New Grower To Transplant or to Stack?

[lykaboss]

I was just pondering this... The whole point of the stacking method is to get the plant started before you put into your hot mix (most on here know this). I use the stacking method myself the roots grow down into the hot soil. Do you think there would be a difference between transplanting from say a party cup into the hot mix.. or just cutting the bottom out and letting the roots grow into it?


THe reason i bring this up is because of the sides of the cup... With stacking i would think when the roots hit the sides of the cup they can't go further out so it grows down and out below the cup... If you were to transplant the roots that were hitting the sides of the cup with grow further out into the hot soil... THus increasing the root mass = more yield? I don't know if this is to be fact would like to see the more seasoned growers chime in

 

[elijah357]

Great question!!! Interested to hear the seasoned vets chime in here. It was my understanding that the stack method was used to prevent transplant shock. But I'm just learning? I've never heard of people stacking photos, I've ALWAYS just transplantated them, for the very reason you've mentioned ...root mass.

 

[Muddy]

I mostly grow in 3 gallon pots and by the time I harvest my pots are full of roots, one big root ball. Autos have a tap root so like deep pots. I only see a benefit to having more room for it to grow. I haven't tried tiered planting yet but am planning to on my next grow. I'm sure I'll still end up with a pot full of roots and will have avoided any possibility of transplants shock. Transplant shock has never been an issue for me as I've growing a long time. But we have seen differences in plants sown directly into their final pots compared to those transplanted, especially with less experienced growers. So to my way of thinking, anything that bypasses the need to transplant is certainly worth exploring.