help with transplanting..?

[J.C.grower]

hey guys recently when i transplant my plants, i have no idea in which direction to take it and i end up ripping some roots and not getting all the soil out at once with all the root system intact. my question is how do i do a successful transplant without messing up my root system?

J.C.

 

[pearlemae]

Generally speaking you want to break up the root ball depending how heavy the root growth is. When the roots have circled the inside of the pot,all the white stringy stuff you see when you pull the plant from the pot are roots, they should be white not tan or brown. You can actually break up those entangled roots before you up size the pot. It just stimulates root growth. If roots break its not a big deal don't worry about it.

 

[maggot420]

If you water a few hours before you attempt to transplant you might get all the the soil and roots together. Make sure you squeeze all the way around the pot to make it easier to release. Then turn your plant/pot upside down, you should have the top of the pot in your palm with the stem in between your fingers, and gently tug down it should slide right out.

 

[J.C.grower]

thanks for the help guys! much appreciated!
stay fligh and high
-J.C.

 

[PoopyTeaBags]

squeeze the pot alittle if possible then just turn the whole pot up side down and pull the pot off the rootball..

 

[wilbur]

yes, give the pot a decent whack with a gardening trowel in the direction you want it to go once yr holding the plant and pot upside down.

there's a caution in yr tale about the soil yr using. soil shouldn't be sticky enuf to stick to the pot when it's wet.

grow on!

 

[Nader]

use almanac moon calendar for best transplanting dates. you can seriously manhandle roots on those dates and the plants bounce back

 

[schwilly]

Little trick for if you ever have little plants in solo cups and want to get them transplanted before the rootball is able to hold everything together:

Use a razor to cut the bottom of the cup off. Make a slice up the length of the cup. Transplant the whole thing, then just pull the cup out of the new soil by the lip. Bam, no transplant stress on little vulnerable plants with small root systems. Really comes in handy when you don't want to wait another week or two to transplant.

I guess you can do this on bigger containers if you don't care about ruining them but I usually don't have issues with those.

 

[J.C.grower]

appreciate the help!
JC