Grow Bag Issues

phatlip

Active Member
Ok so for this grow i tried using three gal grow bags as opposed to normal 3 gal plastic pots... It seemed i didnt have any problems until i moved them into flowering under HPS...(originally under flourescents, T5's)... The plants started to baiscally dry up starting from the top going down or they were just stunted... I flushed, chilled out on the watering, more nutes, more water less nutes, more flushing... So basically i tried it all... I transplanted on that was growing flowers it was just stunted... when i pulled it i noticed the root ball was extremely packed together... i broke up the root ball and transplanted... the plant is blowing up and doing very well... has anybody else expieienced this problem.. if so is there a way to minimize it? I love the bags due to the easy portability and lightweight, however i am going back to normal pots if this problem is unavoidable... Thanks!!

The first picture is one of the plants that was stunted and wasnt growing much at all from the picture u see... the 2nd pic is the same plant about 2 days after breking up the rootball and transplanting... this was the plant that was affected the least...

The plant in the bottom right of the laSt picture was stunted and the leaf margins were burning... it went herm, too much stress i think, also could have been that it was pulled out of a bag and could have self pollinated or somethin... maybe both who knows...
 

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Boneman

Well-Known Member
I've used 2 gal grow bags for almost two years now with no problems. I've also grown about 5 different strains in them without any root, growth or watering problems
 

phatlip

Active Member
huh? im using fox farm ocean forest soil... i just started some white widow and the purps... im gonna try adding more perlite to the mix and see what happens
 

superdave5

Active Member
Well for one Im pretty sure fox farm ocean forrest soil comes with nutes already mixed in. So if you were using nutes from day one then youll probably have some lock up issues. Not saying you were but thats just an option. Two, I use 10 gallon grow bags and will never go back to pots ever. My girls are about 2ft tall and 3 ft wide. Love them. This pic if from 2 weeks ago, Im having to tie shit everywhere cause theyre gettin huge.
 

phatlip

Active Member
Ya i def like the portability... like i said some of the plants are worse than others... These pictures are another one of my girls in a grow bag thats doing fantastic... its about 4 half ft tall and 34 days into flowering... unfortunatly i dont know the strain... it was just a random bad seed... SuperDave, Do you use a ten gallon bag for each plant?

also i dont think it was nute build up cuz i used clearex and gave them a good flush and it didnt help till i broke down the rootball and transplanted
 

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superdave5

Active Member
yes I use 10gallon bags per plant. Im trying a new method. Instead of growing alot of plants in a smaller area, Im trying fewer plants with more soil. Roots usually grow out and not so much down. So by bigger bags= wider bigger plants. Ive been tieing my branches to the outsides of the bags after topping the plant. As you can see I have almost 10 tops per plant. this is my first time using this method but keep in touch and ill let you know how it goes. there are 5 plants in there all fem. white widow from nirvana.

As far as the nutes ya Id say you woulda had a problem alot earlier if you did use nutes from the beggining, so if you made it to flower than youll be fine.
 

phatlip

Active Member
ya its strange i went out and got a few five gal bags and i transplanted two of the more stunted ones and the root balls were packed in wicked tight... i dont understand why this happened to a only a few plants... however, there is one plant that was in a 3 gal bag that was really flourishing... i transplanted anyways just cuz, i was in the process i guess... but the root ball was packed really tightly too but it wsa doing fine... so im totally lost...

ya SD ill keep in touch and see how you like it... what do u think so far?? what differences are u seeing if any?
 

superdave5

Active Member
Well for one I started my plants pretty much in the bags. They went straight from a dixie cup to the bags. Ive noticed that they dont so much grow as tall as they do wide but then again, strain will have some to do with that, but white widow is not a short plant either. Im really liking everything about it so far. It is proven as well that the more you touch and mess your plants the less they can grow so next grow maybe try and do half and half. Use half with pots and use half with grow bags. I think part of your problem may have been transplanting so many times or maybe its just the genetics of the plant as well. You never really can tell. All I know is that my 10 gallon bags are doing the job compared to the 3 gallon buckets I used last time. They are a thick lush bush and Ive cleaned up all the bottom 1/3 of the plant. I dont like airy pop corn buds and by doing this it helps focus on the tops more. But timing is also everything. I try to train my plants as much as possible during veg and not mess with them as much during flowering. My light comes on in about 3 hours and I will post some more recent pics for you so keep an eye out on the thread. And like I said it could just be your strain brotha its hard to say at this point.
 

phatlip

Active Member
Cool thanks man... Ya i actually just started some white widow and the purps... i have them in 4 inch pots now... they are a week and a half old, so i think i will try 5 gal bags for these and i will transplant in like 2 weeks...(Grow rooms are two 2x2 1/2x10 closets, one for veg, clones, & seedlings[veg closet shelved into two levels, vegging on top and seedlings and clones on bottom (t5 flourescents)]; the other room for flowering only (400 watt HPS))... i like to get four plant in at a time in flowering so i think 5 gal bags will workk better than 10gal considering the size of the room... i think one of the problems was, i was under the impression i could get through to harvest in the three gal bags, which would have been fine if i didnt let them get as big as i did during veg... what do u think?
 

superdave5

Active Member
For sure that makes sense. I didnt veg mine for very long either. Once they were about the size of a standard clone (from seed) I only veged about 3 weeks. But here's my 4x4 tent with five 10gallon grow bags.
 
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