planting rootbound plant

hey all, im about 33 days into my grow, ive came to transplant the seedling from the starter pot into a 25 cm diameter pot. When I took the seedling out, there were loads of roots round the side and bottom, so I just planted it into my new container. Now Im thinking, is this ok, as im pretty sure it was rootbound.
Is it a good idea to dig it back up, and free the roots, or should I leave it, and itl be fine, the roots will grow out?

Leave it. Everytime you transplant you shock your plant a little bit.
I don't transplant. My seed or cutting goes right in the pot she finishes in.
Plants seem to grow better, more smoothly.

topfuel29 said:

Leave it. Everytime you transplant you shock your plant a little bit.
I don't transplant. My seed or cutting goes right in the pot she finishes in.
Plants seem to grow better, more smoothly.

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i agree to an extent. I dont think the shock they go through phases them much though. i like stepping my pots up personally. to his thier own its really a broad topic and there is no right way.

the best thing to do for a rootbound plant is to repot in a bigger container. the roots will sort themselvs out and once they do you will see some nice growth. give it about 4-5 days for the roots to re establish themselvs. Also make sure when you transplant you water the plant in well.

i like to rough up rootbound plants when transplanting, old habit i picked up from watching gardeners in nurseries.

doesn't seem to make any difference.

thanks guys, well its def in a bigger pot now i was just concerned with not roughing up the roots, transplanting straight away, that the roots would continue to wrap round or something, but hopefully itl be ok. yeah ive watered it, and gave it nutes, and as its got vermiculite in it, think itl hold the water better too

topfuel29 said:

I don't transplant. My seed or cutting goes right in the pot she finishes in.
Plants seem to grow better, more smoothly.

Click to expand...

See, I was always told that if you start your seedlings or cuttings in their final size container, that it will cause significant stress, as the taproot has so much further to travel down before it stops and allows the plant to catch up. As I said, this is what I was told, but there was a lot of agreement with it from some other growers. Comments?

Ndodson79605 said:

See, I was always told that if you start your seedlings or cuttings in their final size container, that it will cause significant stress, as the taproot has so much further to travel down before it stops and allows the plant to catch up. As I said, this is what I was told, but there was a lot of agreement with it from some other growers. Comments?

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im assumin most people use a red 16oz plastic cup for atleast a week or 2 atleast before transplanting into the final pot as i do this as well, and dont get into the whole transplanting thing

I'm not really getting into the whole transplanting thing. Too many people have there own theories and like to argue it with others. I am only going by what I was told from growers who have been growing since they left 'Nam. I was only adding in my 2 cents. And yeah, I use 16 oz transparent Solo cups so I can watch the root formation to judge whether or not it's close to transplanting time.

UncleBuck said:

i like to rough up rootbound plants when transplanting, old habit i picked up from watching gardeners in nurseries.

doesn't seem to make any difference.

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I use a flood table with 5'' pots and the flo-n-gro system for flower. I would always be root bound to an extent and when I went into flower the roots would just grow down in the pot with very little coming out the sides if any. This last time I cut my roots on four sides and I have a lot of roots coming out the sides.

That and using a beneficial tea and I have grown the biggest root ball to date for myself.

Ndodson79605 said:

See, I was always told that if you start your seedlings or cuttings in their final size container, that it will cause significant stress, as the taproot has so much further to travel down before it stops and allows the plant to catch up. As I said, this is what I was told, but there was a lot of agreement with it from some other growers. Comments?

Click to expand...

Your absolutely right. The plant knows how big its root system is. The roots send a chemical back to the plant, that the root system has stopped and can't go any farther.. If you ever grew a plant in a small container the plant stays small because it doesn't have the root system to support the plant. The plant knows that it doesn't have the room. Now you transplant to a bigger pot. after a period of time the root system sends another chemical to the plant "we have more room" after a period of time the plant starts to grow. This is all in "intro to plant biology" after reading that was when I started not transplanting. With the idea that when your root system bottoms out and turns back into the pot it sends that signal, and your plant slows down in veg. I would think to a certain extent when the plant out grows it container it starts slowing down.
theres advantages with transplanting, there's fresh soil for the plant. I use M3 soil "Medical Marijuana Mix" I don't have to add any nutrients until the plant goes into flower. With no transplant you'd have to worry about acids in the soil from the nutrients you were using. Depending what they were.
its one way to do it. I've been having good results. The best way to do it is the way it works best for you.

yeah, agree with whatever works best, go with it. What ive heard several times, is that with autos, start them in the final pot, but with standard plants, best to repot, but do what works best. I could have put the transplant in a bigger pot to finish it, but Ive went with the 25cm pot, while not the biggest one ive got, its suitable for the size I want, as I only want to beg for another 2-3 weeks max, then go into flowering, Im not after monster harvest, just something to actually smoke, however small lol.
But from personal experience, with a grow before, I started in a bigger pot for the whole grow, took ages to grow it seemed, with this grow, its small because it was kept in its starter pot for longer than i expected, but its grown faster, so I do think its better to go with the idea of a small pot, then resize, however, I personally dont think its a good idea to transplant several times, just one if possible

Get some smart pots to transplant into. Take out of current container and with a clean razor knife score the roots. Yes theres a little shock but your wait will be rewarded and it wont last that long with a healthy plant. Good Luck, and yes Ive personally done this with success.

hopefully itl be ok if i just leave it now, wait for roots to sort themselves out, hopefully anyway lol