Читать книгу The Cannabis Grow Bible - Greg Green - Страница 81

During the stages between germination and vegetative growth the grower may find that plants outgrow their pots. Transplanting to bigger pots should be done as early as possible.

Here is an example. When your seedlings are ready, simply lift them from the propagation tray along with the rockwool cube and place the cube and seedling into a bigger container full of another grow medium, such as soil or a hydroponic setup (more about hydroponics can be found in Chapter 10). There is not much of a problem when transferring a cube and seedling to soil. Just dig a small hole in the soil for the cube and place the cube in the hole. Cover the cube with soil. The cube will not affect your plant’s growth and will provide additional support as it grows into its larger container.

Even if you have started your seedlings in soil, transferring them to bigger pots need not be a complicated process. The problem you’ll encounter is that, in order to move the soil and roots from one pot to another, the plant must be lifted out gently, with the soil in place. The most important objective of any transplant is to keep the roots intact while avoiding as much material spillage as possible. How is this done? There are three basic ways:

It is always a good idea to label your seedlings so you know which strain it is. This is Jacky White from Paradise Seeds.

The first way is to simply cut away the base of the smaller pot and place it inside the bigger pot of soil. The roots will grow down through the hole in the bottom of the smaller pot and into the larger one.

The second way involves making sure that the soil is very dry. Delay watering your plant for a couple of days and let the soil settle until hard. You can then use a clean knife to cut around the inside edge of the pot. Cut deep, but not so deeply that you risk damaging the roots. Push your fingers down into the sides and lift the plant and soil out. Some soil will break away but this shouldn’t affect your plant. Quickly place the plant into the larger pot and cover with soil. Give your plant some water so that it will take to the new soil. Although you can lift some plants out of their pots by pulling on the stem, this can cause problems down the line. You should always maintain a firm grip on the soil when transplanting.

First fill the container with the new medium. In this case, a soil mix.

If your soil is very compact, you may be able to turn the pot upside down and gently tap the whole medium out as one solid mass. This transplanting method —turning the pot upside down and tapping it out—is a very professional way of transplanting but you should try it out first on a plain pot of dry soil. A bit of practice will pay off in the long run. Simply move your hand to cover as much of the top of the pot as possible. The stem should be resting at the base between your fingers. Lift the pot and plant up with the other hand. Turn the plant upside down and use your free hand to pull the pot away from around the soil. You can also use the remains of an indoor harvest (if the cut stem is still in the soil in the pot) to practice.

The transplanted clone in its rockwool cube is then placed in the soil mix.

Extra soil mix is added to cover the rockwool cube.

The soil is then patted down, leaving about an inch of space between the top of the container and the soil mix.

Two weeks later, the transplanted plant is growing vigorously. It is important to label plants, including the variety and transplanted date.