Whether you are transplanting seedlings, small plants, or large ones, experts recommend doing it in the late afternoon, when the sun and wind have calmed down. Cutting back the foliage will reduce the stress as well as the loss of moisture and nutrients. Also, make sure the new soil is moist and the new pot has good drainage holes — newly transplanted plants should never be left in waterlogged grow medium or standing water. In fact, you should give extra care to the newly transplanted plants and make sure they are getting the right amount of water, sun, and nutrients.
Adding extra perlite to loosen the soil will also help the new plants to adjust to the new environment. When re-potting a cannabis plant, experts recommend using about 3 to 5 times larger containers than the previous ones. Also, keep the young plants protected from pest infestations, as they are susceptible to them.
Using a natural insecticide, like neem oil , has found to be highly effective. Simply use it as a foliar spray once every 2 to 3 weeks until the plants are established at their new location. By entering your email address you agree to receive a daily email newsletter from Plant Care Today.
We'll respect your privacy and unsubscribe at any time. It usually happens because of the change in temperature, soil, or growing conditions. However, the effects of the shock can vary depending on its severity. Transplantation also causes a disturbance in the root system of a plant. If not done carefully, it can cause damage to healthy roots.
Both of these factors also lead to transplant shock. As mentioned above, transplanting is critical to the healthy growth of a cannabis plant. Young cannabis plants should start in a 4-inch or 1-gallon pot. This starting pot should be adequate for a few weeks before transplanting is needed. Again, the first transplanting should occur after the seedling has sprouted its 4th or 5th set of leaves. To transplant:. You may need to transplant your weed plant a second or third time to maximize its growing potential.
Always monitor plants for symptoms of distress or overcrowded roots. To do so, follow the steps above, and make sure the new container is at least twice as big as the old one, if not bigger. Keep in mind that large plants may require stakes or other support to avoid structural damage after transplanting. Buy marijuana seeds on Leafly. By submitting this form, you will be subscribed to news and promotional emails from Leafly and you agree to Leafly's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
You can unsubscribe from Leafly email messages anytime. Jump to a section. What is transplanting cannabis? They will begin to flower on their own schedule and if they are stunted then there is no time to recover.
This makes it particularly important to follow a transplant strategy when growing auto-flowers. There is a persistent myth in the cannabis community which argues that auto-flowers should not be transplanted. This myth is based on the false premise that transplanting leads to transplant shock and slows plants down.
The reality is that we use a transplant strategy in horticulture because it produces faster and better growth. Auto-flowering cannabis plants are not some unique exception to this rule.
Like virtually all other potted plants, auto-flowers grow faster and better using a transplant strategy. I recommend a three-stage transplanting strategy for most cannabis plants in soil and coco. The initial seedling container is small to allow the young plant to quickly develop a root ball mass.
The second stage allows the roots to expand as the plant grows, but only a little. Once the roots colonize the second container, the plants are ready to be potted-up into their final container. They will move into their final containers with a significant root ball mass which will be their foundation for healthy and vigorous growth through the remainder of vegetation and flowering. You should consider the material and size of the container when choosing pots for your cannabis transplant strategy.
The material of the container will affect the plant growth and the difficulty of the transplant process. The pot size that you should choose as you pot up is determined largely by the medium that you use. Plants growing in coco do better in a smaller second container than plants growing in soil.
Choosing the best containers for transplanting ensures the easiest transplant process and the best plant growth. I prefer fabric pots or air-pots for the plants at every stage. These containers offer the best drainage and aeration. This helps maintain the best air to water ratio, which promotes the best root growth.
Many growers are concerned with the difficulty of transplanting out of fabric pots. However, in practice, they can be just as easy if not easier than transplanting from plastic. I offer a step-by-step transplanting guide below. Coco coir offers roots an ideal growing environment with very little resistance.
As a result, roots grow very quickly during early life. If the roots have a lot of room to expand into, they will spread out quickly. That may sound great, but it is not ideal for developing the best root mass. In order to develop a denser root mass, it is beneficial to go through 3 steps rather than directly from a seedling pot to a final container.
The second step should be relatively small to prevent run-away roots and develop better root density. Container size does not limit the plant size when the medium is coco. Instead, the ideal final container size in coco depends on your watering frequency. Three-gallon final containers are best if you practice high-frequency fertigation with an automatic watering system. Five or seven-gallon final containers are better for hand-watering.
Plants in soil should start in the same small seedling containers that coco growers use. However, soil offers less root space than coco, so as they mature the plants benefit from larger pot sizes.
The second step for a soil transplant strategy should be two to three gallons. This gives the plant room to expand its roots but is small enough that it will not lead to over-watering issues. Container size limits the final plant size when the medium is soil.
Therefore, the best final container size depends on the size of the plants. Most indoor soil growers do well with five, seven or ten-gallon final containers. When choosing final containers the media needs to be considered. For coco grows the first concern is drainage. Smaller containers drain better, but require more frequent watering.
In most coco grows, 3 or 5-gallon final containers are best. For soil grows, root space is more limited, so larger pots are required for larger plants.
We recommend gallon final containers for soil. For both coco and soil we recommend either Air-pots or fabric pots because they drain well and create the best environment for roots. The best time to transplant cannabis plants into a larger container is when their roots have established a root mass in the current container. If you transplant the plants too quickly then it eliminates the advantage of the transplant strategy.
Conversely if you transplant too late it can slow growth, which also reduces the advantage of transplanting. Although the roots are the key, you can estimate the best time to transplant by observing the above ground growth.
I recommend starting seeds in a germination media such as Jiffy Pellets. When the root emerges from the jiffy pellet, it can be transferred to the seedling pot with soil or coco. Healthy plants will fully colonize a one-pint container by the time they have grown 3 true nodes.
This will take about a week in coco and somewhat longer in soil. The roots may emerge from the pot earlier than this, particularly when using coco in the fabric seedling pots. That is not a problem and it is not a sign that you should transplant earlier. The roots may come out the bottom, but that does not mean they have colonized the full volume of the container. When the plant has three nodes it is safe to pot-up to the second container.
The second step in the transplant strategy is important to nurture the growing roots and develop the best root mass. Although the pot sizes are different for soil and coco, the general rule about when to transplant is the same.
Plants should at least double in size in their second container before potting-up. If a plant has three nodes when it comes into the second container, then it should have six or seven before you pot up. When plants are growing very well this may take less than a week. The actual practice of transplanting is straight forward and easy to master. It should not intimidate growers and does not need to be traumatic for the plants. Different media and different containers must be handled differently, but the basic principles are largely the same.
Here, I provide a step-by-step guide to transplanting cannabis. The first task is to prepare the new media in the new container. The goal is to create a medium with the same nutrients, Electrical Conductivity EC , and pH as the plants already experience. Depending on the media, this may be as simple as filling the pot and getting it wet or it may require pre-fertilization and measurements.
Fill the pot with the new media but leave some space for the transplant. The new media should be thoroughly saturated at the time of transplant. If you are fertigating your plants adding fertilizers to the irrigation water , then the new media should be saturated with the same nutrient solution that the plants have been receiving. When you saturate the new media, you should collect some of the excess that runs-off and measure the EC.
Coco that comes straight from the buffering process is often too high in EC for the plants. It is common to get new soil that is too high in EC as well.
If the EC reading is outside the current range for the plant, then continue to flush the new media until the run-off EC is in range.
Once the media is saturated and the EC is confirmed then it is time to make a hole to receive the plant. I usually dig out the hole with my hands and push the media into the edges of the pot. Be sure to make the hole larger than the current pot. You can eyeball this or actually lower the plant into the hole while it is still in its container to judge the size.
In soil, I recommend to allow the plant to dry out somewhat prior to transplanting. This can help to reduce root damage and ease the transition to the new media. However, I do not advise this in coco. Coco should always stay wet and being wet helps the coco to stick together better during the transplant process. Because of this, I fertigate my plants in coco immediately before transplanting them. Before attempting to remove the old container, it helps to separate it from the plant and medium.
In most containers you should be able to slide a butter knife, or other similar tool, around the inside edge of the pot. If you are growing in fabric pots, you may cut through several roots while doing this. It is not a problem to cut these peripheral roots.
The standard procedure to remove the old container involves flipping the plant upside down momentarily. Simply cover the top of the media with your hand as best as you can. Then flip the plant over and pull the pot off the media. Plastic pots will come off easily, but fabric pots may need to be worked off the media with some caution. The easiest way to remove fabric pots is to use scissors and cut them. The fabric seedling bags are very cheap, so I use scissors and cut the bottom out of the bag.
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