Bit of trouble transplanting

I've got 4 photoperiods going at the moment. All about 6 weeks. All 4 are in 3 litre plastic pots since germination. 3 transplanted relatively fine. However, the 3 were a different breed than this 4th. The 4th has always been a bit smaller than the others. This 4th just refuses to come out of the pot. The plastic of the pot is pretty hard so squeezing around it is not really helping out. I see roots poking out of the drain holes as well. But when I go to flip it and let it slide out like the others, it simply won't. I didn't want to cause it anymore stress after trying a few times so I watered it and let it be until I could hopefully find some advice on some reliable strategies for getting her out. Should I wait longer for a stronger root system, water before I try to get her out or wait for the soil to dry etc? I see differing opinions on that matter. The other 3 had decent root systems but we're in no way rootbound. Included some pictures for a general idea of size. Thanks in advance.

Could run a butter knife around the pot andoutter edge soil to get it to loosen it's grip

MiselfCare said:

Could run a butter knife around the pot andoutter edge soil to get it to loosen it's grip

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Great idea! Thank ya

Let it get bone dry then push it down on something like a screwdriver or anything that you can use on the bottom of the pot. It'll come out like a cake.

Green Refuge said:

Let it get bone dry then push it down on something like a screwdriver or anything that you can use on the bottom of the pot. It'll come out like a cake.

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Just wondering what you mean by push it down on something like a screwdriv er? The plastic pot it is is in is pretty hard. The bottom of it is super hard. The roots of the 3 I took out didn't even have half the roots of the one in your picture, and they were bigger than this girl. Think I should let her grow more roots? When I flip it, it feels like only the top half of the soil wants to come out if ya know what I mean

screwdriver may not have been the best idea, the handle of a wooden kitchen spoon may well serve you better and you wont need to worry about damaging it, not that a screwdriver would harm it, there tough buggers lol

yes, wait till they fill out, just pull the up by the base of the stem and keep an eye on the root system. you woll easily see when there filled out to the edge that way

go go kid said:

yes, wait till they fill out, just pull the up by the base of the stem and keep an eye on the root system. you woll easily see when there filled out to the edge that way

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Gotcha. Gonna wait a little while for the roots to dig in more. Don't think they are totally formed yet. So what do you mean by pushing it down on a wooden kitchen spoon? If you don't mind explaining the process lol. Like shoving the handle through the drain holes to break up the root grip at the bottom? Thanks again for the help!

no, you poke the handle of the spoon into one of the drain holes and gently push down onto it, pushing out the soil roots and plant in a single fluid motion.
you do this whilst holding on to the base of the plant and pulling gently at the same time. the plant should pop out like a dream

Water it , wait for like an hour then flip it and try to let slide out, you may need to hit it a few times to assist it slide out

If it's plastic, then I would be taking some heavy-duty snips to the side to initiate a crack or cut and then split the pot!

Nixs brings up a great idea as usual

I have a taken a 5 gallon bucket full of water and submerged the whole pot and plant. The water filling up from the bottom of the drain holes popped the whole plug out super easy

They slide out much easier when dry as opposed to the mess you're gonna make doing it all wet. Wait until your next watering...it will be dry then. Pop it out, transplant and water. Shouldn't miss a beat.