Watering issue

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Westbankstef

Active Member
Please answer the questions.

I have been feeding my plant every 4 days as it’s when I feel the whole pot is dry.

I’m in a 3 gal pot
Week 4 veg.

I watered yesterday with about 1 liter and got some runoff

today I checked the soil and it seemed dry.
But i watered it yesterday.


Should I water it again ?

Light on
temp 85
Hum 55-60

Also should i be waiting for the whole pot to dry or just the top inch?
 

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TCH

TCH

Well-Known Member
Feel the weight. If it is light, it needs water. Plastic or fabric pot? When you water it, are you sure it is getting soaked all the way through or is the soil so dry that it becomes hydrophobic? Ou may set the pot in a saucer, water it til runoff and then let it sit and soak the water back up. Either way, if it is really light and dry, it needs water.
 
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Westbankstef

Active Member
TCH said:
Feel the weight. If it is light, it needs water. Plastic or fabric pot? When you water it, are you sure it is getting soaked all the way through or is the soil so dry that it becomes hydrophobic? Ou may set the pot in a saucer, water it til runoff and then let it sit and soak the water back up. Either way, if it is really light and dry, it needs water.
Click to expand...
I think my soil turned hydrophobic.

when I water till runoff , do i put feed/nutes in or just water?
 
TCH

TCH

Well-Known Member
I would get it wet again before pouring nutes through it. Then next time it needs food or water, do it before it dries out completely.
 
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Westbankstef

Active Member
TCH said:
I would get it wet again before pouring nutes through it. Then next time it needs food or water, do it before it dries out completely.
Click to expand...
I just went and did the saucer and watered on top.
I also picked up a moisture meter from lowes and put it deep in soil to monitor.
Big thank you.

im gonna start watering on the 2nd day and feeding every 4 days .
 
TCH

TCH

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't necessarily make a hard schedule of how many days as much as learning to feel when it needs the water. Get used to just quickly picking them up and feeling the weight. They drink more or less depending on the part of the cycle they are in. I had a bad habit of letting the things get bone dry in my fabric pots and then it would take twice as much water and 2 or 3 times as much time to water them. It was a real pain. Now, I just reach in and lift one side of the pots and I can feel when they need water. Keeping them slightly damp keeps them from going hydrophobic.
 
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Westbankstef

Active Member
TCH said:
I wouldn't necessarily make a hard schedule of how many days as much as learning to feel when it needs the water. Get used to just quickly picking them up and feeling the weight. They drink more or less depending on the part of the cycle they are in. I had a bad habit of letting the things get bone dry in my fabric pots and then it would take twice as much water and 2 or 3 times as much time to water them. It was a real pain. Now, I just reach in and lift one side of the pots and I can feel when they need water. Keeping them slightly damp keeps them from going hydrophobic.
Click to expand...
Will do and thank you.
big time.
 
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Grow Monster

Well-Known Member
Moisture meter is useless. Go by pot weight and plant leaves. Some like more water then others and some don't mine their medium drying out a lil more then others. 3 gallon pots take 2 liters of water to fill the pot more or less depending on your medium. Plant will start drinking more as it gets bigger. U might even start having to water daily depending on your medium and how thirsty she gets. During veg there should be no schedule. This is the time to learn that plant and give it what it asks for. Once in bloom u should know how and what she respond positively or negative towards and put her on a schedule at that point.
Taking notes or a journal will help keep u on point. The plants are not one size fits all. What works for some might not give u same results so alter according to her environmental conditions and her health. But keep it simple (kiss) and just water when dry. Your feed schedule will depend on what nutes u use. U can feed once or twice a week or even more with coco. But water between feedings. Happy growing.
 
LeastExpectedGrower

LeastExpectedGrower

Well-Known Member
Water slowly and evenly. A liter in a 3g pot isn't saturating the soil...it's just found a path and is running through. I'd expect you do be doing something closer to 3L or more to get to runoff with saturated medium.

I like these watering cans:

They hold a liter at a time and with the small diameter nozzle you can only pour water slowly. I'd start with half a liter on each pot poured slowly and let it soak down in. Then go back and keep doing it until you're really getting runoff.

Water & feed the same way...Both to runoff.
 
VincenzioVonHook

VincenzioVonHook

Well-Known Member
Ivor_Chronicles said:
New grower here! I'm curious...
What does the dish soap do to help combat the hydro phobic soil?
Click to expand...
it's a surfactant and breaks the surface tension of the water helping it bind to the medium instead of run over and out. it also works as a wetting agent to help with foliar spray and lessen beading. You can also use powdered yucca as a natural wetting agent. Sprinkle some over the top of your medium and it works wonders, but dish soap is more cost effective, and does no harm at small rates.

I use organic wetting beads i picked up form a local organic nursery. I threw out the packaging so I'm not sure what it is exactly. It's basically powdered yucca, kelp and humic acids in slow-release beads. I had heaps of issues with hydrophobic mediums previously and the issue is no more.
 
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I

Ivor_Chronicles

Active Member
VincenzioVonHook said:
it's a surfactant and breaks the surface tension of the water helping it bind to the medium instead of run over and out. it also works as a wetting agent to help with foliar spray and lessen beading. You can also use powdered yucca as a natural wetting agent. Sprinkle some over the top of your medium and it works wonders, but dish soap is more cost effective, and does no harm at small rates.

I use organic wetting beads i picked up form a local organic nursery. I threw out the packaging so I'm not sure what it is exactly. It's basically powdered yucca, kelp and humic acids in slow-release beads. I had heaps of issues with hydrophobic mediums previously and the issue is no more.
Click to expand...
Thank you for all the info! Very interesting; I have much to learn.
 
obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
If my soil gets real dry, I water a bit, wait 10 or so minutes, water again and repeat until the soil is evenly wet. I'm not sure you really need to feed every time you water, your leaves look very dark green, which indicates it has shitload of nitrogen already. Of course this depends on the soil you're using, but if it has nutes in it like Ocean Forest, you really don't even need to feed for a few months
 
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