transplanting from aerocloner into perlite

i have an aerocloner with beautiful roots hanging down low....now it's time to transplant them and i need some advice.

i am putting them into 6'' pots with granulated rock wool in the bottom and the rest of the pot is filled with perlite.

so do i just swirl the roots in the pot and fill the rest of the way up with perlite?

the perlite is the big chunky kind and i spose the plant will be supported by it alone...since the plants are in collars and not plugged into and medium.

al if your out there i could sure use your help right about now...i'm ready to transplant but i'm waiting to hear from you on this one.

I've had issues with roots drying with the big perlite I usually transplant into a small coco cup with a mix of small and big perlite til the roots pop out of that. When I tried straight to big perlite my roots tended to dry but I have a passive system with no timed water. Good Luck

human8 said:

I've had issues with roots drying with the big perlite I usually transplant into a small coco cup with a mix of small and big perlite til the roots pop out of that. When I tried straight to big perlite my roots tended to dry but I have a passive system with no timed water. Good Luck

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no i have rw floc in the bottom of my pots to hold lots of water...tried and true method. but i was wondering about the actual transplanting of a clone with no support and roots-a-danglin into bigger pots.
my water is on a timer to flood once a day. thanks for the reply

bippity boppity bump

bugsrnme said:

so do i just swirl the roots in the pot and fill the rest of the way up with perlite?

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Yeah, just wet the perlite fully with nute solution for a spell before plugging clones in it. Either soak it in a bucket before spooning it into the pots or top-water generously with a pump & hose after stuffing the dry perlite in pots.

thank you sir!!! i was thinkin along those lines i just didn't wanna kill anymore babies

Yep, perlite is glass which is heated and puffed up with air like Rice Krispies. Perlite thus has a high air content. Very hard if not impossible to overwater the stuff.

Keep it on the damp side when you are establishing new plants in it, top water if needed (medium feels dry to fingertip 1"/25mm below surface) during the first week or so while roots are knitting down to the flood level.

To get a grip on watering, weigh a dry pot of perlite with the layer of RW floc in the bottom. Fully saturate the pot. Allow to drain 5 min and weigh again. Subtract dry wt from wet wt. Since water weighs 1g per ml (1kg/litre) you now know the water holding capacity of the pot. Put the pot of wet media under your light and reweigh after 12 or 24 hours. Calculate the evaporation loss by subtracting the figure from the starting wet wt. That's the minimum amt of water you must give the newly potted plant per day just to keep up with evaporation. You can work your watering upward from there.

Ideally, with established plants, you water when 50% of the water weight is gone. However, with new plants whose roots have not knit down to the flood level yet and considering that IR from lighting will dry the upper levels of the medium first (where your new plant's roots are) you may wish to either flood more often or top water during week1.

it sickens me how ignorant i am.....thank you ....again

Ignorance is a lack of information. It's curable.

Dr. Howard, Dr. Fuct, Dr. Howard!

UR A HARD CORE VETERAN........I THINK YOU SHOULD BE AWARDED THE gANJA MEDAL OF HONOR AL B. FUCT.........THank you so much

potroast said:

Dr. Howard, Dr. Fuct, Dr. Howard!

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Dr Fuct- now THAT would inspire some confidence. Reckon I could even dream about getting malpractise insurance?

right along with Moe Howard and Curly Howard.

kn-yuk,knyuk,knyuk....BOINK