totalnoobie15 said:
The main one i took away was water until the water drains thru? please help
You took away one of the most important of guidelines.
There is a balance between water and oxygen usage in any growing plant. If the soil remains wet enough so that oxygen can't penetrate it to the roots, the plant will suffer root damage from this over wetness.
If the plant is allowed to totally dry out, the plant will suffer from dehydration and will alter it's growth to compensate for that dryness. The compensation may take the form of becoming a Hermie because of the water stress.
The advice to "weigh" the plants is very good. A simple lift of only one side of the pot will tell you the amount of water in the pot. I'll give you an example. If you use a small 4" pot of good quality dirt mix, and weigh it, you'll find it weights about 3/4 of a pound. After a good watering, it will increase in weight up to 2 pounds. The difference between these two weights is pretty radical and can be fairly judged by almost anyone. When I "feel" the weight of the pot and notice it has become pretty damn light, I water it until a small amount comes from the bottom. How much water this will take depends on the size of pot, if the plant is root bound in the pot, and the type of soil you use.
When "weighing" a large 3 to 5 gallon pot, the dry/wet weight difference is even more obvious. It will go from maybe 5 pounds dry to 20 pounds wet. That's real, real easy to tell if watering is necessary.
Just don't water again until you notice the pot weight becoming "light" again. As I said, it's real obvious when it's becoming dry because the pot will become very light again. Try to water just before the plant becomes dried out. If you use a screw top two gallon jug to water them, close and shake the hell out of the nutes, this will radically aerate the water/nutes and will literally shove air into the root system during watering. This is a good thing to do.
If you use a hydrometer, make sure to take several readings from at least two inches below the soil until you get used to the pattern of watering for your plants.
Good luck to you man. Let us know how you do, ok?