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Hole size for OD grow

THC123

Active member
Veteran
understand completely. to be clear, my question is: what size pots are they in BEFORE transplant? VERY important in determining hole size, dontcha think?

LOL yeah it was something i totally overlooked , good point , yeah for the small plants i am transplanting now , i only use about 1.5 gallon holes
 

ghost of sage

Active member
not a bit to me!!!

not a bit to me!!!

i understand completely. to be clear, my question is: what size pots are they in BEFORE transplant? VERY important in determining hole size, dontcha think?

i mean... if i were transplanting from a 3.5" square pot, i'd use a lot less dirt than if the babies were in 2 gallons of dirt. Especially if I were hauling all the soil somewhere. Its almost time for stretch and the amount of root mass NOW will speak volumes as to the potential for growth until flowering begins. Not to mention the strain being grown. I'd put Blue Dream in a LOT more soil than I'd put Master Kush right now since the MK is a slow vegger and a fast stretcher. Blue Dream could utilize 3 times the dirt in the remainder of the season we have before us.

I transplant one time from a 3.5" pot right into the middle of one of my big holes and never frig with it again.You need the same size hole to get a good size plant no matter what you transplant it from that is irrelevant as far as I am concerned.If i were pulling my plants out of a 3 gallon pot i would still dig my holes the same and they would still hold the same amount of dirt.Same size hole for this early skunk and it was about an 8 footer when I tied her down a few weeks ago.
 

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nomaad

Active member
Veteran
root mass= yield potential. more time in veg=more root mass. more soil=more potential root mass. Since its August 1st, you have less veg and stretch time than say if it were July 1st, or June first...

Width and shape of the hole and how much perlite you put in your mix and what and how much you feed them will also be factors.

ghost: in your experience, these factors may not have come into play, but they are all 100% contributing factors to figuring out the most efficient amount of dirt you can use. Hole size is everything... your 8 foot plant and my 8 foot plant are going to yield differently, because of the differences in root mass reflected by the different sizes of our holes/pots and how much veg time they had in them. Next year I will be transplanting directly from 3.5" pots into their final 300 gallon smart pots.... in early May with supplemental lighting. Same plants going in in early august are not going to need so much dirt.

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You could always overkill it and you will never restrict the growth of the plant... easy to do at this time of year. My comments were meant to reflect what DSTMD said: if you are packing the soil in to a location, you're probably going to want to be efficient about it.
 

THC123

Active member
Veteran
Next year I will be transplanting directly from 3.5" pots into their final 300 gallon smart pots

Lol then they will be even bigger than those big girls there , i love your setup , here everyone would see it poking above the fence

oh yeah to come back on topic , i think actually that that date of planting is best to determine hole size and not the size of the previous container , i get so mixed up when vaping:D
 

D.S. Toker. MD

Active member
Veteran
Nice plants nomaad! Gentle breezes to you.

you know, the more i see different grows and hear different growers, the more i realize how different growing enviroments can be and how different growing approaches can be. I left veg a week ago and am in full flower and guerilla growing is a different animal than your wonderful garden. I'd be hoping for a bond reduction hearing if those plants were in my yard.

Your first question is interesting. Are you saying in the first post that you believe the size of container you start the seedling in will have some impact on the final product?
I transplant 6" seedlings about 3 weeks old from 16 oz styrofoam cups into the ground. The roots are wrapped around the inside of the cup a bit, but i never considered the possibility that the size of that little root had any relation to the root on the plant 6 1/2 months later.

Anyways, one other point. It depends somewhat on the strain your'e growing. Small stature strains, HGF's afghani or maple leaf indica, early girl only get about 5' tall with 4ozs of weed on it. It'll grow in the ground in a hole the size of a 2 gallon bucket. I plant them outdoors in places where the soil is shallow and i can only get a hole about 8"deep.

Whatever hairy monster strain nomaad is growing there requires a bit more root space. .
 

.clunk

Member
ghost: in your experience, these factors may not have come into play, but they are all 100% contributing factors to figuring out the most efficient amount of dirt you can use. Hole size is everything... your 8 foot plant and my 8 foot plant are going to yield differently, because of the differences in root mass reflected by the different sizes of our holes/pots and how much veg time they had in them. Next year I will be transplanting directly from 3.5" pots into their final 300 gallon smart pots.... in early May with supplemental lighting. Same plants going in in early august are not going to need so much dirt.

I have great respect for your grows nomaad, and I really, really don't mean to come off on the wrong foot when I say this, but growing guerilla in the bush is an entirely different ball game than growing those monsters in your backyard where you can stake them, prune them and attend their every need in an entirely legal setting.
A large part of why guerilla plants don't yield the same as your 5-7lb monsters is because we're simply not out there to make sure everything is perfect each and every day, it's not only caused by the differences of root masses due to different sized holes/pots...IMO there is quite a bit more at play there.
 

nomaad

Active member
Veteran
i get it, i get it. of course its apples and oranges. i'm not making any assumptions about the ins and outs of guerilla growing.

all I am saying is that there is a calculus for how much dirt is the right amount of dirt in a given situation. I am merely saying that figuring out how big a hole to dig and fill with dirt and amendments makes a difference.

if you are about to start a plant right now in ANY environment, there will be a difference in how much dirt to use depending on the size of the current plant and the strain. Period.

A 2 foot tall Blue Dream rootbound in a two gallon pot should go into a lot more dirt than a recently rooted Master Kush in a 3.5" pot. Whether you are growing legally in your back yard or doing it in a guerilla grow. If you don;t care about humping the dirt to your spot, you would just overkill it, but if you have to carry everything out there, you're going to want to bring as much as you need without wasting effort.

I was responding to this post "You need the same size hole to get a good size plant no matter what you transplant it from that is irrelevant as far as I am concerned.If i were pulling my plants out of a 3 gallon pot i would still dig my holes the same and they would still hold the same amount of dirt."

but on August 1st, you'd be foolish to hump 200 gallons of soil in for a 6" plant in a dixie cup of dirt. might be totally worth it on June 1st. Or on August first if the plant were 5' tall.

DSTMD: yes, i believe that the size of the container you start it in has an effect... sort of. As soon as the roots hit the sides of the pot, growth slows down. So... if you plant your seedling or clone from an aerocloner directly into 300 gallons of dirt it would be like transplanting into bigger and bigger pots without ever becoming at all rootbound. might not be faster, persay, but it will be steady growth with no slowdown, and a lot less work.

but what I was trying to explain here is somewhat different... just trying to figure out the RIGHT amount of dirt for plants going into holes right now... and the current size of the plant and amount of time left for it to veg before stretch and flowering hit have a LOT to do with how much soil to schlepp to your site.

.clunk: of course there is quite a bit more at play, but the OP is asking how much dirt he should put his small plants in... current pot size and strain vs time left in veg are the two top considerations to answer that question. I'm betting I could do a pretty good job growing a guerilla patch with the skills I've cobbled together growing in my yard. You can bet yer sweet patootie that I wouldn't be muling unnecessary bags of dirt and amendments into the bush.
 
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.clunk

Member
.clunk: of course there is quite a bit more at play, but the OP is asking how much dirt he should put his small plants in... current pot size and strain vs time left in veg are the two top considerations to answer that question. I'm betting I could do a pretty good job growing a guerilla patch with the skills I've cobbled together growing in my yard. You can bet yer sweet patootie that I wouldn't be muling unnecessary bags of dirt and amendments into the bush.
like I said, I really didn't mean to come off on the wrong foot and I certainly hope I didn't. You have to agree though that I never doubted your ability to grow great guerilla plants in the bush either, just pointing out that it's a different ball game than the legal medical grows is all.
 

nomaad

Active member
Veteran
you don't have to shine my balls to disagree with with me, bro. i'm not trying to be argumentative. your point about different ball games is not lost on me one bit.
 

SmokeyTheBear

Pot Farmer
ICMag Donor
Veteran
you don't need these giganitc holes that people are suggesting. if you want, a 2x2x2 hole will be fine. ideally a 3x3x3 is hole is best but 2x2x2 will work just fine. at this time of year though? i'm thinking, just throwing them in 5 gallon buckets will be fine.
 
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.clunk

Member
you don't have to shine my balls to disagree with with me, bro. i'm not trying to be argumentative. your point about different ball games is not lost on me one bit.
Shine your balls to disagree with you? Not be argumentative?

Sorry man, I'm a pretty courteous person in real life and on the internet, if it rubbed you the wrong way that's too bad.
 

nomaad

Active member
Veteran
nooo. you absolutely did not rub me the wrong way. not even a little bit. we're just having one of those bad rounds of communication. sometimes my sense of humor doesn't come thru as I would have liked it to. no way i would ever say something like "sweet patootie" and mean it argumentatively.

i almost never use emoticons but, :cathug:
 

K1ndBudz

Member
Ive done minis the past couple of years, 5 gallons work great. As for a full season grow inground? In late fall I till & amend then top with atleast 6" of leaf/compost.
 

shroomyshroom

Doing what we do because we are who we are
Veteran
1x1x1 worked very well for me last year.. :)

will be doing something similar this year as i cant be growing super large plants this year as my plants are on public land and can be seen if to large LOL
 

.clunk

Member
nooo. you absolutely did not rub me the wrong way. not even a little bit. we're just having one of those bad rounds of communication. sometimes my sense of humor doesn't come thru as I would have liked it to. no way i would ever say something like "sweet patootie" and mean it argumentatively.

i almost never use emoticons but, :cathug:

hehe, no problem..I'm pretty sure the bad communication is over :)
 
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