Transplant Question

[MCIce]

I’ve been having a lot of issues with my soil since the beginning.
I used a combination of Happy Frog and Gaia Living Soil, unfortunately I didn’t add perlite and am seriously regretting that oversight.
After I water, my soil can take up to a week to dry. I’ve been having a lot of issues because of over watering. The plants are under 900W Led lights and in plastic pots. I have since drilled dozens of holes in the sides of the pots and added a second fan to blow towards those holes. The humidity is 50% and temp is 23 - 24 Celsius.
I’m 6 weeks in Veg and planned on switching to flower on January 1st.
My question is, has anybody ever repotted at this stage? I was thinking of going with smart pots and adding perlite to fresh soil, but am concerned about damaging the root system and shocking the plants or should I just finish this grow and start my next grow with better pots and soil?

Thanks

 

[Bugeye]

You can transplant them. You can push back your flip date if you are less than gentle with them, otherwise will be fine.

 

[Chip Green]

In my opinion.
Transplant shock is one of those "terms" that gets tossed around, and gains WAY too much respect from most growers. Out of sheer, unsubstantiated, anecdotal evidence, many new growers are terrified of repotting plants, of any size.
I, personally, THUMB MY NOSE, at the fear of transplanting, as I have yet to experience a negative consequence from doing so.
Ever. Not one time.

 

[Koheleth]

If you don't care if you destroy the containers, there's almost no fear in transplanting, as far as I'm concerned. I do it just like I do the solo cups. Make a couple of cuts and peel the container away. You don't have to disturb the roots at all, but you might wanna loosen 'em up a bit if they're seriously root bound.

 

[XipXipXoom]

lol with the holes and the fan. But yeah, overwatering is one step in the learning curve we all go through. You have to have overwatered soil plants before to fully appreciate the un-over-waterable 100% perlite hempy bucket.

As for wether to transplant, you didnt give us your container size. need that bit.

 

[MCIce]

They’re in 5 gallon pots right now.
I think I will repot them. It’s been almost a week since I last watered, the top inch or so is dry, but after that the soil is wet and the pots still weigh a ton.
Thanks for the replies

 

[Koheleth]

They’re in 5 gallon pots right now.
I think I will repot them. It’s been almost a week since I last watered, the top inch or so is dry, but after that the soil is wet and the pots still weigh a ton.
Thanks for the replies

True you wanna add extra perlite, but it should contain some already. How much water are you giving how many plants?

 

[MCIce]

True you wanna add extra perlite, but it should contain some already. How much water are you giving how many plants?

I was giving 1 Gallon per 5 gallon pot

 

[MCIce]

Any recommendations on the best way to transplant? I want to remove as much of the old soil as possible before placing them in fresh soil without damaging them.

 

[Koheleth]

I was giving 1 Gallon per 5 gallon pot

Well, I don't know, man, that seems like an excessive amount of water to me. I mean, I know they say to water until you see so much runoff. But all I am sure of is what works for me, and I'm using about a gallon on 4 plants every two-three days at their peak. I think of it like this, and I could be wrong, but I just want to be sure and wet their roots (there's no need in watering where there isn't roots) and let them drink, and then I want them to be pretty thirsty again in 2-3 days. And, of course, I spritz them with a water bottle sometimes.

 

[Boatguy]

Any recommendations on the best way to transplant? I want to remove as much of the old soil as possible before placing them in fresh soil without damaging them.

Let the soil get as dry as possible before repotting. Much easier to remove soil without damaging the roots if the dirt is dry.
Alittle root pruning wont hurt either, but may slow them down for a bit.

 

[Jimdamick]

Any recommendations on the best way to transplant? I want to remove as much of the old soil as possible before placing them in fresh soil without damaging them.

I would recommend not to transplant, simply stop your excessive watering.
Transplanting from a 5 gallon container into another at 6 weeks (too long for a veg, 5 weeks max) is going to be a big pain in the ass, and really do your plants no good.(How big are they?)
Simply stop watering so much, a plant actually doesn't require a lot of moisture to thrive and next time amend your soil so it's a 60% soil/40% Perlite mix at the start.
It's a bad thing to overwater, remember to just keep the soil moist, especially in a 5 gal pot, because they hold a LOT of moisture.
Good luck

 

[Bugeye]

Let the soil get as dry as possible before repotting. Much easier to remove soil without damaging the roots if the dirt is dry.
Alittle root pruning wont hurt either, but may slow them down for a bit.

I disagree. A little moisture in the pot helps everything bind together. I water 24 hours before I transplant and have an easy time of it. Transplanting bone dry works if you are root bound, but otherwise gets messy.

 

[Bugeye]

Any recommendations on the best way to transplant? I want to remove as much of the old soil as possible before placing them in fresh soil without damaging them.

Pulling off old dirt might sound good, but really no good way to do it. You're pretty stuck with what you have but will know better next time.

 

[MCIce]

Thanks for all the replies. I’ve decided to let everything dry out completely and start waterering less amounts. I will keep going with what I have and when I start my next grow I will correct all the soil/pot issues I’ve had.

Thanks again

 

[vostok]

I’ve been having a lot of issues with my soil since the beginning.
I used a combination of Happy Frog and Gaia Living Soil, unfortunately I didn’t add perlite and am seriously regretting that oversight.
After I water, my soil can take up to a week to dry. I’ve been having a lot of issues because of over watering. The plants are under 900W Led lights and in plastic pots. I have since drilled dozens of holes in the sides of the pots and added a second fan to blow towards those holes. The humidity is 50% and temp is 23 - 24 Celsius.
I’m 6 weeks in Veg and planned on switching to flower on January 1st.
My question is, has anybody ever repotted at this stage? I was thinking of going with smart pots and adding perlite to fresh soil, but am concerned about damaging the root system and shocking the plants or should I just finish this grow and start my next grow with better pots and soil?

Thanks

seems the soil you have has to much peat or moss as these are in veg you are in a good position

to wash that soil outta the rootzone and reinsert fresh(IMO fox farm ocean forest)

and 25% perlite water well do at days end so they recover over night

wait 7 days before the flip tho to ensure all is good

good luck