TRANSPLANT QUESTIONS?

When the seedling is as tall as the cup is deep, is a good guide. Any soil designed for vegetable/herb growing should be just fine, but buy the best quality one you can afford............cheap ingredients = cheap results! Autos = 3-4 gallons, photo fems = 4 gallon minimum.........bigger pots = bigger root room = bigger plants.

https://youtu.be/rnbmrpk1RwA You've got time before any roots start wrapping around bottom in earnest... a few loops will untangle almost on their own. I want a rootystem that is sturdy enoug that i won't break many fine hairs. Growth rates vary, so I'd say when the canopy is as wide as the cup is early window for transplant. In my experience with soilless context, they don't stall out until 18-24" tall, but in most soil contexts i believe they hit a ceiling sooner... in either case, you shouldn't be waiting for even 8-10", lol. (excluding any excessive sprout stretching that can be buried to even it out) Try to do it some time near an irrigation as moister substrate sticks together better than dry. Make sure the sides are loose by gently deforming cup (i pull/push on rim a bit to slightly change the shame). Gently press up on the bottom of cup to help it get nice and loose, yet fully intact... then you slowly invert it while holding it at the base of trunk... usually you won't even need a tug, but a gentle pull is sometimes needed... if too tight, repeat previous suggestions to loosen it... usually inverting bottom plastic is enough to pop it free and it just slides out with a slight angle to gravity. Usually you have to water the new substrate, and it helps settle everything into place. May need to top a few off if there's too much erosion or compaction. Transplants should never slow down your growth. Accidents happen, but if careful and you don't disturb rootball, it'll keep on trucking without missing a step. As far as how deep... i make a hole and put the cup with the plant inside it... trial and error. The cup can help pack/form the hole too... twister'er around for another inch.... With soil, there's some reward/benefit to slowly stepping up in size.. each time you add more soil, you also add more nutrients. A lot of this depends on how big you grow the plant, too. A 40-day vege can potentially fill 2'x2' space by the time its done growing in bloom phase. "They" say 1gallon per month in the pot. "They" also say 1gal per vertical foot or something like that. The type of substrate might have a lot to say about that too. Anyway... 5-gallon is safe.. can probably get away with 3gallon, but you'l be watering everyday at end, i bet.. with any prolonged vege period.. Less than 4week vege might be fine in 3-gal, though? Really depends... If inbetween contexts, may want to use a little less perlite than i suggest in next paragraph when going with smaller size... might avoid daily irrigaitons that way (or ).miss near daily irrigations add more perlite to whatever soil you get. go close to 1:1 soil to perlite including what came in it. It may require more frequent irrigations, and maybe a bit more fertilizer, but the drainage qualities and benefits to root zone are worth it. ("perlite" can be anything similar.. vermiculite, hydroton, et al.. though less obstructive stuff is better.. large chunks are less optimal. if you don't intend to reuse it, the cheap 2cuft viagro stuff from HD is fine if you don't have a larger seller of that stuff nearby. at keast 60/40, preferably 50/50... again including whatever came with it so a a little algebra needed or eyball it. If you are going to reuse it, the hd stuff is usually undersized and beaten up when you open it... either better brand or find a larger size product.. #2 or #3 i think is good? if 1 is smallest. hd stuff says "2" but i's more of a 1.5 with 5-10% powder, lol. wear a mask when messing with soil/amendments. or soilless and amendments for that matter.

About a week maybe a bit more when the roots touching the buttom, i would start with 1 gal and then 5. Depend on your grow space and ambitious. Use mychoriziha when transplant makes things much easier.