root bound in hydro?

[lovethestuff]

I believe one of my plants is root bound, the plant has stopped growing and roots are showing at the bottom of pot. I am growing hydro in an ebb n flow, my question, is there a certain way I should transplant into a bigger pot? The pot I am using now are small I will most likely go 4x the size of what I am currently using. Any help would be appreciated Thanks...

 

[Hydroguy]

I believe one of my plants is root bound, the plant has stopped growing and roots are showing at the bottom of pot. I am growing hydro in an ebb n flow, my question, is there a certain way I should transplant into a bigger pot? The pot I am using now are small I will most likely go 4x the size of what I am currently using. Any help would be appreciated Thanks...

Hi,

Its difficult but not impossible to change during a hydro grow,, what medium are you using in your pots. (how old are your plants)
Future reference in hydro you should start your plants off in the same pots you wish to finish the grow in.

Carefully remove half your medium, carefully check your "wiggle room" and gently remove as much medium as you can, have bigger pot ready with small amount of medium in it about one inch, remove plant, don;t worry if some of your old medium is still attached thats all good, place plants root try not to touch them, gently on top of new medium, don;t worry if they kinda fold in they will sort themselves out. first 3 days just give ph'd water and watch carefully for negative reaction, if so give them some rooting nutes. Best of luck it may set you back a week or so but generally you will have sucess.

peace

 

[lovethestuff]

I am using hydrotron clay grow rocks, my pots size is very small 6x6x7 " I have no idea y I went so small...The plant is just over 3 weeks and ready to go into flower within a week. Can I just cut the bottom of the pot out and place that pot into a larger one??? I am of course guessing by what I have read on this site that the plant is root bound growth has stopped and roots are showing out the bottom of the pot. Thanks again..

 

[Hydroguy]

Yeah, even better i was working on the basis of keep your pots in one piece, but thats fine too and will be less hassle and stress on the plant. Just make sure to let some not too much of the pebbles drop out of the bottom of the samll pot before placing in larger one, this will allow some more grow room for roots and then they should ease into extra space in bucket.

As always after any change keep a close eye on them for a few days.
hydro is a very forgiving system, always eyre on the side of caustion, better too little then too much of anything.

peace and good luck

 

[lovethestuff]

Thanks for the quick response. I'll let ya know how it works out...

 

[aero420]

I had the same problem before. If you have an extra set of hands, cut the old pot like you said and have the extra person add medium as you lower the plant into its new home, to try to minimize folding the roots. But like Hydroguy said, they will sort themselves out, just the less stress during veg, the better.

 

[PitViper]

just put the whole thing into a 8" net pot....add extra hydroton and your gold
this is rootbound...LOL

 

[aero420]

Is that Hydroten stone I see in there?

Thats awesome! How old is she?

 

[PitViper]

Is that Hydroten stone I see in there?

Thats awesome! How old is she?

thats bout 110 days from seed
I started them in 6" net pots in MegaGardens (flood table) and just transplant them into 2 gallon Ebb buckets

 

[aero420]

Looks nice and healthy

 

[lovethestuff]

I transplanted 3 one three Weeks into veg and two others two weeks into veg. The two smaller ones look good, the lager one leaf tips are curling(up and down). Is that just from shock most likely? I cut the bottom out of the old pot and placed it into the new one. Roots looked good and white...

 

[PitViper]

I transplanted 3 one three Weeks into veg and two others two weeks into veg. The two smaller ones look good, the lager one leaf tips are curling(up and down). Is that just from shock most likely? I cut the bottom out of the old pot and placed it into the new one. Roots looked good and white...

Im curious...isnt your pot a net pot with holes in the bottom already?

 

[aero420]

Did you slip the old net pot inside the new? If so, it might be worth the effort to cut the rest of the way up two sides and give her some room to spread out, in my opinion.
Either way, what you did already will certainly help.

Good Growing

 

[lovethestuff]

No, not net pots, square pots 5x5x7", I transfered them into 2 gal. Not as many roots as your pit.

 

[lovethestuff]

The plant might not have been root bound, I was just assuming it was but what i have read, either way I already transfer them..

 

[PitViper]

This is a square pot w/o holes in the bottom or sides? No doubt you have root-bound. Sounds like you used then wrong type of pot for hydro

 

[lovethestuff]

Square pot with holes in the bottom. I am growing in an ebb n flow 3' x 3'

 

[aero420]

I have never grown in ebb/flow style before so I am just thinking out loud here:

I think regular black nursery pots may not fill and drain as well as net pots, or no pots at all. My thought is for the nutrient to work into the soil, it has to displace the air first. I think the net pots would allow this to happen more efficiently. Also, I think it would flush your media more effectively on the drain in net pots too. I have seen several ebb and flow tables with plants in 6 x 6 rockwool cubes, just sitting on the table, no pots at all.

But, like I said, ebb and flow is something I have only seen from afar, never done my self.

Good Luck with your grow

 

[Nerdy Hippie]

Just wondering about how much root space a 3ft plant should have? Does it change from setup to setup?

 

[PitViper]

I think you can easily support 6 plants on that tray....roots will be fine...can you show me a pic and Ill solve your question