In this article from I Love Growing Marijuana, we examine the proper procedures for repotting cannabis.
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Disclaimer
This article has been republished with permission from I Love Growing Marijuana. You can read the original article here.
The Do's and Dont's
Repotting your cannabis plants is an essential part of the growing process. One of the major misconceptions about repotting cannabis plants is that it’s simple and doesn’t require a lot of thought and effort. This could not be further from the truth. It’s not as simple as transfering your plants from one pot to the next, especially if you haven’t had a lot of experience with growing. Here are some of the do’s and dont’s for repotting your cannabis plants.
Why Even Repot Your Grow?
Why do we even bother with repotting our cannabis plants? The short answer is that this makes them grow faster, and who doesn’t want that? The vegetative stage is not as exciting as the flowering stage, but it is no less important. Repotting your cannabis plants during the vegetative stage can actually stimulate new growth. This means a bigger crop in a shorter period of time!
Editor’s Note: There’s a multitude of reasons why this occurs, but essentially the plant’s roots will recognize that they are no longer bound by the sides of the pot when they are given more room to grow.
Remember, Small to Large Containers
When you first start your grow it’s important that you don’t plant in a container that’s too large. This is a mistake that a lot of people make when they first start growing. They think that planting in a large container will encourage more growth. The truth is that your plants will have trouble getting sufficient amounts of nutrients and water if they are planted in a container that’s too large.
This is of course only for when your plants are in the beginning stages. When you go to repot your cannabis plants, you’ll want to make sure that you plant them in a much larger container; this will encourage them to grow much larger when they reach their final form.
Don’t Wait Too Long When Repotting Your Cannabis Plants
If you wait too long to repot your cannabis plants, you run the risk of allowing your plants to become rootbound, which is another expression for when the roots begin to choke each other out. This may occur when you wait too long to repot your plants. Obviously this can hinder your plants’ growth and actually end up killing them.
Transplanting Too Early
On the flip side, transplanting too early can also be detrimental to your plants. Your plants are far more likely to end up with a nutrient deficiency if you do this. So, when is the right time for repotting your cannabis plants? Typically a good rule of thumb is to repot your plants once the leaves have reached the outer edges of the container. For example, if you’re starting out with a plastic Solo cup (hey, they make excellent growing containers!), then you’ll want to repot them when they’ve reached the lip of the cup.
You’ll know that you’re ready to repot your plants once more when they’ve doubled in height. This is usually pretty easy to tell, but it will come about quickly, and then you need to immediately start repotting your cannabis plants
What Size Should My Next Container Be?
Do you know how big your next container should be? You don’t want to go too small or too big. When repotting your cannabis plants for the first time, you’ll want to move them to a new container that ranges from 1-3 gallons in size. This will ensure that your plants don’t end up rootbound.
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About the Author
My name is Robert Bergman. For the past 25 years I have been growing marijuana in and around Amsterdam. Starting out in small home-based setups with just 5 plants, moving on to industrial sized plantations and laboratory breeding. In 2012 I teamed up with some friends and started I Love Growing Marijuana as a platform for sharing my knowledge.