Top before transplanting?

laddyd

laddyd

Well-Known Member
I have a couple of seedlings 2 weeks old. Looks like it's about time to top them. Will it hurt them to top before I transplant? Roots are not that developed yet.
 

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laddyd said:
I have a couple of seedlings 2 weeks old. Looks like it's about time to top them. Will it hurt them to top before I transplant? Roots are not that developed yet.
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Bend them instead. No stress. One string around the stem at the bottom to keep it up right and another higher up the other way to bring the top down.
 
Ya it's hard to say (for me) how dry or wet it is under the first little bit of medium but I'm just saying letting the medium dry too much will hurt your roots when they're young and tender and that could be a good reason your roots aren't too big @ 2 weeks still so just to keep an eye on that is all. They looking overall good tho.
I'd only transplant that small if I seen the roots Bursting out of the bottom like an old ladies pubes comming out of her bathing suit
Otherwise I'd leave it another week or so until the roots have a hold on the medium. Otherwise loose medium can break apart in the move tearing young roots and causing you the dreaded 'transplant shock'. Healthy plant with roots will just keep on keeping on with some extra real estate.
 
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Jjgrow420 said:
Ya it's hard to say (for me) how dry or wet it is under the first little bit of medium but I'm just saying letting the medium dry too much will hurt your roots when they're young and tender and that could be a good reason your roots aren't too big @ 2 weeks still so just to keep an eye on that is all. They looking overall good tho.
I'd only transplant that small if I seen the roots Bursting out of the bottom like an old ladies pubes comming out of her bathing suit
Otherwise I'd leave it another week or so until the roots have a hold on the medium. Otherwise loose medium can break apart in the move tearing young roots and causing you the dreaded 'transplant shock'. Healthy plant with roots will just keep on keeping on with some extra real estate.
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Duly noted will keep soil a little moister. I wasn't planning on transplanting them until I see some roots coming out of the bottom. I was mainly wondering if it was ok to top them close to transplant, say a week before?
 
In all gardens I've worked in and own we top the plants far later in veg. I would let it keep growing healthy n strong then when you notice branches that are excelling above the others you take their heads off to make them equal.

We let the plant grow until it has at least 12 node sets before topping, some of those branches end up as clones or just don't make the cut and end up being lollipopped off. Every run is different.

Do not start training a plant too early into veg, if its still in a solo cup its too early to train. Think about training a plant when its at least 12 inches or a foot tall at the earliest.
 
laddyd said:
I have a couple of seedlings 2 weeks old. Looks like it's about time to top them. Will it hurt them to top before I transplant? Roots are not that developed yet.
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Based on their size they should have plenty of roots. My 12 day old plants are already root bound and circling the bottom of my containers. Containers are just slightly smaller than solos.

I'd hold off on topping for now. You could start LST if that's your plan and can find a creative way to do it in solos. Or just wait until transplant and go from there.
 
Not a problem to top now if you want. If you are growing photoperiod seeds, I like to wait until they show sex before doing any training/topping just to make sure I'm not wasting time on male plants.
 
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