Transplanting Autos Causes Stress. Myth?

[pop22]

The next time I transplant, I'll take before and after pics. First at transplant the next 24 hours later. I'll take measurements of the canopy width, before and after. I expect to see measurable growth in 24hrs. I'll repeat, I've transplanted hundreds of auto across many strains, successfully, no stunting, no waiting 10 days for them to start growing again. And my biggest plants have all been transplants. Hell I'll document for the next 6 months if that's what it takes to make my point. Done right, transplants work just as well as seed to final pot. My anecdotal evaluation says transplants can be larger plants because transplanting causes sudden, explosive new root growth when done right. I wish I could gather data from other growers using this or similar techniques with the same results, but this is the best I've got for now. But without any doubt, the "you can't transplant autos" is a total and busted myth

 

[Waira]

. ..... yet another one of those things that comes down to simply this: done right, it's just fine,.. done wrong, and it's not!
Transplanting is all about the initial pot size, the size the plant is allowed to get to without any sort of cramping or moved too soon/small and the root ball hasn't had time to make a cohesive structure to stay together when it's removed,... and most important of all, minimal disruption/damage to the roots! This does require some experience to learn and gauge things like plant size vs. pot size and the kind of root density therein, but some general guidelines can take a lot of guesswork out of it...
I wrote this tutorial up a couple months ago, and if you look at the plant size (auto, photo, doesn't matter here) and the pot size, note that even that little plant still working on it's 3rd set of true leaves had sent roots all the way to the bottom already, and was just big enough to do this properly...
The general trend from many growers' inputs is that auto's tend to start slower vs. photo's, and work the roots more early on all things being equal,... dig around in my threads and you can see how I did transplants with my fem'ed photo's which I usually start in 1gal pots; I let them get about 10" give or take, before moving up to final pots,... -- A low trauma way to transplant

 

[Skram0]

. ..... yet another one of those things that comes down to simply this: done right, it's just fine,.. done wrong, and it's not!
Transplanting is all about the initial pot size, the size the plant is allowed to get to without any sort of cramping or moved too soon/small and the root ball hasn't had time to make a cohesive structure to stay together when it's removed,... and most important of all, minimal disruption/damage to the roots! This does require some experience to learn and gauge things like plant size vs. pot size and the kind of root density therein, but some general guidelines can take a lot of guesswork out of it...
I wrote this up a couple months ago, and if you look at the plant size (auto, photo, doesn't matter here) and the pot size, note that even that little plant still working on it's 3rd set of true leaves had sent roots all the way to the bottom already, and was just big enough to do this properly...
The general trend from many growers' inputs is that auto's tend to start slower vs. photo's, and work the roots more early on all things being equal,... dig around in my threads and you can see how I did transplants with my fem'ed photo's which I usually start in 1gal pots; I let them get about 10" give or take, before moving up to final pots,... -- A low trauma way to transplant

Holy shit. Never saw that post. I just thought of this method as I was typing and haven't thought of it before. Seems like the best way for least trauma. Pimp.

 

[SevenPoints]

Great minds think alike

 

[Hybrid]

I am now about to test a triple cup method

 

[Mark87]

I've transplanted hundreds of autos with a 99% sucess ratio. The key is timing and a container that the rootball will easily slide out of. Many on the commercial pots suck, dirt and root stick to the sides. The good quality, round, commercial pots are good, best is yogurt or cottage cheese containers. The plastic is soft and the rootball slips out . I water the plant and wait 5 minutes or so, until the water is absorbed thoroughly. slip the plant between your fingers and flip the pot upside down. With the soft containers, press the bottom like it was a button, to start the rootball moving. Lift the pot off the rootball. Move the plant to its new home! Never transplant a dry pot.

An observation I've made and confirmed is, in a container of 24 to 32oz. a sprouted plant will have a canopy as wide as the container, when the roots first touch bottom, usually 7-10 days. You transplant RIGHT THEN, while there is no, to minimal circling. I guarantee that, if you don't break the rootball more than minimally, you'll see growth in 12-24 hours. No stalling, no stunting.

great info growbro pop!! I actually was myth busting this throughout the year this year 2018 and I transplanted half of every strain of autos .....and if anybody followed the outdoor grow this year I planted around 50 autos this year so about 25 or so were transplanted and out off all of em only one did not grow within 12-24 hrs and that was my bad as I had broken a few roots during the transplant. So from what I've seen they are very transplantable just need to be careful..

 

[soilz]

My transplants do better if they are a bit dry when I transplant. The root ball holds together better.

Somewhat late here, but soil "stickiness" will depend upon your soil mix. More clays and silts generally means more cohesiveness (depending on the parent material and organic content). Larger particle sizes, like bark, mulch, sticks, peat, and coir tend to be less cohesive with over saturation.

Other variables that can lend to root balls holding together are the amount of root mass present during transplant, and the hydrostatic potential of the varying constituents within the soil, or growing medium. The shape of the container and how your mineral and organic materials interact with the inner surface of that container could also potentially effect removal and transplant.

If you time it right with whatever plants you are growing, and whichever medium you are using, you should be able to avoid major transplant shock if you are diligent and careful.

 

[feralWizard]

his WON'T work with coco, etc, you must plant directly into the medium your using.

That's just not true read dr.mj Coco's transplant guide

 

[SOOTDAWG]

That's just not true read dr.mj Coco's transplant guide

I transplant all my autos. I use coco/perlite.......As long as you’re transplanting into the same medium you germinate it into you should have no problem

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

I have not grown anywhere near the thousands of vegetables and cutting flowers I have grown compared to cannabis. So the bulk 99.9% of my experience comes from veggies. First to the market wins - period. 30% of your yearly profit comes from the first two weeks of any harvest. If your tomatoes are 3 weeks behind the other growers in your area you lose that premium. I use tomatoes as an example but it applies to all veggies and flowers. So for that reason most crops are started in a green house to give you as much a head start as possible. They are then transplanted to the field when the weather will allow. Many crops were also followed with a seed planting directly in the field to extend the season. Now there may be many reasons and this is just observation on my part but the seeds never transplanted universally produced more and better fruit. Also I am sure a home cannabis grower will be considerably kinder to his seedlings than we were. We had several hundred plants to move every day.

I personally believe if you can plant the seed where it will grow its entire time you will get a better chance at a better plant.