Watering for Soil Growers Only

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ComfortablyNumb

ComfortablyNumb

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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.
 
ComfortablyNumb

ComfortablyNumb

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Nicely broken down in a easier format to digest. What about certain plants which on more days then not have overall droopy leaves compared to the rest?
Thank you.
It depends. It could be a water issue that if done right will correct itself, it could be root issues, pH lockout.... If you water like this, it will be one less thing to worry about.
 
Flyingkushman

Flyingkushman

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hi I was wondering if anyone can help with info. I have a couple plants outside in 2 gallon smartpots of soil. They’ve been in the pots for 3 weeks already and the pot is full of roots, even the surface of the soil is all roots. I can’t even dig into the soil without breaking through roots. The pots feel light when I pick them up a day after watering and when I try digging into the soil it feels moist but the plants look like they may want water already. Should I let them dry or can I water when they are still moist ? I’ve tried using one of those Amazon soil moisture meters but I don’t think it works well because when I stick it in it’ll show dry but when touching it feels moist
 
RealizedReal000

RealizedReal000

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hi I was wondering if anyone can help with info. I have a couple plants outside in 2 gallon smartpots of soil. They’ve been in the pots for 3 weeks already and the pot is full of roots, even the surface of the soil is all roots. I can’t even dig into the soil without breaking through roots. The pots feel light when I pick them up a day after watering and when I try digging into the soil it feels moist but the plants look like they may want water already. Should I let them dry or can I water when they are still moist ? I’ve tried using one of those Amazon soil moisture meters but I don’t think it works well because when I stick it in it’ll show dry but when touching it feels moist
Root bound. Pot up if not in flower. I would transplant in a process where I do it once a month. Like .5 gallon-2 gallon-flower in 5 gallon.
 
growsince79

growsince79

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Add enough perlite and it's almost impossible to overwater.
 
lvstealth

lvstealth

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Funny you say that! I cut back on perlite just a little and there was a noticable difference! It probably didn't work out to a cup less per 5 gal pot, but after a week I knew I had done it and I won't again! Lol

Not to mention it threw my pot weight off so I had to learn that again!

I've been trying just a little tweak here and there with the soil, but once it's started (autos) i don't want to change. So I have one with less perlite, another with a different brand soil, one with worm castings added and another with the stuff I used the first time (figure since that worked, it is my control).

Its something fun to do, and maybe I learn a bit. I do have to stop myself from starting more, I'm getting addicted to the growing!
 
growsince79

growsince79

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Funny you say that! I cut back on perlite just a little and there was a noticable difference! It probably didn't work out to a cup less per 5 gal pot, but after a week I knew I had done it and I won't again! Lol

Not to mention it threw my pot weight off so I had to learn that again!

I've been trying just a little tweak here and there with the soil, but once it's started (autos) i don't want to change. So I have one with less perlite, another with a different brand soil, one with worm castings added and another with the stuff I used the first time (figure since that worked, it is my control).

Its something fun to do, and maybe I learn a bit. I do have to stop myself from starting more, I'm getting addicted to the growing!
I like trying different things too. I just started using promix hpcc with extra perlite. I have to water every day now. Probably shouldn't have added anything. Before that I was using cocoloco - and that definitely needs extra perlite. In soil I add 20%.
 
Bbonez

Bbonez

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Is there any harm or benefits to using some synthetic nutrients if you added organic feed to the soil? I added EWC and Blood meal to some used old FFOF because I don't want to dedicate too much time to my outdoor grow. Will it hurt anything if I water them with runoff from my indoor (synthetic nutes) once in a while?
 
ComfortablyNumb

ComfortablyNumb

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Is there any harm or benefits to using some synthetic nutrients if you added organic feed to the soil? I added EWC and Blood meal to some used old FFOF because I don't want to dedicate too much time to my outdoor grow. Will it hurt anything if I water them with runoff from my indoor (synthetic nutes) once in a while?
I doubt they will be harmed. If it's runoff, it shouldn't be very hot anyway. Use the runoff as a tea for the outdoor plants. Once or twice during flower maybe. I wouldn't do any more often than that.
 
Flyingkushman

Flyingkushman

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13
Root bound. Pot up if not in flower. I would transplant in a process where I do it once a month. Like .5 gallon-2 gallon-flower in 5 gallon.
Thanks for the reply. I transplanted them from 2 gallon to 5 gallon. The only problem is that the original 2 gallon root ball is still drying everyday but the new soil around it stays wet. Any tips on what I can do ? Im worried about fungus gnats if I keep watering the rootball everyday.
 
GDub51

GDub51

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Thanks for the reply. I transplanted them from 2 gallon to 5 gallon. The only problem is that the original 2 gallon root ball is still drying everyday but the new soil around it stays wet. Any tips on what I can do ? Im worried about fungus gnats if I keep watering the rootball everyday.
I'm struggling with choking soil as well. You've got to get the air exchange going somehow for the wet/dry cycle to work and even a 40% level of draining agents seems inadequate this year for me.
 
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