Root Ball

[legalize_freedom]

Hey I was just curious if anyone loosens up their rootballs when they transplant. I never have, but have always wanted to. You know what I'm talking about? Like you do when transplanting garden vegies, and flowers from the flats, take the root ball and loosen it /break up the dirt kind of thing? I've wanted to do it, but have not done it because I know how important the root system is, and I don't want to damage it. It's already stressed enough from the transplant, I didn't want to stress it more by loosening it up.....what do you guys do? I wonder if I'm screwing myself by not loosening? Oppinions???? Happy turkey day!

 

[4u2sm0ke]

IMO...It is like the veggies..and if ya Bust or losen up the bottom the roots will grow better...thus Becomeing a better plant...I also lie to use moldy coffee grinds in hole:aok: take care and be safe

Happy Turkey Day to you and yours :48:

 

[IRISH]

hey LF.:ciao:

we use to loosen our rootball. now we soak it good before a transplant...never a problem...

 

[omnigr33n]

Make sure its not too late in the flowering period. That sounds stressful.

 

[BBFan]

Hey Legalize Freedom- How are you this fine T-Day?

My current grow had some major nute problems early on and when I transplanted I not only broke up the soil at the root ball, but on the advice of others here at MP, I gently swirled the roots around in some water to really clean them off. That was about 10 weeks ago.

I've started some selective harvesting and they're fine- didn't stress them any more than a normal transplant- just make sure the water isn't too hot or too cold.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[ozzydiodude]

I VERY GENTLY Break the roots loose before tranplanting. The easier you handle the root ball the better and faster the plant will start spreading roots and growing into its new home.

 

[legalize_freedom]

Thank you everyone! Like I said I always wanted to, but didn't want to hurt anything....Omnigr33n I never transplant in flowering

 

[gmo]

I loosen mine. I'm not necissarily 'careful', but I don't 'rough it up' either. I don't know how better to explain it.

 

[the chef]

Give mine a gentle fluff all around, plant seems to handle transplant better.

 

[gourmet]

For me it depends on the size of the plant when they are transplanted and if the root ball needs it or not.
If I am transplanting a young and small, more fragile seedling, I do not rough up the soil (also I use very loose seedling mix).

 

[DonJones]

I just try to transplant mine BEFORE they are root bound and leave them alone, but now that I'm switching for dirt to Black Gold that is a lot looser I may gently loosen them up.

The old gardening standard was to take a sharp short knife and make vertical light cuts around the perimeter of the root balls, but I haven't been brave enough to try that on my pot yet because it is hard to mess with a $500 or more plant like that.

I do know that one of the biggest dangers in any transplant is getting an air pocket around the root ball or a large part of it.

Good smoking and Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[ozzydiodude]

Don that is a key to a healthy plant the roots should be fully established before switching to flowering.

 

[DonJones]

That is one reason we leave them alone is because we usually move them to the bigger pots and then into the flower room as soon as they look stable.

We tend to try to transplant a couple of days after the last feeding/watering and then just soak the heck out of the bigger pot before letting it drain good, then usually switch it when it is ready to feed the first time after transplanting -- usually 4 to 5 days.

There are probably several things that I could do better in my transplanting/switching but this how I was taught and have only lost one plant during transplant/switch. Even that one I saved by revegging it.

Hopefully that will soon become a skill that won't be so critical fo me because I want to switch to hydro.

 

[dirtyolsouth]

Give mine a gentle fluff all around, plant seems to handle transplant better.

:yeahthat:

Oooooh I like THAT description... Just gently use your finger tips to loosen the soil around the exterior of the root ball... I don't wait until my plants are heavily root bound but I've found that a slight circling of the container with the roots helps the root ball hold together much easier in transplant and that helps keep stress to a minimum. BBfan added some insight on what you need to do if your plants need to be flushed to get rid of as much of bad soil or some soil-borne issue. I've found that giving my plants a watering before transplant so that the soil is moist is important for minimizing stress and IME if you water with a vitamin B fortified nute on the strong side it helps my plants go thru transplanting without skipping a beat, even if the transplant process tends to go a bit on the rough side. Alaska Morbloom Start Up Fert is a great product with a 2-2-2 NPK profile and a healthy dose of vitamin B1 and some other beneficial additives. But any nute with vitamin B1 will help...

Happy Growing!

 

[legalize_freedom]

Thanks again you guys, transplant took place last night into 21 quart trashcans, I picked these up at meijers for a little over 3 bucks each. I usually use grow bags, but since I got rid of all my Afghani with the herm genetics, it freed up a lot of space in my room. I decided to give these girls some room to stretch out both above and below the soil line. They look good as of tonight, leaves still pointing to light "Y" so hopefully they didn't get too stressed. If all goes well I will be cutting clones here this week, and then a week after that if all is healthy I will switch to the 600w and flower. The trash cans work out good, they are rectangular, so they use space better than round buckets, and have handles on both side. I just drilled some drainage holes, and some small holes on the top lip for LST...I wish I had my kids camera, and the skills to post some pics...anyway, thanks for the help

Oh yeah...I did gently fluff the roots....lol Thanks!

 

[BBFan]

Thanks again you guys, transplant took place last night into 21 quart trashcans, I picked these up at meijers for a little over 3 bucks each.
The trash cans work out good, they are rectangular, so they use space better than round buckets, and have handles on both side. I just drilled some drainage holes, and some small holes on the top lip for LST...I wish I had my kids camera, and the skills to post some pics...anyway, thanks for the help

Hey Legalize_Freedom!

Congrats on your successful transplant and good luck with your upcoming cloning.

I bought a few 24 qt cans myself and your absolutely right- tall, deep, and rectangular- plenty of root space (roots still make it out the bottoms of mine) and easy to fit into the grow space nice and tight. Much better IMHO than a similar capacity round container.

Happy Growing, BUD!