Potbound dilema, need to pot up but can't yet, any advice welcome Options

[anon133]

Hi

I currently have 6 plants at 6 1/2 weeks from seed. They are currently in 8" pots but all are showing lots of roots at the bottom and really need potting up. My main problem is that they still haven't shown sex apart from one 99% female and one 90% male. All the other plants have pre-sex buds but they are still too unformed to tell yet even with a microscope.

My grow cabinet has only got room for 3 of the final size pots and I obviously don't want to pot up a male.

Most of the plants started showing an N deficiency about a week and a half ago but for the last two waterings I've added 2ml biobiz grow and that problem seems to have gone away. Can I safely keep doing that until I have 3 confirmed females to pot up or is there something else you'd suggest? Circumstances dictate that I can't do the trick of covering up a branch to force 12/12 and I don't want to put the whole lot into flower yet either.

PS I've been LSTing the plants so they are only about 8" tall at the moment (I'd estimate about 18" if they were growing straight up) and I'm planning on a SCROG once they are in their final pots so I'm looking for at least another 2-3 weeks vegging.

If you want to see my cabinet then it's here

Many thanks

A

[TightBud]

how about the gene finder method?
http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?show...mp;#entry708097

theres a bit here with a few links , although i'm not sure the links will still work?

[anon133]

Thanks TB. Just what I was looking for.

Does anyone know if this method do any 'damage' to the plants already showing? ie stress them or make them go into full flower?

Many thanks

A

[anon133]

Hi Peeps

I did the 48 hours on 12/12 and all the plants are now showing their bits to varying degrees. Out of 6 plants I have 1 definate fem , two probable males and three still undecided.

The plants are so rootbound that they are needing 2.5ml Bio Grow per litre every time they are watered just to stop the leaves going yellow and falling off. They are still all looking healthy and are still growing well.

What should I do? I cannot pot them all up as I only have room for three of the final size pots in my cabinet. Do I pot up the fem and two of the undecided plants and hope I picked two more females or do I wait for a while longer to see if they'll show and keep doing what I'm doing with the nutes? Once potted up I was planning on a further two weeks of vegging before going 12/12. The plants are at 9 weeks from seed tomorrow.

I'll try and get some photo's up later to see if the more experienced of you can help me out with early sexing.

Thanks

A

[anon133]

Hi

I'm back with some pics. Sorry about the quality, I hope it's good enough.

Plant 1


Plant 2

[Rambone]

Plant one female i'd say =)

[anon133]

continued...

Plant 3


Plant 4

[anon133]

continued...

Plant 5


Plant 6


The plants are going to be potted up tommorrow as the small pots aren't doing them any good at all. I need to select 3 from the 6 so I want to make sure I don't chop any fems.

My personal opinion is as follows

Plant 1 - Fem - Keep (Obviously!)
Plant 2 - Male - sorry, pic not very clear
Plant 3 - Male
Plant 4 - Male
Plant 5 - ? Not really showing yet
Plant 6 - ? Not sure either

What do you guys think?

Thanks

A

[Rambone]

Sorry messed up your posts now. .


Only one im sure about is one

[anon133]

Sorry messed up your posts now. .


Only one im sure about is one

No Probs Rambone

The only one I'm sure about is #1 too. She's pistilating all over the place!

#2, #3 and #4 have what I'd describe as 'crab claws' as preflowers.

A

[Randal Graves]

if 3 are definately male, can't you scrap those, and pot up the three that are left, and then wait for the other two to show their sex? you might waste some time and compost if one or both turn out to be males, but they won't be rootbound anymore.

This post has been edited by Randal Graves: Jun 23 2008, 07:22 AM

[scraglor]

can't tell on two? but 3 and 4 defo need scrapping! can't see anything on 5 n 6

[grandad]

i read one time about taking the rootbound plant out the pot and cutting the bottom of the root off half way, put fresh soil in the bottom of pot, if you are going throw a plant away do a little experiment on it see if it works, you will know in one day if its still alive its good.

[anon133]

can't tell on two? but 3 and 4 defo need scrapping! can't see anything on 5 n 6

Thanks for confirming my thoughts Scraglor. I'd pretty much decided that 3 and 4 were for the chop. 2 looks very similar but the picture came out crap.
5 and 6 are still not identifyable but isn't it a general case that fems normally show later?

i read one time about taking the rootbound plant out the pot and cutting the bottom of the root off half way, put fresh soil in the bottom of pot, if you are going throw a plant away do a little experiment on it see if it works, you will know in one day if its still alive its good.

I'd love to experiment grandad but space is very tight and I have a window of opportunity this afternoon. The whole project has been run with a 'skunkworks' like secrecy and potting up has to be done when I'm home alone (which doesn't happen very often). On the subject of root cutting when potting up a rootbound plant i'm sure I've read something on here too but I cannot find it again. Do I need to do anything or not?

Thanks for the helpful advice guys. 5 hours 'til of plants 2, 3 and 4. Good luck 5 and 6

A

[anon133]

Hi Peeps

Any last pearls of wisdom before the big at 2pm??

A