Roots at the bottom of container, time to repot?

[Charybdis]

High,

If the roots have reached the bottom of the container you're growing in, do you think you should repot the plant at that point? I took a look earlier today at my plants, and the roots were looking good, nice color of white, but they're already at the bottom of the container (keg cups).

I was thinking about moving them into 1.5 liter jugs, do you think that would be a good idea or is it not needed yet? There seems to be a lack of consensus about when to repot into a larger container. Mine are still quite small and the strain I have is fairly slow vegging; they still just have a few internodes but like I said they're already to the bottom of the containers.

Thinking that taller containers might let the plants spread out the most? I also have some 2 gallon pots they could go into, which aren't as tall but they're much wider.

Hmm. I'll make this a poll just for kicks.

 

[Farmer Stealth]

Who am I?

 

[Charybdis]

That was just in case someone was extremely baked while choosing.

 

[OPT]

Just cuz the roots hit the bottom doesn't mean they are root bound. Naturally they will always hit the bottom fast because that is where the last of the water they so dearly want sits.

If you transplant too soon you have the chance of the rootball breaking apart, thus damaging the roots. Cannabis can grow in root bound pots for a while as long as you give them enough water. Take it with your own discretion, if you think they need it, then do it!

OPT

 

[sparkjumper]

Exactly repotting too soon will result in breakage usually.Normally I'll transplant up a watering or two after the plant is requiring water every other day.Let the rootball tell you when its time for larger accomodations.If you find yourself having to water every day you've waited a tad long and are close to rootboundedness if thats a word lol

 

[Charybdis]

I get that it's harder to transplant sooner, and I know it'll keep growing if I leave it in the pot it's in for long enough to form a nice root ball. It seems to me though that once it reaches the bottom of the container, it'd grow faster if it were in a larger container at that point, rather than growing along the edges of the container. I could be completely wrong of course.

Any thoughts about taller / wider containers?

 

[Bulldog11]

I have to agree with everybody else. You want to wait. You want to see those roots start to turn around the bottom of the plant and build up. Give it some time, good luck with your grow.

 

[Bulldog11]

You want taller containers compared to wide containers. That is the natural structure of the cannabis roots in the earth. The normal looking containers from your local nursery are usually the shape you want. Look at a one gal and a five gal, they are about the size and shape you will want. Hope this helps.

 

[Farmer Stealth]

Woh, im buzzzzzzzzzzed..................

 

[SlowCalaToker]

That was just in case someone was extremely baked while choosing.

Um, yea that.

 

[TheGreenBastard]

You should wait a while, though next time try putting them in the biggest pots possible to start out with, especially for long veggers. It doesn't matter much (size is generally whats important) but how old are they?

BTW, I love the name, kind of ironic, either transplant and risk breaking the root ball or leave them and slow growth, between Scylla and Charybdis.

 

[Nor'Easter]

hey roots to the bottom of the pot, you are the man!
All I can seem to grow are little 8 inch plants in 3 inch pots that die, and when I pull up their corpses their roots are lucky to reach 1 inch from the main stem!
overwatering has always been a problem for my family I guess it is a curse but alas I keep on trying! Better luck next time in my case, in yours yes I suggest a repot!

 

[Moneygrowonweed]

The reply's on here are some funny ass shit lmfao I had a mother in a 5 gal pot from clone just a few roots put it in there took 1000s of cuts over 6 months i had it filled with organic soil I just recently replaced that mother plant the funny thing is i took her out of the pot and had less then 1/2 gal of soil???????? the whole 5 gals was nothing buts roots i broke them up to see and that was all it was 5 gal of roots i thought it was funny now that was a big root ball when the clone started in there i watered once every 5 days and for the last month every other or every day lots of water IMO give your plants time to gather the roots they need to be strong when growth starts to slow down replant in a bigger container always taller not wider I want to get more mothers like the one i had and put them into trash cans to see how big they can get and to see if i can get a 55 gal root ball lol.

 

[Charybdis]

You should wait a while, though next time try putting them in the biggest pots possible to start out with, especially for long veggers. It doesn't matter much (size is generally whats important) but how old are they?

BTW, I love the name, kind of ironic, either transplant and risk breaking the root ball or leave them and slow growth, between Scylla and Charybdis.

They're about 3 weeks from germination, working on their third / fourth set of true leaves. They took a really long time to pop as well. Thanks for the name compliment, couldn't think of anything else lol.

 

[SuperConductor]

Wait til the pot is filled with roots before repotting this ensures the soil you're repotting into will be filled properly too. Otherwise you run the risk of having pockets of soil with no roots which will go anaerobic causing root rot.

You want taller containers compared to wide containers. That is the natural structure of the cannabis roots in the earth.

You sure about that? Obviosuly the tap root goes down but I've read a lot also go sideways and when you check out bed grows they seem to look pretty good.

 

[PastorJ]

I can usually tell by how fast they start using their water/feeds. Ta test I let them dry out pretty good & give a gentle pull to see if they will come out of the pot, then look at the roots.

 

[spadedNfaded]

Its a clear indication of a need for transplanting when the solo (keg) cups become dry in 1 day. i have very big plants in solo cups as of right now, ones that you'd think would be very, very unhappy in them! I leave 1/2 space and i just pour a light nute solution in the top of the cup until it reaches the top. Once, maybe twice a day. They don't mind being in 16oz cups. I do this because i don't have a lot of veg room and i would like to contain their growth as much as possible due to these restrictions.

If you'd like a pic to see how big they can get in 16oz cups, i can snap one for you. I would NOT recommend flowering in these, btw. i always transplant to at least a 1gallon container for flower.

- SubN

 

[420somewhere]

Up can in stages

Up can in stages

To get the most yield.....

Clones -> 16 oz -> 1 gallon for vegging

3 gallon to flower (or 5 gallon if you have lots of room)

Peace -

 

[Rednick]

Where am I?

It depends how much light you have. If you have enough light put them in the buckets they will end up in from the get go.
Otherwise, it is a balancing act. If they have a good mat of roots on the bottom then repot. As PastorJ said, if they want to come out then they are ready. If not, no hurry, they probably aren't big enough yet to matter. Up, down, left, right...They will go wherever they can, that is hospitable.

How'd ya think people grow trees in 2 gallon buckets...Water is you determining factor. How often do you want to do it?

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

If the plants are in veg, you don't want to let the plants get even a tiny bit rootbound. Vegging plants develop momentum. Restricting the roots slows that momentum. By repotting when the roots reach the bottom, the momentum is preserved and the plants grow even faster. During flower, it's a different matter. Flowering plants produce better with slightly restricted roots.