ComfortablyNumb
- Posts
- 6,099
- Reactions
- 11,217
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2021
- Points
- 313
Watering in Soil
Watering plants gives many new growers anxiety issues. Because we want our plants to do the best they can, we over water and some even underwater. To help relieve the stress and confusion, this is sort of a step by step of what to do and look for when you grow in soil.
Hydroponics are different and should not use this method. This is for soil only.
When you water plants, the water goes into the soil and mixes with the food that is there. It does not matter if you grow organic or non, when the water and food mix, the roots of the plant suck up all they can hold.
The plant uses this to 'recharge.' During the ‘recharge’ the plant is resting and collecting its resources for a growth cycle. When the plant has collected all it can, it will use the light to begin adding to itself. It will get taller, more roots, flowers, leaves, whatever it needs in the stage its in.
During this new growth period you will notice the leaves pointing up towards the light. As long as they are pointing towards the light, they do not need water.
(This will usually last 2 or 3 days, wait for them to have at least 10 mins of light before checking the leaves.)
When the plant is running out of water, the leaves will begin to lower. When you see at least 50% of the plant's leaves have lowered, water it again. Soak it with pH balanced water.
The cycle will start over.
A word on feeding
For organic grows, you don’t have to add anything except water. Always use a carbon filter on your water. More filtering is probably not needed. Non-Organic grows will have to feed periodically. Consult your feed chart and cut the amounts in half. Those amounts are usually for a full grown plant and are the maximum you can give your plants without them dying. Overfeeding is the cause of many issues in plants.
Let me give you an example; If you are in a cage and I bring you huge plates of your favorite food, you would be pretty happy with that. But what if I bring twice what you can actually eat? And I don’t take the leftovers away? Sooner or later you’re going to be neck deep in rotten food.
In our plants we call this a salt buildup in the soil and it needs to be flushed. If you feed organic, you should never have a buildup and never need to flush your soil. Flushing organic soil is almost like murder. You are getting rid of everything your plant needs.
If you feed non-organic, do some TDS and EC testing of your feed before and after feeding to see how much the plant actually wants and adjust from there.
Watering really is this simple. We love growing our plants and we get all worked up about how we feed or water, or trim or whatever. It's Ok, the plant is far more forgiving than you might realize. Watch your leaves, that's the plant talking to you.