I'm about to try something stupid.. who wants to watch?

Long story short-ish, I have a plant that was flipped to 12/12 about a week ago. I got a shit bag of soil that has been giving me grief from the get go. Ph was crazy high right out of the bag, but I didn't test it until I spotted problems. Lot of effort and tweaking and I thought I had the problem licked. 2 days after I flipped things started going very wrong. Ph spiked, uptake of K ground to a halt, rapid leaf damage. No pests found after extensive scoping, and no signs of root pathogens. At the rate the plant is crashing it isn't going to make week 5 of flower. I could bin it and usually would in this case, but it's the only plant I have going right now.
Here is where the stupid comes in...
I'm going to flip it back to veg (only a few early preflowers so far), shake as much of the soil out of the root ball as humanly possible and transplant it into promix hp. I know transplant at this point is going to stress the shit out of her, but I need to take back control of the ph and nutrient inputs right now if there is any chance to save her. Anybody ever attempted some dumb shit like this? Any tips? Predictions for success? I figure at this point I have nothing to lose. In all my years of growing I have never had a plant fuck with me like this one has... lol.

Not similar but I was trying to save a plant of mine after nut burn. Mid flower flush, spending hours on bed thinking solutions not able to sleep. It was in veg for 3.5 months. Huge plant. I will never do this again. If it can't be saved don't waste your time and go for next.

Leon1111 said:

Not similar but I was trying to save a plant of mine after nut burn. Mid flower flush, spending hours on bed thinking solutions not able to sleep. It was in veg for 3.5 months. Huge plant. I will never do this again. If it can't be saved don't waste your time and go for next.

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Thanks for the input. Its transplant or bust. I'm moving in 3 months and dont have time to start over. If it doesn't work, so be it. But the possiblity of pulling any yield at all before I move is worth giving it a go. I am not highly optimistic though...

NanoGadget said:

Thanks for the input. Its transplant or bust. I'm moving in 3 months and dont have time to start over. If it doesn't work, so be it. But the possiblity of pulling any yield at all before I move is worth giving it a go. I am not highly optimistic though...

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Sounds like the plants already stressed I’d transplant. I’ve transplanted mid flower due to root bound plants and they didn’t seem to skip a beat. I’ve never really noticed any stress on my plants unless the res runs dry

I just did a hydro to soil transplant to save a baby. The transplant was a success with additional difficulties but I could manage them better in soil.

Sidenote; It sounds like your soil needs dolomitic lime before using it to allow for better pH control.

Kalebaiden said:

I just did a hydro to soil transplant to save a baby. The transplant was a success with additional difficulties but I could manage them better in soil.

Sidenote; It sounds like your soil needs dolomitic lime before using it to allow for better pH control.

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I think you're %100 right about the soil. I was lazy and trusted a brand that I've had mixed results with. Didn't have time to build my own soil as I've been doing recently so I took the lazy path and bought some FFOF. Mixed it with perlite and a little FFHF and called it a day. That mixture used to work great for me 5 to 7 years ago, but the last 2 or 3 times I've bought from them I've had ph problems and pest problems right out of the bag. Never again with that shit.

NanoGadget said:

I think you're %100 right about the soil. I was lazy and trusted a brand that I've had mixed results with. Didn't have time to build my own soil as I've been doing recently so I took the lazy path and bought some FFOF. Mixed it with perlite and a little FFHF and called it a day. That mixture used to work great for me 5 to 7 years ago, but the last 2 or 3 times I've bought from them I've had ph problems and pest problems right out of the bag. Never again with that shit.

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I build my soil from scratch......and take shortcuts that bite me in the ass asap.

I need to do another transplant right away but I'm trying to get my plants to hold their shit together for another two weeks until my own dolomitic lime arrives.

Kalebaiden said:

I build my soil from scratch......and take shortcuts that bite me in the ass asap.

I need to do another transplant right away but I'm trying to get my plants to hold their shit together for another two weeks until my own dolomitic lime arrives.

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I love soil when it works, but when there are problems it really makes me wanna go back to hydro sometimes. I know hydro has it's own set of challenges, but I love the ability to make changes and have them take effect almost instantly and the ability to reset everything with a simple res change.

Just transplant and cut off some root mass and finish the plant.

DaFreak said:

Just transplant and cut off some root mass and finish the plant.

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What is your thinking on cutting root mass? I'd considered it, but I was thinking if I can get a good percentage of the dirt off of them that I could probably just preserve the whole root ball. Also, by 'just finish the plant' are you saying you'd not switch it back to veg, or did I misinterpret that? Thanks for the input!

Less damage cutting it back a bit then trying to wash it. I mean finish flowering it. Transplant into what you want and finish.

DaFreak said:

Less damage cutting it back a bit then trying to wash it. I mean finish flowering it. Transplant into what you want and finish.

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I guess I didn't communicate what my plan was very well. I wasn't planning on washing the root mass, just putting on gloves and kind of gently shaking/massaging as much out as I could. I know I'm not going to get it all out of there, but I'd like as little as possible. Do you think even that would be more trauma than cutting it back? I have transplanted a ton of plants, but never in this type of situation. Thanks again.

NanoGadget said:

Thanks for the input. Its transplant or bust. I'm moving in 3 months and dont have time to start over. If it doesn't work, so be it. But the possiblity of pulling any yield at all before I move is worth giving it a go. I am not highly optimistic though...

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Transplant and reveg will take longer than new clones if they are available

Ryante55 said:

Transplant and reveg will take longer than new clones if they are available

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The only clones I could get my hands on are ones I took from the plant I'm having problems with. I think I'm maybe going to roll the dice and skip the reveg and try to push on with flowering after transplant. There is probably 60% viable leaf mass on the plant so I'm hoping if she doesn't get too shocked from transplant and I can get her to start taking food I may be ok.

Get a bucket or tote of water and loosen the roots and soil in it. Usually less root breakage unless it's really root bound. Spread the wet roots out in the new pot then finishing filling the pot

Gemtree said:

Get a bucket or tote of water and loosen the roots and soil in it. Usually less root breakage unless it's really root bound. Spread the wet roots out in the new pot then finishing filling the pot

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Not a bad idea! I purposely didn't water her today so she'd come out of the pot more easily tomorrow when I transplant, so I'm sure the water would lubricate the process of getting most of the soil off the root mass. Thanks for the tip!

NanoGadget said:

Not a bad idea! I purposely didn't water her today so she'd come out of the pot more easily tomorrow when I transplant, so I'm sure the water would lubricate the process of getting most of the soil off the root mass. Thanks for the tip!

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Just go easy on the watering until the roots get somewhat established again

NanoGadget said:

The only clones I could get my hands on are ones I took from the plant I'm having problems with. I think I'm maybe going to roll the dice and skip the reveg and try to push on with flowering after transplant. There is probably 60% viable leaf mass on the plant so I'm hoping if she doesn't get too shocked from transplant and I can get her to start taking food I may be ok.

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Yeah if flowers are just starting defoliate and give them some microbes to help nutrient uptake

Can I just say that I love the community on riu? I know there are trolls, assholes and wannabes like any other site, but the amount of encouragement and good advice from certain members is so nice to see. I've been giving and receiving knowledge on here for damn near 7 years and I wanna say thanks to everyone in here helping me out and raising my spirits.

Well folks, the transplant is done. Left a little more soil on the roots than I would have liked as i didn't want to get super aggressive, but she appears to have handled it with little ill effects. No drooping, no wilting and her healthy leaf sets are actually praying right now less than 12 hours after the transplant. Now the questions is whether or not she starts getting the nutrient uptake she needs to survive/recover. The thanks again for the advice and encouragement! I'll update in a few days for anyone who is curious how this turns out.