So I'm repotting some babies into 1 gallon nursery pots. I'm using Fafard's mixed with just a tad bit of MG Moisture Control. Now my question is: when I go to fill the 1 gallon pots up with the mix, do I press it down and like compact it down? Or am I supposed to leave it all loose and stuff. The only issue I see is if I leave it all loose, as soon as I water the pots, all the soil is just going to sink down and compact anyways. So which is better to do, go ahead and compact / press it down, or let the water do it, then add more soil to the pot?
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soil Repotting / Soil Question
- Thread starter coheed196
- Start date
millworkman
eXtreme
Are you repotting/cleaning the roots off and repotting? Or are you potting up, putting old mix in whatever shape in new mix in pot?
Hey bud, I used fafards too. I think my best advice would be the fill it up, water the soil without the plant, and let the soil compress down naturally. I wouldn't push it down, that might make it too dense. My experience this season with fafards is that after watering it really settles down. My plants are doin fine but the soil level in the pots is like 3-5 inches below the rim on some of them and looks a little ridiculous; not too mention I'm not getting all of the cubic spaceage I could be getting from them. So, I wish I had watered the soil first, waited a day, and then potted.
By the way, what fafard's are you using? Mine had no ferts added to it so I mixed in some tomato tone and am going to do liquid ferts starting soon.
Potting up. It's plants I ordered from CCN. They've been getting used to the 95F sun here in AL in the small square pots they come in since the 3rd and now that they've gotten used to the sun/heat I'm potting them up into 1 gallons for a couple weeks. And it's brand new Fafard's and moisture control im putting into the 1 gallons. I take the baby plants out of the little square pots and kinda loosen the roots and knock off some of the old soil then putting the babies into the new soil mixture in the new pots and filling in the gaps with new soil mixture. I just wasn't sure if I should tamp the soil down or not. The Fafard's is a very light mixture (which from my understanding is what you want to allow roots to grow) but when I water the plants in the new pots all the Fafard's does is sink down until I have to add more to the pot to keep the little roots from being exposed
the compacting before by hand or letting the
water and all take that one on is a good question.
the plants need light , air, and water.
how you give it to them or how hard they have got to go
to get them can affect them.
yes, to either way works
i am a little ocd and fill mine all the way then push a hole
in that almost fits the root ball. then i bottom water and
let it settle from that and most of the time. sometimes i shake it
like an earthquake when wet to settle further farther. most of the time
i do not fill up again after that as i am a cheap ass.
Government is simply throwing money at the problem, causing inflation and the devaluation of the dollar. Furthermore, the government will most likely be forced to further increase taxes and issue more debt to cover immediate obligations.
water and all take that one on is a good question.
the plants need light , air, and water.
how you give it to them or how hard they have got to go
to get them can affect them.
yes, to either way works
i am a little ocd and fill mine all the way then push a hole
in that almost fits the root ball. then i bottom water and
let it settle from that and most of the time. sometimes i shake it
like an earthquake when wet to settle further farther. most of the time
i do not fill up again after that as i am a cheap ass.
Government is simply throwing money at the problem, causing inflation and the devaluation of the dollar. Furthermore, the government will most likely be forced to further increase taxes and issue more debt to cover immediate obligations.
Not sure which variety of fafard's it is, I've seen the bale it comes in ( at Plant Odyssey...from our PM conversation) but they measure it out into 20 quart bags of their own so I'm not sure. The fafards I get from plant odyssey does have some type of ferts in it, I can see the little white pellets but I don't know what it is exactly.
And dangit, I wish I would've let the water compress it before adding the plants (do'h, why didn't I think of that...oh well what can I say? It's my first year. Live and learn I reckon) I've only potted up 6 of the 12 from CCN cause I ran out of time yesterday, so on the other 6 I think I will let the water compress it naturally. And yea on the plants I've already done the soil level does drop dramatically after watering if you don't compress it some then add more soil.
I just fill it up to a couple inches above where the root ball would sit, place the root ball in there, fill in around the root ball all the way to the very top of pot. Then lightly tamp down the around the stem and level out the potting mix. Then usually another handful or two spread around to make it even and full. Everyone says to water the potting mix before putting the plant, but I never do and don't think it's necessary. I've never experienced any transplant shock or noticed any problems with doing it this way.
millworkman
eXtreme
When potting up I always water them before putting in new mix. Water well then transplant without compacting any of the new soil so that the new roots have a very easy time getting around for a couple days. Then bottom water from then on.
Well that's kind of what I've been doing and it's worked out fine so far, at least I think so just by looking at my plants but as stated above, after a few waterings, the soil level drops so far, like almost to the points where the top of the roots are showing so I have to go back and add a few more handfulls of soil.
Leave the moisture control stuff out of the mix. Chili plants don't like to have their feet wet for long periods of time. The general rule of thumb for chili plants is to let them wilt before watering again. This will produce a nice hot pepper. Based on previous experience with the moisture control stuff, once you let it dry out it gets as hard a concrete. Then you really have to soak it to get it to loosen up.
I've never used Farads, but I just potted up half a dozen and I never push or pack my soil. I actually shake it loose around the plant and water very lightly. I end up having to add about 2-3" more soil and again water very lightly. Then I let the soil dry out to the point where the plant is wilting which makes the roots grow longer as it's searching for water in it's new home. On the first water I give it a light watering that includes a 2.2.2 fert and some superthrive.
Last year, I didn't bother "packing" my hot pepper plants from CCN when potting them up. I realized later that with the watering it naturally packed down, and the soil levels looked... odd, to say the least.
This year, I did minimal packing, at least with the first batch or two (ten each batch, 30 total, all from CCN). I realized quickly that the plants weren't able to take the high winds too well, and by packing them down a bit more (especially around the stem), the problem stopped. It was light but firm packing, and just enough to make the stems feel adequately supported by the soil, but it was necessary for them to stand up to the winds.
I noticed random potted pepper plants that I've grown over the last few years doing this, but it wasn't until this year I realized that the "packing" (or lack of it) was the whole problem. So yeah, I say pack--but not hard! Just enough that the plants don't move when you nudge their main stems from the sides.
This year, I did minimal packing, at least with the first batch or two (ten each batch, 30 total, all from CCN). I realized quickly that the plants weren't able to take the high winds too well, and by packing them down a bit more (especially around the stem), the problem stopped. It was light but firm packing, and just enough to make the stems feel adequately supported by the soil, but it was necessary for them to stand up to the winds.
I noticed random potted pepper plants that I've grown over the last few years doing this, but it wasn't until this year I realized that the "packing" (or lack of it) was the whole problem. So yeah, I say pack--but not hard! Just enough that the plants don't move when you nudge their main stems from the sides.