When to up-pot from 1 gal to 10 gal?

[TomH]

Good morning all, I hope everyone is having a good Pearl Harbor Day, I hope no one gets bombed this evening!
Sorry!

I've a question regarding when to up-pot plants.

I have 4 plants growing now that went from Solo cups to 1 gal pots a few weeks ago. They definitely are growing into their new digs and expanding rapidly.
They will eventually go into larger felt planters. One 10 gal, the other 7 gal.

Should I wait until there are root tips growing out of the 1 gal pot before transplanting or just step right up when they are looking big enough?

The plants are short as I've been manifolding them, but they are getting to a point where they are easily twice as wide as the pots they are in now.
The two plants on top (in the back) are the ones in question, they other two travel to the foothills soon.

I'm hoping to move them soon so I can flip sometime around new years, but nothing is set in stone.

 

[MysticEpipedon]

I'd flip them over and take the pot off to see what the root situation is. A few weeks should be enough time to root out a 1 gallon pot, if temperatures are warm enough.

 

[TomH]

I'd flip them over and take the pot off to see what the root situation is. A few weeks should be enough time to root out a 1 gallon pot, if temperatures are warm enough.

I pulled the largest of the 4, there are roots around the entire external surface of the soil, but the soil was still crumbly like it‘s not fully rooted internally. The external surface (against the side of the pot) wasn’t massively rooted, just noticeably covered by roots. No sign of any taproot trying to get out of the bottom.

 

[MDK]

I pulled the largest of the 4, there are roots around the entire external surface of the soil, but the soil was still crumbly like it‘s not fully rooted internally. The external surface (against the side of the pot) wasn’t massively rooted, just noticeably covered by roots. No sign of any taproot trying to get out of the bottom.

Are they dried back? To me when that happens there is too much moisture still in the pot...they transplant better dry imo

They look a little moist / humid at a glance

 

[TomH]

Are they dried back? To me when that happens there is too much moisture still in the pot...they transplant better dry imo

They look a little moist / humid at a glance

They were watered 3 days ago, they are still moist but not drenched.
I do plan on waiting a few days before the next watering, maybe a good drying out will make them search for water.

 

[Rootsruler]

They were watered 3 days ago, they are still moist but not drenched.
I do plan on waiting a few days before the next watering, maybe a good drying out will make them search for water.

Let them dry back until you see the sides of the pot separate easily from the soil like @MDK mentioned.

How many nodes? If you're already to 5th node then I would say the plants are healthy and hardy enough for you to safely transplant them into their final homes.

I like to water in some Hormex or Superthrive after I transplant to minimize transplant shock.

Don't forget to dust your hole with some mycorrhizae before you plant them if that is your practice.