Watering Once A Week

[legaleyes13]

I haven't been growing in soil very long (always been a hyrdo dude), but as long as I have, I've only watered about once a week (4x4 soil bed, about 8 gallons of water, good salt marsh hay mulch). I water with a tea every time. Do any of you see me running into any problems? Nothing has gone wrong so far, in fact things seem to be working out quite well, but then again, I have nothing to compare it to as I have only recently switched to soil. Don't know if the girls would grow faster if I watered more or whatever

 

[3N1GM4]

If it takes your soil a week to dry out then thats how long you wait. Letting the soil dry makes the plant develop roots in search of water and prevents root rot.

 

[legaleyes13]

Cool... It's hard to get to my soil and really tell how dry it is because I have a pretty thick layer of mulch (which I'm sure helps keep it moist), but my mix is 1/3 coco and I'm in a geopot/geobed that breathes really well. I guess I'm just surprised it's been taking a week.

 

[Seamaiden]

I haven't been growing in soil very long (always been a hyrdo dude), but as long as I have, I've only watered about once a week (4x4 soil bed, about 8 gallons of water, good salt marsh hay mulch). I water with a tea every time. Do any of you see me running into any problems? Nothing has gone wrong so far, in fact things seem to be working out quite well, but then again, I have nothing to compare it to as I have only recently switched to soil. Don't know if the girls would grow faster if I watered more or whatever

Not really, unless the soil doesn't have sufficient nutrient levels to carry the plant through, but that volume and method sounds fine to me. If that's the amount of water they want/need, then that's the amount of water for them. If you try to push more you may run into problems.

 

[cannakis]

 

[3N1GM4]

Someone told me on another thread that they always try for runoff when I asked if I should water my 15 gal geo pots until I get runoff. I just watered one with two gallons of water and got zero runoff, I am thinking I would need the pot off the ground to get runoff? My soil looks too wet and the plant looks overwatered now...

 

[cannakis]

Someone told me on another thread that they always try for runoff when I asked if I should water my 15 gal geo pots until I get runoff. I just watered one with two gallons of water and got zero runoff, I am thinking I would need the pot off the ground to get runoff? My soil looks too wet and the plant looks overwatered now...

Honestly what I like to do is to kind of Till the ground... Dig it up a finger deep or so... Supposedly according to "Southern Farmer and Market Gardener" Francis Simmons Holmes 1848, a fermentation happens when the Dry ground is Tilled up.

So I wait for the soil top to dry then I dig it a finger deep or so all around the plant... Wait a day or two checking moisture and if dry about a finger deep I add water.

It is okay to let it dry out... It will show you it Needs water, but do not mistake Overwatering signs as Drought signs.

 

[m8ty]

Hi, curius why did you switch to soil?

 

[legaleyes13]

Hi, curius why did you switch to soil?

For a few reasons. Mainly because it worked better with my space. I love hydro and have been growing hydro in some way shape or form for years, but I moved into a new place and it just didn't work well with the space. Running soil beds allows me to keep the beds directly on the floor and because of that I have the canopy space to run DE lights without having 10' ceilings. Truth is my ceilings are much shorter than 10' and it still works out just fine as long as I hit my veg plants with at least 450w of LEDs to get em ready for the 1000w DE they'll see in flower. I keep my plants short to allow even more canopy space...

I hate having to deal with PH, mixing nutes and monitoring EC/TDS and all of that bullshit and I don't have to do that with no till soil. This organic soil shit grows a lot slower than I'm used to in veg and is more hands on than the super automated systems I was running in the past, but if I was still running hydro, my garden would be overgrown even with no veg time in the room I'm in now. And the quality is slightly better than even my fully dialed in hyrdro grows. Truth be told though, I think hyrdo is the way to go for large scale grows (I'm not large scale), the fact that you can have everything automated is too hard to pass up.

 

[shemshemet]

Here's my problem with the runoff thing....

If my soil is dry, I get runoff the moment I pour even a cup of water on the plants. Sometimes if I go slow slow slow, I can prevent it, but some pots just won't hold the initial water.

I aim for about 1/2 to 2/3 water volume to pot volume....still don't know if its right but plants seem healthy this way.

 

[Junk]

I didn't read this entire thread, just the first several posts. But if you watch the plant, you will know when it starts to dry out. Leaves will start to droop etc.

Pick it up when it's at that point, get a feel for the weight. Then, when you are checking if it needs water, just pick it up, you will know.

About the water consumption, it's mostly to do with the rh, temp, & plant metabolism. If you are in the VPD green zone, your plant may just be a light feeder. Or the nutrient mix is not right for that plant making it slow on the uptake.

 

[noone88]

I have been watering soil pots for the last 4 years. We use 5/7 gallon pots.

In my experience, it is better to water less and more frequently versus watering once per week.

Overwatering seems to be an overlooked problem. I like my plants to drink every 2-3 days. Plants in veg and first 2 weeks of flower like to be dry. It lets the root system develop in the soil. During mid to heavy flower, I like to water them every 2 days at least. More often the better as long as the soil isn't waterlogged.

During veg and early flower, grab some gloves and aerate the soil by digging your hands through it. The plants really respond to this and it lets the water evaporate (which allows the roots to take in oxygen.)

 

[oldskol4evr]

Here's my problem with the runoff thing....

If my soil is dry, I get runoff the moment I pour even a cup of water on the plants. Sometimes if I go slow slow slow, I can prevent it, but some pots just won't hold the initial water.

I aim for about 1/2 to 2/3 water volume to pot volume....still don't know if its right but plants seem healthy this way.

new here to thc farmer ,but i also use soil,if i can i will make a suggestion to you friend,i use 3 gallon and 5 gallon pots,in soil its really hard to get them feed all the way threw unless you have a perfect balance of enzymes in your soil,the enzymes help to keep your soil from becoming anerobic,i use humic fulvic and enzymes to keep my soil from becoming a brick,with that being said my method for feeding and watering is this and hope it helps you,but i have a tray i put my pot in and let the girl suck up the feed for a little while and then i place the pot on a 18 gal tote with a rack,at that point i feed that bitch threw out,you will notice at this point as you continue to feed that your water in the plant starts to bubble from air pockets,keep giving it the feed until it stops,let her drip until it stops,move on to the next one,the plant will tell you when it is ready to feed by drooping. when she droops feed her,ive noticed overtime that i could feed once a week until its the magic flower time,and usally its about the time she stops stretching,then that bitch be hungry all the time,mine go from once a week to twice a week,like i said she will droop when she hungry,i dont ever let my pots dry.if you water feed by this method i always have happy plants

 

[oldskol4evr]

Someone told me on another thread that they always try for runoff when I asked if I should water my 15 gal geo pots until I get runoff. I just watered one with two gallons of water and got zero runoff, I am thinking I would need the pot off the ground to get runoff? My soil looks too wet and the plant looks overwatered now...

i always water until runoff,i use humic fulvic and it cleans the root zone and helps uptake of nutrients it also adjust ph of your soil and mends most defiencies caused by us trying to push plant to extremes,soil buffers what ever you put in there,i dont ph or use up and down ,its not needed,to prove this to myself and from hearing all the hipe of it all ,i decided to find out for myself .
when i feed i feed from bottom and then soak the bitch from the top,i use a 18 gal tote with a rack after i have feed my girls the last one i use all the runoff to feed my last plant,first i just used 1 girl to see how it went,worked out so well that after harvest of her,i pulled her from the pot and had some of the whitest roots almost snow color.no let me explain my method of madness//i use my own super soil and i have some of the shittest water usally its 8.5 but has swung up to 9.5,i fought that shit for almost a year phing,had nothing but problems with the shit and it def effect my yeild,finally i said the hell with it and just started bubbling the water for 24 hours and then i put the bubbled water in a 5 gal bucket add my compost blend and bubble to i got a good head usally about 24 hrs,then i just feed.yep i said just feed ,i dont check ph ,ppm,ec any of that shit anymore,just feed .all i use is a compost blend and water,once a month i give a maintence humic fulvic root drench to cleanup any salt if any.my girls stay healthy and i have a decent harvest

 

[ArcticOrange]

A healthy living soil will retain water for longer.

 

[zigzagtop]

Same here...once a week...8 days last time. I know the bullshit associated with overwatering...fuks everything up, takes time to fix it. I have a same size ten gallon fabric bag full of ProMix Mycorrhizae but dry soil mix but no plant so I can compare the weight of my plants...when they feel about the same, maybe a tad more for the weight of the plant itself, and go from there. Inside, they don't consume as much water as if outside in the environment with wind and heat from the sun and that. Actually, my three big girls need some nutrient soup right about now...

 

[zigzagtop]

If it takes your soil a week to dry out then thats how long you wait. Letting the soil dry makes the plant develop roots in search of water and prevents root rot.

Yes, I do the same...I use Jiffy Pots from seed, then into a 2-3 litre pot, finally into a 10 gallon fabric bag full of ProMix Mycorrhizae & bat guano, this and that. I go by the weight of the bag with soil & plant...when it feels light, the leaves may be a little droopy, I water it with 1 to 2 gallons of water plus nutrients...no use trying to force feed it. If your plant isn't drying out then nutrient lock out may be the case. That's exactly why I bought a pH meter and some pH UP & pH DOWN...makes all the difference. Less issues regarding nutrient deficiencies or nutrient burn or lock-out when the pH of the mixed water & nutrients is between 6 & 6.7...I like to keep it around 6.5.