Root ball not filling whole pot.

franklinz · Jan 14, 2022

After my most recent living soil harvest in smart pots, I noted the root ball only made it about halfway down my 7 gals and did not touch the bottom half of the soil. Transplanted w/extreme mycos from 3 gal to 7 when going to bloom and it appears the roots really didn't grow a lot since. no salts. Mostly recharge, Mammoth P, and a few hits of Ambrosia during my flower maturing stage. Other than that it's straight 7.0 tap from the top when my pots are light. Any suggestion on how to get my roots to fill the pot and utilize all the medium?

Herb & Suds · Jan 14, 2022

You transplanted too late
You could have probably stayed in three gallon if you weren’t gonna veg more
Root bound plants are rare

hotrodharley · Jan 14, 2022

How much water were you using to feed? You're describing underwatering.

Rurumo · Jan 14, 2022

These plants shift their energy away from root growth during the flowering period. A lot of people transplant like a week before flowering, but I like to hold off on flipping to 12/12 until I see roots filling out the entire pot.

waterproof808 · Jan 14, 2022

You should transplant at least 2 weeks before flipping to flower. The last thing you want happening in the first week of flower is transplant shock. Your plants should be in peak health before entering flower with no deficiencies or bug issues present.

ComfortCreator · Jan 14, 2022

Not watering the entire pot until wet
Not letting it dry fully during veg
Not giving it 7 to 10 days before switching to 12/12

All can and will contribute to this issue

franklinz · Jan 14, 2022

hotrodharley said:
How much water were you using to feed? You're describing underwatering.

Water when dry and leaves begin to droop. Gallon every 2 days at stretch and bulk. Then drop to every 3 days when the flowers are riping.

Herb & Suds · Jan 14, 2022

franklinz said:
Water when dry and leaves begin to droop. Gallon every 2 days at stretch and bulk. Then drop to every 3 days when the flowers are riping.

I run in 5 gallon pots a gallon each watering and if I waited three days they would look half dead
In full flower I am feeding everyday
Waiting till they wilt is waiting to long

hotrodharley · Jan 14, 2022

franklinz said:
Water when dry and leaves begin to droop. Gallon every 2 days at stretch and bulk. Then drop to every 3 days when the flowers are riping.

Not enough volume. You should be using almost 2 gallons to water sufficiently. At least 25% of container volume.

franklinz · Jan 14, 2022

Rurumo said:
These plants shift their energy away from root growth during the flowering period. A lot of people transplant like a week before flowering, but I like to hold off on flipping to 12/12 until I see roots filling out the entire pot.

This makes sense as I don't believe there really is a single-time-based solution and a visual check of the roots would be valuable.

franklinz · Jan 14, 2022

hotrodharley said:
Not enough volume. You should be using almost 2 gallons to water sufficiently. At least 25% of container volume.

This would make sense. I usually water slowly over a 15 minute period to 'try' and saturate the medium and check the base to make sure it is wet. How much time would you use adding 2 gallons to ensure saturation but little runoff? 30 min?

waterproof808 · Jan 14, 2022

If the plant grew well, you dont need to concern yourself with root mass...you arent smoking roots. You could use less medium next time but then you will need to increase watering frequency.

xtsho · Jan 14, 2022

I've transplanted to bigger pots well into flower. At harvest the roots had filled the pot completely. Those that are implying that roots don't grow once the plant starts flowering are incorrect. I've even ripped half the roots off and they still filled in the pots. No transplant shock or anything. I don't use any Mammoth P, Recharge, or anything else. I still get excellent root growth.

Chances are the bottom half of the pot was staying dry.

LeastExpectedGrower · Jan 14, 2022

franklinz said:
This would make sense. I usually water slowly over a 15 minute period to 'try' and saturate the medium and check the base to make sure it is wet. How much time would you use adding 2 gallons to ensure saturation but little runoff? 30 min?

Yeah, I usually do somewhere around 2 gallons per 5g bag. I rotate so I do say a gallon in each then go back and do another round. I only have 4 plants going at a time, but with mixing solution, etc. I'm probably spending about an hour and a half each water/feed.

In a 5G bag with ProMix I generally water between 1.5g and maybe 2.25g to get to 20% runoff. But I'm not watering every other or every two days, it's a 4-day cycle.

franklinz · Jan 14, 2022

waterproof808 said:
If the plant grew well, you dont need to concern yourself with root mass...you arent smoking roots. You could use less medium next time but then you will need to increase watering frequency.

I'm a believer in as in 'As above, so below; as below, so above' with regards to plant growth. The flower was great but it may have been better. That's just my craft way...

mudballs · Jan 14, 2022

franklinz said:
I'm a believer in as in 'As above, so below; as below, so above' with regards to plant growth. The flower was great but it may have been better. That's just my craft way...

That's the spirit, reject sound pragmatic input from long term growers...

franklinz · Jan 14, 2022

mudballs said:
That's the spirit, reject sound pragmatic input from long term growers...

I don't think an understanding of the living plane of being and life is pragmatic. But to each his own.

mudballs · Jan 14, 2022

franklinz said:
I don't think an understanding of the living plane of being and life is pragmatic. But to each his own.

The dude told you root mass dont really matter...you basically told him to go fk himself

hotrodharley · Jan 14, 2022

franklinz said:
This would make sense. I usually water slowly over a 15 minute period to 'try' and saturate the medium and check the base to make sure it is wet. How much time would you use adding 2 gallons to ensure saturation but little runoff? 30 min?

Depends. Do it slowly and all over. Use a bamboo barbecue skewer and pierce the hell out of everything. Especially under the plant. Do this before every feeding. With the medium loosened up it takes more water.

franklinz · Jan 14, 2022

mudballs said:
The dude told you root mass dont really matter...you basically told him to go fk himself

hotrodharley said:
Depends. Do it slowly and all over. Use a bamboo barbecue skewer and pierce the hell out of everything. Especially under the plant. Do this before every feeding. With the medium loosened up it takes more water.

Yes. Aeration may be the ticket as I usually have a hydrophobic crust on the top. Watering slowly usually helps saturation but I think I'm losing a lot to the sides. Thx

Root ball not filling whole pot.

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