To Transplant or Not To Transplant?

[TB Gardens]

hey folks.. i'm back to ask some more advice again ;x i love having a place to come for some good solid advice in regards to the gals.

i am on day 30 flower today, after a 2.5 month veg. got 18 white widow, lemon skunk, and sk1 going under 5600w in a 12x8, and i am using Burn1's soil mix, feeding on a rotating sched (budswel, nirvana, molasses, mother earth tea).

my question today pertains to transplanting. is there any stage in the grow cycle where transplanting can HURT your plants? about 8 of my crop that went into 5 gal buckets about 1.5 months ago are getting root bound, should i throw them into 7 gal pots so they have a little breathing room? if they are stressing and starting to yellow, will that hinder the bud production.. or help, isn't flowering induced on some strains by root binding?

i figure these girls are going to be running for another 35 days, and i do not want to slow them up at all, or screw their bud production up. should i do this? if so i assume ASAP, which means this afternoon, please let me know what you think. i have pictures in the link in my sig or in my Forum Albums, from the most recent update. they dont do much good tho since the HPS floods everything with yellow light in the pics ;\

 

[+Vibes]

transplanting 30 days into flower would most likely be way more stressful than 30 days slightly rootbound. are the leaves yellowing because you're 30 half way through flowering, or do you really think its stress related?

with more sativa leaning plants it could make some sense but not with your line up. i say don't do it.. good luck!

 

[CANNATOPIA]

Transplanting only stunts them a little. Meaning Growth slows a tad but then quickly regains momentum. I say transplant if pot looks full of roots & if plants seem to be taking up feedings too quickly.(Soil is Drying out faster than normal.)

 

[TB Gardens]

that is exactly what is happening. i checked the roots the other day, they are BOUND. the girls are also uptaking water and food now FASTER than they ever have, using about 1 gal of water/nute mix ever 2.5-3 days. about 2 weeks ago we were only feeding every 5 days really.

@Vibes - no the leaves are definitely yellowing from binding. i have been battling root binding this entire grow, the roots seem to grow SO fast in this super airy medium. and it comes on real fast man, they will be fine then within 2-3 days they will yellow up bad from roots hitting the walls. i relieve the pressure by transplanting and they green right back up within another 2-3 days.

i guess my real question is AM I REALLY HURTING THEM by NOT transplanting them now? they only have 4 weeks left, one of which will be flushing. blahhhh decisions decisions!

 

[dansbuds]

I may be wrong but i thought after the 3rd or 4th weeks into flowering the root growth slows down & the plant concentrates on fattening up the buds . so repotting isn't really nessesary /

 

[Pinball Wizard]

I may be wrong but i thought after the 3rd or 4th weeks into flowering the root growth slows down & the plant concentrates on fattening up the buds . so repotting isn't really nessesary /

I've done transplants a week into flowering; and the roots didn't fill in a slightly larger pot; when looking at the roots come harvest time.

Look at the roots at HARVEST!...they have your grow scorecard... ...
I think the rootball is the umpire.

 

[Pointswest]

Transplanting this late into flowering will not result in much more rooting. At flowering time the hormones encouraging rooting are being slowed and used for sizing up the flowers. A few more weeks of flowering in this pot is better than subjecting it to possible transplant shock in the middle of flowering.

Yellowing of the fan leaves is normal at the end of flowering as the plant uses the stored carbohydrates for food. You are only a couple of weeks away from flushing, so this is really not necessary to transplant

 

[TB Gardens]

okay thanks everyone for all the input. it seems like everyone is leaning towards leaving the plants in the 5 gals.

@Pinball Wizard - 10 of my girls didnt go into 5 gals until like 4 days before flowering, but even a few of those are starting to bind up. i have popped a few of the yellow girls out to take a peek at the roots, and they are definitely bound, so that isn't really the question here. question is will being rootbound for 35 days cause the girls to not uptake as much nutrients as they normally would in an environment without any stress.

@PointWest - Thanks for your advice. i am familiar with root growth tendencies, and if they hold true shouldn't i not be experiencing problems from the roots smacking the walls? I am not looking to achieve more root growth per say, i am just trying to relieve the pressure of the roots from hitting the walls.

SO in essence, my real question is: Will a plant who's roots are hitting the walls produce less than a plant who's roots are not hitting the walls?

 

[Hank Hemp]

TB this late I'd just leave them be. I water that much at that stage of flowering. Your only going to fert for another 2 weeks right? Are you sure you know root bound?

 

[TB Gardens]

@Hank - Hey thanks for stopping in man, to answer your questions: YES i am only fertilizing for 2-3 weeks, leaving a 2 week flush. and YES i am sure i know i am root bound, i have been dealing with it too much this grow and have become familiar with the symptoms.

 

[TB Gardens]

So the yellowing has definitely gotten worse since watering last night. the leaves are just turning lightening in color and turning yellow. there are no spots, burns, or curling occurring.

what could be happening if root growth shouldn't be affecting them at 30 days? especially since it get worse right after a watering? the pH of the water being fed to them is 7. our tap water was 6.2 out the faucet, but we were experiencing pH problems early on. so we upped it to 7.0 and they took off, and the yellowing occurring is not any pH burn or anything.

it isn't root rot.. this soil mix is SO light and airy, the buckets are ALL light as a feather every 3 days MAX after each watering. i am going to transplant them into 7 gallons anyways, even if it is another problem. i just dont think it is, these are the exact same symptoms i already experienced twice on this grow .. which were all easily remedied with a transplant.

but if you do think it could be something else, possibly some sort of N def, please let me know.

Soil Mix:
- 3.8cf bag of ProMix
- 2cf bag of Roots Organic
- 1/4 bag of FFOF
- 1c FF blood meal
- 1c FF bone meal
- 1/2c dolomite lime
- 1.5c FF kelp meal
- 20% chunky perlite

Feeding Schedule:
A. Budswel .01-.1-.01 (1tbs/gal) + Nirvana 0-0-1 (during weeks 3-6(1tsp/gal))
B. Plain water + blackstrap unsulphered molasses (1tsp/gal)
C. AN Mother Earth Bloom Tea 3.11-2.42-5.11 (1tsp/gal)
D. Plain water

 

[Pinball Wizard]

pics would help...their worth a thousand words

 

[TB Gardens]

yes i know, i can't get back up there until monday which means no pics until early early Tuesday a.m.

i just realized today tho that this yellowing has come on since the addition of molasses to the feeding. can too much molasses cause yellowing? i am going to bring the feed ph down to 6.5-6.8 and see what that does.. they will get 1/2 gal each of 6.5 ph water each on friday. i will be there monday for pictures & maintenance

 

[Hank Hemp]

A tablespoon per gallon is not to much molasses for sure. Could it be a N maybe? Hope the transplanting works but you have such a short time to go.

 

[TB Gardens]

hey hank, ya i can't get back to them until monday anyways.. so thats the beginning of 5 weeks. like 3 weeks to go after that, so it seems pointless your right. i have been thinking its prob N, they have never received any N nutes other than what was in the soil mix.. so they are prob hungry for some? the Mother Earth Bloom Tea is 3-2-5 & next on the feeding schedule, so i will prob feed a lil heavy since it has some N in it and see what happens. anyone recommend a good organic N supplement?

 

[SuperSizeMe]

A good friend of mine says "rootbound is a state of mind" fairly often.

It really is a judgment call at 3 weeks in, having worked with the strain in the past helps for timeline, but I just tack at least 1.5-2 weeks onto my finishing times now.I believe it be more realistic for the feeding schedule.

In actuality, I would probably do both an up-potting and EWC tea if I suspected an N def/extreme root-boundness.The lesser of two evils.

Has anyone said that pics would help yet?

Curious to hear how you make out.

Peace,

SSM

 

[TB Gardens]

thought i'd update a lil for those who helped me out. i gave the 9 worst yellowing girsl a transplant into 10 gal rubbermaids at day 34, then hit them all this a dose of Mother Earth Tea which had some N in it. The yellowing definitely slowed down, but continued to progress a bit over days 34-41. On day 41 i hit them with AN 3-part base nutes to get some N right in them. i also slipped them some OverDrive and CarboLoad b/c they had stacked up so much during days 34-41. i know the yellow isn't giong to turn back to green or anything silly like that, but i am SURE this will perk the girls up and allow them to start stacking up and filling in better over the next 3 weeks before the flush. thanks for everyones help, and if your interested in checking out the girls head on over to my thread.. many crystal!