Need good advice from experienced indoor growers

hey guys hopeless newb here. This is my first grow and its just some random bagseed growing on a very cheap budget in soil. I got 2 plants both 4 weeks old from sprouting and theyre in their first week of 12/12. I have very limited height in my grow space so I'm trying to keep them short. Both plants' roots are poking through the drain holes on my pots. not much, just like a couple millimeters through each hole. When I transplanted them into these pots I buried them deep up to the first set of leaves. I also still have a couple inches of unused space in the pots from the rim to the level of the medium. So what I am wondering is does anyone think its a safe idea to instead of transplanting to a larger pot maybe I could dig them up and add more soil and raise them up a couple inches to give the roots some more space in the same pots. Or would it just be better to get bigger pots? I really dont have the space for a larger pot. Ill add some pics so you can see how deep they are buried and how much unused room I have in the pots. I mean I have seen people with much larger plants in a damn 16oz plastic cup lol.

if u can fit bigger pots then do so, its the best option; more root space means more roots means bigger plants. if u cant then dont dig' them up, it'll rip off roots and stress or stunt your plant for a bit, instead just gently squeeze the pot all round and remove like you were transplanting, lay it on sum newspaper and put sum soil in the ass of the pot and just replant.dont bury the stalk any further above the first set of true leaves, it can cause rot. your plants are lookin good mate.

I really dont mind if my plants stay really small. I'm not going for big yield, just healthy successful first grow. If the roots will be okay in this pot and not hurt the plant then I would rather just not move them at all. alright now about transplanting in general: I have heard from different people different methods of doing it, but some tell me to let the soil dry out and some say to soak the soil completely right before doing it. Which is true? or is it just opinion? I'm actually TERRIFIED to damage my babies. When I transplanted the first time I got them wet first and all the soil fell apart and i ripped some roots off and the whole process just scared the crap out of me. By the end I was literally shaking lol.

it would be cool if someone designed a pot that has a detachable base that you can just snap off and attach a larger base with more soil when its ready... seriously I am so worried about transplanting that I would rather saw the bottom of my pot off and set the pot in a larger pot lol. I would honestly have done that if the saw wouldnt hit the roots. The root tips that are coming out have been exposed for about a week now and they are looking dry. since there is obviously more roots inside the soil that are getting water they should be okay for a couple more days yea?

what size are those containers? transplant when the soil is dry. dont be scared, it leads to mistakes, cool and calm is the way to be. especially considering how easy transplanting really is. even if you do screw up losing a bit of roots is not all that big a deal at all. With all that said, i think you are fine where you are now pot size wise.

I'm not positive what size the containers that I'm using are... They are maybe 8-10" diameter at the rim and look like they might hold maybe 1.5 gallons of water... Idk im an extreme newb. Like I said tho i have seen people with plants twice the size growing out of a 16oz beer pong cup ya know. I'm just tryin to figure out if its okay to have the roots poking out of the drain holes or if that is a big no-no and I'm damaging my babies. Regardless the lights are off for another 9.5 hours today before I can even do anything about it. And I wont have money for new containers until tomorrow evening.

its better if the roots arent growing too much out, light can and will burn them and if ur pot tray is constantly wet then it can lead to rot. as darkdestruction said dont worry too much, peeking out wont harm them, ive had roots 3 inches out, ive currently got 3 in soil that need transplanted due them all having roots showing but i'll get to it at some point. the worst ive ever had was a 2' plant in flower that i had serious problem with and had no option but wash all the dirt off and pop it in a homemade dwc, i reckon i lost about 60% of the roots, 3 weeks later it was almost perfect and gave me over 2oz. dont worry just ease the pot off and either fill it up a bit more or transplant. these fuckers can put up with a helluva lot.
btw the pots usually have alittle stamp on the arse of them telling you the volume.

sweet. that makes me feel alot better. They are barely peeking out and the tray under my pot has actually never had water in it so I'm not worried about them getting rot. I know everyone says to water until you see it coming out of the holes, but I've been so worried I am going to kill these plants that every time I water I have been using a water bottle with a small hole poked in the lid and squirting it out. That way takes a very long time to water but atleast I know if anything I will be under-watering not over-watering. And I only have 2 plants and I dont mind spending time with them haha. But thanks for the replies guys. I think I'm gonna attempt the transplant tomorrow evening or saturday morning. I have some MG Quickstart transplant solution and Superthrive should I use either of them after the transplant?

youve misunderstood the concept of overwatering. it is not about amount of water each time, its about letting the medium get light again before watering. i use as much water as i have soil at least,it causes the medium to get light quicker which allows more feedings and prevents fert salts from building up. also, just in case you dont know here is how to tell when to water, credit to 10k the original author-(note- very weird thing happened when i went to get the info, i put in the usual phrase i do on google to find it and hit enter and it went straight to the page and skipped the page where it shows the search results)
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What is the "lift the pot" method?

Added by: 10k

The "lift the pot" method is a widely practiced, and very accurate method of knowing when to water your container plants.

The best way imho, to know when soil grown potted plants need more watering is by checking how heavy the pots feel. This method is very simple to learn once you get the feel for how light a ready for watering pot of soil feels.

Get an equal size pot and fill it with your soil. The medium should be about as moist as a new bag of potting soil. Use this planter as a learning tool to get a rough idea of how much the pots should weigh before watering again. The pots with your plants will feel only just slightly heavier when the soil is ready for more water. Pick up one of your planted pots, if its noticably heavy, do not water it until it feels "light". Next time you water a planter, pick it up and feel how much heavier it feels compared to the sample pot of soil.

It only takes a few times picking up the pots until this skill is like a "second nature" to you. You wont even need the sample pot after you get accustomed to the lifting method.

Sure your plants are always putting on more weight as they grow larger, but once you're proficient at lifting the pots, you'll also know how to compensate for the weight of the plants with ease.

I dont know how to better explain this method of knowing when to water, but believe me, anyone who learns this method, will always know when its time to water. "

Thats sounds like a good way to water, i think I will try to get the hang of that. I transplanted them both last night. I took a clone off one of them too and put it inside a Stealth PC veg box I quickly threw together. The clone has been on its own for 9 hours now and its still kickin. I don't know how the transplanted ones are doing, I won't be able to see them til the light comes back on in 8 hours from now. Transplant seemed to go well though. The root ball was tightly compacted and both just slid right out no problem. I was a little short on soil so theyre still sitting kinda low even in the new pots.

are your guys fingers hurting from typing so much? lol that's what I like to see is people taking the time to really explain how to help and not just putting general answers.. props guys