Seeds must be viable if they are going to germinate. Never use white seeds. They are immature. Find seeds that have white and gray markings or another color apart from white. Crushed seeds will not germinate. Old seeds may have trouble germinating. Always try to use the best seeds you can find.
A collection of seedlings in pots. These can go either indoor or outdoor.
Transplanting Seedlings
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.
Transplanting
This section is about a premeditated transplant. If you need to make an emergency transplant because of overfeeding, then consult “soil flushing.”
Transplanting is the procedure of taking something from one location and then moving it to another location. Technically, transplanting can occur over any conceivable distance. The primary concern in all instances throughout the method is plant health and avoiding unnecessarily damage. Transplants can be as simple as moving a germinated seedling from its incubation cube to some soil in a simple, swift pickup and bury, and as advanced as moving multiple fully grown plants from one location to another over long distances. Transplanting is all about preplanning and executing the plan carefully. It can be challenging but experience makes it easier and will give you more confidence.
Clean your tools and containers. Many cultivators consider the digging of the plant to be the most difficult part of the process. For small plants, a simple hand-held trowel with a pointed, scooped metal blade is used to break up the soil. Plant nurseries can sell specialized transplanting trowels if you are interested in high volume work. The trowel may also be used for preparing a hole in the plant’s new medium.
Transplanting if done correctly shouldn’t put your plant through too much stress or fail to produce a bounty. Transplants can still generate some amazing nuggets of dankness like this Kush bud.
The base of some plants can get very big and thick. This is one of the thickest cannabis bases I have ever seen.
Preparing the new medium before working on the transplant is an absolute essential for success—as is working with healthy plants. Working with damaged plants or an emergency transplant always reduces the rate of success. If you need to do an emergency transplant because of a problem, consult Chapter 7. Weather conditions should be factored in if the transplant will take place outdoors. A cold, windy day is not the best environment to carry around an exposed plant. Plants moving into different environments, going from good conditions to bad, are more susceptible to problems than plants going into similar or better-quality environments. If you must choose from a selection for successful reproduction of a garden, then vigorous plants are better suited to relocation procedures.
Propagation determines the outcome. The more control and planning you put into propagation the better your results and grow will be.
Estimation of the root ball size comes with experience and is variable from strain to strain and growing conditions. Hydroponics growers can usually see the root mass and do not need to dig because the plant can be removed from the hydroponics unit directly. Roots produced in water are usually very different, being more fragile, from those produced in soil. Other substrates can cause the roots to grow differently. Roots growing in liquid tend to be weaker than roots growing in soil.
Plants that are near maturation, with a trunk size of 3-4” and over, may require two people to hold the root mass and the plant for transport. A canvas spread