smartpots and roots

[fredcdobbs]

transplanted from 2 gal to 3 gal anticipatin puttin them in flowering room 2nite..only trouble is a lot of the bottom roots stayed with the 2 gal smartpot..is it necessary to give them recovery time because of that?..i need to get the show on the fkn road.

 

[Norkali]

This is the exact reason why I don't re-pot smarties anymore...STRESS!

Transplanting as we know it works great in conventional plastic pots, but as you've discovered, can be a nightmare in Smart/Geopots. My solution? Go from small plastic pots at seed/clone into Smart/Geo material only when it will be the final container for the plant.

I would give the plants a week if it were me, but you have to make that call, as it seems that you don't have the luxury of time on your side...

 

[supersmallgiant]

2gal to 3gal almost doesn't seem worth the stress.

 

[fredcdobbs]

2gal to 3gal almost doesn't seem worth the stress.

correct. i wont do that again.

 

[fredcdobbs]

This is the exact reason why I don't re-pot smarties anymore...STRESS!

Transplanting as we know it works great in conventional plastic pots, but as you've discovered, can be a nightmare in Smart/Geopots. My solution? Go from small plastic pots at seed/clone into Smart/Geo material only when it will be the final container for the plant.

I would give the plants a week if it were me, but you have to make that call, as it seems that you don't have the luxury of time on your side...

i was shocked at how stuck they were..really fkd my schedule up!

 

[laughingmoon]

Have you considered setting the smartpot within another? I haven't tried it, but maybe the roots would grow through?

 

[ninjagaiden]

Have you considered setting the smartpot within another? I haven't tried it, but maybe the roots would grow through?

this is how most outdoor growers with smart pots do it.

 

[ellinho]

Im growing on a 3.5 x 3.5 x 7 (BxLxH) feet space with 400 watts. Thinking about scrogging 4-6 plants and I heard youre supposed to step a level down with the size of the pots as the plants get a good stretch in these pots. Should I go with 2 or 3 gal?

 

[greenhaus]

3gallon is the smallest pot i would use. regardless smartpot or plastic.

 

[Yes4Prop215]

yup just encountered this too...we get around it by just cutting the smartpot apart makes it easier...some roots get lost but its part of the game...definately not doing this in the future norkali said it right..

 

[fredcdobbs]

yup just encountered this too...we get around it by just cutting the smartpot apart makes it easier...some roots get lost but its part of the game...definately not doing this in the future norkali said it right..

you just cut the bottom of the pot off or what?

 

[fredcdobbs]

3gallon is the smallest pot i would use. regardless smartpot or plastic.

these pots take a lot of water/nutrients so therefore roots from hell.only mistake would be goin too small.

 

[mtbazz]

I transfer all the time from 2 or 3 gallons to 5 gallons with little problem. I wait until the soil is completely dry, than gently roll the sides of the smart pot down and than the root ball can be gently lifted off the bottom.

Usually I try and time it so that the transfer occurs before the roots have a chance to grow through the bottom of the bag.

I have also just taken a smaller smart pot and placed it in a larger smart pot that had soil added to it, and the roots ended up growing through the small smart pot and into the larger one. No need to cut off the bottom (pretty wasteful IMO)

 

[fredcdobbs]

I transfer all the time from 2 or 3 gallons to 5 gallons with little problem. I wait until the soil is completely dry, than gently roll the sides of the smart pot down and than the root ball can be gently lifted off the bottom.

Usually I try and time it so that the transfer occurs before the roots have a chance to grow through the bottom of the bag.

I have also just taken a smaller smart pot and placed it in a larger smart pot that had soil added to it, and the roots ended up growing through the small smart pot and into the larger one. No need to cut off the bottom (pretty wasteful IMO)

mtbazz,thats what i've decided. transplant before roots get stuck to bottom of pot. growin in smartpots is a whole new ball game for me and i'm lovin everything about em except that..

 

[señorsloth]

i think in the future if your going to transplant it would be more helpful to do so a little sooner before switching to flowering, as root growth slows a lot after the stretch is done, i transplanted all of my girls from half gallons into 2 gallon grow bags a week before flowering, tightly packed together. now as i harvest plants one at a time and make more room for the bags, i'm finding that as the bags have more room to make a wider base, the soil is sliding down to the bottom, exposing the original half gallon root ball, once flowering started they stopped rooting horizontally completely and relatively few grew into the soil below the original rootball. for the most part the transplant so close to flowering didn't help the plants at all, root growth slowed and they didn't try very hard to go into the fresh new soil.

this obviously wouldn't be the case if they were rootbound at that point but again, that's usually a sign that you should have transplanted earlier before you started flowering.

as everybody else said though, it's kinda a given that roots are going to grow into the smartpot fabric, and the benefits of smartpots are not realized if you don't allow them to do this because thats what causes the air pruning effect. i don't think they were ever meant as a temporary transition pot. if you are just going to tear the roots from the edges of the pot then the resulting stunting will negate any gains made in growth during the time it was in the smaller smartpot. just take the easy rout, use small, cheep plastic pots until they are ready, don't top or transplant right before flowering starts, and definitely not after. the earlier you can go into the full sized smartpots the better. though obviously if you go too big too quick your soil will take forever to dry out and can make fertilizing a pain, as well as other issues...smartpots seem less susceptible to over-watering issues as regular pots, though not immune by a long shot.

 

[Yesca73]

airpots wrk nice
easy to transplant

 

[wdcf]

..............This is what I have been thinking about doing, Getting the Square Root Garden Bags(ICMAG SPONSOR) in which there is no air pruning, (the roots just grow through the bag) Veg in those and then when it comes times to transplant just stick the entire bag inside a smart pot.

The Square Root Garden Bags actually recommend you veg in their smaller containers and then transplant the whole container into their larger container.....And I will into a smart pot!

~WDCF

 

[fredcdobbs]

plants have been in 12/12 for about 10 days now and are doin great.if that slowed them down it was'nt much..

 

[fredcdobbs]

..............This is what I have been thinking about doing, Getting the Square Root Garden Bags(ICMAG SPONSOR) in which there is no air pruning, (the roots just grow through the bag) Veg in those and then when it comes times to transplant just stick the entire bag inside a smart pot.

The Square Root Garden Bags actually recommend you veg in their smaller containers and then transplant the whole container into their larger container.....And I will into a smart pot!

~WDCF

wdcf,that sounds like somethin to try

 

[Canniwhatsis]

I do NOT vege in smart pots due to the root stress, but absolutely approve of them in flower!!!!!!