pot upsizing, root fill in time Qs

[the gnome]

I plan on starting seedlings in 16oz party cups and then from there going into 1 gallon containers
then into 5gal. to finish them out.

on average how long does it take for the roots to fill in using the 1gal pot, the from the 1gal to fill in a 5 gallon container?

I see some people upsizing into larger containers and then in a week flowering, sometimes sooner.
I would think the roots take longer than 7 days to fill in, I may be wrong,...
so the plant is trying to grow more roots and at the same time expending energy to flower.
this doesn't seems to be good energy management
for the plant imo.

seems like it would be better to have the roots filled out to the container size,.. then initiate flowering

 

[thal]

Like almost every aspect of growing there is no 100% agreed upon answer, and it would be impossible to try and guess. Your root growth is dependent on so many factors: medium, nutrients, moisture, lighting, pheno, etc.

There is also no agreed upon method about starting in a big pot or starting small and transplanting. Personally I do go from 1 gallon to 5 gallon, but that is mainly because I use slightly different soil mixes for clones that have rooted as compared to plants that are flowering.

I also dispute the thought that transplanting the plant just prior to flowering will have a negative impact. During the stretch the plant will grow more roots to support the increased size of the plant. I don't see why it would harm a plant to have more medium to grow into.

I put clones in one gallon bags for 2 weeks, 3 gallons for 2 weeks, and then transplanted them into 5 gallon smart pots the day before flowering.

 

[clp]

I am also wondering the same thing. I have my plants in 1/2 gal right now and my next bag will be a 3 gal. I am using grow bags though so it is hard to tell where the roots are in terms of growth. How long should they be in the 1/2 gal before moving them up to the 3 gal?

In terms of transplanting right before flowering I think it's a great idea. Getting a plant into a new medium will provide nutrients and more room for root expansion as the stretch occurs during flowering

 

[moonie]

Yeah gotta agree, no real answer, all my plants go in to whatever pot size is needed for them at that time. Some grow faster and will go into a 3 gallon while others into 1 gallon, the ONLY thing I do uniformily transplant wise is when I'm about to flip to 12/12 they go into their final container, usually a 5 gallon. But by then they are usually planty filled in.
It would also vary strain to strain, my Master Kush is huge but no roots are showing out of a 1 gallon pot, my headband is half the size with roots busting out the bottom. You never know.

 

[staff11]

I have always had better results transplanting a few weeks before flipping the plants as opposed to transplanting as soon as you put them in flower. I usually transplant about two weeks before switching to flower.

It's really just basic plant botany, when the plant is flowering root growth slows down quite a bit in this stage.

 

[the gnome]

I have always had better results transplanting a few weeks before flipping the plants as opposed to transplanting as soon as you put them in flower. I usually transplant about two weeks before switching to flower.

It's really just basic plant botany, when the plant is flowering root growth slows down quite a bit in this stage.

this reinforces my thinking on it.
if the roots still have a substantial amount of space to fill out in the pot and its forced into flowering then its energies are somewhat split instead of being focused on one thing.

also if the roots aren't totally using up the available space the plant can't maximize on the amount of energy from them to the flowering process.

 

[thal]

I have always had better results transplanting a few weeks before flipping the plants as opposed to transplanting as soon as you put them in flower. I usually transplant about two weeks before switching to flower.

It's really just basic plant botany, when the plant is flowering root growth slows down quite a bit in this stage.

Can you link to some articles about this, because it strikes me as contradictory to the notion that the roots and the plant are nearly symmetrical. Since the plant grows so rapidly and so much more vigorously during flower I would think the roots do the same.

 

[jim.mars]

put em in bigger containers= you get more if you spend enough time in veg

 

[SecretGardner]

You get better yields if you pot up regularly (3+ times) developing the rootball fully in each pot size. I start in party cups, go to 1L fill that right out, 2.5L, same again, 5L, and then finish in a 12L. I am getting 3-4+ oz dry per plant in soil, using no bought nutes, i run veg stills for feeds, make my own compost, wormcasts and fresh seaweed, and I flower under a 400w SonT...

The fresh soil each pot up really helps get the roots going, and filling the 5L right out, then repotting a few days before the light switch really gives the roots some space to grow into, giving you better stem and foliage development, culminitating in better yields...Just my opinion and experience, nothing set in stone.

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

Like SecretGardener says, nothing beats multiple repots for fast growth and big yields. The timing and increment size of that last repot before flowering depends mainly on the plants' genetics. A plant that stretches a bit during flowering will also grow it's roots more, a plant that doesn't stretch won't need much more rootspace.

 

[staff11]

I really think it just comes down to not letting the plant get root bound before transplanting. I go from one gallon to three gallon all the time.

You need to have some experience though when dealing with larger pot sizes and smaller plants.

It is very easy to over water a huge pot with a small plant in it, and most beginners can avoid this by doing multiple transplants. Once you sort of dial in your grow op, you wont have this problem at all.

It's just less work for me in the long run, maybe I am a bit lazy.

 

[staff11]

Can you link to some articles about this, because it strikes me as contradictory to the notion that the roots and the plant are nearly symmetrical. Since the plant grows so rapidly and so much more vigorously during flower I would think the roots do the same.

The plant grows more vigorously only in the first few weeks of flower. The plant actually grows roots and vegetation faster in the vegetation phase.

 

[SecretGardner]

Like SecretGardener says, nothing beats multiple repots for fast growth and big yields. The timing and increment size of that last repot before flowering depends mainly on the plants' genetics. A plant that stretches a bit during flowering will also grow it's roots more, a plant that doesn't stretch won't need much more rootspace.

Indeed MrGG, also if you get the final repot to flowering time just right, you hit a growth sweetspot, and again you get better, fuller foliage, denser roots (of the smaller feeding variety) and a generally healthier plant. I try to aim for that timing. If you grow a stress free plant and no woody stemness 2-3 days after a repot will see her spurt, switch then and you get the equiv of an extra weeks growth, in my experience anyways, its like a catapult into flowering.

Most of the time its the strain though, both my White, and Black Diesel are prolific, and really respond to the 'sweetspot' switch. And have produced 4oz per plant for the last 3 grows, from a 30" high plant. Heavily trained and S/C'd to get the yield, as i am only under a 400w.

Sorry to ramble

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

Yup. I like to get a plant just the right amount of rootbound as it goes into peak flowering. I use a more drain-ey mix with extra sand and gravel for the last repot. That way, I have sort of hydro style control over water and nutrients at peak flowering. The technique of forcing extra flower growth by root restriction is common in other branches of horticulture, not sure why it's taken so long to catch on with cannabis.

 

[Weird]

cause they know it all already Mr. G.