Going from solo cups to 1 gallon, roots look ready ?

[herewego]

Ok so starting a grow thread soon but i want them to get a little farther along first. Jack Herer X El nino cross from seed. Started in rapid rooter no problem, moved up to 16oz solo cups maybe week and half/2 weeks ago. Been feeding ph balanced water with some rhizotonic. Coco is pretty damp but roos are coming out bottom of cups. Under 3 100watt equivalent CFL blubs 73 degree air about 60% rh. no nutes given yet as was waiting on shipment. feeding today with transplant of some.

Do i need to wait for roots to wrap side of cup or is this about time to move them up ?

Do these look too wet ? they have been sucking up from bottom when sitting in that tray

Any downside of moving up a pot size too early ?

Any reason you would wait to move up size ?

how do i make the call of when to move from 1 gal to 3 gal ?

Thanks

 

[SuperHemp]

You should wait longer. Should be at least this rooted:

Downsides of having too big pots is the possibility of overwatering and salt buildup, with pots sized to plants you can feed lightly every day with runoff and they grow very quick this way. Your plants look very small for two weeks but that could be the CFL's, I'm more of a HID guy.

Also your coco is very dark, looks like soil? what brand?

I usually pot up when the coco starts to dry out on top between waterings

 

[Guest 18340]

Ok so starting a grow thread soon but i want them to get a little farther along first. Jack Herer X El nino cross from seed. Started in rapid rooter no problem, moved up to 16oz solo cups maybe week and half/2 weeks ago. Been feeding ph balanced water with some rhizotonic. Coco is pretty damp but roos are coming out bottom of cups. Under 3 100watt equivalent CFL blubs 73 degree air about 60% rh. no nutes given yet as was waiting on shipment. feeding today with transplant of some.

Do i need to wait for roots to wrap side of cup or is this about time to move them up ?
I would've waited longer.
Do these look too wet ? they have been sucking up from bottom when sitting in that tray
For the relatively small root zone Yes the coco seems a bit wet. When my plants are that small I let my coco dry out in between waterings. It encourages roots to grow into the coco searching for water.

Any downside of moving up a pot size too early ?


Any reason you would wait to move up size ?

how do i make the call of when to move from 1 gal to 3 gal ?


Thanks

I would've waited longer to transplant them. Ideally you want that cup to be packed with roots before transplanting to a bigger pot, keeps root rot to a minimum. You can grow plants in coco that would otherwise be root bound in soil in the same size pot.
When my plants are that small I let the coco dry out in between waterings to encourage roots to grow. Once I'm fully rooted, then I transplant. They grow much faster when the coco is packed with roots. You'd be surprised how big a plant will fit into a beer cup of coco.
SuperHemp has the right idea
Most of my moms never make it out of beer cups...

 

[herewego]

Nice looking roots ! I am using Atami CoCo. Looks dark because its pretty wet, not dripping, but wet. A little perlite and hydroton mixed in there to help me not overwater at this point and drown them. I think i have done this before by moving up pot sizes too quickly. I thought to move them up because a few of the lead roots were coming out of the bottom of the cup. Do i need to worry about them, or do they die off while roots still build in the middle of the cup ?

What size would i go to after 16oz cup then ? Or just wait until more roots and go up to .8 gallon then ? Actually a little less the 1 gal pots. Its about 11 days since i put from rapid rooter into solo cups under 300watt eq cfls.

Im a HID fan too, but the cfls i have in room where i can control temps better. I can move to under 400w MH but its about 80 degrees down there and i didnt want it to be too hot for them.

So start feeding them about 3-400 ppm while still in solos until roots grow more ? What do i do with the ones i switched this morning, just water lightly and wait ? I just hate the idea that once the coco is all soggy/wet i cant get it to dry out and feel like the plant is suffering and stunted growth. Now ive got 6 of them in .8 gal pots that i guess i need to just be careful with ?

Thanks for the help everyone, this place has been real helpful as i try to improve on the skills.

evml2 - guess we posted at the same time here, what would you say to do to dry out the coco now ? Or will it do it by itself in a few days of no water ? When in the beer cups if i didnt water to let them dry out it looked like i had some salt buildup on the top of the coco, any exp with that ?

 

[SuperHemp]

Just treat them like soil until they grow bigger, let the pot dry out between waterings. I'd try about 300ppm on each watering to begin with in those big pots as long as you're under CFLs, but you'll probably need to adjust

 

[herewego]

Just treat them like soil until they grow bigger, let the pot dry out between waterings. I'd try about 300ppm on each watering to begin with in those big pots as long as you're under CFLs, but you'll probably need to adjust

considering ive never grown in soil im playing it by ear lol. This is 3rd grow i just keep botching up this stage and correcting it later, or having plants that have poor root structure and lower yields.

Now what do i do about the over watered coco in general as far as getting it to dry out ? anything i can do to accelerate it or will it dry out in time without hurting the plant ?

 

[dramamine]

herewego,
I'm in my first coco run, and I found out pretty early on that if you saturate the coco before you have a fully-developed root system, it'll definitely slow your growth to a crawl. I lost a little time, but it was worth learning how the plants behave in coco.

You have to put the whole idea of watering until runoff, etc. on hold until roots fill the cup. When they're peeking out the bottom all around your cups, you can start watering frequently. Until then, it just slows root growth to a crawl.

You oughtta just let them dry at this point; not until the coco is brittle, but the cups should feel much lighter and you should see multiple roots. And don't worry, they'll come right back strong. No need at all to rush transplanting in coco, either!

 

[purpleberry]

Great advise, but i will have to disagree on letting the root mass totally fill up the cup. I mostly only use coco and several times Ive tranplanted as soon possible witht root just starting to wrap around the small pot, mayeb 50/50 roots and coco showing. And left extras in the small pot for mothers, The one that get transplanted as soon as possible can double in size in 2-3 weeks compaired to the ones left in 6" pots. Plants like to spread there feet and know how big of a pot you put them in.

 

[Guest 18340]

Nice looking roots ! I am using Atami CoCo. Looks dark because its pretty wet, not dripping, but wet. A little perlite and hydroton mixed in there to help me not overwater at this point and drown them. I think i have done this before by moving up pot sizes too quickly. I thought to move them up because a few of the lead roots were coming out of the bottom of the cup. Do i need to worry about them, or do they die off while roots still build in the middle of the cup ?

What size would i go to after 16oz cup then ? Or just wait until more roots and go up to .8 gallon then ? Actually a little less the 1 gal pots. Its about 11 days since i put from rapid rooter into solo cups under 300watt eq cfls.

Im a HID fan too, but the cfls i have in room where i can control temps better. I can move to under 400w MH but its about 80 degrees down there and i didnt want it to be too hot for them.

So start feeding them about 3-400 ppm while still in solos until roots grow more ? What do i do with the ones i switched this morning, just water lightly and wait ? I just hate the idea that once the coco is all soggy/wet i cant get it to dry out and feel like the plant is suffering and stunted growth. Now ive got 6 of them in .8 gal pots that i guess i need to just be careful with ?

Thanks for the help everyone, this place has been real helpful as i try to improve on the skills.

evml2 - guess we posted at the same time here, what would you say to do to dry out the coco now ? Or will it do it by itself in a few days of no water ? When in the beer cups if i didnt water to let them dry out it looked like i had some salt buildup on the top of the coco, any exp with that ?

Just let them dry out before you water again. For me, depending on pot size sometimes it takes 3-4 days 'til the coco dries.
Any salt seen on top of your coco will wash away after you water to waste.

 

[herewego]

Hmm sounds good guys i think that'll appease my mind for the moment here. Will let you all know how it turns out when i start a diary in another week or two, thanks !

 

[buddin_904]

^ yea looks like u got all the advice needed here....maybe wait a little longer for your roots to develop a little more...and jesus christ let them dry out when there at that stage.....that WILL promote huge bursts of roots everywhere.....dont be afraid to let them dry out at this stage....BE AFRAID OF OVERWATERING THEM....at that stage......

 

[herewego]

update months later

update months later

Figure id show what i learned here, new perpetual in the works. Roots are out of one gallon and up to the 3 gal today, switch to flower in a couple days. Thanks guys. I think more people needs pics when they have used what they learned. Now ive got nice looking roots thanks to this board.