My Roots are showing !

[Ken Oath]

Hey all.

I need some advice on the size of my pots.At the moment, I have 2 of my plants in pots which are 250 mm across the top, 190mm across the bottom and 225mm deep.They are only 2 weeks old today (from seed).I stared them in small seedling pots and a week ago, I transplanted them into these larger pots.Now, here`s my problem : I have just noticed some roots coming out the drainage holes at the bottom of the pots.Surely this means I have to get them in bigger pots ASAP - right? ....If so, what size pots should I put them into?

I want them to grow as fast and as much as possible, obviously.

I suspected that I may need to put them into larger pots at some stage but I didn`t expect to be doing it again quite so soon.

What size containers will my plants need to be in to continue thriving through `til harvest time?

Unfortunately, I don`t have a digital camera, so posting a pic is impossible at the moment.

Any input would be much appreciated.Thanx in advance.

[Tom]

I will assume you are using soil here and growing 120cm +, if not please correct me.

 

The roots are just following the water but 250mm is a bit small for a large plant to grow in so you will need to transplant to a larger pot soon anyway, I always used 20 litre square tubs in my soil growing days (20 years back). I used those square 25 litre plastic drums with the top cut off and holes in the bottom then poured in a bag of good quality potting mix and stuck a seed in the middle and watched it grow to maturity without the need to transplant.

 

Some of the soil growing members will give you a bit more information.

 

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[Ken Oath]

Tom,

Thanks for the reply.

I guess I could have left a little more info:

I`m actually using `cocopeat` as my medium. I`ve had the (400w. Son T Agro) lamp on 24 hours a day.My lamp is set up horizontally in a street light reflector.

I plan on growing the plants to about 4 - 5(+) feet high - At the moment they are less than 1 foot (from the cocopeat) .This is why I was surprised to see the roots already.(they are pretty bushy, though.

Is this an urgent situation? should they go into larger pots immediately , or will sometime in the next day or two be soon enough without causing stress?

Any input appreciated.Cheers.

[Tom]

Yeah, re-pot them now, you are going to tear a few roots but they will re-grow, I use 300mm square self watering pots ($10.95 in Kmart) and perlite/vermiculite media for my hydro and grow about the same height as you, the roots still get into the tray/reservoir but as the plants don't need to be transplanted that’s ok.

 

You can see how much happier the plants are in the square pots in this picture, I only use the square ones now.

 

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