multiple plants in one pot, i need some advice

nitrous oxide

nitrous oxide

Active Member
This is my first time growing and I made the mistake of planting 4 seeds in one 3 gallon bucket. The plants are coming along pretty well. They are about 20 days and are getting pretty big. I want them each to be in their own pot and I was wondering when a good time to transplant them would be? Should I do it now before the roots get too tangled, or do I wait til they are older and stronger? And what are the chances that I can end up killing them if I move them now?
 
Tdblu09

Tdblu09

Well-Known Member
nitrous oxide said:
This is my first time growing and I made the mistake of planting 4 seeds in one 3 gallon bucket. The plants are coming along pretty well. They are about 20 days and are getting pretty big. I want them each to be in their own pot and I was wondering when a good time to transplant them would be? Should I do it now before the roots get too tangled, or do I wait til they are older and stronger? And what are the chances that I can end up killing them if I move them now?
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Hey..im a noob but u def wanna do it sooner than later!!! If you wait longer ur jus giving the roots more time to get tangled!!

Good luck!
 
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richjames

Well-Known Member
Whatever u do, don't let em get bigger!!! The roots will fight over what they need down there. Transplant asap, and I'd leave ur best lookin one(hopefully it's close to the center of the pot) in the original pot. Next time, only do one seed per pot(I'm sure u know this by now) I don't like to transplant personally, so I just sprout em in the expanding peat pellet things then put em right in their new homes. :peace:
 
R

richjames

Well-Known Member
With a knife? Ur crazy!! Not sayin it wouldn't work, but damn, the shock to the plant would be enormous. Roots ain't supposed to messed with, ur best bet is to leave em be.
 
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Jtoth3ustin

Well-Known Member
u shoulda transplanted a couple days after sprouting. now the roots are actualy branched out enough its gonna be a bitch. thats all im gonna say. o and if u dont whanna risk it. thro um in flower. and the plants wont kill eacother. they wont have enouh time to strangle eachother in there roots. i did this mistake on my very first grow but u can still get some weight from um........ if there females. but thats another problem keepin um in the same pot....
 
azmotodude

azmotodude

New Member
As long as you transplant them in a dark place you should be fine, and as far as dividing the roots with a knife, yes it will work, but I wouldnt do this unless you have to. Whatever you do, DO NOT pull hard on the roots... they are very delicate... if you feel the need to pull... then take out the knife and or scissors and simply cut the root as far down as you can.
 
J

Jtoth3ustin

Well-Known Member
also the way to do it is.... cut the sides of the pot down. like breaking down a carboard box.... then since there gonna be kinds small still. when the sides are cut off the pot. just push the soil over....spread the soil on the ground. LIGHTLY. and just pick out the plants. eaier then spoonin um.....

on a single plant. if the roots have a nice root ball on the bottom. let the soil get REAL dry. take the plant out of the pot. take your knife and cut a line around the bottom side of the soil. cutting some of the roots a lil bit.
this will induce root growth......" supply and demand".
 
TheFaux

TheFaux

New Member
richjames said:
With a knife? Ur crazy!! Not sayin it wouldn't work, but damn, the shock to the plant would be enormous. Roots ain't supposed to messed with, ur best bet is to leave em be.
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Microracer87 said:
Please dont cut your roots for the love of the plants
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dannyking said:
thats the worst advice of the day
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I have cut inches off of rootballs...... hell, I have cut 1 gallon root-bound rootballs into nice 4" square root balls. I have transplanted from soil into clay pebbles. I have trimmed off all the fine root hairs and washed the dirt off with cold tapwater, leaving very few slightly thick roots that extend only inches from the meristem on good sized plants.. I have been doing this type of thing for YEARS.

I'm not interested in your opinion of the quality of my advice. You don't know shit. ;-)
 
jasno

jasno

Well-Known Member
hey man i havent been growing long BUT check this out.

i saw a thread in another forum about this guy who was teaching people how to cut the roots of struggling plant, in order for it to regrow them, and he also trims the leaves way back. im not suggesting cutting the leaves back or anything.

i just want you to check out how he totally cuts the roots bigtime, and not only does the plant survive it thrives!

EDIT: I have been searching for the thread, its in another forum so its gonna take me some searching around BBL
 
TheFaux

TheFaux

New Member
If you cut mass amounts of rootball back you gotta cut back the foliage too. There just won't be enough root to support the leaves so they would die off anyway.
 
jasno

jasno

Well-Known Member
oh shit man i have no idea what that thread was called or what forum it was on

well the jist of it is that this guy cuts his roots way back, and cuts his leaves back, and in a couple weeks his plant is totally thriving, when before it was hurting.

i suggest getting in there ASAP and gently gently trying to sepate 3 of them from the best looking one, which u want to leave in the pot.

i think it really depends how much roots have grown, how big your plant is.

on a side not i have seen people grow more then one plant in a pot, but those were huge pots.
 
nitrous oxide

nitrous oxide

Active Member
k tomorrow i will go to home depot or lowes and get 3 more 3 gallon buckets and more soil.

When I transplant these should i loosen up the soil around the edges and turn the pot upside down and shake out the whole thing and then just use my hands to try and get them out and only cut roots if i have to? Sorry for these newb questions i just am worried ill end up killing them.


On another note, I planted them in Miracle Grow Organic Potting mix. Is there a better soil I can pick up while im at home depot that is still pretty cheap? Or do i have to use the same soil?
 
TheFaux

TheFaux

New Member
nitrous oxide said:
k tomorrow i will go to home depot or lowes and get 3 more 3 gallon buckets and more soil.

When I transplant these should i loosen up the soil around the edges and turn the pot upside down and shake out the whole thing and then just use my hands to try and get them out and only cut roots if i have to? Sorry for these newb questions i just am worried ill end up killing them.


On another note, I planted them in Miracle Grow Organic Potting mix. Is there a better soil I can pick up while im at home depot that is still pretty cheap? Or do i have to use the same soil?
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MG Organic isn't potting soil. Don't use it in containers unless you cut it with something proper.

When you cut a clone, you completely sever it from any root system and it turns out fine (most of the time ;-) hehehe); you don't have to be afraid. Taproots go straight down so if you do cut up the rootball divide it up like pie with as much root between the stems as possible.
 
R

richjames

Well-Known Member
TheFaux said:
I have cut inches off of rootballs...... hell, I have cut 1 gallon root-bound rootballs into nice 4" square root balls. I have transplanted from soil into clay pebbles. I have trimmed off all the fine root hairs and washed the dirt off with cold tapwater, leaving very few slightly thick roots that extend only inches from the meristem on good sized plants.. I have been doing this type of thing for YEARS.

I'm not interested in your opinion of the quality of my advice. You don't know shit. ;-)
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Not interested huh? Well, too bad. If u'd been doin this type of thing for years, one would think u'd finally have learned how to put the plants in a big enough pot to avoid being rootbound in the first place right? And cutting roots should definately be avoided unless aboslutely neccessary!!! Sure they may come back and thrive, at the expense of at least a couple weeks growing time among other things. Shit man, u make it sound like people should pull all their plants and 'top" the roots. Wtf? :finger:
 
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