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When to transplant?

JJBagoose

JJBagoose

Hi,

I have a question about when to transplant my plants to a bigger pot. So I transferred all of my seedlings from their initial starter trays (peat based) into the bottom halves of liter/2liter bottles. They seem to be doing pretty well in these containers. Yesterday I was looking at the bottom of the containers and noticed that the roots can be seen all through the bottom and sides of the container.

It doesn't exactly look crowded in there but it made me wonder if I should be potting these plants up.

any thoughts? I can post a pic later tonight.

thanks,
JJ
 
usually you want a good root ball before transplanting...with the containers you are using, that may be a long time....my backups have been in 3" square continers for 2 1/2 months and are still doing well, although they will be planted out this coming week...
 
AlabamaJack said:
usually you want a good root ball before transplanting...with the containers you are using, that may be a long time....my backups have been in 3" square continers for 2 1/2 months and are still doing well, although they will be planted out this coming week...
Click to expand...

Oh OK, I thought that might be the case but I wasn't sure. There has certainly been good root growth but I guess these still have quite some time. I've had them in these containers for about a month.

thanks for the info AJ
 
Hey JJ--

It's my first year, but I just went right from little plastic cups right into 5gal buckets. Since the weather is great, and it's late enough in the season, space isn't an issue. They're all sitting in my yard in buckets, being very happy.

If you plan on container growing, I'd think you'd want to pot-up when those are big enough and healthy enough to not be too traumatized. But you dont HAVE to wait. I didn't, and mine are fine! Boy, are they loving this weather!
 
It seems I remember reading on this forum about transplanting from smaller containers to larger containers in steps...start with the germination tray, then to 9 oz cups (in my case), then to 6" pots, and finally to 5 gallon pots. The theory I suppose is that you keep the roots in a compact area but not rootbound...then when transplanting you have a good "root ball" that will sustain the plant better...

my memory might be failing me but it seems I remember that conversation...

I know my contest nagas were done that way and are by far the healthiest (and largest) plants I have this year along with the red savinas...they were treated the same way...
 
Makes sense. I just don't have the room for the 6" pots inside, and if they're going outside anyway, I figured I'd save the money and jump right into the bigguns ;)
 
totally understand Klyth...neither did I at the time so I went from 9 ounce cups to 5 gallon containers for most of my plants and definitely can tell the difference...I won't have as many plants next year as I do this year and will be able to better take care of them....this year is just an experiment to see which varieties grow best in this hot north Texas weather...
 
I definitely see better results when potting up in several stages.
Having a good rootball just means it will come out of the pot easier and have less transplant shock, but it isn't absolutely neccessary
 
I jump straight to big pots too. I asked elsewhere if this was OK, here were the replies:

The problem with potting on to oversized pots is that the roots become straggly and long and we really want a nice, compact rootball. Thus you should pot up gradually and allow the roots to fill the current pot fully before potting on. You can tease a few ends out before sinking it in the new compost.

A tiny seedling has hardly any root and has no chance of draining the moisture from a 9-12" pot. Give the pot any decent amount of water and the roots will end up waterlogged. I suppose that you could try drip feeding it very sparsely directly over the seedling.

But if you grow them in the garden you'd do as I do.
 
IMO, Plants like to go through a wet and dry cycle whether in the ground or pots. If the pot is too big then it holds water longer and therefore less oxygen gets to the roots.
 
I will probably pot up to 12 inch pots when I transplant. The issue I guess I have now is how to figure out when I have a good root ball vs a root bound situation.

I'll post a pic later but I think I still have plenty of time before I need to transplant.
 
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