To Transplant Or Not - That Is The Question

Quick question to all interested. I want to make my grow more simple. If you germinate a seed in a paper towel could you plant it right into a container that is 3 or 5 gal with fresh soil so that you would never have to transplant it? Wouldn't this benefit the roots as they would never be disturbed in their life? I'm just curious because I would like to eliminate that step in my grow. Would it be better to start them in small peat pots & then put them in a permanent home?I punch lots of holes in peat pots so the roots can grow freely. What would be the advantages & disadvantages of doing either of these methods?

This question really isn't that daunting, has no one ever done this? That would be unbelieveable!

Any thoughts at all would be great.

what you want to do is ideal for the plant most people dont do that because of space issues and you waste a fairly large amount of soil you are likely going to have seedlings that dont make it and when you go to add fertilizer you are going to have to add a lot more than you would if the plant was in a small pot early in its life so the hassles of transplanting are worth it to save $$$$ and they can be kept closer together in small pots so a powerfull light isnt needed for the first few weeks some cfl's will be fine and you save $$$ thast way as well

It will def be better. But if ur not growing from fem seeds you will be wasting alot of space with the bigger pots on male plant your gonna throw away anyway. Hope that helps.

Yes these thoughts help - Thanx! I'm trying to get a good conversation going about the pros & cons of this way - very good job of pointing out several of those geoffGodd.

I understand the possible waste - nice point. Plants don't really need fertilizer until they are a few weeks old & by this time with proper conditions they should be several inches tall with quite a few branches so you will in my opinion not be wasting too much if your using say a 3 gallon container. If space is not an issue than you should be able to fit quite a few of these in your average closet say maybe 5 or more. I myself use CFLs & tube fluros from start to finish - the surrounding technique is whats important - bulbs on top, underneath, around everyside, etc. You can accomplish this staying under 300 watts with carful positioning I believe. You would also have to use reflective material of course, but the end cost on your eletric bill wouldn't be much of anything.

You have a good point as well Blow I would like to address. If you have a plant that turns out to be male here is an idea to not waste space,light,or soil. Determine early if it's male before it gets a chance to really develop - if it is chop it, but don't throw it out. They say never to reuse pots & soil for two main reasons1) The plant growing in in before sucked all the nutrients out so the soil is useless2)The container could carry a disease to the roots of the new plant.SOLUTION - These males you chop had to be created with nutrients right? This is what you do - take the chopped plants & rip them to pieces(grind or whatever),take the soil out, but don't throw it out. Before you remove it from the container flush it thouroghly then remove it & mix it well with the chopped up useless plant. Sterilize the container, & refill it with your new soil mix. Set this container aside for future use as this will allow time for the soil to sort of regenerate. Water the soil as if there was a plant there. Would this not work well & keep people from wasting soil? I think so - try it.It's kinda similar to composting I think. My knowledge in that area still needs work. Getting back to light & space, well they go hand in hand. Young plants need less light so this will kinda fix itself when you remove the male because more space & light will be left for the remaining females. Any thoughts on this stuff?

Come on guys & gals - this debate has to be appealing to someone.

I guess no one wants to discuss this - dead thread - I tryed.