Worst Fudgin Luck

[Zell]

Fudge....i just went from 185 mm to about 250mm i think.....is that okay? i hope i diddnt screw em up...now i know what happened to my other plant..it stopped growing when i transfered.. i hate growing....

[gringo]

are you suppose to water after transplanting then leave the roots to look for moisture ? I'v heard overwatering can slow down root production. true or false ?

True.

Most potting mixtures are designed to hold onto a reasonable amount of moisture while allowing the excess to drain through. When growing MJ we tend to mix other additives through the soil to increase the drainage even further... vermiculite, coarse sand etc. The issue with overwatering is essentially that the plant gets "wet feet" ie the roots are exposed to too much water for too long and not many plants like this, especially a weed like MJ. The leaves will eventually turn soggy yellow, then brown, the roots will rot and the potting mix will begin to decompose aswell.

After transplanting, yes you do water immediately and with something like 'plant starter' to get the roots going.... remember, more roots means more nutrient uptake which means happier bigger yielding plant. .....

[Zell]

well i put in sum root growing stuff....hopefully they'll be okay

[Guest weekprik]

try using some nutriboost, superthrive allrounder or something it stops the plant stressing and allows the roots to form correctly.

 

I prefer Nutriboost for hydro and Superthrive for soil.

 

Maybe use some seasol if ya cant get superthrive or nutriboost.

[dirty]

1. you can get a much faster rate of growth out of your plant if you only go up 1 pot size at a time. ie, don't go from your little 4" seedling tube to a massive pot, there are loads of reasons for this I don't really want to get into unless your dead keen. MJ roots grow super fast, if you let them reach the sides of the current pot , then repotting will be much easier: when you pull the plant out, the root ball will stay together, stick it in the next size up  eg from 6" to an 8" and let the roots fill out again, and so on.

2

helo grigo,

can you please explain why continually repotting would be more beneficial than starting in one large pot. why would having a plant max its roots out on the side of a pot and essentially becoming continuously root bound make it grow faster?

 

not a criticism just curious

 

take it easy

[Guest weekprik]

I would of thought that direct sowing would be best? I often just throw the seed in perlite and keep it wet, they all usually come up ok.

 

surely the fine hairs on the roots would get damaged and then stress the plant?

 

[gringo]

OK, basically roots don't like getting too wet, or at least, continually sitting in soggy conditions. Potting mix is generally designed to hold onto moisture, so you don't have to water it constantly. I am not referring to vermiculite or perlite here, which drain so readily you have to water more often, though I have included them as a part of my mix before. By putting a small root system into an ocean of potting mix, combined with overwatering, you are surrounding the plant with wet conditions which the roots will not be able to utilise, rather, there is more chance they will slow and rot. With MJ, this does not necessarily happen, mainly because it is such a tough plant, which is why a lot of people will say their plants do OK.

My point here though, was that by keeping just a few inches around the roots for them to grow into, you get faster root development and better vegetative growth, while minimising the risk of 'wet feet. The reason being... there is only enough potting mix to hold the amount of water that plant can handle during any watering; the excess drains away, the roots absorb, dry out a little and are ready to suck in the next watering.

As for being rootbound, with this method, the plant is being repotted every 2-3 weeks, so there is enough time to fill out the space and hold the soil together. Just before you transplant, rough the outside roots up with your hand, rubbing up and down the sides of the rootball, a bit of a back rub, it gets the roots all pointing outwards, rearing to get stuck into the new mix.

Don't worry too much about repotting during the veg state... its a WEED dude! As long as you get something like 'plant starter' as I mentioned above, mix it in with some liquid fertitliser like 'seaweed concentrate', water, and you're away.

[dirty]

cool man, thanks for the response

 

take it easy