Root Entanglement

[SkyFire]

Hello, I am new to this forum and really have been enjoying everything...:

OK, so I received an already started pot that had 3 plants in it. I transferred everything to a large, 10 gallon pot after noticing that the roots were already one system already, so I didn't separate them to avoid too much shock to the plants, since they already had at least 4 leaf systems. My question is, is there a way for me to separate them now, while still in the vegetative stage, or should I just leave them in the big pot theyre in, without separating them? I have noticed that one of them is larger than the rest and the smaller ones seem to grow slower, like it is a competition between plants now, and the strongest is winning. This is a problem I would like to completely alleviate without doing too much damage to the pretty plants...>)Thanks in advance!!!
joint:

 

[darkdestruction420]

they are gonna stop growing for like at least 1 month if you do seperate them now but on the other hand they are gonna be stunted badly if you leave em. my advice......start over. 4 nodes isnt very big btw so its not a huge loss or nothing. im not saying to kill them btw, just stay the course with these ones and start some new plants and view it as a learning experience.

 

[GreatwhiteNorth]

The least destructive way to separate them would be to gently shake off the bulk of the dirt & immerse them in a bucket of water & very gently agitate. When the majority of the dirt is gone you should be able to get them apart with out too much damage. Repot as soon you can & water. Keep in mind you should do this in near darkness (or green light) to avoid light damage to the roots.
And I'm pretty sure this will set them back a week or two in growth.
I've never actually done this, just an opinion.
Good Luck !

And welcome to RIU.

 

[darkdestruction420]

The least destructive way to separate them would be to gently shake off the bulk of the dirt & immerse them in a bucket of water & very gently agitate. When the majority of the dirt is gone you should be able to get them apart with out too much damage. Repot as soon you can & water. Keep in mind you should do this in near darkness (or green light) to avoid light damage to the roots.
And I'm pretty sure this will set them back a week or two in growth.
I've never actually done this, just an opinion.
Good Luck !

And welcome to RIU.

that sounds genius! good idea my friend!

 

[Stonefish]

If it were me, I would snip (to the ground) the two weaker plants and let the strong one grow. That way, at least you will get one strong happy plant - in lieu of possibly three dead ones. Just a thought...

 

[Green Cross]

that sounds genius! good idea my friend!

Wash the roots, and the plant will really hate you.

Roots are covered with microscopic hairs you don't want to damage.

MJ competes for space, so they should never be planted together in the first place, and the time to separate them was in the first week.

Cut the rootball apart with a sharp knife, while trying not to breakup the root ball too much. Expect them to go into shock for a few days

 

[SkyFire]

Wash the roots, and the plant will really hate you.

Roots are covered with microscopic hairs you don't want to damage.

MJ competes for space, so they should never be planted together in the first place, and the time to separate them was in the first week.

Cut the rootball apart with a sharp knife, while trying not to breakup the root ball too much. Expect them to go into shock for a few days

Thanks a lot for the advice! I am going to try the immersion in water thing and see where it goes from there. What do you mean by 'agitate the plants"?

If that method doesn't work and they have gone through too much shock, I will definitely get rid of the 2 smaller ones, and let the fat, tall one with a thicker stem thrive! I am gong to be ordering some feminized seeds anyhow, but I figure, since this is my first time growing, why waste the whole thing and let the big one go to waste as well? I really would like to separate them into individual pots, since this is all I have to work with until the seeds come. What do you think the possibility of cloning any of the plants? Thanks for all the great feedback...It is very helpful to me, being a first time grower..Cheers!

 

[Woomeister]

Wash the roots, and the plant will really hate you.

Roots are covered with microscopic hairs you don't want to damage.

MJ competes for space, so they should never be planted together in the first place, and the time to separate them was in the first week.

Cut the rootball apart with a sharp knife, while trying not to breakup the root ball too much. Expect them to go into shock for a few days

This is not true of hydro systems, I grow 6 plants in a flood table filled with hydroton and no pots and have done for nearly 20 years. I do, however, agree that it isnt a good idea in soil.

 

[SkyFire]

If i snip the 2 smaller, inadequate plants will I be able to clone the ones I snip or will the go to complete waste? Thanks....

 

[darkdestruction420]

are they bag seed? if so i'd start over, read this forum a bit, see if ya wanna do hydro or soil and the lighting system you would like to use. get the best soil and lights you can. might as well go all the way.

 

[darkdestruction420]

start new seeds i mean not kill these ones, you can experiment with these ones.

 

[jaythejoint]

ok i didnt read all the comments so i dont no if this was sed.. but if you are going to leave them in one pot.. i suggest u get a very big pot so that they DONT tangle

Most people for only one plant use a 5gal.. just imagine waht your going to need.
if you do seperate they might take a while to regrow...

Note: try to get as much of one plants roots as u can

 

[SkyFire]

are they bag seed? if so i'd start over, read this forum a bit, see if ya wanna do hydro or soil and the lighting system you would like to use. get the best soil and lights you can. might as well go all the way.

:
Good point..I am going early tomorrow to the Marijuana Expo in Detroit, so I think I will pick a bunch of stuff up there. I will let you know how it goes..They're going to have live glass blowers and all kinds of cool stuff related to the sexy green,,,lol,,Take it easy.

 

[SkyFire]

And yes, they are, but they're still pretty..I consider this one, strictly a test run. and hope to yield something decent at least..I am definitely going to spend at least 300 tomorrow on equipment and HPS lights hopefully..I really am looking forward to it! Well, off to bed..Remember kids, Good smoke equals Good Poke! hahah

 

[SkyFire]

Thanks..I am using well over 10 gallons actually..It took 2 full bags of soil mixed with organic fertilizer..like a giant wooden vegetable basket or something...It is huge though!! Probably at least 15 gallons, easy..hehhe

 

[Bud Frosty]

Just leave em all in and LST in different directions or cut with a sharp knife like GC said.

 

[SkyFire]

Thanks for the advice. I have them in a giant wooden basket that took 2 bags of organic soil and fertilizer mix to fill,,This thing is huge but the plants are pretty close together. Do you have any advice on how to spread them out more without causing too much trauma to the plant system..Thanks in advance! I implanted one that was a little sprout in small pot into better soil mix with organic choice potting soil and Perlite half and half so I should be seeing better results with just these sprouts in better mix than what I used for the big container with the 3 stems coming out..I had a tiny fly problem too when I added new mix with newly transplanted sprout in about 15 Gallon pot. I purchased some neem oil, and diluted that to be put in spray bottle, and sprayed it on the walls as well, the flies got so bad..I sprayed the plants down good as well and also the new pot I added. It looks to be keeping the bugs off, so far so good. I also got some organic choice organic fertilizer that I measured and mixed with water as well. Any advice on fertilization or pest control and how to keep them from being over-watered and fertilizers..Cheers!

I am learning a lot from everyone here! I am legal now and am continuously beefing up my grow area without going over the limit of what the law requires in my particular state... Peace. love, and giant bong hits for all!!!!

 

[SkyFire]

Hey, I think these ladies are ready for some flowering because they are now all thriving and have tops on them..Does anyone have any advice on how to setup a separate area for budding? I cant have new sprouts on same timer of light that I have well-matured plants that are almost 2 months old..Thanks! I mentioned transplanting a small sprout and now realize that was probably too soon to transplant. Does anyone have any advice on when the best time is for transplanting? Like I said, this is my first time grow..Later

 

[SkyFire]

Hey, I think these ladies are ready for some flowering because they are now all thriving and have tops on them..Does anyone have any advice on how to setup a separate area for budding? I cant have new sprouts on same timer of light that I have well-matured plants that are almost 2 months old..Thanks! I mentioned transplanting a small sprout and now realize that was probably too soon to transplant. Does anyone have any advice on when the best time is for transplanting? Like I said, this is my first time grow..Later

I have sprouted several new ones and have noticed that the fully mature that I spoke of before are thriving with several more branches and fatter leaves. When would be the best time to flower?

PS. When I said tops were growing I didnt realize that it was actually brand new leaves sprouting up top..I even had to move my lights up several times.