I want to throw this out there and see what sticks!
I was going to Sprout all my next seeds in cloning pucks and the into the final pots as soon as the seedlings were hardened off....couple days after fully unfurling.
I'm thinking I may change that. I'll be using Blumat with the Drip Ring for my watering. I've never used a system like this before and I'm really leery of stunting by over watering. The carrots do come pre adjusted, but would need to be fine tweaked For my particular setup. I'm pretty sure I can quickly get the plant to the proper size before turning on the system and then adjust the carrots to the pot for the ideal moisture level. I have sensors for each pot, both top and bottom.
I do have some cheap one gallon thin transparent material transplant bags. I used them for the clones of Asian Haze. I got great plant growth and crazy root growth . With all the air pruning with those bags, there were lots and lots of root tips that went crazy after I transplanted those one gallon bags.
Keeping with the same procedure of potting up the day of transplant, I make sure the media is at the ideal moisture level in the tote and then fill the pot and transplant. I'm thinking I may get more of a robust root explosion growing in that fashion. I'm thinking that I should be able to turn on the watering system about a week after the transplant.
That would pretty much match with the same time frame I had figured that I would start the auto watering with direct planting of the seedling, but I think I will have a bit larger and more established root system and larger plant.
Once I have the carrots fine tweaked for these pots, I can run autos and just turn the system on when they are large enough.
If I do use the one gallon transplant procedure, I'm definitely going to take a look at the root ball after chop.