Why bother?

Hey there RIU!

So I have had this burning question since my coming to the forum.

Why do so many people who grow in soil/coco decide to start seedlings in cups then transplant once they grow?

I understand it can be harder to water accurately with a small plant in a big pot but honestly just making sure to water only around the plant (imagining there is a solo cup sized circle around your baby) that though doesn't seem a strong enough reason to make all that work for yourself. Not only do you germinate separately then you plant in a cup to then transplant to a pot and I have seen others then transplant again. This seems like a lot more opportunities to stress your plant simply to make it easier to water.

I placed all my babies and some peat moss germination starter pods which I then placed half buried into the center of my 5 gallon fabric pots. I watered them everyday lightly around the base of the plant once sprouted with a spray bottle making sure to keep moist but not over saturate then the next day it would be dry and I would do the same. My babies grew without problem and pretty quick, so I'm just not seeing the benefit of transplanting when it seemed very simple (first time growing a plant here and I did it without a hitch) to just start and end in one pot.

When u have only a couple of plants its ok start them in big pots but when u have 20-40 seedlings u cant have them all in 5 gal pots

Not to say I have not had transplant shock...but in general my plants seldom have an issue with transplant. Also, as already alluded, I start with 12 clones in party cups that get reduced to 8 plants in 1/2 gallon pots and then 6 in 5 gallon pots. Until they reach the 5 gallon, they are growing in a cabinet that is bursting at the seems with the 8 at the point of the last transplant.

Tupapa said:

When u have only a couple of plants its ok start them in big pots but when u have 20-40 seedlings u cant have them all in 5 gal pots

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That makes sense, I guess I haven't thought about all the other babies these growers might have.

Still I feel like many people just do it that way even with a manageable amount of plants, maybe I am wrong though

Remember if u have a t5 to veg leds or cfls u can get started in party cups a bunch of seedlings under one single light source, if u have a lot of production it will be counterproductive to have multiple lights to get seedlings started, too much waste of electricity,,

I used to trasplant but not anymore. Well, I still do. I use a very small pot at first so the seedling can get comfortable, then I trasplant to a bigger pot. I used to trasplant two times but plants got shocked and you lose 2 or 3 days of growing, sometimes even more. It's perfectly fine to start them in the final pot, but I don't do that because I feel it's easier to water them in small pots.

Jubilant said:

Hey there RIU!

So I have had this burning question since my coming to the forum.

Why do so many people who grow in soil/coco decide to start seedlings in cups then transplant once they grow?

I understand it can be harder to water accurately with a small plant in a big pot but honestly just making sure to water only around the plant (imagining there is a solo cup sized circle around your baby) that though doesn't seem a strong enough reason to make all that work for yourself. Not only do you germinate separately then you plant in a cup to then transplant to a pot and I have seen others then transplant again. This seems like a lot more opportunities to stress your plant simply to make it easier to water.

I placed all my babies and some peat moss germination starter pods which I then placed half buried into the center of my 5 gallon fabric pots. I watered them everyday lightly around the base of the plant once sprouted with a spray bottle making sure to keep moist but not over saturate then the next day it would be dry and I would do the same. My babies grew without problem and pretty quick, so I'm just not seeing the benefit of transplanting when it seemed very simple (first time growing a plant here and I did it without a hitch) to just start and end in one pot.

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People with limited veg space will use cups instead of pots because they take up less space. I have a tiny little area to veg so i use small pots and then repot them and move them under the HPS a few days before i flip to 12/12. If i had more space id just veg them in their final flowering pot, but my setup is just too small.

purplehays1 said:

People with limited veg space will use cups instead of pots because they take up less space. I have a tiny little area to veg so i use small pots and then repot them and move them under the HPS a few days before i flip to 12/12. If i had more space id just veg them in their final flowering pot, but my setup is just too small.

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Indeed that does make a lot of sense, damn space constraints!

I want to determine sex of the plant, first. I don't grow feminized seeds. I can wait for pre flowers in a 1 gallon container and then determine which plants will move on to larger containers and how much soil I will need.

These are all great reasons! Thank you for the responses

One thing I do during transplant is apply myco directly on the roots...twice.

Chorse said:

One thing I do during transplant is apply myco directly on the roots...twice.

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Hmm never heard of that term, what is myco?

I think he's talking about Mycorrhizae.. It's a beneficial root fungi..

Jubilant said:

Hmm never heard of that term, what is myco?

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Your best friends!!

Also humic and fulvic acid are awesome for stress

Chorse said:

One thing I do during transplant is apply myco directly on the roots...twice.

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Can you over do it, and use too much? Do you coat the rootball?

Yeah, sorry, Mycorrhizae...and yes I sprinkle it liberally on the root ball and the hole looking to receive it.

In my experience, it's good stress when you transplant to a larger container. It builds healthier roots. Solid root ball, then in to the next.
If you grow in good soil, transplanting is essentially feeding the plant nutrients and space. Also, I love to see that vigorous growth after the transplant. It takes only a few days to recover.

I transplant 3 times per grow because of space issues and I've not noticed any kind of plant shock. I also use mycos liberally when transplanting. Once my larger tent is set up to veg in I'll be able to cut out one of the transplants.

You transplant or pot up to help root development. Yeah it may seem simple to make sure your plants are getting the right amount but the consequence of overwatering is root rot and the consequence of no run off can be salt build up. Both are bad for the plant in one way or another. Personally I think there is nothing worse than root rot, in fact it doesn't even have to be rot, theres a fine balance between too damp for too long and just perfect. Just perfect means healthy roots that fill out a pot very quickly and thus quick plant growth, too damp for too long leads to lack of oxygen at the root zone and poor root growth, once your in that position its 20 times harder to recover from than it was to transplant and give yourself a chance of it not happening in the first place. The plants may never be what they could of been. Remember that above the medium (coco/soil) reflects whats going on below the medium!
All that said experience is important and lots of these little things we do to grow plants are to help the inexperienced cut down the chances of running into age old problems.