Pot-In-Pot Idea - Why wouldn't this work?

[marx2k]

I'm wondering if this has been brought up before or if anyone has tried this. I thought of this idea at random and it's just crazy enough to work.

As a soil grower, I tend to get tired of changing from one pot size to the next when my rootmass becomes thick enough on the bottom. The way I understand it is that the taproot grows down until it hits the bottom of the pot and then the side roots grow out from the taproot. (Correct me if I am wrong so far)

So basically the way I know if it's time to change pots to the next size is by seeing roots peeking out of the holes on the bottom of the pot. Then it's messy sequence to change to the next pot. Typically I go through 3 to 5 pot sizes before final harvest (I don't change pots after flowering begins)

Heres the idea: You take the 5 pot sizes that you plan to use (number changes depending on grower, of course). In the first 4 pots, you drill a hole for the taproot to grow through all the way down to the bottom of the biggest pot. On the sides of the first 4 pots, you drill holes (not too many, not too few) for the side shoots to grow through. Then you fille the biggest pot up with soil to the level where the next largest size will sit with the top of that pot level with the top of the largest pot. And you continue on until you have your smallest pot at level no top with the top of the next largest size, and on to the LARGEST pot. Basically, all pots the same level. Then you put your clone/seedling in the smallest pot, in the middle.

Basically what SHOULD end up happening is the taproot will shoot to the bottom of the largest pot and stop there. Next, the offshoots will begin to grow sideways. Some will hit the sides of each pot and begin forming a mass, but some will also grow through the holes of the sides of each pot and continue on to the next largest pot, also forming a mass there until, of course, it hits the side of the LARGEST pot, and stop there... formnig the final root mass.

This should 1) create the solution to repotting every few weeks to every month, month and a half and 2) produce fairer water distribution to the roots since you will be effectively saturating each pot equally (basically you can begin watering the soil from the center out and you SHOULD be able to see when each level/pot is saturated, and continue outwards)

Now, this is just an idea floating around in my head and since I don't even have a cabinet to test this out in, I'm wondering if anyone thinks this is crazy enough to work?

Pease critique this idea or tell me that my idea is not so original and show me where someone has done this and succeeded/failed already.

Thanks!

This also produces less stress on the plants as you wont have to cause earthquakes when you re-pot them (and fuck up the rootmass) and also you can have different nutrients at each level, so (and this might not work at all) the plant, as it grows, taps into each new soil level and receive new nutrients that corresponds with the level theyre at. Thinking about it, that may not work since the plant will be growing at each level consequtively... but Im sure there's a way to get that figure out

 

[jojajico]

u might as well just plant in the final pot. if your trying to avoid tranplant shock just cut out the bottom of the pot and place it in the bigger one.

 

[Guest]

isn't that how BOG did it?

 

[Sinfuldreams]

Sound Idea

Sound Idea

u might as well just plant in the final pot. if your trying to avoid tranplant shock just cut out the bottom of the pot and place it in the bigger one.

You might try with net pots nested too.
I don't know give it a try!

Sin

 

[Maj.PotHead]

bogs double pot method



Rather than transplanting, BushyOldGrower (BOG) cuts the bottom out of the present pot, and places it in a larger pot partially filled with soil.

This image shows this technique, with the smaller pot having had its bottom inch

 

[marx2k]

Thats basically my idea except I also have holes in the sides so the side shoots can grow into the sides of the next pot. Otherwise all that soil space on the side goes unused (unless we can somehow teach the plants to grow roots upwards too!!)

But yeah, that's basically my idea as well. Have there been any reports as to how well this works? (Im thinking specifically reports on pots with holes on the side, not without).

I thought about netpots too, but most netpots are more hole than pot. I was thinking more pot than hole so the side shoots meet a wall for at least some of the surface area and start making a root mass on the side but also grow through the sides too. What about... putting each size netpot inside of burlap or some sort of semi-porous material that roots can grow through but not with complete ease?

Basically, I want the roots to take advantage of each stage of pot completely before moving into the next stage right away. That way, you maximize your soil!

Maybe cover the bottom of the pots with the same semi-porous material so the taproot doesn't have such an easy day of it also, but DOES get through?

Burlap is the only thing that really comes to mind (like a potato sack). Or what's that netting material that jiffy pots are wrapped up in?

Can anyone else think of some other material that's cheap and plenty? (no mother jokes, pls)

 

[GirlWonderGrows]

That sounds like it would cause a lot of stress to me, and it would defiantly make your veg lighting inneficent, since when the plant is small, you'll be lighting 4 times more space than the plant occupies. I find repoting to be a great time to examine my roots and gauge the overall quality of the plant. I'm curious to see how it works, if you do it, but I'd say its probably a dead end.

-GWG

 

[marx2k]

That sounds like it would cause a lot of stress to me, and it would defiantly make your veg lighting inneficent, since when the plant is small, you'll be lighting 4 times more space than the plant occupies. I find repoting to be a great time to examine my roots and gauge the overall quality of the plant. I'm curious to see how it works, if you do it, but I'd say its probably a dead end.

-GWG

Why would you say it would cause any stress at all?

I do agree with you regarding veg lighting, though.

 

[smokeymacpot]

the roots that want to go sideways in the new bigger pot, wont be able to if theres a plastic barrier in the way. cmon its easier to let the small pot fill with roots, put soil at the bottom of your new pot, place rootball in it and then put soil around the edge. takes all of 1 minute to repot!!

 

[Guest]

Personally I never could understand bogs double potting method,until a MS patient explained it to me.Be prepared to feel fortunate for yourself.A lot of people physically just cant trnsplant from one pot to another correctly,hell I bet there are a lot of us without disabilities that have a problem lol.Anyway,its a lot easier if you're in a wheel chair to double pot a plant than it is to transplant,and thats the real reason whether mr. bogmeister thought of it that way or not.I suspect he didnt even consider he'd be helping the unfortunate so much!Bottom line is of course its not going to be quite as effective as if you had tyransplanted into a container with approx 25% more volume,but the plants will continue to grow and thrive if double potted

 

[AlterEcho]

Double potting really bumps up the stem growth.
I just keep it simple.
Germ....place in one gallon container......then final container (SOG 2-3 gallon or bush 5 gallon).

-=AE=-

 

[Guest]

Bumps up the stem growth?Not sure I understand that but if its true,a transplanting would really really bump up stem growth lol.I dont know how many folks use NSI black plastic nursery pots(Nursery Services Inc.) but they are sized in "classic" numbers.For example,the classic 600 is considered a 2 gal even though in reality its much closer to a gallon and a half.The 1 gallon classic 300 are actually a little over a half gallon,be aware of this if using as a measuring device like to dtdermine dolomite amount and such.Anyway,what I was getting at is if you stick a classic 600(2 gal) into a classic 1200( 3 gal),you'd swear it wouldnt be worth the transplant.It really is though,I always go from the 600 to 1200,veg another 5 to 7 days,take cuts and go 12/12.The plants always finish beuatifully even if they are a stretchy pheno.I've never seen a plant need a larger container than a classic 1200 if its been transplanted properly.I know this because I went from the classic 600(2 gal) to the classic 2000( 5 gal) on more than one occasion and it just wasnt necessary even for the largest of my seedplants.It was a waste of soil and nutes.Transplanting will always outperform double potting,but unfortunately some of us are not in the shape to do so.

 

[AlterEcho]

Bumps up the stem growth?Not sure I understand that but if its true,a transplanting would really really bump up stem growth lol.I dont know how many folks use NSI black plastic nursery pots(Nursery Services Inc.) but they are sized in "classic" numbers.For example,the classic 600 is considered a 2 gal even though in reality its much closer to a gallon and a half.The 1 gallon classic 300 are actually a little over a half gallon,be aware of this if using as a measuring device like to dtdermine dolomite amount and such.Anyway,what I was getting at is if you stick a classic 600(2 gal) into a classic 1200( 3 gal),you'd swear it wouldnt be worth the transplant.It really is though,I always go from the 600 to 1200,veg another 5 to 7 days,take cuts and go 12/12.The plants always finish beuatifully even if they are a stretchy pheno.I've never seen a plant need a larger container than a classic 1200 if its been transplanted properly.I know this because I went from the classic 600(2 gal) to the classic 2000( 5 gal) on more than one occasion and it just wasnt necessary even for the largest of my seedplants.It was a waste of soil and nutes.Transplanting will always outperform double potting,but unfortunately some of us are not in the shape to do so.

For me, this has been the case. Adding a five gallon at the bottom increased root volume thus increasing mass of stem.
Personally, I adhere to transplanting to three or five gallon for my bush grows.

-=AE=-

 

[Guest]

O man you're talking stalk girth and I was misunderstanding thinking about stalk growth vertically lol,dont mind me man,I'm doing everything right now except what I should be doing.

 

[AlterEcho]

No problem.....it's all good

-=AE=-

 

[smokeymacpot]

sorry i dont buy the "im disabled and unable to transplant" comment, if your able to lift your plant in the first place, then your able to place the plant into a bigger pot.
you do realise the ONLY difference between double potting and transplanting is that you dont remove the old and smaller pot.
common sense should tell you that its not the best thing you can do with a plant.

Basically, I want the roots to take advantage of each stage of pot completely before moving into the next stage right away. That way, you maximize your soil!

the roots will fill the pots by themselves, but they will struggle to fill the bigger pot if you double pot.
and tbh if you want your roots to have the best time possible, then you plant your seed into your final pot size, bad side to that is it will take along time for the soil to dry out.
so i say again, just remove the old pot and transplant normally and stop thinking of daft ways to repot.

 

[marx2k]

sorry i dont buy the "im disabled and unable to transplant" comment, if your able to lift your plant in the first place, then your able to place the plant into a bigger pot.
you do realise the ONLY difference between double potting and transplanting is that you dont remove the old and smaller pot.
common sense should tell you that its not the best thing you can do with a plant.




the roots will fill the pots by themselves, but they will struggle to fill the bigger pot if you double pot.
and tbh if you want your roots to have the best time possible, then you plant your seed into your final pot size, bad side to that is it will take along time for the soil to dry out.
so i say again, just remove the old pot and transplant normally and stop thinking of daft ways to repot.

Ok I may not have been very clear on what I was trying to do. Here is a (very poorly done) picture to accompany my (very poorly thought out) idea.

Basically the idea is to have the plant develop a decent root mass in each level of pot before/while moving onto the next level. When you repot a plant, you're doing so because it has maxed out the root space in the pot you have and the next size pot will give it more soil to grow in. The plant's roots begin encircling the wall of the pot once the side shoots hit it. So basically, this idea will allow the roots to not only pass into the next size pot without you having to repot, but since there is also a barrier there (the yellow dots represent holes that will allow the roots to move to the next pot), it should also form a root mass inside the pot its moving FROM.

The tap root is allowed to go all the way to the bottom of the largest pot immediately, and then the plant begins growing the side shoots. (What's the correct term for these?) All the pots have the tops at the same level (just like when you repot a plant. You get the top of your current soil level on level with the top of the next sized pot.

This basically relieves the grower from having to repot the plant multiple times, stressing the plant and possibly collapsing the root mass (which I'm sure all of us have done at some point.)

The problem with just having the plant begin in the largest sized pot is that the tap root hits the bottom immediately, the side shoots begin growing out to the end of the walls and once they reach the walls, they begin growing around and around the walls of the pot. However, the plant does not utilize all the soil in the middle! (Thats why we DO use different sized pots throughout the growing stages).

The other idea I had is that we can also prevent the side roots from going into the next pot at ALL until we want if we line the sides of the pot with a thin, bendable plastic that curves all the way around, preventing the roots from going out of the side... and then when we want, we can just slide the plastic up and out and the roots now have all the space they need to move onto the next pot.

What do you folks think???

 

[smokeymacpot]

dont you realise it would be stopping the roots from going sideways and making use of the new soil? you dont want to stop the roots doing that.

 

[Grat3fulh3ad]

Properly timed transplants will give you much better results.
Rootbound rootmasses need to be broken up to encourage more rapid root growth.
The 'Double Potting' method is a lazier and much less effective method than proper transplanting.

 

[Rosy Cheeks]

bogs double pot method

Rather than transplanting, BushyOldGrower (BOG) cuts the bottom out of the present pot, and places it in a larger pot partially filled with soil.

I don't think BOG should have the credit for inventing double potting. I believe Soma was doing double potting before BOG, and I know Dutch growers were doing it already in the 80's.