Potting up fabric pots of coco after germ'ing seeds?

[dingo bingo]

Morning all,

 

I'm back to growing in coco after 5+ years away and I'm also new to using fabric pots. I've got seeds to germ' in the next few days, this will be my second grow back in coco. Final pots will be 4 x 11L fabric pots under a 600W, coco fed with drippers.

 

I've read that the stages of potting up (eg. 8cm > 1L > 3L > 6L etc etc) is not needed in coco nor arguably with fabric pots, what do you guys find to work best with coco and fabric pots?

 

Current grow (first time using coco in fabric pots) was started by germ'ing seeds in 8cm (plastic) pots, I then potted up in to 2L fabric pots before going in to the final 11L pots. I'm wondering if I could skip the 8cm pots and go straight in to a 1L or 2L pot without any issues?

[mysticriver]

1 hour ago, dingo bingo said:

if I could skip the 8cm pots and go straight in to a 1L or 2L pot without any issues?

mate I know my method/opinion on this isn't that popular, but

I go from germinated seeds/rooted clones, straight into 12L fabrics without potting up in-between

people say dont do it as you might overwater & not be able to keep the roots as warm, however I dont have those issue

yes you can skip the 8cm pot

 

 

mystic

[the punter]

I don't know about potting up in coco but it should be easier to pot up using plastic pots and leaving the fabric pots as the finals, its saves the roots from getting ripped and torn. Also placing them on wire racks helps with air flow and stops the soggy bottoms .

[Shumroom]

Potting up is more about increasing root mass,

more roots = more weed  

 

Atb

 

 

 

[Military Grade]

I've Never grown in coco but what I gather is it likes to dry out quickly, is fabric pots really an optimal choice to contain it?

[Devon Cream]

I’d personally pot up as shumroom says you get a better root growth plus your not wasting loads of nutrients at the first stages watering a area that has no roots yet. I used to go into final pots straight away till I started potting up.

[mysticriver]

19 hours ago, the punter said:

placing them on wire racks

how do u do yours?

 

 

mystic

[the punter]

I don't use them now mate but when I did I did a few grows with them until I started using air pots then found I'd rather use the air pots, but anyway , for the fabric pots I just used what I could find for racks like the sort you would find in the oven, or something similar, not too high off the ground , about an inch is what I was using , all inside a tray that fitted the tent with a heat mat underneath.

[dingo bingo]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

 

22 hours ago, the punter said:

I don't know about potting up in coco but it should be easier to pot up using plastic pots and leaving the fabric pots as the finals, its saves the roots from getting ripped and torn. Also placing them on wire racks helps with air flow and stops the soggy bottoms .

 

I love the wire rack idea - will get some for my propagation tent. It does make sense to use plastic pots early on, I haven't used fabric pots much yet but have already experienced the difficulty in repotting compared to plastic pots.

[dingo bingo]

Would it make sense to start seeds in a large/deeper pot to allow the taproot to grow depper? I'm thinking this would be beneficial once potted up to the final deep pots.

[Military Grade]

In Soil I used to use a rack that fitted into a tray early on when using fabric pots but found it was unnecessary and more beneficial to place them directly onto the heat mat.

 

Forgive my noodie overwated plant from back then

 

All in all I went back to plastic pots as they are just better and more practical and dry out more evenly

Edited May 5, 2023 by Military Grade

[mysticriver]

On 05/05/2023 at 2:36 PM, Military Grade said:

use a rack

just seen these on "that big online retailer site" £5 - 6 for 2. need 8, looking at plastic now, still as much £, pisstake

 

 

mystic

[catweazle1]

On 05/05/2023 at 1:43 PM, dingo bingo said:

Would it make sense to start seeds in a large/deeper pot to allow the taproot to grow depper? I'm thinking this would be beneficial once potted up to the final deep pots.

``That would be a good idea for outdoors as will help in drought conditions, but not really an issue indoors. Fibre pot/grow cube etc > 1L netpot > your final. You can veg up to 2-3ft in the netpot. Growth is significantly faster if you have good dense root systems  before potting up.

[Axiom]

On 04/05/2023 at 10:50 AM, dingo bingo said:

Morning all,

 

 Final pots will be 4 x 11L fabric pots under a 600W, coco fed with drippers.

 

I'd reconsider your pot size if you want to max out yield. When using fabric pots you want to go nearly twice as large.

When I'm doing 4 plant scrog I'm using 15L hard pot. If I'm doing 16 plants then I use 12L fabrics. 

Fabric pots will use almost double the amount of water in the summer.

Something to consider, and if your coco isn't saturated enough because evaporation and too slow drip, you will get suboptimal results. 

 

On 04/05/2023 at 10:50 AM, dingo bingo said:

I'm wondering if I could skip the 8cm pots and go straight in to a 1L or 2L pot without any issues?

 

I germinate in a 1L pot no drama, it takes a couple days longer, but I prefer less work. 

 

Also, I find it handy to cut down the side of fabric pots when transplanting and then use staples or safety pins to hold it together again. 

It's a handy way to check on your roots before potting up and less damage when taking it out.