Tips for transplanting cannabis

Everyone will need to transplant at one point or another. Transplanting new cuttings can be easy, while 3′ plants in fabric pots are challenging. For our purposes, we’ll assume it is a routine transplanting with a cannabis plant that is more than a handful and that you are transplanting from soil to soil. Most of the transplanting process is common sense, so we’ll stick to the finer points that give most people trouble.

Tip 1 – Transplant at the right time
For best results, you should transplant when the roots have developed enough to hold the dirt together, but long before they become root-bound. Using a clear container can help with this for sensitive young seedlings. In general, when the leaves are as wide as the container there’s a reasonable chance that the roots have encased the soil.

This little girl has a gnarly stem above the soil, but you can see that the roots are developing well under the soil. She’s only a day away from transplant.

Tip 2 – Gather your materials
You don’t want to discover you need something after you have a plant upside down in your hand so gather your materials in advance. This includes any inoculate you want to use directly on the roots. You will also want to prepare the plant by pruning lower foliage if needed. It’s best if the plant is a little damp and neither wet nor dry. Too wet and it may make the process more difficult. Too dry and you’re just adding additional stress to the plant.

Tip 3 – Select a larger pot
New cultivators are often unsure of what size pot to use to flower in. Your absolute bare minimum is 1 gallon per 1′ of finished plant height. So a 3′ plant should get 3 gallons to live in. However, I suggest that, unless space is a big concern, use no less than a 5 gallon pot. The bigger, the better. I’ve yet to find an ‘excessively’ large container indoors and there is nothing like having 3 weeks still to go before harvest and noting signs that the plant is becoming root-bound.

Tip 4 – Prepare your soil
This includes the pot or wherever you plan to place your plant. Thoroughly moisten the new soil in advance, especially for small plants. If you are transplanting to a larger container you may elect to only add the soil needed in the bottom of the container, unless its big enough to dig a hole in.

Tip 5 – Use good technique
The tried and true method is to use your hand for support while flipping your cannabis upside down to remove the pot. The point here is that you do NOT want to pull on the stem. Follow along with the pictures and captions below.

While holding the pot in one hand, cover the top with your other hand. The stem should be between your fingers.
Invert the pot and support the soil (not the stem) while you work the pot off the root mass.
Once free of the pot, this is the perfect time to inoculate your roots directly.
Gently support the bottom of the root mass, flip the plant right-side-up, and place directly into the hole and/or pot you’ve prepared.

At this point you are virtually home free. Just pack the soil lightly around the roots in order to remove large air pockets.

Tip 6 – Sock it in
I highly recommend a thorough watering after a transplant as this will help settle the soil around the roots. I like to make it rain on that initial watering especially. Drench the plant and the soil alike. This gives the plant easy access to water initially, but then you should let the soil dry for a few days. This prevents excess moisture but, more importantly, creates a situation where the plants roots need to ‘chase’ the moisture in the soil.

Tip 7 – Transplant as seldom as possible
Each time a cannabis plant is transplanted you will set the plant back at least two days in growth. Despite your best efforts, the plant will suffer from transplant shock. If you’ve done it well you’ll only lose those two days, but a botched transplant could leave the plant in shock for a week. The point here is that if you transplant perfectly 3x in a cannabis plant’s life, you will be waiting an extra 6-8 days for harvest. If you can find success in starting the seed in the last pot it will ever need, do it!

We hope you’ve found this to be useful. Do you have any techniques that will be helpful to a new grower?

Happy Harvests!
— The Lit Farmer —

Published by Eric

Lit Naturals founder, Eric McSwain, serves as Chairman of the Board for the Missouri Cannabis Industry Association. He is also a certified caregiver and patient. Eric's wife is also a caregiver and he also mentors several other caregivers in the state of Missouri. Eric's passion is for educating patients in the use of cannabis as well as at-home cultivation.