Trying soil out and smart pots help!

Hey people it's been awhile I'm back at it! no hydro this time I feel like I mastered it and got a really good hold on it so I want to go back to my roots and try soil out and so far I couldn't be any happier with the results as of now
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It's getting time for me to transplant and I want to go with the soft smart pots but I don't know if I said transplant into a 2 gallon soft pot get them to show sex. then transplant again into another soft pot a 4 gallon or 5 or can I just transplant from what I'm in now which is pretty small plastic pot here's a picture

Or should I just go right from the small plastic pot right to a 4 or 5 gallon and finish them off? Without doing the 2 soft pot transplants?
They are about 7 nodes tall so I think imma start putting them on 12 and 12 to find out their sex I just don't know if I should try to get two transplants in before they finish. Or can I just go straight to 4 or 5 gallon and I'll be good? Was thinking maybe put a little Kelp meal at the bottoms of the 4or 5 gallon to Give them that little boost to help them finish if I'm just gonna do the one transplant. It's funny I used to make fun of the dirt guys lugging their bags of dirt around but it's so easy to grow less stressful not checking ph every day twice A-day 3 times A-day sometimes! I like it a lot so any advice you guys got can definitely help me out.. thanks as always peace and much love

PuffNpipez said:

Hey people it's been awhile I'm back at it! no hydro this time I feel like I mastered it and got a really good hold on it so I want to go back to my roots and try soil out and so far I couldn't be any happier with the results as of now
.View attachment 4006256
It's getting time for me to transplant and I want to go with the soft smart pots but I don't know if I said transplant into a 2 gallon soft pot get them to show sex. then transplant again into another soft pot a 4 gallon or 5 or can I just transplant from what I'm in now which is pretty small plastic pot here's a picture
View attachment 4006257
Or should I just go right from the small plastic pot right to a 4 or 5 gallon and finish them off? Without doing the 2 soft pot transplants?
They are about 7 nodes tall so I think imma start putting them on 12 and 12 to find out their sex I just don't know if I should try to get two transplants in before they finish. Or can I just go straight to 4 or 5 gallon and I'll be good? Was thinking maybe put a little Kelp meal at the bottoms of the 4or 5 gallon to Give them that little boost to help them finish if I'm just gonna do the one transplant. It's funny I used to make fun of the dirt guys lugging their bags of dirt around but it's so easy to grow less stressful not checking ph every day twice A-day 3 times A-day sometimes! I like it a lot so any advice you guys got can definitely help me out.. thanks as always peace and much love

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Go straight in the biggest container you have. Give them a few days to get adjusted before you flip them to flower.

RandomHero8913 said:

Go straight in the biggest container you have. Give them a few days to get adjusted before you flip them to flower.

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Ok cool because I know ever time you do the a transplant u give the plant a boost but I'm doing all organic and I wasn't sure if could make it to the end with just one more transplant without addin a whole bunch of booster to get get them done.

PuffNpipez said:

Ok cool because I know ever time you do the a transplant u give the plant a boost but I'm doing all organic and I wasn't sure if could make it to the end with just one more transplant without addin a whole bunch of booster to get get them done.

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What Boosters?

If your plant looks like it needs anything after the transplant you can always topdress or make a tea and water it in.

A kelp meal tea would work pretty well and once it's done you can take the kelp meal and throw it on top of the soil and water it in with the tea.

That's what I mean by boosters kelp meal. Just didn't want to be stuck with a plant in mid flower and trying to transplant because all the nutrients in the soil is gone. Wasn't sure if I could just added on top of the plant I knew I could do it at the bottom and let the roots reach it. But that's good news it'll make things easier just to add on top

PuffNpipez said:

That's what I mean by boosters kelp meal. Just didn't want to be stuck with a plant in mid flower and trying to transplant because all the nutrients in the soil is gone. Wasn't sure if I could just added on top of the plant I knew I could do it at the bottom and let the roots reach it. But that's good news it'll make things easier just to add on top

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Oh yeah man, topdressing makes life way easier. If you want to speed up the process cover whatever your topdressing with a nice layer of compost and let them do their thing.

PuffNpipez said:

Hey people it's been awhile I'm back at it! no hydro this time I feel like I mastered it and got a really good hold on it so I want to go back to my roots and try soil out and so far I couldn't be any happier with the results as of now
.View attachment 4006256
It's getting time for me to transplant and I want to go with the soft smart pots but I don't know if I said transplant into a 2 gallon soft pot get them to show sex. then transplant again into another soft pot a 4 gallon or 5 or can I just transplant from what I'm in now which is pretty small plastic pot here's a picture
View attachment 4006257
Or should I just go right from the small plastic pot right to a 4 or 5 gallon and finish them off? Without doing the 2 soft pot transplants?
They are about 7 nodes tall so I think imma start putting them on 12 and 12 to find out their sex I just don't know if I should try to get two transplants in before they finish. Or can I just go straight to 4 or 5 gallon and I'll be good? Was thinking maybe put a little Kelp meal at the bottoms of the 4or 5 gallon to Give them that little boost to help them finish if I'm just gonna do the one transplant. It's funny I used to make fun of the dirt guys lugging their bags of dirt around but it's so easy to grow less stressful not checking ph every day twice A-day 3 times A-day sometimes! I like it a lot so any advice you guys got can definitely help me out.. thanks as always peace and much love

Click to expand...

I think it's better to take all of the soil with the seedling and put them into 5 gallons bucket because it won't hurt the root system. By the way, what kind of light do you use, is it a LED or HPS lamp? I think a LED lamp is better for the weeds, cuz it has a warm light and won't hurt the leaves

Transplant the root-ball and the soil into your new container. WRONG: LED can bleach your plants. Its not reversible if that happens. Also, you can use/select various kelvin temps with the better leds. We use cob leds. Both the vero 29vs and Cree 3590s. Depending on what and where we are growing.

shannonball said:

Transplant the root-ball and the soil into your new container. WRONG: LED can bleach your plants. Its not reversible if that happens. Also, you can use/select various kelvin temps with the better leds. We use cob leds. Both the vero 29vs and Cree 3590s. Depending on what and where we are growing.

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Never knew about bleaching. Just looked it up it's really a thing. I never had a problem with it probably because I use only 300w marshydro led's and some cfls dropping around the leds. depending on what size tent I'm growing in I'll use up to three 300w in my 5x5x7 with cfls but my leds are never close to my plants only the cfls I put close. I have been looking in to cob leds but don't really wanna drop the cash on them when I have no issues with mine. but them cobs do look prime soon as mine burn out or start to dem imma go for cobs for sure.

PuffNpipez said:

Never knew about bleaching. Just looked it up it's really a thing. I never had a problem with it probably because I use only 300w marshydro led's and some cfls dropping around the leds. depending on what size tent I'm growing in I'll use up to three 300w in my 5x5x7 with cfls but my leds are never close to my plants only the cfls I put close. I have been looking in to cob leds but don't really wanna drop the cash on them when I have no issues with mine. but them cobs do look prime soon as mine burn out or start to dem imma go for cobs for sure.

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COBs are cool but don't forgot you'll have other options too. Strip lighting and light boards are really coming in to their own. If you haven't, check out the EB strips, Samsung strips, Quantum Boards, and ChilLed boards to name a few.

RandomHero8913 said:

COBs are cool but don't forgot you'll have other options too. Strip lighting and light boards are really coming in to their own. If you haven't, check out the EB strips, Samsung strips, Quantum Boards, and ChilLed boards to name a few.

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I can do some crazy setups with strip lights in a tent definitely gotta look into them. Thanks for this info brah! That's one thing I'm definitely looking to upgrade is my lighting system. But anyways here's a picture of what I got going on now. I did my calculations wrong and I ran out of dirt for the last 5gallon pot but 2 of them were a little younger than the other 4. And the root system showed it when I took out the one, it almost fell apart my hand lol. so the one in the middle can wait till next week. the one on the far top left I'm trying a little LST for fun. Already has 4 bud sites popping up like main colas. Keep in mind though I still know what ones are gonna be females or not. But I do have one question how long should I wait before putting them on 12 and 12 after transplanting them? I was thinking a week or so or until they start looking like they're growing out.

PuffNpipez said:

I can do some crazy setups with strip lights in a tent definitely gotta look into them. Thanks for this info brah! That's one thing I'm definitely looking to upgrade is my lighting system. But anyways here's a picture of what I got going on now. I did my calculations wrong and I ran out of dirt for the last 5gallon pot but 2 of them were a little younger than the other 4. And the root system showed it when I took out the one, it almost fell apart my hand lol. so the one in the middle can wait till next week.View attachment 4007951 the one on the far top left I'm trying a little LST for fun. Already has 4 bud sites popping up like main colas. Keep in mind though I still know what ones are gonna be females or not. But I do have one question how long should I wait before putting them on 12 and 12 after transplanting them? I was thinking a week or so or until they start looking like they're growing out.

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They look great. If it's a strain that you like you should veg until you're able to take a clone from each(if your allowed to or feel comfortable with it). Make sure you label them! You could safely switch to 12/12 once you observe the plants have taken to their new homes and have started to grow at a healthy rate again. I'm in the same boat as you. I have two plants growing from seed that sprouted a month ago(technically four sprouted but two went over to a different grow) and i started them on 12/12 two days ago.

Your situation is quite the dilemma in this way; you have six plants growing but we don't know the sex yet. In a perfect scenario for max yield all six would be females so you would veg until they roughly fill out the tents footprint then change over to 12/12 and with the stretch train and completely fill the tent. But we don't live in a perfect world so vegging them out until they are a little cramped before you switch to 12/12 knowing that you will most likely have to take out some male plants might not be a bad idea. Just make sure you have plenty of airflow if they are going to be crowded.

If you're not having to make weight to live and this stuff is just for your personal stash you can always flip them as soon as you taking a cutting for a clone. This way you can do a couple things: One, if it's a new strain you'll be able to have some to smoke and see if it does it for you before you put a lot of time into a product you don't care for, Two, in the event you do really enjoy the smoke, you'll have cutting of the females and will be able to grow them with a better understanding, i.e. you'll know the growth patterns, how much they stretch, how they react to training, how much they filled out during flower. Having all this info will make your next run so much easier.