Is it time to water?

[RamblinEvilMushroom]

Heya! First time cannabis grower, but I've grown some very basic indoor/outdoor houseplants before. I started germinating some seeds I got from a friend of mine about 3 weeks ago, 2 Chem Cookies and 2 Lemon Pound Cake. 9 days ago, I transplanted them from 4" plastic pots into 3 gallon fabric pots in a 1:1 ratio of FFOF:FFHF, as recommended by an employee at my local hydroponics store. I did moisten the soil with a mister as I was mixing it, but I decided to make the terrible mistake of soaking the entire pot through right after transplanting, so they were terribly overwatered for a long time. I haven't given them any water since transplanting 9 days ago, RH has been kept at around 40-50% and they're looking much better now.

Doing some research online, I've seen that cannabis plants generally like having dry periods between watering, but not so dry that they wilt or droop. This is what my plants look like 2 hours after lights on today.

Minus some leaf discoloration from what I think was the overwatering, they're a very vibrant green. The one in the bottom left had some roots torn off during transplant, which stunted that one a little bit more, I think. From my personal experience with growing plants, these don't look like they need water for at least another day or two. The soil is completely dry 1 inch in, but sorta moist from 2 inches onward. Since my next watering will be the second one after transplanting, I don't know how the pots feel when they're dry. Can someone help point me in the right direction?

 

[euphoria526]

Ok, 3 gal cloth pots in veg with soil? should be watered about every 1-3 days. Lift the pots, if they feel light. Water. Stick your finger in the top of the soil to the first digit, is it dry as a bone, a little wet, or moist as all hell?

 

[RamblinEvilMushroom]

Lift the pots, if they feel light. Water.

That's the thing, I'm not sure how light "light" is, since I haven't felt them when they're dry yet. I'm used to watering plants until some runoff when they start to droop a little bit.

Up to the first digit, it's completely dry. Up to the second digit, the tip of my finger gets just a little bit wet. I also figure that when I do finally water, I might put more focus into the outer edge of the pot, with just a little bit of runoff.

 

[Herb & Suds]

Take a fabric pot fill it with fresh soil

Feel pot weight
That is your starting point

Edit: WELCOME to RIU

 

[HydoDan]

Let your plants droop a little, check the pots weight then water and check again..

 

[RamblinEvilMushroom]

Take a fabric pot fill it with fresh soil

Feel pot weight
That is your starting point

Edit: WELCOME to RIU

I guess testing with an empty pot would be the easiest solution! I'll see if I can dig up/buy another one for reference. Thanks for the advice and the welcome!

Let your plants droop a little, check the pots weight then water and check again..

That's kinda what I was figuring as well! I may end up just doing this since I'm out of fabric pots, and the hydroponics store is asking for $17 per 3 gallon pot.

 

[Lordhooha]

I guess testing with an empty pot would be the easiest solution! I'll see if I can dig up/buy another one for reference. Thanks for the advice and the welcome!


That's kinda what I was figuring as well! I may end up just doing this since I'm out of fabric pots, and the hydroponics store is asking for $17 per 3 gallon pot.

Never have dry periods not needed. Blumats are your friend.

 

[Herb & Suds]

I guess testing with an empty pot would be the easiest solution! I'll see if I can dig up/buy another one for reference. Thanks for the advice and the welcome!


That's kinda what I was figuring as well! I may end up just doing this since I'm out of fabric pots, and the hydroponics store is asking for $17 per 3 gallon pot.

Whoa

I bought 15 gallon grow bags on Amazon for 97 cents each including shipping

Keep an eye on this thread https://www.rollitup.org/t/the-best-deals-thread-post-best-deals-and-lowest-prices-links.237610/page-276

 

[RamblinEvilMushroom]

Never have dry periods not needed. Blumats are your friend.

I've heard a lot on the contrary, actually, with a lot of growers saying that their plants thrive with wet/dry period. Absolutely willing to give it a shot though if I ever go on vacation or something.

Whoa

I bought 15 gallon grow bags on Amazon for 97 cents each including shipping

Keep an eye on this thread https://www.rollitup.org/t/the-best-deals-thread-post-best-deals-and-lowest-prices-links.237610/page-276

Yeah I ended up buying my 3 gal pots from amazon because of how expensive the smart pots at the store were, shit's insane. Thanks for showing me this thread btw, just picked up one of these since my 150w UFO light doesn't quite cut it anymore, I think

 

[Lordhooha]

I've heard a lot on the contrary, actually, with a lot of growers saying that their plants thrive with wet/dry period. Absolutely willing to give it a shot though if I ever go on vacation or something.


Yeah I ended up buying my 3 gal pots from amazon because of how expensive the smart pots at the store were, shit's insane. Thanks for showing me this thread btw, just picked up one of these since my 150w UFO light doesn't quite cut it anymore, I think

I have close to 1500 plants on avg they never have a dry period. Not anymore they turn out so much better

 

[fskitch]

I have close to 1500 plants on avg they never have a dry period. Not anymore they turn out so much better

I’m not as particular in veg but plants in flower should be kept moist. Never let them dry out.

 

[RamblinEvilMushroom]

Interesting, I appreciate the input from you guys! In that case, maybe I'll water sooner rather than later. Should I want until lights on tomorrow? Or should I just go ahead and water now, with 12 hours of light left?

 

[fskitch]

Water when the top 1”or 2 of potting mix is dry, as close to the Beginning of lights on cycle as possible so to prevent rot

 

[RamblinEvilMushroom]

So I have a development. I picked up a few of the pots to see how much they weighed, and about 6 or 7 fungus gnats flew off of the sides of the pot. I think they came from a succulent given to us by a neighbor that turned out to be infested with them. That plant's been thrown away, and I might pick up some neem oil for watering tomorrow morning.

 

[BucketGrower]

What I have found for my ladies is they like about a liter of water per gallon of soil. Maybe a little less. Try that, water slowly and lift the pot completely off the ground or lift one side up with one hand.

 

[RamblinEvilMushroom]

I finally watered today! They were finally a little droopy 10 days after the first transplant. I mixed about 2tbsp of Captain Jack's DBB (ready-to-use spray) with 1 gallon of water. Until today, I've been using only plain tap water that sits at a pH of 7. Because of that, I balanced the mixture to ~6.5 for this watering. I've read that runoff pH tells you almost nothing about soil pH, but I measured ~5.5. Most likely going to use plain 7.0 tap water until they start showing deficiencies or imbalances.

As for the watering itself, I used about 2 liters for each 3 gallon pot. I focused mostly on the outer edge of the soil, away from the initial rootball. Runoff was about 300-400ml per plant. I misted the leaves with the same solution, waiting for them to be mostly dry before placing them back under the lights.

Pic is from 10 minutes or so after watering, they already look better imo.