You can transplant autos. Maybe there is a strain or two that won't like it, but that's true of a ( very ) few photos too. I spent most of a year experimenting with this and I have since transplanted likely well over 100 plants. ONE of was damaged in transplant because I failed to water the pot before transplanting. You always want the soil moist, it makes it cling together better, and helped the rootball/soil slide from the pot easier.
The key I have found is starter pot size and length of time in that pot. I use yogurt and or cottage cheese containers, sometimes one quart pots also. They are both an good size. Smaller pots than this mean a smaller starting rootball for the transplant, and would need to be transplanted sooner to prevent becoming root bound. You can go from this size pot to any size larger. I've planted from these directly into 20 gallon pots with sucess.
Time is the second key. 7-10 day as a guideline, your plant as the definitive indicator. When your seedlings leaves are as wide or just slightly wider than the pot it is in, its time to transplant. This is when the roots have reached the bottom of the pot, but haven't or just started, circling the pot. This is the prime time to trasnsplant. EVERY transplant that I have successfully transplanted, has shown excellent growth, within 24 hours. Some within as little as 8 hours! I'm talking a 1/2" of growth, growth you can see! No stalling for a couple days, no damaged roots.
And I messed up a transplant the other day. My soil was 50/50 coco and soil. The soil was there mostly for the micro life and to ":glue" the coco together. But when it get a bit dry, it still crumbles. I lost 1/2 the root mass! Yet, 4 days later, she has shown noticeable growth again. I doubt she'll catch up to the others, but I've no doubt, she'll finish well.
To transplant:
water lightly first. wait 5 minutes for the soil to absorb the water.
Protect the plant with your hand and flip the pot upside down. The pots should be the soft, commercial pots, or containers like mine. Why? The trick with these to getting the plant out of the pot is, press the bottom of the pot like it was a button.Press until you feel the rootball move slightly. Lift the POT off the soil, not the other way around. This disturbs the soil the least.. Do this over top of the pot you will transplant into. This keeps the distance you move the plant to a minimum. Place it gently into the pot. I make a hollow in the pot soil, the size of the rootball before transplanting. I set the plant into the hole. I push the soil/medium at the sides of the pot against the root ball, not try to fill the hole. This gets the rootball enclosed in soil/medium with no air pockets in it. Poor plant placement is the biggest cause of transplant issues, not root damage! Just like with clones, if there's an airspace at the rootball, disease will happen.
After you pack soil/medium around the rootball, finish filling the pot. Water with ph'd water for your environment, soil or coco. I use a mild nutrient solution in coco, 250-300 ppms. Soil needs nothing but good water.
This is the next morning
The key I have found is starter pot size and length of time in that pot. I use yogurt and or cottage cheese containers, sometimes one quart pots also. They are both an good size. Smaller pots than this mean a smaller starting rootball for the transplant, and would need to be transplanted sooner to prevent becoming root bound. You can go from this size pot to any size larger. I've planted from these directly into 20 gallon pots with sucess.
Time is the second key. 7-10 day as a guideline, your plant as the definitive indicator. When your seedlings leaves are as wide or just slightly wider than the pot it is in, its time to transplant. This is when the roots have reached the bottom of the pot, but haven't or just started, circling the pot. This is the prime time to trasnsplant. EVERY transplant that I have successfully transplanted, has shown excellent growth, within 24 hours. Some within as little as 8 hours! I'm talking a 1/2" of growth, growth you can see! No stalling for a couple days, no damaged roots.
And I messed up a transplant the other day. My soil was 50/50 coco and soil. The soil was there mostly for the micro life and to ":glue" the coco together. But when it get a bit dry, it still crumbles. I lost 1/2 the root mass! Yet, 4 days later, she has shown noticeable growth again. I doubt she'll catch up to the others, but I've no doubt, she'll finish well.
To transplant:
water lightly first. wait 5 minutes for the soil to absorb the water.
Protect the plant with your hand and flip the pot upside down. The pots should be the soft, commercial pots, or containers like mine. Why? The trick with these to getting the plant out of the pot is, press the bottom of the pot like it was a button.Press until you feel the rootball move slightly. Lift the POT off the soil, not the other way around. This disturbs the soil the least.. Do this over top of the pot you will transplant into. This keeps the distance you move the plant to a minimum. Place it gently into the pot. I make a hollow in the pot soil, the size of the rootball before transplanting. I set the plant into the hole. I push the soil/medium at the sides of the pot against the root ball, not try to fill the hole. This gets the rootball enclosed in soil/medium with no air pockets in it. Poor plant placement is the biggest cause of transplant issues, not root damage! Just like with clones, if there's an airspace at the rootball, disease will happen.
After you pack soil/medium around the rootball, finish filling the pot. Water with ph'd water for your environment, soil or coco. I use a mild nutrient solution in coco, 250-300 ppms. Soil needs nothing but good water.
This is the next morning
