into the 1L ones last night using ProMix HP and a mild dose of hydro nutes. Still alive 12 hours later. :)

I start seeds and clones in these. All the extra holes were an experiment in Smart Pot technology but they dry super fast so I don't bother with that no more.

Clones010.jpg

:peace:
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
I found a great spot to download FREE POT BOOKS. I downloaded a grow bible first and got lots more. Books look great and complete like the real ones I have here. No web site but just a page of links. Just right click on what you want and then "Save Link As" to download so they don't open first as some are 50+ megs. They got lots. Enjoy.
 

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
Thank you for the reply. It sounds like from what you said, I kinda shot myself in the foot alittle. I went with the clay pots just trying to save a bit on money, but next time will get different ones. Right now they are still growing well. Hopefully after the transplant, everything goes ok. I will start out maybe next week with a weak solution on their feeding schedule and go from there. Thats good to know i can control when i switch them over to 12/12. I wasnt sure about that at all. After what you said when you do when you repot your plants, you kinda have me wanting to fix mine, but i dont wanna kill the plants by messing something up. Thank you for replying to my questions though! I do appreciate it!

never ever trip over dollars to pick up nickels when it comes to marijuana. you will be amazed at your own ability to produce such a wonder. Provide it every needed resource, dont cheap out anywhere. its so worth it. once in place those controls will pay you back and reduce your per ounce growing cost as well as eliminate garden headaches and failures.
I'd skip FF and go right for Organicare dry ferts for a pennies per plant experience sans the typical FF issues.and its organic, chronic even. have fun
 

Fluken1

Member
never ever trip over dollars to pick up nickels when it comes to marijuana. you will be amazed at your own ability to produce such a wonder. Provide it every needed resource, dont cheap out anywhere. its so worth it. once in place those controls will pay you back and reduce your per ounce growing cost as well as eliminate garden headaches and failures.
I'd skip FF and go right for Organicare dry ferts for a pennies per plant experience sans the typical FF issues.and its organic, chronic even. have fun
This is all new to me so i was expecting to make mistakes on this. As long as i learn from them it will be all good. Im gonna use the vlay ones for now, i just dont want to stress these plants doing this the first time. I was i could use 3-4 gallon pots, itsjust the size of the area im using is kinda preventing me from doing that. I have about 29" of height, around 27" wide, and about 20" deep of space so im just trying to use what i have. Once i use all thr FF stuff ill try something new, but im cant return them now. Thank you for the information though. Should i replant these things then? The garden section at my home depot doesnt have much right now. Im more concearned about redoing the lights to get more height once these grow again.
 

Fluken1

Member
I go thru about 3 or 4 repottings with plants that will be grown out to flower. You can just start plants in their biggest pots and that's the way to roll with autoflowering plants for the best yields. With regular photo-period plants you're best to go in stages. The tap roots will just head for the bottom and wrap around down there started in large pots and you end up with the bottom half of the pot full of roots and hardly any up top.

For now I'd just let them grow in those pots until they are getting big enough you want to flower them. Then repot into something about twice the capacity a week or so before flipping to 12/12. See if you can get square pots a bit bigger than what you got now. Even an 8" square pot will hold more than an 8" round one and fill the pot right up to the brim as it will settle down an inch or more in no time.

Lousy time of year to find gardening stuff in the northern hemisphere but often decent containers can be found at dollar stores. I use our empty tobacco cans for pots. The smaller ones hold 1L and the larger ones 2L. Then I'll go right to a 3 or 4 gal pot. I just transplanted 7 sprouts into the 1L ones last night using ProMix HP and a mild dose of hydro nutes. Still alive 12 hours later. :)

I start seeds and clones in these. All the extra holes were an experiment in Smart Pot technology but they dry super fast so I don't bother with that no more.

View attachment 4043988

:peace:
I wish i could use that big of a pot, but space is a huge issue, so thats why i went with a smaller pot.
 

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
ah yes, the garden section!

dont bother transplanting and look for Jobes organic vegetable fert spikes. jam four in now, and four more when you see those first ones are gone, repeat till finished. alternatively they may sell granulated Jobes organic ferts too, follow directions on the bag. I've used both and they were great. height isnt all its cracked up to be. I built new and installed 11 foot ceilings...just so I can grow 3 foot plants on the floor with my lights hanging several feet beneath the ceiling at chest level
This is all new to me so i was expecting to make mistakes on this. As long as i learn from them it will be all good. Im gonna use the vlay ones for now, i just dont want to stress these plants doing this the first time. I was i could use 3-4 gallon pots, itsjust the size of the area im using is kinda preventing me from doing that. I have about 29" of height, around 27" wide, and about 20" deep of space so im just trying to use what i have. Once i use all thr FF stuff ill try something new, but im cant return them now. Thank you for the information though. Should i replant these things then? The garden section at my home depot doesnt have much right now. Im more concearned about redoing the lights to get more height once these grow again.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
I only have 6'6" in my grow space and my plants are a foot taller than that now so going to droop them over on chains and flower them like a half-assed ScroG. Taking a bunch of cuttings off all four and will use those in proper DWC Scrogs.

You can do all sorts of stuff with plants. :)
 
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