When to start roots growing into Fox Farm Strawberry Fields soil?

Hey, folks

I have a targeted question on Fox Farms Strawberry Fields:

I have three Autos at about 2+ weeks growing in 3 gallon smart pots (fabric) and am wondering the optimal time to put those pots inside larger pots (i.e., not a true transplant, but the deal where the root grows through the fabric wall).

These are in a mixture of FF OF. FF HF, a little bit of FF Light Warrior (seedling starter soil…I used it to lower the nutrient density of the others as well as planting the seedlings themselves in a little island of it), and then a bit of perlite and smidge of pete (just a little to bring the PH down).

I have a 6+ week plant growing in nearly the same soil which is doing quite well, so I think the soil’s pretty decent to get the party started (that one had about 6 gallons of soil and the runoff just hit 940 PPM after 1300-ish PPM the time before, though it didn’t have as much Light Warrior in it).

Anyway, I’m wondering on the timing of this. The Strawberry Fields does have some nitrogen in it (some insoluble?), so I don’t want that to spike late and then the roots need time to grow too.

Anyone have any insights on a good time to pull this off with autos? Any other tips or insights?

Also, given that the 3 gallon pot is loaded with perlite (Light Warrior has a lot of it), should I mix perlite or something similar into it? The Strawberry Fields will be in a 7 gallon fabric pot.

Much appreciated, folks!

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When you plant the bag slit the sides of it so the roots can get out. :thinking:
Welcome to the community growmie.

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Ya you are gonna want some perlite in the strawberry fields for it to drain good and i would transplant at the end of veg cycle giving them plenty of time to recover before the flip

Welcome to the community!!

I wouldn’t over think it, any reason you want to go larger than 3gal?

I think your best bet would be stay in the 3 and start feeding soonish. Less risk involved.

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Thanks, folks!

@TLC - much appreciated. My understanding had been that it was porous enough for the roots to breach, but that was just one article referencing that in passing. If they won’t grow through on their own, that does sound more like a proper transplant job.

@Medicineman33 - Thanks for the tips! I may chicken out on the endeavor now if it’s a real honest to goodness transplant. :chicken:

@Autos-only - Thanks, and you’re probably;y right that I’m overthinking it a bit.

The draw was the elegance of having the P & K rich soil come into play at the right moment and not having to worry so much about nutrients later in the cycle. The idea of having 3 gallon pots for a while is just kind of nice from a logistics standpoint too as the larger pots are a bit of a bear to pick up and move (which I do when I water as the tent is only 3’ X 3’).

Maybe I’ll just save it for next time and blend it with some Ocean Forest or layer it in the pot or something. It also seems that the soil always settles in a fabric pot, so there ends up being what looks like 4.5 gallons in a 5 gallon pot by later in the grow cycle, so I could just use the SF to top it up and have the nutrients trickle down.

Thanks for the tips and warm welcome!

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I’m with @Autos-only - the largest I ever go is 5gal but generally it looks like-
Solo cup/nursery bag to start,
1gal fabric for “transplant”
If it hasn’t begun to flower within 30 days from seed, I’ll take the “risk” and pop my 1gal fabric inside of a 3gal fabric to give the roots more places and spaces to grow.

But if physical space is more limited for you than the plant, you’ll do just fine in a 3gal pot.

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