Should I water until runoff

[GardenWeasel77]

I am a first time grower. I am growing in ffof. As of late my plants have become nutrient deficient. I a have been topdressing with down to earth dry fertilizer.

My question is, should I be watering until runoff or is that just flushing all my fertilizer out?

 

[Aqua Man]

I am a first time grower. I am growing in ffof. As of late my plants have become nutrient deficient. I a have been topdressing with down to earth dry fertilizer.

My question is, should I be watering until runoff or is that just flushing all my fertilizer out?

Imo keep soil 30-60% saturated. No need for runoff with organic amendment unless its been over fed.

 

[GardenWeasel77]

Imo keep soil 30-60% saturated. No need for runoff with organic amendment unless its been over fed.

Interesting. Yeah I have been watering until like a couple cups of water have run out the bottom. Sounds like I may have been overdoing it.

 

[Aqua Man]

Make sure your not overwatering as that can really affect uptake. Remember over watering is watering to often not to much.

 

[Aqua Man]

Interesting. Yeah I have been watering until like a couple cups of water have run out the bottom. Sounds like I may have been overdoing it.

That ok as long as you give a good dry back... with synthetic we wanna wash out some of the old nutes. This is because they are immediately available and can build up. That can happen with organic but much less likely. In soil with synthetic we water to runnoff for that reason but with organic we want to keep the soil in ideal moisture range for a more consistent o2 level as we generally don't need rinse nutrients from the soil.

 

[Pondracer]

I am a first time grower. I am growing in ffof. As of late my plants have become nutrient deficient. I a have been topdressing with down to earth dry fertilizer.

My question is, should I be watering until runoff or is that just flushing all my fertilizer out?

I did something similar with larger soil pots and Down To Earth. Never could fix the deficieny problem and ended up going to a feeding regime using General Hydroponics the last 4-6 weeks of flower. I ended up with decent potency but the plant looked like hell.

 

[GardenWeasel77]

That ok as long as you give a good dry back... with synthetic we wanna wash out some of the old nutes. This is because they are immediately available and can build up. That can happen with organic but much less likely. In soil with synthetic we water to runnoff for that reason but with organic we want to keep the soil in ideal moisture range for a more consistent o2 level as we generally don't need rinse nutrients from the soil.

Awesome. That you so much for the feedback.

 

[GardenWeasel77]

I did something similar with larger soil pots and Down To Earth. Never could fix the deficieny problem and ended up going to a feeding regime using General Hydroponics the last 4-6 weeks of flower. I ended up with decent potency but the plant looked like hell.

Uh lol. That is making me nervous!

 

[Aqua Man]

Uh lol. That is making me nervous!

Well you will be a better soil grower than this water bound guy . Underwatering is easier to fix than over watering.

 

[Pondracer]

Uh lol. That is making me nervous!

It could have been any number of things. Mine did get crusty on top. I felt that the fertilizer wasn't breaking down well. It will be interesting to see your results. I went a very long time too, like 171 days so if you combine that, with potential root binding it could have just been me trying to do something that wasn't possible.

 

[30roll]

Not every time.. Part of it is that I don't have a big enough container to mix my meds until now..

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[30roll]

I'm mixing for every plant 1 at a time.. I have 7gal bags and watering each with 3 liters and not a drop comes out. I'm going to step it up to 4 liters which should be just right. I tried 5 and the flood gates opened, plus it took a while to do mixing in a Koolaide pitcher. LOL

 

[quirk]

Interesting. Yeah I have been watering until like a couple cups of water have run out the bottom. Sounds like I may have been overdoing it.

Moist not wet @GardenWeasel77. You want air pockets in your medium. Roots have to respire, taking in oxygen and releasing co2. They cannot do this efficiently if the medium is saturated. The forum is littered with plants watered too often.

 

[GardenWeasel77]

Moist not wet @GardenWeasel77. You want air pockets in your medium. Roots have to transpire and take in oxygen and give off co2. They cannot do this efficiently if the medium is saturated. The forum is littered with plants watered too often.

Hmmm.. Yeah ive been getting conflicting advice on this. So your theory is never to water until runoff then?

 

[quirk]

Hmmm.. Yeah ive been getting conflicting advice on this. So your theory is never to water until runoff then?

It's not my theory but rather my practice not to keep my medium saturated. I have no problem watering to a slight runoff. But I have to wait until medium dries thoroughly before doing it again. That's the key.

 

[Aqua Man]

@quirk describes it well... moist not wet. Or damp is another good one.

 

[Pondracer]

I would do it just until water appeared at the bottom. Used a finger inserted at the top and when it felt dry I would water again.

 

[Mr.GreenthumbOG]

Watering till runoff shouldn’t happen until the plants have rooted out to fill container, Regardless of growing medium. In soil best for little to no runoff.

Mr.G

 

[SwoleGrow]

Don’t wash your amendments out

 

[30roll]

'Got my big mixing container. It was the ticket..I just watered my 7gal bags with 4 liters each. Not a drop came out.. 4 Liters really eats up the nutrients tho.. The plants are eating it up.

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