This Is My Question.

It has to due w/ potting and pots.

Ok, first off when you plant a seedling. Is it better to just throw it into a big pot? Or move up from a smaller to bigger pot, like start w/ lets say a red plastic cup, then move to a full size pot (w/e that size may be)?

And when deciding to move from a small to a big size of pot, when can you look at a plant (not just a cannabis plant, but all&any in general) and tell it needs to be re-potted into a bigger sized pot? How much room does a CANNABIS plant's roots need to fully grow- healthy and productively?

Thanks for your input,
iHIGH420

To your first question, you can do it either way, putting the seedling directly into a big pot or grow it in a small cup and then transfer it. It's usually up to the grower. I like using a seed starting plug and then transfer it.

As for the size of your pot, it depends on how long you plan on vegging your plant. If it's 4 weeks I think you can get away with a 3gal. pot, but any longer you will want to use a 5gal. pot.

You may want to wait for more answers tho...

I always start seeds, of any type plant, in a small container. I have 8 trays of annuals getting established in red plastic cups, which I've cut down to about 2.5 inches tall, sitting in the screen porch right now. I determine when to move them to the flower beds by seeing if the plant slides out of the cup without the root ball falling apart. After a few times you'll just be able to tell when to move up to a larger size container.

The main reason to start in smaller containers, for me, is so that I can avoid overwatering and still be able to water and feed. If you have a single small plant in a 5 gallon pot, it can be hard to keep much of the medium from staying waterlogged. Waterlogged media can lead to stem rot and can inhibit root growth.

mihjaro said:

I always start seeds, of any type plant, in a small container. I have 8 trays of annuals getting established in red plastic cups, which I've cut down to about 2.5 inches tall, sitting in the screen porch right now. I determine when to move them to the flower beds by seeing if the plant slides out of the cup without the root ball falling apart. After a few times you'll just be able to tell when to move up to a larger size container.

The main reason to start in smaller containers, for me, is so that I can avoid overwatering and still be able to water and feed. If you have a single small plant in a 5 gallon pot, it can be hard to keep much of the medium from staying waterlogged. Waterlogged media can lead to stem rot and can inhibit root growth.

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I agree with him.

small plants need small containers because they dont have the root system and leaf mass to drink all the water. Also when the plants get bigger the size of the pot really depends on how often you want to water them. the bigger the pot the less frequent the waterings

Ok thanks for the input, it really helps. But as far as my plants I got going now, I'm just wondering if I'm doing the right thing w/ them, I got 2 plants: plant A. is pretty tall(for me I guess lol) I'd say 6-9inches tall, and plant B. is just a sprout w/ only its very first leafs developing. Both plants are in the same size pot, but I'm just worried as they grow (if I can manage to keep them alive) that they'll need more space for growing, and if I don't know the right time or signs of it needing to be re-potted I would be in danger of making the budding productivity lessened or even killing the entire plant it's self. Yall should know as well, I am very new to planting and growing, therefore I want to come here and learn as much as I can from fellow more experienced growers. Who actually know what there doing lol So I appreciated when people help, and explain things as though a 5 year old could understand what to do

RyanTheRhino said:

Also when the plants get bigger the size of the pot really depends on how often you want to water them. the bigger the pot the less frequent the waterings

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This is so true. You can grow a 3 foot tall monster in a red plastic cup if you don't mind watering all of the time. I've seen pictures on this site proving that.

I guess what I'm saying is that you'll know when to repot by how fast the existing pot drys out. If you let the media get a little drier than normal before you do repot, the existing root ball should just slide out very easily. If you try to repot to soon, the root ball will fall apart on you. Even this falling apart is not too big of a deal. So, don't sweat it too much. Most plants are EXTREMELY hard to kill once that get established. If you have some bagseed that you don't care about, try staring one and abuse the fuck out of it once it gets a few inches tall. Let it dry out completely, bend the stem in half, cut off almost all the vegetation. You'll see what I mean. Plants are pretty resilient, in general, and cannabis is more hardy than most.

mihjaro said:

This is so true. You can grow a 3 foot tall monster in a red plastic cup if you don't mind watering all of the time. I've seen pictures on this site proving that.

I guess what I'm saying is that you'll know when to repot by how fast the existing pot drys out. If you let the media get a little drier than normal before you do repot, the existing root ball should just slide out very easily. If you try to repot to soon, the root ball will fall apart on you. Even this falling apart is not too big of a deal. So, don't sweat it too much. Most plants are EXTREMELY hard to kill once that get established. If you have some bagseed that you don't care about, try staring one and abuse the fuck out of it once it gets a few inches tall. Let it dry out completely, bend the stem in half, cut off almost all the vegetation. You'll see what I mean. Plants are pretty resilient, in general, and cannabis is more hardy than most.

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ahah, thats funny idea, and I think as a newcomer to this, I believe that to be a pretty good Idea. But I keep reading the word 'media' are you meaning the soil by this?

The medium is whatever the plant is growing in. Soil, coco, perlite and rockwool are all examples of plant medium. I mistyped in my earlier post when I called it media, as medium is the proper term.

Going with a bigger pot, sooner, makes for shorter, bushier, plants, than if you choose to step it up slowly, and end up waiting a bit too long for each transplant. Foliage doesn't grow much wider than the container,(without training them) and once it reaches that point, plants tend to grow more upwards, than outwards(and can start to stretch). I go straight from party cups, to 4 gallon pots, after experimenting with the 1 gallon size, finding it was just an unnecessary hassle, making more work for me. Also, keep in mind that you need a medium with excellent drainage, to go big early, or overwatering issues might occur. I use 20-25% perlite, and have no problems.

I reccomend to strat with small pots and work your way up. I start in a 1" plug tray then to a 2" pot then to a 4" then to a 3 or 5 gal as it becomes to much work after a 4". The reason is to let it get a little root bound before you step up a size. If you just go right to a big pot then the roots will stretch right to the walls then start to wrap, this leaves roots very prone to hot/cold as there is no buffer. If you start in smaller pots and allow them to just get root bound then as you get into the 3 or 5 gal pots you have a nice rootball in the middle of the pot protected from the outside. Jawbrodt is very right about plants only bushing out as much as the roots stretch so do this eary in life. I find about a week each pot before transplant is about right for me but each strain and each persons growing techniques are different.

When to transplant, loot for roots coming out the bottom, this indicates that the roots are starting to get bound. You have to be careful or the plants will start to get more vertical growth.