rootbound?

[smokemagnet]

so my plant has been dying in the center and the leaves have been turning yellow and it has been slowly moving up the plant so I have been trying to diagnose my problem it isnt infestation I thought maybe nutrients after a little dabbling with the plant flushing the soil and what not I come to the conclusion its not that either I also no its not a ph problem so i was thinking this morning maybe it is rootbound so I prepared to transplant it when I pulled it up the roots were obviously out of room to grow they were the full size of the pot and beginning to grow up the soil if you get what i'm saying so I put it in a bigger pot and the plant is about ummm a little over a month into flowering do you think my plant is going to make it.....I mean should I be worried

 

[Akornpatch]

Well now that you've transplanted it should help. How big is it and how big of pot was it in and now in? Just be patient and keep an eye on her. Keep us up to speed.

 

[Gorillabuds]

Smoke..give it a week or two to settle into the new pots. I had the exact same problem and it WAS because they were root bound. When I pulled them out of the pots, the roots were curled around the bottom and held onto every bit of dirt in the pot. I switched from a 1 gallon to a 3 gallon bucket and now when I feed them, they don't show anything but thanks for the feedings. Make sure your soil PH is above 6.5. I like keeping it closer to 6.8 but it does fluctuate. Does the soil drain water nicely out of the bottom of your pots? What is your water source? Any idea how hard it is? Tap water and well water are terrible sources unless you filter it.

 

[smokemagnet]

well I did in fact change from a 1 gallon to a 3 gallon or so pot and like you said the roots were coming up the sides and held all the soil together the ph and all that is in the right range last I checked it at least the water I give it has a balanced ph the soil does drain quite well although I am not sure as to exactly what kinda of soil it is but my plants have been doing fine it the soil I am hopin the transplant will help out.........thanks for the input

 

[smokemagnet]

question is there anything I can give any kind of macronutrients or nutrients to help the roots recover from being bound like they were by any chance

 

[Akornpatch]

Feeding with half strength high phosphorus nutes, b-1 vitamin supplements, or any additive with Thrichoderma bacteria.

There's going to be a differential in water pressure between the old and new soil so watch for dry pockets.

 

[highlifeisdalif]

how do you transplant? just have a place ready...but do you pull the stem or like take a knife to the sides of the pot? what if you cut roots?

 

[smokemagnet]

I used a umm gardening tool a little shovel andwent around the sides and then held the stem and the dirt around the stem and turned thepot upside down and pulled it out of the pot and then put it in a bigger pot with some soil already in it then put more soil in the blank spots but that was a few weeks ago and the plants been doing great since

 

[Akornpatch]

how do you transplant? just have a place ready...but do you pull the stem or like take a knife to the sides of the pot? what if you cut roots?

Ideally you don't want to distrub the root ball, but if you do, don't worry too much about it. Use a long knife and run it around the inside of the pot to loosen it up and pull the whole wad out, and gently place it in the new pot, with some soil in the bottom, and cover it with new soil.

 

[highlifeisdalif]

thanks for the help akorn.

 

[Racefan]

You see, one good thing about this site are the different ways the same task is accomplished. I myself massage my rootball to avoid the root staying rootbound in the new container.
A master gardner once told me that when transplanting root bound plants it's best to massge the rootball to beak up the outside of the ball a little bit. When the roots grow out and reach the pot, they turn and begin growing back into the ball. Once they are part of the mass it is hard for them to reverse direction again. It is necessary to give them a little help to get going on the right track again. Use your finger tips to carefully loosen the roots at the base and along the side of the root ball to allow them to grow into the new soil. If the root ball is extremely knotted and tight, it may be advisable to use a sharp knife and cut some of the entangled roots to separate them by making a 1/8 to 1/4 slice down the side of the root ball or gently, but forcibly separate the base of the ball. Use care not to damage any main 'tap' roots. Before repotting, prune off any dead or damaged roots.
Repot into a larger sized container with new quality potting soil and grow as before.
This is my method for transplanting. I'm sure there other methods as well. As long as the desired affect is reached, all are viable.

 

[smokemagnet]

message the rootball I like that lets her know you care, personally I like the stroke her stem to lol tell her she's sexy

 

[highlifeisdalif]

thanks for the alternate point of view...

 

[MadameCrash]

That's why I like the growbags for veg, it's easy to transplant without making a mess everywhere. Sometimes if a rootball is wound really tight I'll massage it like Racefan does. But usually just removing it from the container will break it apart enough to accomplish the same thing...

Peace
MC

 

[M00gle]

When I transplanted my plants I found it easier to soak the pots in water so the soil is completed saturated, remove and then let it sit for a couple of hours. I would then come back and the plant would come out of the container when I flipped it up side down very nicely without loose soil going all over the place.