Total Head
Well-Known Member
anyone know the thought behind this?
What size pots do you use to pot up in?
- Thread starter Artificial emotion
- Start date
Sure thing. I'll try to break it down and address your issues one at a time:
1. Transplanting more than once = shock more than once and stunted growth more than once.
I've been transplanting/repotting a long time now and I imagine that I have developed a "gentle touch". My plants don't experience much shock or stunted growth, at least none that is noticable. Repotting several times does seem to add a few days to about a week to the overall process (from "seedling" or "clone" through to harvest). But for the results I get, I feel that is time well spent!
2. Unless you are growing monsters i don't see how one would ever be able to feed during veg if the soil is always fresh and hot.
That is part of the stratigy of using a soil mix that is 1/4 "Fertilizer". The basic soil mix, that is added with each repotting, is fairly balanced for N-P-K, but it is a little on the "weak side", so I would call it "fresh and warm". During "Veg" I supplement the "N" with a little Alaska Fish Emulsion (5-1-1) and Mexican Bat Guano (10-3-1), applied as a "Tea". During "Flower" I supplement the "P" with a little Alaska "Morbloom" Fish Emulsion (0-10-10) and Indonesian Bat Guano (0.5-12-0.2), also applied as a "Tea". That is my version of an "Organic Three-Part Nutrient Package"!
3. And how exactly does going from 8 cm thru 4 pot sizes make any more roots than just sticking it straight into the big pot?
I don't think of it as "more roots" per se; so much as "a better developed root system". Given lots of space a root system will, quickly, spread "Out and Down", concentrating itself around the perimeter of the rootball (like a shell on the inside of the pot). A root system that is trained to stay compact "in increments" will form a "Solid Rootball" utilizing the entire space of the pot.
A root system that is free to spread out rapidly will "fill-in", to some degree, but the nature of roots are to "Spread" rather than "fill-in". This results in inefficient use of "pot space" and a root system that is less dense and vigorous.
4. I would imagine that the plant has many more oppurtunities to get rootbound being that it is "always outgrowing" its current home.
That is absolutely true! It's an ongoing process. But remember, "A little bit rootbound" is not a terminal condition like "Being a little bit pregnant"!
no one has explained the actual theroy behind this. i'm quite interested in the idea though.
Like just about all other phases of growing, how much attention you pay to the way your roots develope is a choice that could lead to a compromise in performance. I believe in doing everything I can do (within reason) to promote "The Perfect Plant" - LOL! And since the root system delivers the bulk of nutrients and water, it deserves "everything I can do" to make it dense and strong.
Yes, putting a small seedling into a large pot will work, it's easier and perhaps a little faster, in the long run. But is there a real benefit in performance? I think not!
Repotting, several times, is certainly more work and a little more time consuming. But is it worth it, is there a real benefit in performance? In my experience, abso-fuckin'-lutely!
Total Head
Well-Known Member
thanks for the explaination. sounds like something that takes a fair amount of trial and error to dial in though, what with the mixing and whatnot (i'm a straight out of the bag cut with perlite person) , but definately something i would consider investigating if i had more space for mixing and side-by-side-ing. in theory one could probably save at least a little bit on even bagged soil if they simply dilute it down to warm or even cool nute levels, even at the rate of repotting. very interesting indeed.
Spanishfly
Well-Known Member
I´ve read all the ideas - use twenty five different size pots to try to build up root mass. Like many things we read to do with MJ, it is a load of hokum, IMHO.
My plants go from a 5 litre pot to a 50 litre. After transplanting the girls go into turbo grow as the roots penetrate the new soil - at the end of the season the 50 litre pot is stuffed full of roots - couldn´t build up any more root mass.
My plants go from a 5 litre pot to a 50 litre. After transplanting the girls go into turbo grow as the roots penetrate the new soil - at the end of the season the 50 litre pot is stuffed full of roots - couldn´t build up any more root mass.
So, there you have it! Both sides of the coin. Wether you're talking about growing with CFL's, using Miracle-Gro, or repotting techniques - you will always find people on both sides of every issue! All I can say is, try both methods for yourself and see which one produces a better root system.
Artificial emotion
Well-Known Member
What are you talking about? This is an established horticultural technique that has been used for normal every day plants for hundreds of years. This practice of planting the seedlings directly into a 50L pots is a load of 'hokum'.
And whoever said anything about using 25 different pots? You only need 4-5 pots in most cases.
a buddy of mine told me that i had fucked up when putting a 10 day seedling into a 2 gal. pot just yesterday. he said bigger pots carry moisture for longer periods of time, so the roots won't expand like they're supposed to when soil is dry and they go in search for water/nutrients.