What IS proper amount/time to feed?

TidalReef · Mar 19, 2026

What’s your technique? How do you tell when your plant is ready for feed? Do you lift it, judge it based on the weight or do you drive some fingers into the ol girl and check her moisture.
(I’m talking for the not so tech type.)

I have 2 plants growing vigorously in a 7Gal. Pro-mix soil. Currently in week 2 of flower and run 3.75ml/L sensi-bloom. I’ll crank it to 4ml during weeks 4-6, as I don’t use any additional nutrients. The amounts fluctuate between 1.5G, and 2G. I do it all through finger test, while also pressing in on bags to feel for cool moisture or a dryer hard feeling. The plants aren’t showing any signs of stress, over or under watering, but I really feel like I’m flipping a coin and calling it by luck each time. I’ve never had a problem with salt concentrate building up in my soil anywhere, but who knows…

So should I chill out and just maintain course?
Or am I really just getting lucky?

And what you all recommend ?

BearWater · Mar 19, 2026

TidalReef said:
What’s your technique? How do you tell when your plant is ready for feed? Do you lift it, judge it based on the weight or do you drive some fingers into the ol girl and check her moisture.
(I’m talking for the not so tech type.)

I have 2 plants growing vigorously in a 7Gal. Pro-mix soil. Currently in week 2 of flower and run 3.75ml/L sensi-bloom. I’ll crank it to 4ml during weeks 4-6, as I don’t use any additional nutrients. The amounts fluctuate between 1.5G, and 2G. I do it all through finger test, while also pressing in on bags to feel for cool moisture or a dryer hard feeling. The plants aren’t showing any signs of stress, over or under watering, but I really feel like I’m flipping a coin and calling it by luck each time. I’ve never had a problem with salt concentrate building up in my soil anywhere, but who knows…

So should I chill out and just maintain course?
Or am I really just getting lucky?

And what you all recommend ?

Having used salts in the past, im going to recommend you water to a run off, whenever you do water. Also, I dont think it’s super great to do, but i like the plant to show me she’s ready for water. I’ve run into some overwatering issues in the past so i like to ensure a decent dry back.

Chilling back helps see the bigger picture. If you get caught up in some of the little things you can start chasing your tail around in a circle. Loving them to death is a thing lol!

Trash_2002 · Mar 19, 2026

pure coco or 70coco/30 perlite go for 30% less weight than the saturated/field capacity of the pot, feed.
peat/perlite 50/50 go for 50% of saturated/field capacity weight of the pot and feed, if the pot is too big/awkward to lift insert your finger, depending on the pot size, when the top 2-3 inches is dry feed. you can also look for petiole drop at the canopy level, they should be more like a Y when all good and when needing water they will be closer to horizontal like a L, if the petiole drops to inverted Y they are suffering a lot and need water, this is the most low tech and require more experience, but it works especially for outdoor plants.

LoveGrowingIt · Mar 19, 2026

There is no singular answer to the title question.

expat · Mar 19, 2026

I grow in beds this year. I just go by feel or if the plants look hungry of course. Indoors it depends, I have always been bad with routines. I look at them every day and feel the soil and I know it was a day or so ago I fed last. I like to stay kind of low on nutrition and feed every watering to keep it simple for me.

I have done blumats in the past, they are awesome too, might pull them out as it gets warmer.

Ninjadogma · Mar 19, 2026

Trash_2002 said:
pure coco or 70coco/30 perlite go for 30% less weight than the saturated/field capacity of the pot, feed.
peat/perlite 50/50 go for 50% of saturated/field capacity weight of the pot and feed, if the pot is too big/awkward to lift insert your finger, depending on the pot size, when the top 2-3 inches is dry feed. you can also look for petiole drop at the canopy level, they should be more like a Y when all good and when needing water they will be closer to horizontal like a L, if the petiole drops to inverted Y they are suffering a lot and need water, this is the most low tech and require more experience, but it works especially for outdoor plants.

I found peat behaves better if you never let it drop below 70% of it's fully watered weight and for better behavior, keep it closer to 80% and mist the top layer on the non watering days (unless you have a gnat issue). You get oxygen crash when it's too wet but with peat you also get oxygen crash when it gets too dry (dipping below 75%) because pore space starts collapsing and microbes start hogging oxygen. If you want to do aggressive 50% drybacks, save it for your coco with perlite (when you're treating your coco as a soil instead of hydro) or rockwool (yes, rockwool).

pandrhola · Mar 20, 2026

TidalReef said:
What’s your technique? How do you tell when your plant is ready for feed? Do you lift it, judge it based on the weight or do you drive some fingers into the ol girl and check her moisture.
(I’m talking for the not so tech type.)

I have 2 plants growing vigorously in a 7Gal. Pro-mix soil. Currently in week 2 of flower and run 3.75ml/L sensi-bloom. I’ll crank it to 4ml during weeks 4-6, as I don’t use any additional nutrients. The amounts fluctuate between 1.5G, and 2G. I do it all through finger test, while also pressing in on bags to feel for cool moisture or a dryer hard feeling. The plants aren’t showing any signs of stress, over or under watering, but I really feel like I’m flipping a coin and calling it by luck each time. I’ve never had a problem with salt concentrate building up in my soil anywhere, but who knows…

So should I chill out and just maintain course?
Or am I really just getting lucky?

And what you all recommend ? Geometry Dash

So honestly, if I were in your position, I wouldn’t overhaul anything. I’d just refine what you’re already doing—pay a bit more attention to pot weight consistency and maybe keep a loose rhythm (not a strict schedule). Healthy plants are the best indicator, and yours are clearly telling you you’re on the right track.

Trash_2002 · Mar 20, 2026

Ninjadogma said:
I found peat behaves better if you never let it drop below 70% of it's fully watered weight and for better behavior, keep it closer to 80% and mist the top layer on the non watering days (unless you have a gnat issue). You get oxygen crash when it's too wet but with peat you also get oxygen crash when it gets too dry (dipping below 75%) because pore space starts collapsing and microbes start hogging oxygen. If you want to do aggressive 50% drybacks, save it for your coco with perlite (when you're treating your coco as a soil instead of hydro) or rockwool (yes, rockwool).

interesting, for me i don't get any issues whatsoever going for 50% pot weight with peat/perlite 50/50, now when i did that with pure coco i got problems quite quickly tho. And im not a heavy feeder 1.8-2.0EC max peak flower.

its good to point out that 50% pot weight with peat/perlite 50/50 isnt the same as a 50% dryback. It will be closer to 30-40% dryback aprox.
for example a 30% dry back with Water Content sensor data for rockwool with 80% WC at field capacity, will be when it reaches 50% WC, different metrics tho.

Love4All · Mar 20, 2026

Well that depends on your substrate and available fertilizers. In general for a plain soil grow I found mine really needed nutrients at about week 3. I like General Hydroponic's Flora Series. It's enough for more than one run!

WinJr63 · Mar 20, 2026

Im in coco coir, small plants now so I can lift the pot, well now im feeding every other day and watering every other day that is how fast soil is drying now.

When the plants get bigger and heavier by lookig at a stick I shove down the inside wall of pot.

Vick_Vinegar · Mar 20, 2026

Proper depends on the individual plants/setup. There's no set in stone magic number/amount or time. I'm in a peat and Coco based potting mix with compost, castings and perlite, zeolite and a touch of scoria for reference.

I just water daily from the get go regardless of medium. I'll add some root roids (mykos/bacillus) weekly and feed if I have to which is usually once a week from week 5-6.

Im in a different boat being in potting mix mainly, but I've found drybacks more than 10% of the pot volume give me nothing but pH and EC spikes plus microbe death and hydrophobia so I just don't let em dry out at all, not even at the top. If I have to pot more than 10% in every morning, I'll start adding a but every arvo as well in the tray.

Our mediums with aggregate hold more than 25% air even when saturated so I run my pots off before seeds even go in, and keep em stable in moisture from day 1 to harvest.

Just find out what works for your individual setup and don't overthink it. Your plants will let you know what they want, and it's rarely what you'd expect.

Anylizer · Mar 21, 2026

I'm really kind of new to all this, but do llike the conversation. I agree, that there is no "magic bullet". Each plant, medium, & environment will require different methods.
I grow in a locally sourced garden soil. I'm told it's 50% topsoil, 25% aged cow manure, & 25% sand. I .ix in some perlite & potting soil to theoretically help reduce soil compaction. I top dress with fish fert. & worm castings every couple weeks. When flowering starts, I cut back on the fish, and start with bloomjuice. I grown in a greenhouse, and so far I'm producing about 4oz.per plant.
This year, I plan to create my own "supersoil". I'm going to blend in 30% coco, biochar, worm castings, pearlite, gypsum & green sand. My plants have seemed healthy up to this point, but I think the root structure could improve.
As far as watering goes, I watch the plants. Start out light, watch for wilt, then increase until it stops drooping. Watering is set up on timers with dripline/soaker hoses. Mid veg, they typically get watered every 2-3 days. Growing in 10g grow bags.

Just my 2c

What IS proper amount/time to feed?

What IS proper amount/time to feed?

What do I do?

Chill out!

Bump all feeds to 2g

Drop to 1.5g

Smoke a blunt and watch a healthy plant thrive as is…

A & D

TidalReef

BearWater

If you were a hotdog would you eat yourself?

Trash_2002

LoveGrowingIt

expat

Ninjadogma

pandrhola

Trash_2002

Love4All

WinJr63

Vick_Vinegar

Anylizer

What IS proper amount/time to feed?

What IS proper amount/time to feed?

What do I do?

Chill out!

Bump all feeds to 2g

Drop to 1.5g

Smoke a blunt and watch a healthy plant thrive as is…

A & D

TidalReef

BearWater

If you were a hotdog would you eat yourself?

Trash_2002

LoveGrowingIt

expat

Ninjadogma

pandrhola

Trash_2002

Love4All

WinJr63

Vick_Vinegar

Anylizer

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