watering

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oldfogey8

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so i searched the forum for a bit but maybe i am not putting in the right key word or words. what is the general consensus as far as watering? water until 20% runoff or water until the soil is nice and saturated? do plants excrete waste into the soil that needs to be washed away from the soil by flushing? i have watered my plants in the past to the point that i get a good amount of runoff but this grow, i am using a sprayer and i am saturating the soil nicely without the runoff. will this essentially poison the plants? my plants look nice and healthy now but i am afraid that can go south pretty quickly if they are wallowing in their own excrement. i am using organic nutes if that makes a difference. and come to find out, my soil mix has pretty good nutes already(roots organix green lite mixed with promix bx). thanks. i feel like a noob but i am re-inventing my growing method...
 
It depends on the grow method and nutes used. When I grew organic soil, runoff wasn't much of a concern, as long as it was saturated was all that mattered. Now I do soiless promix #4 with GH 3 part. I now do between 10% and 20% runoff each watering, because GH recommends it.
 
I am going to buy the GH 3 part. Just been lazy and I have some organic nutes laying around. Good to know that I will need to water to runoff with the 3 part nutes. I have 10 3 gallon felt pots. I am guessing I'm gonna need to get some more water buckets to have enough water to get some runoff. Watered them with 6 gallons the other day and got no runoff at all. thanks for info, umbra.
 
I am going to buy the GH 3 part. Just been lazy and I have some organic nutes laying around. Good to know that I will need to water to runoff with the 3 part nutes. I have 10 3 gallon felt pots. I am guessing I'm gonna need to get some more water buckets to have enough water to get some runoff. Watered them with 6 gallons the other day and got no runoff at all. thanks for info, umbra.[/QUOTE

thanks umbra!! it depends on the age and size of the root ball, imo. if they have been recently transplanted in to 3 gal felts from ex; 5 by 5 pots, there will be plenty of medium with no roots to drink and its easy to overwater. once plants have been in sacks for a while, maybe halfway thru flower, i make sure every root can find a drink and some chow. which means slowly overwatering till u see runoff. 10% or so will mean everybody's been fed. if u r not using saucers, u will see plants trying to suck up runoff. i shop vac excess and keep the tent clean.
 
Yeah. My rootballs are still iffy. Been watering every 3-4 days when the soil is dry about a knuckle deep. Picking up some 5 gallon Home Depot buckets tomorrow so I have more capacity to let my water set for a few days. Thanks 'hopper. Sound advice.
 
The 2 big reasons for watering to runoff is: 1, to make sure the whole container of medium is saturated, leaving no dry pockets to kill roots(which can happen easily if not careful. Often a new grower mistake).
2, In "non-organic" growing, you will have unused elements from the nutes that will sit in the soil and become toxic if they build up too much. This causes the pH to get off, and it can bind up other elements that the plants really need. Watering to runoff-up to full hydro, helps to wash out those leftovers. That is why, I recommend that people in soilless/synthetics flush their medium one time about halfway through the grow so that they clean out any buildup that could cause issues later.

This is not an issue with organics. I would recommend that you put them in saucers and water until you see a little runoff each time. Then go back in one hour and remove any leftover water. It wont take long to get the feel for watering just enough allow the plants to suck up any excess and not leave any behind :)
 
Yep, what Hush said. in organics especially in smart pots with a saucer, i water until i see it come out the bottom of the pot. I check back and it is always taken back up.. I don't add any more water.. water till it runs off and check on them in a few minutes, you don't want their feet sitting in water... (lol tell that to hydro growers)
You got this OF..:vap-Bong_smoker:
 
Funny story....so I grow in water right....well chunk coco in an ebb/flow that feeds 20 mins once daily 30 mins after lights on....I have not hand watered in close to a year now....so I have these two "project" plants in BM-7 soiless medium....they are sooooo over watered (soil is wet with the O2 depleted) and Mg def that I can't bear to take a picture of them. The point of my story is, even as a seasoned grower, I can forget the basic's like small root system new big pot......no need to water till you get run off....damn pot wont dry for a week and now since I'm in soil so to speak it will take 2 weeks to get the Mg def solved and the pots dried back to a proper wet /dry cycle. So yes, learning how to correctly water is a foundation skill and not doing it for a while will make you a bit rusty, but as you practice you learn real quickly to water by feel....you just know whats about right. Good luck OF, we all had to get this figured out at some time and your doing just fine if the plants say they are happy..
 
i thought i had it but now i don't. lol... ;{)

i have had good results in the past when i would water to the point of some runoff. never measured how much. i like using the sprayer as it seems to slowly saturate the soil. what i am thinking right now(and it will probably change later and then again after that) is i will continue to water with the sprayer but after i have the soil moist, i will give them a bit from a jug and let them run off a bit. the root balls are still not inhabiting the entire felt pot. what i don't like about the sprayer is sometimes i miss and hit the leaves. i try to dry them off but i think i have missed some sroplets and have seen some burning on the leaves. er, doh! now i am going to obsess about the random spots. prolly something terrible...
 
Breathe, I feel ya.. I have to turn of my lights and turn a fan on for all the water I spray on the leaves...
 
i thought i had it but now i don't. lol... ;{)

i have had good results in the past when i would water to the point of some runoff. never measured how much. i like using the sprayer as it seems to slowly saturate the soil. what i am thinking right now(and it will probably change later and then again after that) is i will continue to water with the sprayer but after i have the soil moist, i will give them a bit from a jug and let them run off a bit. the root balls are still not inhabiting the entire felt pot. what i don't like about the sprayer is sometimes i miss and hit the leaves. i try to dry them off but i think i have missed some sroplets and have seen some burning on the leaves. er, doh! now i am going to obsess about the random spots. prolly something terrible...

on my first grow i had just transplanted from 5 by 5 pots to 5 gallon felts. i so over watered that 9 days after watering they were still very wet. i was panicking and someone (a girl), told me to get at least 4 oscillating fans and put them directly in front of my felt pots. within 24 hours they were almost dry.. on the other side, when i have under watered, i got much slower veg growth... i would have no faith in a sprayer supplying enough water to my plants unless they were seedlings. i have zero experience with foliar feeding.. it will come together..
 
i thought i had it but now i don't. lol... ;{)

i have had good results in the past when i would water to the point of some runoff. never measured how much.i like using the sprayer as it seems to slowly saturate the soil.what i am thinking right now(and it will probably change later and then again after that) is i will continue to water with the sprayer but after i have the soil moist, i will give them a bit from a jug and let them run off a bit. the root balls are still not inhabiting the entire felt pot. what i don't like about the sprayer is sometimes i miss and hit the leaves. i try to dry them off but i think i have missed some sroplets and have seen some burning on the leaves. er, doh! now i am going to obsess about the random spots. prolly something terrible...

nah, don't use the sprayer, well, use it but for foliar spray or misting :)
start with a cup or litre or two depending on plant growth
pour all around the outside of the pot (not the stem) to pool or "fill" the top of the pot maybe an inch plus, even out the soil top with your (clean) fingers. Watch the water level lower and into the earth, look to side of the pot and imagine it continuing down to the bottom and you should see it seep out the bottom (great when ripped).
Don't touch it again until top is dry.
You learn your amounts doing this daily watching your plants grow.
Check the pH of the runoff.

Don't obsess, berate your plants, speak near the bottom, careful of neighbours, whispering okay but not as cathartic.

But mostly listen to the others, I like goofing around in here.
 
nah, don't use the sprayer, well, use it but for foliar spray or misting :)
start with a cup or litre or two depending on plant growth
pour all around the outside of the pot (not the stem) to pool or "fill" the top of the pot maybe an inch plus, even out the soil top with your (clean) fingers. Watch the water level lower and into the earth, look to side of the pot and imagine it continuing down to the bottom and you should see it seep out the bottom (great when ripped).
Don't touch it again until top is dry.
You learn your amounts doing this daily watching your plants grow.
Check the pH of the runoff.

Don't obsess, berate your plants, speak near the bottom, careful of neighbours, whispering okay but not as cathartic.

But mostly listen to the others, I like goofing around in here.
Checking the ph of the runoff is a pretty good idea to stay in a peace of mind thanks for the new information ! :)
 
I am using felt pots so it won't really pool unfortunately and in the past, if I water too heavily the water will seep out the sides of the pots. The sprayer nozzle I am using has pretty good flow but I was moving the pots around a day or so ago and could feel some dry spots so I am not properly saturating the soil. Prolly going to bring everyone up to the tub Wednesday and soak them then let them saturate. My sons have girl friends that are around a lot so I will need to find some alone time in the fogey residence... thanks for everyone's help.
 
That sounds like a good plan OF. It was what I was going to recommend. Try to hit them once a week with a good soak and then let them drain well before returning them home. Green mojo. :aok:
 
I am using felt pots so it won't really pool unfortunately and in the past, if I water too heavily the water will seep out the sides of the pots. The sprayer nozzle I am using has pretty good flow but I was moving the pots around a day or so ago and could feel some dry spots so I am not properly saturating the soil. Prolly going to bring everyone up to the tub Wednesday and soak them then let them saturate. My sons have girl friends that are around a lot so I will need to find some alone time in the fogey residence... thanks for everyone's help.

I wouldn't worry about dry spots, It's really easy to overwater and the plants can droop and you'll think they want MORE water. Let them dry out between waterings, I don't like the sound of a soak at all :)

oh, felt pots, never used those, but seeping down the sides isn't runoff so your sprayer is better, sounds just as fun. You'll get some decent oxygen too with that I'd think. Agitating the surface with a strong spray will kill eggs of those tsetse flies too.

oh ****, didn't see Kraven's post, ya, what he said

(and thanks, TLC)
 

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