Santa Claus

I searched all over this site and couldn't find a reasonable answer.

So, what exactly are the symptoms of root bounnd-ness?

I have a friend with 3 plants. They are all on their 4th week of flowering in soil in containers that are about 8" x 8", or approximately 2 gallons. One is about 19" tall, another is about 20" and another stretched to 22" (I think it stretched a little from too much heat). They are all abundantly producing buds right now.

They all look very healthy so far, but how do I know they are not rootbound?

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Virgo34

coz you said "they all look very healthy so far".
In my experience,my root-bound plants have become increasingly yellow,stunted growth,unhappy.Leaves tend to be 'soft' and a little saggy.The 'all-over' yellowing is the sign you'lle notice if you miss that it ain't growing
8"x8" is not an ideal size at all for a mature plant.Your yeild will be sigificantly reduced because of this.
CheersV34

Santa Claus

But if they aren't rootbound, why would the yield suffer from the container size?

PS: The buds look pretty damn good right now.

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smokinrav

Not rootbound YET, is what V would say if she were here. Unless your going to pull the plant out of the planter and trim the roots every week, you need to put her in a bigger container. Restricting roots at this stage will only inhibit bud development later. The buds are going to be growing with the root system you build for them now, so build a good one and give them tons of room.

Smokin

Santa Claus

One question: how much taller may the plants grow after flowering for 4 weeks?

They seem to have reached the top of their leaf development, and the very top of the plants are buds, so I don't think they'll grow much taller. As a result, I am inclined to think the containers are big enough since I have read here that a plant needs about a gallon per foot as far as the container goes. Someone in another thread said that an 8"x8" is a little more than 2 gallons. So it would seem that the containers are sufficient because the plants aren't even 2 feet tall. Am I on the right track in thinking this?

Also, the containers are packed to the very top with soil.

I almost think that having these plants transplanted halfway through their flowering would mess them up more than if they get a little rootbound on the last week or so.

All comments are welcome; I'm just trying to decide the best option. And again, if anyone can pinpoint some more specific symptoms of rootbound plants, I'd would like to hear about it.

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Virgo34

An 8"x8" container will hold a little over 1 gallon...from my aussie equation.
1 gallon=4 1/2 litres.

Santa Claus

Are you sure? It's a round container, not square. I do know that it LOOKS bigger than a gallon jug....

I will find out for sure.

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ButterflyDreams

Hello Santa,

Firstly, relax. If you are 4 weeks into flowering and they haven't shown any symptoms you are probably right that the transplant will be worse.

How long did you veg them?

Are they from seed or clones?

You probably won't see much upward growth from here on in, except for the budz of course.

The 8x8" round container is actually just short of a "dry" gallon. If you go to the nursery and look they'll have some plants listed as being in 1 ga pots. These are normally the big black plastic ones that are about a foot tall and 10-12 inches across. ( I haven't bothered to actually measure one.)

When growing inside the square ones will work better because of conservation of space.

If she does start to show severe reactions before you're ready to harvest try a little H2O2 siphon fed from the bottom. I often do this before watering and let it work for 10 minutes or so just for a little extra O2 boost.

Smiles,
BD

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Santa Claus

These plants are from bag seeds (looks like fairly pure Indica). They were vegged for exactly 3 weeks (they were 12" tall, very stalky and thick), and started showing female flowers after only a week of 12/12. They look really nice now, and the buds are coming along amazingly.

I'm still puzzled about the container size. They certainly look bigger than a gallon.

Anyway, thanks for the advice! So, the H2O2 is safe to use on the roots?

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ButterflyDreams

Like I said, relax. It's the difference between dry and wet measures. If you have dry and wet measuring cups you can see the difference there too.

Sounds like they won't have a problem. When you harvest check the rootball. You'll be able to tell a lot by how it grew into the pot. Vegging them three weeks from seed they may not have been completely mature, but they showed flowers quickly, so they may just be a fast developing strain.

The H2O2 will add Oxygen to the root ball. That's why I like to let it wick into a dry pot from the bottom before watering. The O2 will tricle up through the roots after you water. Some people add a cap or two to every gallon of water.

Smiles,
BD

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She stood beside him like a rainbow braided.
~ P.B. Shelley