Professional Marijuana Grower November-December 2018 Issue | Page 48

Transplanting & Housing Starter Plants
Plants grown utilizing the high-performance method will
be transplanted twice in their lifetime. The first time is
when they are small seedlings or rooted clones, and
then again when they are placed into their final homes
outdoors once the conditions are appropriate. Trans-
planting will be done the same way for both seedlings
and rooted clones. The key to a high-performance
outdoor cannabis garden is in the rapid development
of an extensive root system. An expansive root system
leads to an increased ability to absorb larger amounts
of water and nutrients. The more nutrients a plant can
access the bigger it can grow. For that reason every
container used should be a fabric aeration container.
The initial transplant from the seedling/clone stage
should be into a five- to 15-gallon container. A five-gal-
lon container is the absolute smallest a grower should
use. Fill the containers with a soil-less potting mix that
has a low-to-moderate nutrient charge, but is similar to
what will be used in the final outdoor containers. A mix
that is mostly comprised of inert materials, such as peat
moss, perlite, or vermiculite, will have a lower nutrient
charge when compared to mixes that contain organ-
ic materials like earthworm castings, kelp meal, or
composts to name a few. The soil-less potting mix can
be pre-moistened if desired to create a uniform distribu-
tion of water. When transplanting, it is important to not
overwater as doing so will slow down the initial root
growth, lengthening the amount of time it takes for the
plant to recover from the transplant stress and to assim-
ilate to the new container. High-performance outdoor
cannabis gardens thrive when growth and development
is not interrupted, even for a short time.
To help reduce the stress of being transplanted to a new
container the seedlings or clones should be treated with
beneficial microorganisms or microbes. The two main
microbes that will help the plant recover quickly are
the nitrogen-fixing bacteria Azospirillum brasilense and
the Arbuscular Mycorrhizae fungi Glomus intaradices.
Azospirillum breasilense is a beneficial bacteria that
attaches to a growing root, forming small nodules and
that helps convert nitrogen from the atmosphere into
plant available forms.
Mycorrhizae fungi, on the other hand, have the ability
to locate and obtain nutrients in the soil mix that may
be less available to the roots. The nutrients can become
unavailable to the roots for many reasons. They may be
in a portion of the growing media that the roots have
not or cannot access for some reason, or they might
have become attached or bonded at the ionic level to
an opposite charged soil particle, which is often the
case for positively charged phosphorus ions. Mycor-
rhizae fungi will grow on, as well as within, a plant’s
roots. It is from that point where they will venture into
the rooting medium and create a vast net-like structure
48 • Professional Marijuana Grower
November/December 2018