How important is Up-Potting (Indoor Soil Growers)

I now have a few grows under my belt, and I'm learning from my mistakes and trying to improve. One area where I may be deficient is my up-potting technique. I currently start my seeds in 16oz plastic cups (with good success) and then transplant them directly into my 5 gallon airpots (containing Vermifire soil). I veg for about 6 weeks before I flip. I water infrequently and only do so when the pot is light, which should help to drive root growth.

My grows have been okay (stretched)....the yields are good (in my limited frame of reference).

For those of you that have tried both, is the extra labor of up-potting to a gallon worth the results? Better quality? Yield? It's a pain in the butt given where my tent is located, but I'm willing to do the work if it has definite benefits.

Thanks in advance for the input....I know there will be a lot of opinions, so hoping someone who has done both and observed a difference.

Transplanting every couple weeks has distinct advantages. First, you can gradually increase the the nutrient load in each new transplant so by final one the plant is in full strength soil and this makes for a less stressful transition. Second, you can keep the whole pot watered without pushing nutes out the bottom when you do a good soak so you avoid having to feed anything else for a longer period of time. Third, if you use myco fungi, it is an ideal way to inoculate the root zone multiple times. Fourth, if you have a small veg room you will save some space.

roots grow much quicker if you pot up, the pots dry out quicker, so you get more oxygen to the roots

I have tried both ways. I used to pot up from 4" to 1 gal to 3 gal to 5 gal. Now I start in a 1 gal and then go to a 5 gal. I have even started seeds in a 5 gal. Honestly I don't think potting up is beneficial. There is usually transplant shock to some degree and transplanting from a 3 to a 5 is not an easy task. How many times do they get reported in nature?? Zero

Thanks for the responses....there are definitely opinions both ways in my research. I think I'll up-pot two on my next run and see if it makes any difference. I see the point of more developed roots and not flushing the good nutes from the 5 gallon container....but does that mean more buds? I guess I'll find out.

Thanks again!

HydoDan said:

I have tried both ways. I used to pot up from 4" to 1 gal to 3 gal to 5 gal. Now I start in a 1 gal and then go to a 5 gal. I have even started seeds in a 5 gal. Honestly I don't think potting up is beneficial. There is usually transplant shock to some degree and transplanting from a 3 to a 5 is not an easy task. How many times do they get reported in nature?? Zero

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Thats a good point about not up potting in nature lol.

Main advantage is fresh soil every time you pot up.
This means that you can go through the whole grow without adding anything except water and dial in whats in the soil for the different stages of growth. (lots of potassium in the final pot for eg)

ScrappyD said:

Thats a good point about not up potting in nature lol.

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Theres no pots in nature either....

We are cultivating a plant to get the maximum growth..that in itself is not in nature either.

@Dr. Who
Planning my next grow and I plan to follow your advice on flushing (don't), fading (don't), and curing for better taste (slower+ Boveda packs). I'm a convert!

I would love your thoughts on up-potting if space and time are not issues for me. Will I yield more or better buds by up-potting slowly to my 5 gallon or transplanting the seedling directly into my 5 gallon container.

Growing 6 plants in a 5x5 tent and I'm not in a rush in case this simply slows the vegetative process.

Thanks!

twalte said:

@Dr. Who
Planning my next grow and I plan to follow your advice on flushing (don't), fading (don't), and curing for better taste (slower+ Boveda packs). I'm a convert!

I would love your thoughts on up-potting if space and time are not issues for me. Will I yield more or better buds by up-potting slowly to my 5 gallon or transplanting the seedling directly into my 5 gallon container.

Growing 6 plants in a 5x5 tent and I'm not in a rush in case this simply slows the vegetative process.

Thanks!

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Personally, I am a firm believer in up-potting!

I designed my grow area around how I do that and how long I run.

I use the cuttings from "lollypopping" to supply clones. This is done the "mourning" they move to the bloom room. They are rooted in EZ cloner or root riots (what ever one floats my boat at the time). From their, they go to solo cups and get 14-7 days to fill the cup with roots. Up to a 1 gallon and timed to fill the pot. Up to 3 gallon and again, timed to fill the pot. When the plant gets to my "flowering" size ( just about perfect time to up-pot again). I will up to 5 - 7's depending on strain's run time, and use my bloom "soil" and they get 8 days MORE of VEG to start root spread and into the bloom room they go - Stopping to be lollypopped and the process starts over!

I use my own water only soil's in the form of a "vegging" and "flowering" soil. 100% organic and drop some AACT bio teas on them at around every 2-3 weeks till finish....

I add a little kelp extract at transplant in my water, every 5 days, twice. I add more to the brewed tea when in bloom.
that's about it....

You may find 4 plants to work better in that space, with my kind of time frame.

starter pot/rockwall block

small pot

8l to 20l pot

30l to 80L pot

I go with that

plenty of perlite in the bottom of the pot and fresh mycorr under the roots everytime, plus mix in bennies and seaweed juice when mixing up your soil/coco

if your getting stretch try seaweed juice or alfalfa extract or triacontanol on your 1st 2 to 6 weeks of blooming

Thank you for the feedback guys. That's the last piece I need for my next grow plan. I believe that my next grow plan will fix the stretch (smaller temp variance between day/night, 1000w MH bulb during two weeks after flip before switching to HPS), but I'll definitely add the seaweed juice during bloom and the kelp extract during transplant. Off to the hydro store.....once they open.

Oh...and I'll cut back to planning 4 plants in my 5x5. This is my first run in this tent...moved from a 3x3.

Great thread everyone! Few points I would like to add are in nature in the ground roots can grow down and out searching for nutrients and water. Very different process from an indoor container garden.

And a tip I got from the breeder of the seeds I use is to let the pot dry out quite a bit to force the roots to search and fill the whole pot. I like to be able to hold the plant by its stem and have the root ball stay intact before up potting. I did not see the benefits of transplanting before I did this consistently. My yield and quality have gone up considerably due to the more developed root systems. And my root balls are dense all the way through.

Thanks Michigan....I inspected the root ball on my last grow and it was pretty weak. I'm planning to up-pot this time, but glad to hear that you are seeing improvements in quality and yield. My goal this grow is to do EVERYTHING right...no shortcuts.

twalte said:

Thanks Michigan....I inspected the root ball on my last grow and it was pretty weak. I'm planning to up-pot this time, but glad to hear that you are seeing improvements in quality and yield. My goal this grow is to do EVERYTHING right...no shortcuts.

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plastic bag pots are great for pre bloom pot/sack as you can cut them open easy and they cost almost nothing

I find it easier if I let them get dry before transplanting as there lighter gotta go easy on the back, lol

Two quart to 5 gal.

THE KONASSURE said:

plastic bag pots are great for pre bloom pot/sack as you can cut them open easy and they cost almost nothing

I find it easier if I let them get dry before transplanting as there lighter gotta go easy on the back, lol

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I forgot this part. Definitely mostly dry for transplanting.

Thanks for adding that! Very important for successful stress free transplant. Also make sure good contact is made with the new soil and roots. Don't pack hard just enough to fill all gaps.

And I use red party cups. When they are stubborn and when I was new I just cut them away like you said with bags.

9 oz. solo cups
2.5 qt pots
then into 3 gallon hempies for flowering OR
2.5 gallon buckets for coco or soil
7 gallon smart pots for flowering
thats my usual progression, if you do it right and don't damage the roots they hardly slow down at all, i usually see new growth just a day or two after transplanting

Roger A. Shrubber said:

9 oz. solo cups
2.5 qt pots
then into 3 gallon hempies for flowering OR
2.5 gallon buckets for coco or soil
7 gallon smart pots for flowering
thats my usual progression, if you do it right and don't damage the roots they hardly slow down at all, i usually see new growth just a day or two after transplanting

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Yup. Even faster I have seen.

twalte said:

My grows have been okay (stretched)....the yields are good (in my limited frame of reference).
.

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If i could touch on this one for a second.

If your having problems with stretch maybe use it to your advantage? Have you tried a SCROG screen?

Im thinking this will do two things. Eliminate stretch as a problem (except in extreme cases) and give you a higher yield per sq of space.