Transplanting Step by Step

Marijuana Horticulture

by Jorge Cervantes

Step 1

Water clone with half strength Trichoderma bacteria or Vitamin B1, two days before transplanting.

Step 2

Fill the three gallon container with rich potting soil or soilless mix to within two inches of the top.

Step 3

Water growing medium with a mild, quarter strength hydroponic fertilizer solution until saturated and solution drains freely out the bottom.

Step 4

Carefully remove the root ball from the container. Pace your hand over top of container with the stem between your fingers; turn it upside down, and let root ball slip out of pot into your hand. Take special care at this point to keep the rot ball in one integral piece.

Step 5

Carefully place the root ball in the prepared hole in the three gallon container. Make sure all roots are growing down.

Step 6

Backfill around the root ball. Gently, but firmly, place soil into contact with the root ball.

Step 7

Water with half strength fertilizer containing Trichoderma bacteria or Vitamin B1. Soil should be saturated – not waterlogged – and drain freely. If rooting cube and new substrate are not identical, pay special attention to moisture levels. Let rockwool dry out enough so that rots penetrate new growing medium in search of moisture.

Step 8

Place new transplants on the perimeter of the HID garden or under a screen to subdue sunlight for a couple of days. Once transplants look strong, move them under full light.

Step 9

Fertilize soilless mixes after transplanting with a complete hydroponic fertilizer that contains soluble chelated nutrients. New potting soil usually supplies enough nutrients for a couple of weeks before supplemental fertilization is necessary.

Seedlings and clones can also be transplanted directly into three to five gallon pot, a system which requires fewer containers and involves less work and less possible plant stress. The larger volume of soil holds water and nutrients longer and requires less frequent watering. When clones and seedlings are transplanted directly into a five gallon container, the roots grow down, out, and around the container walls and bottom. In fact, the majority of roots grow out of soil and form a layer behind the container wall.

To encourage roots to develop a dense compact system, transplant just before they have outgrown their container. Transplanting a well-rooted clone in a root cube into a four inch pot and transplanting the four inch pot into a three gallon pot or grow bag causes rots to develop a more extensive system in a small ball of growing medium. Successful transplanting causes minimal stress. Most marijuana crops are in the ground for such a short time that bungled transplanting costs valuable recuperation time and loss in production.

Transplant clones and seedlings into raised beds and large planter boxes directly from four inch pots. As many as 20 plants can be transplanted into a 24 x 24 x 12 inch planter, but six to twelve plants will yield about the same dry weight of buds. Once plants start crowding and shading one another, bend stems outward and tie them to a trellis attached to the planter. large planters require less maintenance. The larger mass of soil retains water and nutrients much longer and more evenly. One downside is that all plants must receive the same water and diet.

Three gallon containers are the idea size for two to three foot tall plants. Larger pots are usually unnecessary because plants grow no longer than a week or two in the vegetative stage and six to ten weeks flowering. Smaller three gallon pots are easy to move and handle. Roots also grow less during flowering. By the time a plant is pot bound, it is ready to harvest. I used to recommend up to a five gallon container for plants that are harvested after 90 total days of life. I now believe this is a waste. While the smaller containers require daily watering, they produce harvests comparable to those of five gallon containers.

Mother plants are much larger, grow longer, and can require containers up to 30 gallons in size. However, mother plants grow quite well in five or ten gallon hydroponic containers for a year or longer. If you plan to keep a mother plant for more than a few months, grow it hydroponically in its own container for best results.