Is my lady root bound?

Hey everyone,

I've been snooping around the forums and reading about plants being root bound. I was wondering if my plant is too big for it's pot? It's a Super Silver Haze in a 7 litre pot, that's about 1.5 gallons. She's almost 3 months old. (I bought her as a clone from a grow shop, but I know when she was planted).

I'm thinking that she could be root bound because she needs watering about every 2 days.. But my 5 other plants also need watering every 2 days, (different strains, though).
I looked at the slits at the bottom of the pot and noticed some roots; they weren't poking out of the pot, but you could see a few at one slit.

Thanks,

-Rich

I would water her and wait for it to start to drain and compress the soil a lil w/ yur hands and just slide her out a bit and check!.....3 months ole=good chance in 1.5 bucket!!

Hey, Unicronlives - thanks for your input.

Anyone else?

I've been told the general rule is for every 12" of plant you should have 1gallon of pot.
So by that rule if your plant is much over 18" (and it looks like it is, but it's hard to tell from the pic) then you might need to repot it
It's a nice looking plant btw
Good luck

looks over watered to me.

she is almost certainly rootbound, in good soil, I have seen cannabis fill a 2 gallon pot in 3 days of growth. If you have a gap between your soil and the container wall or if you can see roots protruding from the bottom of the container that will confirm it.

Good rule of thumb for watering is to put your finger in the soil about 1.5 to 20 inches, if its damp, dont water. If dry water. Also, I water until I get run off and stop immediately. I end up with maybe a thimbleful of runoff, no more.

The most important thing is to find out what works best for your girls. The above are only guidelines that have served me well.

CK

captiankush said:

she is almost certainly rootbound, in good soil, I have seen cannabis fill a 2 gallon pot in 3 days of growth. If you have a gap between your soil and the container wall or if you can see roots protruding from the bottom of the container that will confirm it.

Good rule of thumb for watering is to put your finger in the soil about 1.5 to 20 inches, if its damp, dont water. If dry water. Also, I water until I get run off and stop immediately. I end up with maybe a thimbleful of runoff, no more.

The most important thing is to find out what works best for your girls. The above are only guidelines that have served me well.

CK

Click to expand...

Thanks buddy,

I'm going to transplant her, and the other 5 plants, next week. Hopefully it's not too late.. I'm starting flowering at the end of the month, so hopefully she'll get rid of any stress by then.

I think I'm ok on the watering side. I can read my plants pretty well, so not much of a problem there.

I heard FDD doesn't believe in plants being root bound... How come? lol

-Rich

a plant will not grow itself to death. the thought is just silly.

if it gets "too big for it's pot" that SIMPLY means you will have to water more often. oh, and it will tip over from it's own weight.


the plant in the picture looks over watered. the leaves look "heavy" and are curled under. the lower leaves are starting to yellow and die. it needs to dry out more between waterings and it needs more nitrogen.

lol

Listen to FDD...........he knows his sh*& when it come to growin'.........thank you SeeMore!!!!!!!

fdd2blk said:

a plant will not grow itself to death. the thought is just silly.

if it gets "too big for it's pot" that SIMPLY means you will have to water more often. oh, and it will tip over from it's own weight.


the plant in the picture looks over watered. the leaves look "heavy" and are curled under. the lower leaves are starting to yellow and die. it needs to dry out more between waterings and it needs more nitrogen.

lol

Click to expand...

Alright, so you think transplanting is a waste of money? Do let me know because my name can be misleading lol

I want to agree with you, especially after I saw that picture you posted of that monster plant in a small pot

I'll stop watering my babe so often if that's what you think is best. However, I can assure you I've given her more than enough nitrogen since I got her... My first nutes were shit because they only had Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorous so I decided to buy Hesi TNT Complex, due to the fact that it had Calcium, Zinc, Magnesium amongst other things. It's organic, unlike the first fertilizer.

So, how could she need more nitrogen? I give her nutes approximately every 4 days, with watering in between. I know it maybe overdoing it, but all the plants aren't reacting badly and I heard you can't really burn your plants with organics (at least not as easily as with chemicals).

Thanks for your help,

-Rich

OH JESUS YES, GET IT IN A 5 GAL POT LIKE RIGHT NOW AND THE PLANT WILL TURN RIGHT AROUND,and just watch it grow and if other plants in same size pot get them in new pot to,good luck bro!!

fdd2blk said:

a plant will not grow itself to death. the thought is just silly.

if it gets "too big for it's pot" that SIMPLY means you will have to water more often. oh, and it will tip over from it's own weight.


the plant in the picture looks over watered. the leaves look "heavy" and are curled under. the lower leaves are starting to yellow and die. it needs to dry out more between waterings and it needs more nitrogen.

lol

Click to expand...

That is not toldly true bro for one look at my plant that needed trans plant at 3 weeks into flower look at my leaf and look at them after trans plant in just 3 days,i'm a ferm believer in giving my roots the space they need,and have seen plants stunted because of a small pot,and I now for a fact u don't grow in a 1.5 gal pot!!!

RichiRich said:

Alright, so you think transplanting is a waste of money? Do let me know because my name can be misleading lol

I want to agree with you, especially after I saw that picture you posted of that monster plant in a small pot

I'll stop watering my babe so often if that's what you think is best. However, I can assure you I've given her more than enough nitrogen since I got her... My first nutes were shit because they only had Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorous so I decided to buy Hesi TNT Complex, due to the fact that it had Calcium, Zinc, Magnesium amongst other things. It's organic, unlike the first fertilizer.

So, how could she need more nitrogen? I give her nutes approximately every 4 days, with watering in between. I know it maybe overdoing it, but all the plants aren't reacting badly and I heard you can't really burn your plants with organics (at least not as easily as with chemicals).

Thanks for your help,

-Rich

Click to expand...

hIS POTS ARE AT LEAST 3+ GAL POTS THAT IS 2 TIMES THE SIZE UR GROWN IN RIGHT NOW AND JUST WAIT TILL IT FALLS OVER!!

""I heard FDD doesn't believe in plants being root bound... How come? lol""


Because it takes alot of roots to become rootbound, more than most would think. Yeah, they will burn up nutes and water faster as the roots fill the pot, but that's to be expected. A bigger pot gives you a bigger 'buffer zone', more time between watering and slightly less chance of under/over fert. A bigger pot is always nice, and the plant will agree, but it's not necessary. I grew in the same 1 1/2 gallon pots for my first 2 grows, and ended up with some nice 4' plants, with no problems with being rootbound. I did switch to 3 gallon pots, because IMO, they're easier to manage, and perfect for the size plants I'm growing(about 3'). Might be a good idea to transplant, and I'll bet it goes through a little growth spurt as the roots fill the new pot. It'll like the fresh soil too.

RichiRich said:

Alright, so you think transplanting is a waste of money? Do let me know because my name can be misleading lol

I want to agree with you, especially after I saw that picture you posted of that monster plant in a small pot

I'll stop watering my babe so often if that's what you think is best. However, I can assure you I've given her more than enough nitrogen since I got her... My first nutes were shit because they only had Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorous so I decided to buy Hesi TNT Complex, due to the fact that it had Calcium, Zinc, Magnesium amongst other things. It's organic, unlike the first fertilizer.

So, how could she need more nitrogen? I give her nutes approximately every 4 days, with watering in between. I know it maybe overdoing it, but all the plants aren't reacting badly and I heard you can't really burn your plants with organics (at least not as easily as with chemicals).

Thanks for your help,

-Rich

Click to expand...

i went back and looked at the pics right after i posted that. i saw the leaf tips were white and the top of the plant looked really green. i thought "that doesn't need nitrogen at all". i was going to come back and repost, but a bhunch of people came over.

sorry 'bout that. i'm glad you caught my error.

jawbrodt said:

""I heard FDD doesn't believe in plants being root bound... How come? lol""


Because it takes alot of roots to become rootbound, more than most would think. Yeah, they will burn up nutes and water faster as the roots fill the pot, but that's to be expected. A bigger pot gives you a bigger 'buffer zone', more time between watering and slightly less chance of under/over fert. A bigger pot is always nice, and the plant will agree, but it's not necessary. I grew in the same 1 1/2 gallon pots for my first 2 grows, and ended up with some nice 4' plants, with no problems with being rootbound. I did switch to 3 gallon pots, because IMO, they're easier to manage, and perfect for the size plants I'm growing(about 3'). Might be a good idea to transplant, and I'll bet it goes through a little growth spurt as the roots fill the new pot. It'll like the fresh soil too.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the help guys

Well then, seeing as it isn't absolutely necessary... I don't feel like transplanting, but then again, this is my first grow and I'm trying to be as efficient as possible and get 200g (7 ounces) off of each plant. So I think I'll transplant the Super Silver Haze and maybe the Hashberry before the others - those bitches are getting big!

The White Widow and AK 47 are really bushy now so I think they'll be ok for a bit longer. The White Russian and Nebula are cool as well but I checked the slits at the bottom of the pot and there are a lot of roots. (They're not spilling out, but you can see quite a few).

I think everyone would agree with me that it would be wisest to transplant before flowering? I've been vegging them ever since I got them, which was Dec 22nd. I'm going to start flowering Feb 28th.

Hopefully they've got enough time to recover from transplant-stress before I start giving them the 12/12.


Here are the 6 ladies in all their glory for you to see lol

-Rich

P.S.

Whoever decides to post - please give me a straight answer on weather I should transplant or not. Just a simple yes or no, thanks.

they look a lot like mine, ...

i would do it; a bigger pot with more soil will hold water better and you wont have to worry so much about over watering, underwatering and nute uptakes being out of whack

definatly be better to transplant 2+ weeks before you flower. 2 reasons; (1) transplant shock coud fuck things up and possibly cause a hermi and (2) that plant will double or tripple in size and the roots will keep growing.

with marijuana like all plants, the roots are just as important as the leafs, maybe more important.

honestly, im surprised you dont have roots growing out your drainage holes. ive seen grows where the roots will grow out of the pot and into the ground, even through the smallest cracks in concrete

fdd2blk said:

they look a lot like mine, ... View attachment 711204 View attachment 711205

Click to expand...

lmao - you're nuts man, nuts! I'd kill to have a grow that big. Then again, I ain't made of money and don't have the space.

Kaleo, I hear you.

Well then, I'll transplant my babes into 15 L pots (that's 3,3 gallons <-- enough?) as soon as I can get the soil and pots.

I was also wondering what you thought about lighting? Will my 250 watter suffice for those 6 plants?

I know I should have got a 400w but I didn't have the cash... It's only my first grow.

Thanks,

-Rich

well some of your plants may (i should say will) turn out to be males, so that being the case if you only have 3 or 4 female plants under that light it might be ok. actually those could end up being beast of plants, by the time there blooming and you may need more lighting, but thats down the road a bit