Am I overwatering my seedlings?

  • Thread starter NapkinB
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growsince79

growsince79

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I made the decision to water because the soil has been bone dry for about 3 days now so I’m hoping that wasn’t a bad choice. I’m also germinating 3 others
If the soil was bone dry for three days the plant would be dead. You should weigh the cup after saturation. Then wait until it loses at least 1/3. If its 240g after runoff stops wait until its 160g to water again.
 
NapkinB

NapkinB

161
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If the soil was bone dry for three days the plant would be dead. You should weigh the cup after saturation. Then wait until it loses at least 1/3. If its 240g after runoff stops wait until its 160g to water again.
It gets pretty dry very fast so that’s how I was confused on how I was overwatering. I still haven’t got a scale yet so I have to.
 
mancorn

mancorn

1,260
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Misting is not a good watering technique. This just wets the top layer (where there are no roots). Hopefully you have cut drainage holes in your cup. (I normally just do 4, but some growers will punch a bunch of holes, and you pretty much can’t have too many).

Use a small glass and pour a small amount around the edge of your cup (trying to keep the stem area dry). Wait a minute or so and do it again, wait, again until you start seeing run off. (If your soil gets dry the water may pond on top. If so wait until your first pour totally soaks on.)

In the cups you don’t have to worry about having excess runoff (like you will after up potting, because your shouldn’t be feeding at this point and aren’t going to have a build up of salts.) Stop watering after you start seeing the run off. If you take it slow your pot should be fairly wet at this point, but not completely soaked. Use the (previously mentioned) weight technique if you’re unsure (but will soon get a good feel of the weight just by hoisting the cup).
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
Misting is not a good watering technique. This just wets the top layer (where there are no roots). Hopefully you have cut drainage holes in your cup. (I normally just do 4, but some growers will punch a bunch of holes, and you pretty much can’t have too many).

Use a small glass and pour a small amount around the edge of your cup (trying to keep the stem area dry). Wait a minute or so and do it again, wait, again until you start seeing run off. (If your soil gets dry the water may pond on top. If so wait until your first pour totally soaks on.)

In the cups you don’t have to worry about having excess runoff (like you will after up potting, because your shouldn’t be feeding at this point and aren’t going to have a build up of salts.) Stop watering after you start seeing the run off. If you take it slow your pot should be fairly wet at this point, but not completely soaked. Use the (previously mentioned) weight technique if you’re unsure (but will soon get a good feel of the weight just by hoisting the cup).
Great advice.
 
ezenzyme

ezenzyme

625
93
Once you kinda get there with the above advice you should be able to watch the plants happiness and base it off that, especially as they get bigger and all the way up till mid flower. The plants perk up when watered raising their top leaves up around the center "bud" and keep the top few sets up and almost touching at times when they are at their optimum water level. Now as the moisture evaporates and is used by the plants the leaves will start to droop, and you can read when to water based on that. I like to let the leaves droop just the tiniest bit before water. If you spend days not seeing em, or dont quite have the experience overwatering and under-watering look really similar
 
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