About to flower; transplant questions

[Guest]

Hey all,

I am about to start flowering for the first time. I have been vegging two phenos of Sweet Tooth #3, one was germed in Jan. and one in Feb. I have two clones from the saucier one ready to go, one is short but fat in a 12 oz dixie cup and the other is still digging in its roots in a 6 or 8 oz cup.

The older plant is in a square 2 gallon container, the other was transplanted from a one gallon pot to a 2 gallon grow bag. I have more 2 and 3 gal grow bags and finally, I have 4 pots that I want to finish with.
These: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=28513-000001721-DP1510EV&lpage=none
15" x 13 1/2" Green Deck Planter

I had read great posts by smilingbob (I think that is their handle) about potting up properly or just wasting soil. I would like to ask for advice on what schedule to follow to fully realize the big pots for the 4 plants that will go to flower, I was hoping to start by next week.

Is it wrong to transplant once flowering is underway?

Would you back off on nutrients or drop them altogether after transplanting and the first 30 days? I am using Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil.

I look forward to your advice!

 

[emmy75]

hey jj
well transplanting after flowering is ok. i did my final transplant the second week into flower with no problems. but i dont think you would want to wait to much longer than that.

as far as the nutes go ive not let up on anything. my veg and flower nutes are very much the same except im using high p sb guano and a hella lot of nitrogen. flowering plants eat up nitrogen like no tomorrow, as least the ones im growing. im going to add nutes up until the ninth week where ill slowly decrease the amounts. not really flushing.
hope this helps and good luck with the second stage.

 

[3BM]

I know BOG used to recommend transplanting halfway through flowering if there is a danger of the plant becoming rootbound. In my experience, when plants are put into large soil they will fill it up in a hurry. Some faster than others ofcourse, but there really is not such thing as too much soil. Plants will create new roots all the way into senescence. When they get rootbound during flowering it really diminishes their potential. Expect about 3 weeks of good growth from a 2 gal pot, after that move up to 4 gal a few days before moving to flower and you should be fine. Getting to know the plants is a must, but this is a good general guideline. Plants with a moderate to low stretch (like your ST3) should be around 16-18" before blooming in the 4 gal pots. They should stretch to about 24" and remain green and happy all the way to the end. But as always, your results may vary. Hope that helps.

 

[Guest]

I thought that I was to cut back on N, that the flowering plant needs more P and K. That high N for a flowering plant worked against flower production?

 

[3BM]

Plants need N throughout their lives, but many growers advocate reducing the N during flower to emphasize flower production. Fresh FFOF will provide N for many weeks, so they will have it no matter what you do. Not feeding the plants any more N will encourage them to use up soil reserves, after which they will begin to use up leaf reserves and finally the harvested flowers will be N deficient which can produce smoother smoke.

 

[Guest]

I know BOG used to recommend transplanting halfway through flowering if there is a danger of the plant becoming rootbound. In my experience, when plants are put into large soil they will fill it up in a hurry. Some faster than others ofcourse, but there really is not such thing as too much soil. Plants will create new roots all the way into senescence. When they get rootbound during flowering it really diminishes their potential. Expect about 3 weeks of good growth from a 2 gal pot, after that move up to 4 gal a few days before moving to flower and you should be fine. Getting to know the plants is a must, but this is a good general guideline. Plants with a moderate to low stretch (like your ST3) should be around 16-18" before blooming in the 4 gal pots. They should stretch to about 24" and remain green and happy all the way to the end. But as always, your results may vary. Hope that helps.

My problem right now is I can't go with the big pots until the flower hut is up and ready and that could be mid next week at the earliest. I don't have the room in the veg hut. So I will get them all into the 3 gallon bags and then transplant to the pots the day the flower hut goes live. Should I continue 18/6 with the HPS in there for a bit or go straight to 12/12?

To everybody, Thanks VERY much for helping me sort this out. THANK YOU!

 

[emmy75]

jj
about the nitrogen, my soil has sawdust and bark which are big nitrogen users. during flower i was using only 1 tbsp per gallon of Nitrogen bat guano and that wasnt enough. i was gettin nitrogen deficiencies, the leaves turning yellow and obviously dying. in order to stop that i have to put 2-2.5 tbsp per gallon just to ward off the N def. i think most users cut back on N but i have to increase my amounts to save the sucker leaves. im certainly an exception to the general rule of N during flowering.

 

[Guest]

emmy75, thanks for the explanation. There are so many variables. I can see how much fun this is, everything about it has already been a learning experience and fun! haha