Transplanting at Bloom Onset

[GreenDream]

Ok, so I am looking to get some peoples' opinions as to how much it affects the plants when they are transplanted right at the onset of bloom.

Basically, I have been doing this for years. I have a perpetual bloom room and my veg room is on the small size, so when it's time for the plants to go into bloom I pot them up from a 2gal to a 7gal squat pot. It has always worked pretty well for me.... However I am in the midst of re-designing my whole setup, and I am curious as to how beneficial it really is to give them a week or 2 in their new pots before flipping to 12/12.

A quick example... recently I had to transplant a week into bloom, (during week 2) and I saw the plants stall out for a week as the roots spread into their new home. The plants didn't act like they had any shock... they just slowed down for a week or so. So by this reasoning, how beneficial is it to avoid this slowdown in the first week of bloom? My original reasoning is that I'm simply slowing down the stretch, but maybe I am also limiting the number of nodes created, or increasing the distance in the nodes, or who knows what.

So has anyone tried experimenting with different transplant times and logged the results? Your input is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Mate Dave]

You need to grow your strains on hydro to find out the potential of what they can do and what they can assimilate diurnally.

As far as plant spacing or centre spacing and how much media and how much fertilizer per weight of media is again dependent of the strain your growing, nothing is conclusive other than root space matters less when growing hydroponically, that said bigger is better.

I have grown plants in 11ltr pots/2 gal, they take a few weeks 21-28 days before they require transplanting. Once transplanted in to 7 gal pots for flowering they are always worse than plants that were planted into 7 gal and flowered after 10-15 days from tiny clones grown in the same space.

They never yield or grow as well with the vigour, they grow tall and they have a root ball which is not efficient at using the soil in the 7 gal pot as well as the cuttings can.

Often there are nutrient problems before potting on and in most circumstances we pot on to de-restrict a plant don't we. Growing without these restrictions is comparable to the growth of hydro.

Basically your wasting space in the veg room veging. It could be another flower room.

 

[GreenDream]

^^^ No offense, but I think you missed the point. My inquiry has nothing to do with container size or hydro vs soil. Plus, my plants have always done better when multiple container sizes are used, because it creates a denser root mass in the center as each root ball is potted up into the next size pot. Plus it saves on the amount of light required to cover the square footage needed by the smaller container size, regardless of whether it's in the bloom room or not. We like to go clone -> 3.5" -> 2gal -> 7gal squat. When the plant is harvested you can stand on the soil after it's removed from the pot and it won't crush. No exaggeration!

Anyway back on topic. So, how much benefit is there to giving the plant a week or 2 in the larger container before switching to 12/12? Anyone?

 

[bigshrimp]

Yes you will always get better results if you give the roots time to fill their pot.

 

[Eureka Springs Organics]

Veg the plant in their final pot for at least two weeks before the flip. Every grow style is different, and there are no set rules, but the longer the veg in the final pot the better. I prefer 4 to 6 weeks.

 

[sgapetti]

transplanting at the beginning of 12/12 will stall your plants , stress them , they will stay smaller and produce less ( done it few times ) than the ones that get a few weeks of veg in the final pot.

I have tried both ways and my production has increased , the stretch period is the most delicate time in the life cycle of cannabis.

Other benefits of filling the sub with roots before switch will be shorter wet/dry cycle during flo , less internodal distance and more canopy in the ideal range of the ligths.

Peace S

 

[Easy7]

It's less of a problem to germinate, and veg in the same flowering pot. The only real risk is nutrient strength and over watering. Unless you growing a pure sativa, the shock could be so bad when transplanting during stretch.

The earth is just one big garden. There really aren't any problems with growing right from where it's harvested. It's funny.

 

[BurnOne]

transplanting at the beginning of 12/12 will stall your plants , stress them , they will stay smaller and produce less ( done it few times ) than the ones that get a few weeks of veg in the final pot.

I have tried both ways and my production has increased , the stretch period is the most delicate time in the life cycle of cannabis.

Other benefits of filling the sub with roots before switch will be shorter wet/dry cycle during flo , less internodal distance and more canopy in the ideal range of the ligths.

Peace S

I agree.
Any time you transplant, you stress the plant.
Giving the plant a couple of weeks to recover before transitioning from a vegetative plant to a flowering plant along with the dramatic acceleration in growth (stretch) seems like a good idea to me.
Burn1

 

[FatherEarth]

Not sure that a root bound pot you can stand on at harvest calls for bragging rights.. Google ' Auxin/Cytokinins signaling' ...In a perfect world..You'd never want your plants roots to find the sides of the pot, get ridiculous with soil amounts and pot size, go massive Minimize transplanting as much as possible, stress no matter how small will effect yield. Pamper your ladies, and they will love you for it. kempf covers this topic in the bio-nutrient conference recordings. Ill see if I can find the link if you havent heard of this already...




FE

 

[Mate Dave]

My girls in 7 gal pots of Bio-Bizz do 7-9 ounce each in 10 days veg and 70 days flower, fuck transplanting.

My centres are just under a meter and I have never found a better way to grow. Transplanting certainly doesn't help things unless they're root bound and neglected.

 

[VerdantGreen]

it depends on a few things, like how much bigger the final pot is etc, but i have transplanted and thrown to flower on the same day many times and got great yields and healthy plants.
ime it will actually encourage stretch and delay flowering a little, so plants will require a little less veg beforehand.
i disagree that up-potting plants is stressful for them, as long as you do it at the right time before the plant has become rootbound in its existing container, and the new soil is not cold.
re-potting at the right time throughout the plant's life so that it doesnt get shocked or get a growth check is one of the best skills to learn in container gardening imo.

that said, i do try to veg slower growing plants like bubba into their pots for a week or so.

at the other end of the scale, one of the worst things you can do is throw plants that are already becoming rootbound into flower, they will just start to fade too early and there is little you can do about it.

VG

 

[xmobotx]

i view transplanting as a means to make watering convenient {vs. it's easy to overwater a small plant in a large pot} i like rapid rooters into 1 gal into 5-7 gal & had always meade that final transplant right @ the flip ~until i realized there was some slow-down/recovery time

VG's definitely right, transplanting can be a bit tricky to master but can be done w/o shock {like the rapid rooter into the 1 gal is effortless}

and, it seems some of them like to wiggle their toes in the new pot for a week or 2 before the flip ~pretty much regardless

gotta definitely agree also w/ growing a plant where it's going to be/huge container or garden style seed beds {soma?}

 

[FatherEarth]

Good point VG. Transplanting without shock isnt hard if the plants arent too big and you get your timing right. . . Helps if the plant is already in superior health too

 

[VerdantGreen]

in the specific case of the OP, 2 gallons to 7 gallons, i do think it would be better to veg them in for a week or two. also make sure they are growing well and not already stalled due to becoming rootbound in their previous pots.

imo the ideal time to repot is when the roots have grown enough to hold the soil together when you tip them over and take to pot off. perhaps just started to circle the corners a little. once you start getting mats of roots that are just touching other roots all around them then it takes them longer to recover after a repot.

VG

 

[FatherEarth]

agreed VG. I go from a 1.5" x 3" rooted plug, to a 3gallon pot for Aprox 10 days under a T8. With the cultivars Im using, two weeks is max for keeping the roots from circling and slowing growth. The 3 gallon gets planted in something no less than 20x the size. 18-21 day veg. One of the first things to master when aiming for maximum yields is timing. Dont make your girls wait and dont rush them either.


Respect,

FE

 

[VerdantGreen]

yep that great advice! its not so much time with vegging, but plant and root growth. i veg to the size i know they need to be rather than for a certain amount of time.

i guess im lucky because my veg pot are small, around three quarters of a gallon, and i can put my hand on the soil, tip them upside down and carefully remove the pot to check on root growth. Not so easy with big pots but its a good move to master. i go up to a 3-4 gallon which is as big as i can fit into my space.

VG

 

[GreenDream]

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful replies.

I have always transplanted right at the flip out of necessity, but now that I am not going to be running my bloom perpetual style, I can actually give them some time in their final container before the flip. It sounds like the consensus is that 2 weeks should be about perfect.

Just for arguments sake, I have been transplanting at the flip for about 10 years (I have well over 100 grows under my belt) and have pretty much perfected doing so without causing stress. We regularly get over 1.5lbs/kw with connoisseur genetics and have nailed over 2lb/kw with heavy yielding strains. Needless to say, I am very excited to see how much our yield increases with this change. I will post my results in this thread if anyone is interested.

 

[Eye]

True.

 

[GreenDream]

For a true connoisseur the quality should be more important than the yield.

Are you implying that by attempting to improve my yield that I am ignoring the quality?? Because, I assure you, quality always comes first! But, if one can increase their yield without sacrificing quality, why wouldn't they?

 

[FatherEarth]

i veg to the size i know they need to be rather than for a certain amount of time.

It was more of sharing my own time window since I too veg to fill the space properly, it takes 18-21 days. I dont check roots cept when they are cloning. Im familiar with the cultivars Im running so I know the time itll take to get em where I need em. The timing statement was more about doing each step on time everytime. Transplanting, water, trimming undergrowth, foliars etc. have to be rhythmic, without missing a beat.

Green Dream,
I get you are experienced, wasnt thinking otherwise. Just sharing my 2 cents.
I look forward to seeing some of your work.


Respect,

FE