Plants live but stop growing? Wtf???

I have several plants that live okay, but have just stopped growing. For a couple of things I may have figured out the problem.

#1. The temperature was approx. 85 Degrees F all the time. I'm thinking this may be a little bit too high? I added a room A/C which is bringing the temperature down to between 76 degrees F and 80.

#2. My biggest plant by far which is now approx. 1 Foot seemed to be either stopped growing or to severely slow down. In any event it was in a 3 1/2 Gallon bucket. Out of a whim I decided to transplant it into a 5 Gallon Bucket. It was in Fox Farm seed starter which did well for awhile but tonight when I transplanted it into the 5G and used Fox Farm Ocean Potting Soil which is a much heavier soil with neuts already in it I believe. I oped to use water with no Big Bloom or Grow Fast as it was #1 a transplant and #2 the soil already has some nutrients in it and consequently I wanted to be on the safe side (didn't want to burn the plants with too many neuts) and stayed away from the neuts until the next feeding. When I took the plant out of the 3 1/2 Gallon, it had roots that were running up the side of the bucket and it did seem to be "root-bound". I'm thinking this may be the problem with some of my other plants as well, but they are much smaller and are just as old but at first didn't grow as fast as the plant I put in the 5G so I kept them in smaller containers? I transplanted a few others and their roots were somewhat larger than I thought they would be but not as bad as the first (still too much for their container as well)?

I am thinking this "ROOT-BOUND"-ness is my second problem?

Is there anything else that I may be doing wrong? Any suggestions?? Help is needed. LOL!

85 isnt a problem at all, the only issue was being root bound, and you self diagnosed, good job just get the ones you havent already placed into a bigger container into a bigger conainer

At a foot tall your plants will not be root bound in a 3 1/2 gallon bucket.

Sounds to me that it is not getting enough light.

^Agreed, there's no way it's even close to being rootbound. I'm thinking that you're afraid to water it, fully, keeping the roots confined, and therefore, the folaige confined. Either that, or it needs more light. I'd think it'd be stretching though, if that were the case.

conepuller2299 said:

85 isnt a problem at all, the only issue was being root bound, and you self diagnosed, good job just get the ones you havent already placed into a bigger container into a bigger conainer

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I thought 85 was the highest that we really wanted the plants to be in an environment? Also, just to follow up, the plant roots were growing up and down the sides of the pot? Is that normal? Also, will this just stop the plant from growing and nothing else (no signs of stress...?)

jawbrodt said:

^Agreed, there's no way it's even close to being rootbound. I'm thinking that you're afraid to water it, fully, keeping the roots confined, and therefore, the folaige confined. Either that, or it needs more light. I'd think it'd be stretching though, if that were the case.

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I am wattering every 3 days. I fill the container up enough until I see it coming out of the bottom of the drain holes, is this the right way? At 2 days it seems like the surface of the soil is still slightly damp? Also, will this just stop the plant from growing and nothing else (no signs of stress...?)

dr.feelgood69 said:

I am wattering every 3 days. I fill the container up enough until I see it coming out of the bottom of the drain holes, is this the right way? At 2 days it seems like the surface of the soil is still slightly damp?

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Yeah, sounds like they're getting enough water. Sorry, I had to check. It actually sounds like they're getting too much water, which will stall them, as well. In a 5 gallon bucket, with that sized plants, I'm thinking that your watering times should be every 5-7 days, til they get bigger, and process more water. Pick up one of the buckets before you water it, and you should be able to tell if it's heavy, still pretty damp, just by feeling the weight of it. Or, fill up a bucket with dry soil, and compare them. At any rate, you should be able to stick your finger down into the top of the soil, about 2", and it should be totally dry, before watering. My guess is that they're suffocating, from a little too much lovin'.lol

jawbrodt said:

Yeah, sounds like they're getting enough water. Sorry, I had to check. It actually sounds like they're getting too much water, which will stall them, as well. In a 5 gallon bucket, with that sized plants, I'm thinking that your watering times should be every 5-7 days, til they get bigger, and process more water. Pick up one of the buckets before you water it, and you should be able to tell if it's heavy, still pretty damp, just by feeling the weight of it. Or, fill up a bucket with dry soil, and compare them. At any rate, you should be able to stick your finger down into the top of the soil, about 2", and it should be totally dry, before watering. My guess is that they're suffocating, from a little too much lovin'.lol

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What do you think I should do? Any suggestions or just see how it goes with the bigger buckets?

^Let them dry out for a few days, then follow something similar to the watering routine I mentioned. Water thoroughly, then let the soil dry nearly to the point of running dry(drooping), then water thoroughly again, and so on, and so forth....

jawbrodt said:

^Let them dry out for a few days, then follow something similar to the watering routine I mentioned. Water thoroughly, then let the soil dry nearly to the point of running dry(drooping), then water thoroughly again, and so on, and so forth....

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Straight up man, that's exactly what I am going to do. I've got too much, time, money and (pride) in this to let it all go to Hell now. I'll let you know how it works out.

Also, just for general good info, I added a little 'Replicator' rooting gel to the roots on some of the new seedlings after they came out of the 'rapid-rooter' do you think this could hurt them at all?

dr.feelgood69 said:

Straight up man, that's exactly what I am going to do. I've got too much, time, money and (pride) in this to let it all go to Hell now. I'll let you know how it works out.

Also, just for general good info, I added a little 'Replicator' rooting gel to the roots on some of the new seedlings after they came out of the 'rapid-rooter' do you think this could hurt them at all?

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No problem man, I hope everything works out for ya.

As for the "Replicator",...I don't think it'll hurt them any, but wasn't necessary. Next time, just give them a nice comfy home, and they'll do what they're supposed to do. Remember, there are no magic potions out there that'll speed things up, or we all would've known about them, long ago, and would be using them. Focus on the basics, and it'll be smooth sailing, and excellent growth. You can worry about experimenting, somewhere down the road.