Quick question, should I repot before flowering?

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xlimited

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This are just some test strains and I got my clones off of them, puttin them into flower in the next couple days, I got some 5 gallon smart pots that I could use. are this plants to big for the pots there in?

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I was about to ask this same question but my situation is a little different.

I start in small trays for cloning. Then, they go into a 3 qt pot for vegging.

Then, when I move them to flower, I transplant them into a 2 gallon pot.

However, I am wondering of that's worth while. Most of the root growth is done during the clone and veg stage. I don't think the roots grow much once it starts flowering.

Is that correct?

If it is, it seems kind of wasteful to transplant right before flowering.

I used to go from the clones to the 2 gallon pots but I find I have a lot more control over watering with smaller, progressive pots.

Sorry to hijack your thread. :)
 
I was about to ask this same question but my situation is a little different.

I start in small trays for cloning. Then, they go into a 3 qt pot for vegging.

Then, when I move them to flower, I transplant them into a 2 gallon pot.

However, I am wondering of that's worth while. Most of the root growth is done during the clone and veg stage. I don't think the roots grow much once it starts flowering.

Is that correct?

If it is, it seems kind of wasteful to transplant right before flowering.

I used to go from the clones to the 2 gallon pots but I find I have a lot more control over watering with smaller, progressive pots.

Sorry to hijack your thread. :)

Hey, Hackerman.

Wouldn't the logical answer to your question be - why not just let them grow roots in the 2 gallon pot?

You'd essentially double your yield and you'd only have to wait another 2-3 weeks in veg.

Just my $0.02.

@OP:

Generally speaking, the curve of yield declines towards larger pots because the amount of yield is directly comparable to the amount of light.

Outdoors, the bigger the plant the more you yield because the sun has infinite light. Indoors, if you've got a 250w bulb and you're growing in 5 gallon on 10 gallon container the difference should be small.

That's my take on it, anyway. I have yet to fully test this theory out.
 
Hey, Hackerman.

Wouldn't the logical answer to your question be - why not just let them grow roots in the 2 gallon pot?

You'd essentially double your yield and you'd only have to wait another 2-3 weeks in veg.

Just my $0.02.

Not sure I understand what you mean. Are you saying to go straight from the cloning trays to the 2 gallon pots and skip the 3 quart pots?
 
Not sure I understand what you mean. Are you saying to go straight from the cloning trays to the 2 gallon pots and skip the 3 quart pots?

No, I was saying why don't you give them some more time in the 2 gallon pots before you flower them?

Although, yes, I think the 3 quart pots serve no purpose (unless space is a concern).
 
No, space is not a concern. Actually, for decades, I went from the cloning trays to the 2 gallon pots. I just started the 3 quart pots a couple grows ago.

I can't flower them longer because they get too big for the room but I can transplant them a couple weeks before I flower and that should give a couple weeks to grow into the 2 gallon pots.

Thanks
 
No, space is not a concern. Actually, for decades, I went from the cloning trays to the 2 gallon pots. I just started the 3 quart pots a couple grows ago.

I can't flower them longer because they get too big for the room but I can transplant them a couple weeks before I flower and that should give a couple weeks to grow into the 2 gallon pots.

Thanks

So, why did you switch to the 3 quarts? Has it been beneficial?

Technically, a larger container is only useful if you have the wattage to support it, but 3 quarts is essentially 3 liters which is pretty damn small.

I'm actually doing something similar at the moment. I've got a mix of 8 liter, 6.5 liter and 3.5 liter pots under the same amount of light. My plan is to figure out which has the best liters/grams ratio.
 
That's what I am doing. Just trying to find a sweet spot.

The 3 qt pots I just harvested were packed pretty solid but, definitely not root bound.

For my size room, the light, the height I grow the plants, etc it looks like the 2 gallon pots are my sweet spot. Especially since a 2 gallon pot usually only has about 1.75 gallons of dirt in it.

I have some 2 gallon smart pots on the shelf. They are about 1.3 gallons each so I may try those next.

Hmmmm, a little off topic but something just came to mind. Do you throw smart pots away after you use them once or do you wash them and reuse them like plastic pots?
 
The real key to transplanting begins with trying to keep the plants from becoming so root bound that it is detrimental. But in larger containers it becomes a matter of soil/nutrient availability. If you are growing in organic soil that is like super soil where you do no extra feeding, then repotting is critical as the plants literally eat the soil through chelation and absorption. So as the plants get bigger, they need fresh soil to grow into and ffeed on while they are in flower.

However, when doing synthetic nutrient growing either in soil or soilless medium, getting beyond the root bind issue is all that is necessary. Once you get to about 1 gallon on smaller stature plants, and 2 gallon on medium stature plants, then there is no need to go any bigger as the plants are depending on you to supply their food with liquid nutrients. When growing in hydro with medium plants, you can have very small containers as the roots don't have to go "searching" for nutrients and water. That is why Hamster Lewis is able to grow some beauties in 1 gallon pots. He has mastered the feed/water regimen and keeps his plants relatively small.

The key to moving the plants in smaller stages of transplanting before flower is to make it easier to manage the watering while the plants are smaller. So to answer Hackerman's question, it is beneficial to him to do the 3 steps so that he has less difficulty dealing with watering issues as smaller plants in larger pots will be slow to take up the water and run the risk off staying too wet for too long. If you grow in coco, over watering is less of an issue because coco drains so well that it draws oxygen into the medium ffaster than soils.

You can reuse the smart pots as long as their integrity is good after cleaning them. :)
 
That's what I am doing. Just trying to find a sweet spot.

The 3 qt pots I just harvested were packed pretty solid but, definitely not root bound.

For my size room, the light, the height I grow the plants, etc it looks like the 2 gallon pots are my sweet spot. Especially since a 2 gallon pot usually only has about 1.75 gallons of dirt in it.

I have some 2 gallon smart pots on the shelf. They are about 1.3 gallons each so I may try those next.

Hmmmm, a little off topic but something just came to mind. Do you throw smart pots away after you use them once or do you wash them and reuse them like plastic pots?

I actually made my own Smart pot, and no.. I don't plan on throwing it away. I don't even wash pots - why wash it when I'm just going to put more dirt inside?

Btw, what was your yield from the 3 qt/2 g pots?

I yielded pretty well in 4.5 gallons but I'm guessing your plants needed less veg, right? Certainly saves time.
 
I did a grow in glass once.
To me it appeared that the root growth slowed and stopped during flowering
 
Btw, what was your yield from the 3 qt/2 g pots?

Growing from seed is a little different and faster than cloning but the last batch I did, I cloned and let root for 4 weeks in the clone trays. Then, I transplanted them to the 3 qt pots and put them in the veg tent for another 4 weeks.

I was going to transplant them into the 2 gallon pots but I got lazy and space was a little tight and I was out of dirt and I was tired and there was a flood, a plague, locusts. LMAO

So, they stayed in the 3 quart pots during flower. I went 59 days (Critical Kush) and harvested almost 2 pounds. That was about 22 plants in 3 quart pots.

In contrast, the 2 mothers of these clones were grown in 7 gallon pots (vegged for 3 months) and I got about 1 pound from the 2 plants.
 
Growing from seed is a little different and faster than cloning but the last batch I did, I cloned and let root for 4 weeks in the clone trays. Then, I transplanted them to the 3 qt pots and put them in the veg tent for another 4 weeks.

I was going to transplant them into the 2 gallon pots but I got lazy and space was a little tight and I was out of dirt and I was tired and there was a flood, a plague, locusts. LMAO

So, they stayed in the 3 quart pots during flower. I went 59 days (Critical Kush) and harvested almost 2 pounds. That was about 22 plants in 3 quart pots.

In contrast, the 2 mothers of these clones were grown in 7 gallon pots (vegged for 3 months) and I got about 1 pound from the 2 plants.

Holy crap!

That's 45g from a 3 liter pot!

And 240g from a 26 liter pot!

My highest yield was 125g from a 17 liter pot, and that was a lucky one..

With growing skills like yours, you could grow in a shot glass and get a week's worth of weed, LMFAO.

Will you reveal your awesome secrets to me?
 

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