S
Scythe
- 10
- 0
I'm growing in soil (first timer, first harvest a few weeks away), and I read that people are transplanting only once, going from a seed/clone starter pot (or rootcube, etc.) direct to the big 2, 3, or 5-gallon pot that the plant will be in for the rest of its life.
I did this, but I think it was a mistake. Common horticultural wisdom dictates that you transplant into pots only a little bigger than previous. (Anyone know why?) They say if you do bigger, the plant suffers, and now I might tend to agree.
Reasons:
1. I was afraid to flush if I over-fertilized, cuz water would sit on the bottom where there are no roots yet FOREVER, inviting mold and other problems.
2. I worried about salt buildup, cuz if fertilizer is getting to a place there aren't roots yet, won't it build up there?
3. This is a minor point, but it was harder to judge how much water a plant was using. In a small pot, I could feel the pot get lighter and lighter until 1-3 days later, it was time to water again. With a bigger pot, they just stayed heavy and wet for a long time (which could be good if I need to go away for a week, though).
4. I wondered if such a big pot with such a long time between waterings would mess up the fertilization schedule. I read that at 0.8 EC (400 ppm) you should expect to fertilizer maybe every 7-10 days. But is that for when you might've watered (and therefore flushed a bit) between? Information on the topic of fertilization seems very scarce. Any help?
I guess that's about it, so any advice on container size, big vs. small in terms of transplant stress vs. other problems will be greatly appreciated! Next grow, I'm going to do that many transplant thing unless I hear otherwise.
Thanks!
I did this, but I think it was a mistake. Common horticultural wisdom dictates that you transplant into pots only a little bigger than previous. (Anyone know why?) They say if you do bigger, the plant suffers, and now I might tend to agree.
Reasons:
1. I was afraid to flush if I over-fertilized, cuz water would sit on the bottom where there are no roots yet FOREVER, inviting mold and other problems.
2. I worried about salt buildup, cuz if fertilizer is getting to a place there aren't roots yet, won't it build up there?
3. This is a minor point, but it was harder to judge how much water a plant was using. In a small pot, I could feel the pot get lighter and lighter until 1-3 days later, it was time to water again. With a bigger pot, they just stayed heavy and wet for a long time (which could be good if I need to go away for a week, though).
4. I wondered if such a big pot with such a long time between waterings would mess up the fertilization schedule. I read that at 0.8 EC (400 ppm) you should expect to fertilizer maybe every 7-10 days. But is that for when you might've watered (and therefore flushed a bit) between? Information on the topic of fertilization seems very scarce. Any help?
I guess that's about it, so any advice on container size, big vs. small in terms of transplant stress vs. other problems will be greatly appreciated! Next grow, I'm going to do that many transplant thing unless I hear otherwise.
Thanks!