transplanting seedlings in soil to hydroton dwc

[Sam the Caveman]

I've got seedlings that I would like to transplant as soon as possible. They are on their 4th set of leaves and are currently in soil. (small cups 8oz)

I would like to get them into dwc. I am considering submerging the whole seedling in a bucket of water gently and trying to remove the as much dirt as possible while submerged. Once most or all of the dirt is removed then transplant them in to net cups with hydroton.

How badly will this stress the seedling?

Should I let it veg longer before I transplant?

Are there any other ways to accomplish this transplant?


Any experienced advise is welcomed, Sam

 

[ibjamming]

Just bury the thing and start the pumps. Water through the top until you see roots coming out the net pots. I did it...it worked fine. You don't need to wash everything off. Just bury the whole clump of soil like a regular transplant.

 

[highonmt]

I've got seedlings that I would like to transplant as soon as possible. They are on their 4th set of leaves and are currently in soil. (small cups 8oz)

I would like to get them into dwc. I am considering submerging the whole seedling in a bucket of water gently and trying to remove the as much dirt as possible while submerged. Once most or all of the dirt is removed then transplant them in to net cups with hydroton.

How badly will this stress the seedling?

Should I let it veg longer before I transplant?

Are there any other ways to accomplish this transplant?


Any experienced advise is welcomed, Sam

Sam,
I get all my clones this way unfortunately . I use two small buckets of water. I gently take the clone out of the cup and tease away all the loose soil. Dunk the roots in the first bucket to get most of the soil off I use my fingers underwater to gently tease out as much dirt as possible. The soil mix I receive my plants in contains coco so next I carefully pick out any coco pieces and large perlite chunks, then into the small bucket of clean ph'd water to remove as much of what remains as I can without breaking roots. For dwc I woud let the obvious longest root dangle slightly out of the net pot and then fill in hydroton 1 cup at a time fanning out the rest of the roots. Then pour nutrient solution to saturate the hydroton before placing in the system. The stress seems to be minimal with this method. I have tried a few straight aero cloned clones and the stress seems to be about the same (number of days till they take off about equal) It is difficult to maintain a sterile rez when they've been in soil so lots of peroxide the first few weeks. Hope this helps. This afghi was in soil for 3+ weeks when I got it and had a large and pot bound root system, It took about 5 days to take off in hydroton drip.

Good luck,
HM