Transplanting auto-flowers??

Hey there folks,

I asked this in the autoflower thread, but it's been busy over there so nobody got to it yet. I have a couple plants that were intended for seed production, so they were put in very small pots, but I never got a male! So now I have these pretty little females at about 3.5 wks, starting to show a good number of white hairs, but they're in 1/4 gallon pots so I'm sure they've been pretty stunted already. Since my seed plan is shot, would it be worth it to transplant these girls to 3-gallon pots now? Would this still allow them to grow big and yield well, provided I care for them properly from now on? I've always read you should start autos in a big pot for max yield, but since I didn't care about getting smokeable buds, only seeds, I disregarded that in the beginning. So my question is, can I change course 3-4 wks in by transplanting and go for a better yield, or is it too late? Thanks in advance for any responses!

I transplant mine but usually immediately when they show sex. I would still do it your results will be better than using something small. I wouldnt waste the time or money going all the way up to 3 gallon. Just go up to single gallon pots.

heywhatsthatsmell said:

I transplant mine but usually immediately when they show sex. I would still do it your results will be better than using something small. I wouldnt waste the time or money going all the way up to 3 gallon. Just go up to single gallon pots.

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okay, so you think 3 gallon is overkill? Will the roots really have enough room in the 1-gallon though because I was shocked out how quickly and extensively the root system grew with these plants - the roots filled my 1/4 gallon container when the plant was like 2.5 inches tall. I've had normal plants go to 6-8 inches before needing a transplant from the same pots! Thanks for the help man

Unless you time your transplant perfectly ... there will be a negative effect.

A true Auto should not need more than a 1 gallon pot. You should germ your auto's in the same 1 gallon pots. They will not be in there anywhere long enough to wear out the soil.

No transplanting ... just veg fert for maximum liftoff before sexing.

CrackerJax said:

Unless you time your transplant perfectly ... there will be a negative effect.

A true Auto should not need more than a 1 gallon pot. You should germ your auto's in the same 1 gallon pots. They will not be in there anywhere long enough to wear out the soil.

No transplanting ... just veg fert for maximum liftoff before sexing.

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I know that ideally autos should be started in their final pots, 1 gallon or larger. The situation I am in now is different from an ideal situation. I planted in very small pots because I was trying to create seeds, not fat buds. Now that I'm 3 wks in, I could try to finish in 1/4 gallon pots, or I could transplant. At this point, which is better? was my question. I know I would have had more success starting from the beginning in a big pot, but at this point I'm just trying to figure out what would be my best option given the circumstance, or, better said, which would be worse: Transplanting, or leaving in a tiny cramped pot. Thanks for the reply, it just seemed like I hadn't been clear....

i normally transplant 3 to 3 1/2 weeks sometimes at 3 weeks sometimes wait until sex is shown i always use 2 1/2 or 3 gallon pot overkill but it is what i use

i have 2 diesel ryders in week 8 one should be loaded with seeds only week 3 of pollination a 4 to 6 week term so she will have to go like two weeks past harvest time for seed development what will that do to weed

You still have 7-9 weeks left ... move them up.

i would move up. give em some b1 to help with the shock, im no auto expert but i would think you would have to fuck up the transplant up pritty bad to make your yields worse than staying in the tiny pots.

sogalax said:

i would move up. give em some b1 to help with the shock, im no auto expert but i would think you would have to fuck up the transplant up pritty bad to make your yields worse than staying in the tiny pots.

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right on thanks for the pointers guys. I've never had a problem with transplanting, got my method down and everything... people usually make a bigger deal out of it than it is. Don't know how it is with auto flowering strains though... I'm gonna go for it I guess, worse that happens is I waste some soil.

Does transplanting a plant really shock it that badly, if you are careful ?!?!

Not necessarily shock...but it never advances the plant...something is always lost.

I have grown many a weed plant from seed to harvest in a 3 gallon pot. There really is no need to transplant at all for such a short lived plant.

I would say the biggest thing when transplanting is the effort put into developing new roots. The plant can only grow so much at any given point in time wether that be above ground or below. If you switch it at the wrong time or during a veg/flower growth spurt it will cut back above ground and start to develop a larger root system. This is escpecially bad for autos which need to take advantage of all of there short life cycle.

Yes i agree , any transplant shock / probs will really give the autoflower problems because lets say you d upset it and it takes a week to recover, 1 week is probably 10% of its life wasted !

However i don't see the issue with starting an autoflower in a peat pot / root cube , and then when a few roots come through , to bang it straight into a 3 galon pot for example.

i have my 5 auto's in little soil propagators and they are about 1-2" tall after 3 days, I have been using a 125w cfl on them since they sprouted through, I'm using a 80 x 80cm by 160cm height, is it the right time to re-pot them and start using my 400w hps, i saw that if you start using it 3ft away from the plants and gradually move it down an inch or two daily until you're at the preferred height is ok to do, any advice welcome, it's my 1st grow

Transplanting will most defiantly shock autoflowering plants but that doesn't meant that you cant transplant them.. There are many advantages to transplanting like sexing in small containers, germinating seeds in small containers and many more but you need to be careful, because poorly done transplanting can shed 1 to 5 days of your plants growth and considering that some autoflowers grow only 60 days it is a significant portion of their life!
Some time ago I wrote an article about autoflower transplanting!

autos really dont like transplants i normally do one at about 2 to 3 weeks

just be gentle - i normally slit the red cup down two sides