Adding soil to pot ?

I have 4big plants 4 younger and the bigger ones seem to have root bound in 50l fast

am I safe to add 20 litres to the top of them ?will that help like a repot ? There in massive 50lbags they can’t get a repot
So can amend soil with alfalfa em lime bonemeal etc and let the roots root a week n flip before they get carried away again , I waited so long for the others to catch up even tho it was only 10 days ffs
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Sure! I always start in a 5 gallon pot with 4 gallons of soil. I mix the nutrients I use for top dressing with new soil and add it into the pots.

2cent said:

I have 4big plants 4 younger and the bigger ones seem to have root bound in 50l fast

am I safe to add 20 litres to the top of them ?will that help like a repot ? There in massive 50lbags they can’t get a repot
So can amend soil with alfalfa em lime bonemeal etc and let the roots root a week n flip before they get carried away again , I waited so long for the others to catch up even tho it was only 10 days ffs
Add to the top

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Hell no! The roots will still be bunched up at the bottom and you won't get new ones growing up top. Just have your soil mix ready to go then lift the plant out and saw off the bottom 2 inches of the rootball then dump a bunch of soil in to make the top of the rootball a couple inches below the rim when the plant is put back in. Easier if you have the same size or bigger pot you can partly fill with soil in preparation for the plant. I like to spray the surface of the new soil with water and sprinkle liberally with something like DynoMyco then drop the plant in. New roots popping out the drain holes in days.

OldMedUser said:

Hell no! The roots will still be bunched up at the bottom and you won't get new ones growing up top. Just have your soil mix ready to go then lift the plant out and saw off the bottom 2 inches of the rootball then dump a bunch of soil in to make the top of the rootball a couple inches below the rim when the plant is put back in. Easier if you have the same size or bigger pot you can partly fill with soil in preparation for the plant. I like to spray the surface of the new soil with water and sprinkle liberally with something like DynoMyco then drop the plant in. New roots popping out the drain holes in days.

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I know in fabric pots this method works, I have added more topdress nutrients after doing what I described above and disturbed fresh roots.

farmingfisherman said:

I know in fabric pots this method works, I have added more topdress nutrients after doing what I described above and disturbed fresh roots.

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With fabric pots you get automatic root pruning and when the tips of roots get cut off or die at the tips like they do in fabric or smart pots the root branches out like a plant does when you top it. That sends out lots of fine feeder roots which is the point of using fabric pots. I just do it manually each time I up-pot a plant. My rootballs at harvest have no coiled roots at the bottom of 4gal pails and the rootball is held together with a mesh of fine roots. Gotta stomp the hell out of them when putting them in the garden or compost to break them up.

This is a rootball cut in half down the middle of a 5gal pot. I had cut a big hole in the bottom I covered with an inverted 5" net pot I put lots of extra holes in as an experiment in root pruning like some pots I'd seen for sale online.

2cent said:

I have 4big plants 4 younger and the bigger ones seem to have root bound in 50l fast

am I safe to add 20 litres to the top of them ?will that help like a repot ? There in massive 50lbags they can’t get a repot
So can amend soil with alfalfa em lime bonemeal etc and let the roots root a week n flip before they get carried away again , I waited so long for the others to catch up even tho it was only 10 days ffs
Add to the top

Click to expand...

Show some pics cause I doubt you have a root bound issue in 13 gallon pots indoors
Just because roots fill the bottom of a pot it doesn’t mean they are by definition root bound

Herb & Suds said:

Show some pics cause I doubt you have a root bound issue in 13 gallon pots indoors
Just because roots fill the bottom of a pot it doesn’t mean they are by definition root bound

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Got that right. I see people saying that you need to up-pot as soon as you see roots coming out of the drain holes. When I root prune a 1gal rootball to put in a 4gal pot I see roots in less than a week most times. They are not getting up-potted again.