Roots Protruding - please HELP!

Hey guys, I have 3 lovely young ladies growing away nicely now for the last 3 weeks in soil. They're all about 8 inches tall now. I just happened to look underneath the pots and I noticed that I can see the roots sticking out through the drainage holes. Am starting to freak out big time here. I REALLY dont wanna transplant now, but i dont want these babies to die either. Is this a big problem or am I freaking over nothing? If its a problem, do I need to transplant or is there something else I can do. Im appealing to the combined experience and wisdom of RIU. Please help me guys. Peace.

yeah, you should probably translplant, your pots probably to small. post some pics!

Whatever size gallon pots you have them in now, you need to upgrade at least 2 gallons. They will double/triple in size when flowering. If they remain that way your plants will get root bound so dont wait too long bro..

Hope it works out

You need to transplant or growth will slow way down. You dont want the roots to dry out. They wont die but they will be a bitch to transplant latter when the roots are hanging out the pots. You can have more problems latter so its best to do it now. Use a shock treatment when you do decide to transplant it will help the transition to new pots and soil. Good Luck!

Mystery101 said:

Whatever size gallon pots you have them in now, you need to upgrade at least 2 gallons. They will double/triple in size when flowering. If they remain that way your plants will get root bound so dont wait too long bro..

Hope it works out

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Actually you CAN keep them the way they are..
If you wanna SIGNIFICANTLY lower your yield tho..
Ive seen a plant grown from seed to harvest in a
16 oz party cup lol..It sucks tho..

Ok, so they're not in immediate danger I take it? Whew, wouldnt be able to sleep if I thought they were dying and I have to wait like 12 hours for the garden centre to open

Since I last posted been doin some paniced research. Some folks say its possible to just cut the bottom of the old pots and sit them into new bigger pots. This sound right to you guys?

Thanks for the fast responses everyone, I really appreciate it

You CAN do it that way but I would just transplant them normally. I would only do it that way if I couldn't pull the plant out of the pot without damaging the roots that are sticking out.

420MacGyver said:

You CAN do it that way but I would just transplant them normally. I would only do it that way if I couldn't pull the plant out of the pot without damaging the roots that are sticking out.

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why not??? i say go for it... i have done the pot in a pot thing on my last grow and was quite impressed... cut the bottom out taking care not to disturb the roots and stick in a bigger pot (wider as well as deeper)...

Hey Gogrow, I have just completed the pot-on-pot method of transplanting now. Been reading up on it and it seems to be the least invasive way of giving these guys more room to extend their roots. I'll tell ya it was nerve wracking cutting the bottom off the old pots, but I think everything is ok. Thanks to everyone who responded with advice, I really appreciate it.

Peace

well congrats... you dont have them directly in the lights, do you? they recover from shock better in low light levels

Yeah, I have em back under the lights. Good call on giving them a rest, will take em outta the direct beam now for a while. What u reckon, a ferw hours or a few days of rest from the direct light?

just keep them out of the direct light for most of the day, shouldnt have any problems