# Seedlings Right into 2 Gallon Bucket



## GrowinGreen (Mar 13, 2009)

Just wondering how many people put their seedlings directly into their final home? It just seems way out of proportion to me.

I use hempy buckets and usually I let the seedlings grow in a keg cup until they reach a good size, and than I place them into their 2 gallon buckets.

This time I decided to just put them straight into the 2 gallon buckets instead of transplanting them later.

When I look at them they look sooo tiny and fragile, is this okay? Who else does this?

I have 4, 4' 6500k fluorescent shop lights on top of 3 AIs, and the medium is hydroton. To water them I just spray around them with a water/super plant tonic mixture from a spray bottle... they are in also in rockwool cubes.

Think this is okay, or should I carefully transplant them into smaller containers? I don't see why there would be anything wrong doing it this way, but I just want to make sure.

The only thing that seems as though it could be a problem is that the reservoir would get filled and get stagnant, but I think the spray bottle eliminates that? Or do you think using the spray bottle doesn't provide them with enough water? 

Pros and Cons of this? Sorry for the rambling!


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## GrowinGreen (Mar 14, 2009)

Aw, everyone is asleep already?


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## cadlakmike1 (Mar 14, 2009)

I think one of the things that people often do incorrectly is leaving plants in the original small container too long before they transplant. They wait until the roots start spiraling around the bottom of the cup and I believe this stunts growth. Obviously you are not going to have this problem. I see nothing wrong starting in a larger container as long as you are willing to water less, more often.

I know that hempy buckets are different from soil(I'm a dirt grower) and that you will have a reservoir but I would say that until the tap root gets to the reservoir you need to be careful with your watering. I think that you need to do normal watering, not just spraying because plants take water up through their root system much more efficiently then they can through foliar water/feeding. I would just water sparingly until the plant is more established.

If possible I would rebury the plant deeper. When I transplant I like to have my medium right up to the cotyledons. I don't know how close you have your light but you look like you have a little bit of stretch. Maybe you just raised the lights to take the picture, but if not you need to get it closer to the plants.


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## GrowinGreen (Mar 14, 2009)

cadlakmike1 said:
			
		

> I know that hempy buckets are different from soil(I'm a dirt grower) and that you will have a reservoir but I would say that until the tap root gets to the reservoir you need to be careful with your watering. I think that you need to do normal watering, not just spraying because plants take water up through their root system much more efficiently then they can through foliar water/feeding. I would just water sparingly until the plant is more established.
> 
> If possible I would rebury the plant deeper. When I transplant I like to have my medium right up to the cotyledons. I don't know how close you have your light but you look like you have a little bit of stretch. Maybe you just raised the lights to take the picture, but if not you need to get it closer to the plants.



Hey Mike, thanks for the input! I've been trying to break your high scores in the arcade all night lol... I need some practice.

Anyway, when I say spray- I mean a pretty substantial amount... enough to get the roots good and wet, but not even close enough to fill the reservoir. I'm not actually spraying the seedling itself, just around its base. But I do agree with you, I will just have to water less more frequently... I don't mind though 

And I am thinking about reburying them closer to the cotyledons, but I have a feeling I may do more damage than good... so I think I will just let them be. And you are right about the stretch but that occurred because I didn't add the light soon enough (they grew sooo quick)! 

------------------------

Oh and do you think my lighting is sufficient for veg?

I have (4) 4' fluorescent tubes (F40SP65-Daylight) at 40W and 3050 lumens each and color temperature of 6500K so total of 160W and 12,200 lumens @ 6500K.

I also have another light with (2) 4' fluorescent tubes (F40PL/AQ-ECO - Wide Spectrum) that are for Plant & Aquarium it says. They are at 40W and 1900 lumens each and color temperature of 3100K so total of 80W and 3800 lumens @ 3100K. They definitely have a red color to them.

Should I the 3100K lights to the veg room, or not bother with it?

If I did than the total is: 240W and 16,000 lumens for a 4' x 1.5' area


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## cubby (Mar 14, 2009)

There's no reason ,other than space, not to grow from start to finnish in the larger pot. All plants loose 1-2 weeks of growth every time you transplant. I've been gardening for about 25 years and I've seen that this hold true regardless of plant type or species.


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## GrowinGreen (Mar 14, 2009)

cubby said:
			
		

> There's no reason ,other than space, not to grow from start to finnish in the larger pot. All plants loose 1-2 weeks of growth every time you transplant. I've been gardening for about 25 years and I've seen that this hold true regardless of plant type or species.



hey cubby, thanks for the info! i guess i will just start them in the large buckets from now on haha. 

what do you think about that extra light? worth it to add with that spectrum?


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## Rockster (Mar 14, 2009)

I'm sorry but you must pot up in stages with cannabis as planting in large pots
 invites anaerobic (oxgyen free) conditions in the compost as a tiny seedling cannot dry that amount of soil out so always pot up which I do twice before the final 2 gallon (for me 11 liter) pot.

The whole of the nursery and plant industry does this as standard and it means you don't need perlite as perlite covers a bad practice,ie,planting seedlings in huge pots as the additional air they have within them can prevent anaerobic states in soils and compost mixes but adding perlite means removing compost which is beneficial which ultimately means less yield so I'd rather pot up in stages with whole compost.


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## NewbieG (Mar 14, 2009)

cubby said:
			
		

> There's no reason ,other than space, not to grow from start to finnish in the larger pot. All plants loose 1-2 weeks of growth every time you transplant. I've been gardening for about 25 years and I've seen that this hold true regardless of plant type or species.



Hey cubby, I don't want to say you are wrong, because I don't have near the experience you do, but 1-2 weeks worth of transplant shock seems very extreme. I honestly have never noticed that dramatic a response to transplant unless I did something wrong. I always wait for the soil to dry out so that transplanting from cup to 2 gallons is as easy turning the cup upside down and placing the entire cups worth of dirt into a hole i made in the 2 gallon buckets dirt. I then water to make sure that the roots get loosened up again, then pack down a little to make sure good contact between the roots and new dirt exist and I'm done. I've only had one plant die doing this and thats because the soil in the cup broke apart and ripped the majoirity of the roots off. I only grew soil a few times before i moved to hydro, but thats just my experience.
    The only problem I would say with your set up, is that your just making things more difficult for yourself and that is never a good stand for a hydro grower to take. Hydro plants grow fast enough that we have enough problems to worry about and dont need more. I would suggest keeping them in a humidity dome until they develope roots like clones would, then I tranplant. Your fine as long as you make sure that the rockwool is moist, but not tooo moist so the roots can develope. 

As far as the additional lights go, stop buying fluoros and get a small HID. Its more efficient and because the light intensity increases, your plants can recover from problems a bit faster. Good luck with your grow.


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## cubby (Mar 14, 2009)

NewbieG said:
			
		

> Hey cubby, I don't want to say you are wrong, because I don't have near the experience you do, but 1-2 weeks worth of transplant shock seems very extreme. I honestly have never noticed that dramatic a response to transplant unless I did something wrong. I always wait for the soil to dry out so that transplanting from cup to 2 gallons is as easy turning the cup upside down and placing the entire cups worth of dirt into a hole i made in the 2 gallon buckets dirt. I then water to make sure that the roots get loosened up again, then pack down a little to make sure good contact between the roots and new dirt exist and I'm done. I've only had one plant die doing this and thats because the soil in the cup broke apart and ripped the majoirity of the roots off. I only grew soil a few times before i moved to hydro, but thats just my experience.
> The only problem I would say with your set up, is that your just making things more difficult for yourself and that is never a good stand for a hydro grower to take. Hydro plants grow fast enough that we have enough problems to worry about and dont need more. I would suggest keeping them in a humidity dome until they develope roots like clones would, then I tranplant. Your fine as long as you make sure that the rockwool is moist, but not tooo moist so the roots can develope.
> 
> As far as the additional lights go, stop buying fluoros and get a small HID. Its more efficient and because the light intensity increases, your plants can recover from problems a bit faster. Good luck with your grow.


 

   The transplant shock would be less severe IF he were groing in soil. But transplanting from hydrotron cups to hydrotron 2 gal. pots will undoutedly disturb, and expose the roots. Thats why I say it would be more benifitial to avoid transplanting at all if possible.
   As far as lighting goes I have no experience with floros. I use HID's soley and believe there's no such thing as too much light,as long as you can control your temps


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## GrowinGreen (Mar 14, 2009)

NewbieG said:
			
		

> I always wait for the soil to dry out so that transplanting from cup to 2 gallons is as easy turning the cup upside down and placing the entire cups worth of dirt into a hole i made in the 2 gallon buckets dirt.


Wouldn't the plant too be upside down then? 



			
				NewbieG said:
			
		

> The only problem I would say with your set up, is that your just making things more difficult for yourself and that is never a good stand for a hydro grower to take. Hydro plants grow fast enough that we have enough problems to worry about and dont need more. I would suggest keeping them in a humidity dome until they develope roots like clones would, then I tranplant. Your fine as long as you make sure that the rockwool is moist, but not tooo moist so the roots can develope.


I don't necessarily see how things are more difficult. If you mean because I have to water multiple times per day, I guess it depends on who you are... I actually enjoy it and it takes like 5 minutes total out of my day. Plus it is only going to be like this for ~2 weeks I assume. And the roots were developed... like I said I couldn't believe how fast these seeds germ'ed and grew. They all had roots showing out of the rockwool with root hairs in a couple days!



			
				NewbieG said:
			
		

> As far as the additional lights go, stop buying fluoros and get a small HID. Its more efficient and because the light intensity increases, your plants can recover from problems a bit faster. Good luck with your grow.



First of all I'm not buying fluoros, I already have them.....  Why wouldn't I use them and why would I buy different lights if these work for my conditions? This isn't my first grow... I have a couple successful ones under my belt. Sometimes I just forget things.

*So can someone PLEASE tell me if adding the (2) 4' fluorescent bulbs (that I already have!) at 3100K would be beneficial at all? Does the red spectrum have any benefits in veg? Would it compliment my (4) 6500K bulbs, or is it not worth it?*


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