Watering quantities/frequency during flower

[Delta9]

So this is my first indoor grow- I am growing organically in 12 litre poly bags using a mixture of worm castings/perlite/vermiculite/canadian xpress max mix.

I switched to 12/12 photo period last week and am now wondering about watering quantities during the flowering period. Up until now I have been drenching the pots with about 20% run off to waste.

As far as I understand, plants require less water during flower?

So my question is- how much water should I give from now and how often- up to and after flush ?

 

[Rosebud]

I have never heard that flowers need less water in flower. Water as you normally have. You will not need to flush when organic.

Does your 20% run off go back into the plant. I always leave water in my saucers under my plants but they always drink it back up in a short time.. If you let them have a dry period as in veg you will be fine.

Isn't it cool that you don't have to flush? I only flush toilets...(bad joke, sorry)
Flower mojo for you!

 

[Delta9]

Thanks Rose
Well that is good to know-and kind of a relief to not have to change what I have been doing. And yes no flush is good news too!

I do let the plants soak up the 20% run off too-

I am not sure where I read about less water during flower-but it is a theory.

One guy I know only gives his plants about a cup of water each in the last couple weeks of flower!

I had assumed it had something to do with purposefully stressing the plant to induce more resin, or else less moisture in the plant - when it comes time to chop and dry.

 

[Hushpuppy]

You will ffind over time that people will employ lots of little "tricks" that are supposed to do this or that to help the plants produce more. Don't buy into the tricks. Grow your plants to be "fat and happy" and they will reward you with "sparkly goodness". Good healthy plants produce better tasting, better potency flowers than any tricks will do. Watch you plants and soil and over time you will learn to read them as they will tell you when they are thirsty or hungry, hot or cold, too wet or too dry. It has been my experience that generally, they will drink more when in flower, but that also will depend quite a lot on the environmental factors, more so than growth phase.

 

[Delta9]

You will ffind over time that people will employ lots of little "tricks" that are supposed to do this or that to help the plants produce more. Don't buy into the tricks. Grow your plants to be "fat and happy" and they will reward you with "sparkly goodness". Good healthy plants produce better tasting, better potency flowers than any tricks will do. Watch you plants and soil and over time you will learn to read them as they will tell you when they are thirsty or hungry, hot or cold, too wet or too dry. It has been my experience that generally, they will drink more when in flower, but that also will depend quite a lot on the environmental factors, more so than growth phase.

I hear what you are saying Hush-I just finished reading Bodhi Moon's book-Master Gardener's Medical Cannabis Secrets.. and her approach is very similiar -to just grow the plants fat and healthy without any "tricks". In my case regarding watering during flower- I was actually under the impression that less water was less of a "trick" and more of a standard technique
to maximise resin and reduce the risk of bud rot/mould. Am glad to have an understanding of that issue now-rather than later. My girls are flowering like crazy now so I don't wanna screw this up on the home straight! Thanks for your input

 

[Rosebud]

Sorry to humanize pot, but if someone withheld drink from me before giving birth i would be ticked. There is no scientific reason to withhold water from a plant that i know of. Water those girls!!!

 

[Delta9]

Sorry to humanize pot, but if someone withheld drink from me before giving birth i would be ticked. There is no scientific reason to withhold water from a plant that i know of. Water those girls!!!

Nice analogy Rose- but would it be more accurate to say-"witheld drink before sex/procreation"? lol

I am lucky enough to have a source of natural spring water that our local brewery taps and provides free to the public.

I know a lot of people get by with standard tap water left standing overnight- but man my plants really love this stuff -id love to get a mineral analysis.

In the meantime I totally will be keeping my watering schedule the same!

Cheers for the advice-and sorry if i asked a dumb/obvious question..

 

[Hushpuppy]

Good luck with it. It sounds like you have good water to work with. There are no dumb questions here so don't worry. If you need to know, don't be afraid or embarrassed to ask.

 

[DrFever]

Delta i would advise when watering not to run off anything the amount of water depends on many factors such as size of pot, size of plant, temps humidity air movement considering all these into your equation on amount of water you should add
when running off you actually are washing away nutrients and in organic its decomposing all the time which in turn feeds the plant so running off really defeats the purpose if you think about it right having less water does not stop photosynthesis unless soil drys right out and plant starts to wilt
water more but less each time if you catch my drift with out run off like 1/4 - 1/2 pot volume prefect giving you waterings/ feedings every 2 - 3 days
Normally people water when top 2" of soil is dry marijuana likes wet and dry not overly wet plant growth rates slow down when soil is to wet so there is no need to run off cause that is to wet ,,,, if soil gets to dry you will notice as you add water it runs out the bottom holes right away then your soil is to dry
You can add a few drops of liquid detergent per 5 - 10 liters or so to your water this will act as a wetting agent,,
you have watered now last 2 - 5 weeks in veg so you should have a idea how much they drink right ???? probably watering / feeding 2 times per week ??

 

[DrFever]

Sorry to humanize pot, but if someone withheld drink from me before giving birth i would be ticked. There is no scientific reason to withhold water from a plant that i know of. Water those girls!!!

Actually Rose
There has been a few studies that has mentioned the fact that plants that got less water then others were more potent ,,also there are many mj growing cultures that practice water stress in flower parts of india watering is kept to a minimum
we grow indoors and even tho everything is unnatural we should still follow mother natures seasonal course
you ever here the saying april showers ???? just look at monthly rain records ????
you will notice as fall arrives precipitation is less then in summer Vegetative stage where there is more rain fall
All growers should implement outside conditions to there inside grows or atleast try to

 

[Delta9]

Delta i would advise when watering not to run off anything the amount of water depends on many factors such as size of pot, size of plant, temps humidity air movement considering all these into your equation on amount of water you should add
when running off you actually are washing away nutrients and in organic its decomposing all the time which in turn feeds the plant so running off really defeats the purpose if you think about it right having less water does not stop photosynthesis unless soil drys right out and plant starts to wilt
water more but less each time if you catch my drift with out run off like 1/4 - 1/2 pot volume prefect giving you waterings/ feedings every 2 - 3 days
Normally people water when top 2" of soil is dry marijuana likes wet and dry not overly wet plant growth rates slow down when soil is to wet so there is no need to run off cause that is to wet ,,,, if soil gets to dry you will notice as you add water it runs out the bottom holes right away then your soil is to dry
You can add a few drops of liquid detergent per 5 - 10 liters or so to your water this will act as a wetting agent,,
you have watered now last 2 - 5 weeks in veg so you should have a idea how much they drink right ???? probably watering / feeding 2 times per week ??

Ok thanks Dr. Fever-I take your point.
My runoff is collected in a saucer under my pots and is usually sucked back up by the plant within 20 minutes or so..
So no actual waste I am guessing when it is recycled this way.

Yes thats about right- watering every 3-4 days currently. I use one of those combo meters attached to two probes which gives me pH/Light Intensity/wet or dry . So that gives me a good indication of how frequently to water- I had just assumed a reduction in the amount of water may have been necessary during the flowering phase.

You know, something about the thought of adding detergent to my plants makes my skin crawl a bit. Even if only a few drops.. I know people who do it and say it's safe and all -but I am going to such lengths to keep my grow organic and chemical free-I just can't seem to stomach the idea.

What other [more natural] solutions for wetting agents do you know of?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Delta9]

Good luck with it. It sounds like you have good water to work with. There are no dumb questions here so don't worry. If you need to know, don't be afraid or embarrassed to ask.

Thankyou!