Noob watering ???

M

Mythstery

Member
My plants are in about 3 gal pots. Medium is fox farm soil. Im trying to figure out how much water I should be giving them.

Do you think one gallon of water for such a larg pot every three days is to much?

I pit them in the 3 gal pots at day 14. (a little early but wanted them out of the MG soil) I then gave them each a gallon of water. 4 days later I gave them each a half gallon of water.

Day 21 I switched the lights to 18/6 and they grew 5 inches over night.

It's now day 25 and I'm able to stick my finger about 3 inches into the soil before I feel any dampness.

Can anyone give me a rule of thumb for watering?
 
420God

420God

Well-Known Member
As often as they need it.

General rule is let the top 2 inches get crusty then water.
 
goten

goten

Well-Known Member
i water mine about every 3-4 days ,

when i water them ill pour water in the soil until it leaks out of the drainage holes ,

you can go by weight , our use your finger to fill how dry or moist the soil is to determine when to water again ..
 
fabfun

fabfun

New Member
this is how to tell when to water
if pot is light as hell it is time
or finger stuck a inch or two in soil if it is dry feeling then water
i go 3-4 days also
listen to goten and u will always know when they r thirsty

goten said:
i water mine about every 3-4 days ,

when i water them ill pour water in the soil until it leaks out of the drainage holes ,

you can go by weight , our use your finger to fill how dry or moist the soil is to determine when to water again ..
Click to expand...
 
M

Mythstery

Member
My issue is the damn pots I bought don't have drainage holes. Inside the pot was a raised plastic piece that the soil sits on and the water can sit in a section at the bottom. I might drill a hole in the pot
 
fabfun

fabfun

New Member
get some holes in there quick or u will have serious problems

Mythstery said:
My issue is the damn pots I bought don't have drainage holes. Inside the pot was a raised plastic piece that the soil sits on and the water can sit in a section at the bottom. I might drill a hole in the pot
Click to expand...
 
danno48

danno48

Active Member
Drill holes of course. My plants are also in 3 gal containers and use about 1/3 gal every other day. All situations are different, depends on size of plant and stage of growth, but I think 1/3 gal every other day is a good rule of thumb.
 
M

Mythstery

Member
One more dumb question. I was shipped the foxfarm growbig "Hydroponic" nutes instead of the "regular" grow big. Could I still use it?
 
CrazyBudz

CrazyBudz

Active Member
I THINK the difference in hydro and soil nutes are the hydro nutes are broken down more and have lower NPK because a hydro setup dont have the micro organisms and bacterias to break them down more like soil......DONT quote me on that tho.!
 
CrazyBudz

CrazyBudz

Active Member
about your watering question....just give them some water, dont over analize it..!
start with 1/3 gal. look at them a day later if the soil is dry an inch or 2 down its needs more water.
Its not rocket science::wink::
 
M

Mythstery

Member
lol i know its not rocket science. I picked up some little plastic trays and drilled holes. gave them each a good watering and now im waiting for the new light to show up.

I hope someone can answer my question about the HYDRO nutes....
 
danno48

danno48

Active Member
I ain't sure, and I'm sure that someone will correct me here if I'm wrong, but.........I didn't even realize that FF produced the trio for hydro versus dirt growing. However, I reckon they do. The only difference I can possibly surmise is that the hydro nutes are produced somehow to reduce the size of the active particles. Rationale behind that being that perhaps they are minimized to reduce "clogging" of hydro equipment. I'd have to say that logically, you'll be fine using the "hydro" formula.
 
doc111

doc111

Well-Known Member
CrazyBudz said:
I THINK the difference in hydro and soil nutes are the hydro nutes are broken down more and have lower NPK because a hydro setup dont have the micro organisms and bacterias to break them down more like soil......DONT quote me on that tho.!
Click to expand...
Hydro nutes are more complete since there is no soil to supply any of the nutes. Also, they are higher in Nitrate forms of Nitrogen since that is the form of N that doesn't need to be broken down by the beneficial bacteria.;-)
 
M

Mythstery

Member
Here is what I got back from foxfarm, figured i would share with you.

Kyle,
* *Thank you for your inquiry. Sorry to hear of your online ordering troubles. One day I hope that web ordering will be easier to deal with. In the mean time, feel free to use the Grow Big Hydroponic in your soil garden. You can follow the same doses as the Soil Feeding Chart indicates. The reason we created the Grow Big Hydro in the first place is because some type of hydroponic systems, that expose roots directly to the nutrient solution, don't buffer elements the way that soils do. Some growers were experiencing root burn with the Nitrogen in the regular Grow Big, so we formulated the same product but with a different type of Nitrogen that is just as strong but won't burn delicate roots. Thanks for your support and let me know if you have any more questions.

Allan Flores
Customer Service & Sales Rep.
FoxFarm Soil & Fertilizer Co.
P.O. Box 787
Arcata, CA 95518
800-4FoxFarm
707-443-7645 fax
[email protected]​
 
amnooneoo

amnooneoo

Active Member
fabfun said:
this is how to tell when to water
if pot is light as hell it is time
or finger stuck a inch or two in soil if it is dry feeling then water
i go 3-4 days also
listen to goten and u will always know when they r thirsty
Click to expand...
I agree, total noob here too. I swear by "WEIGHT" watering, not dampness. Not one issue yet using that technique. If everyone waits for the top 2", its too dry IMO, because hell, my roots are @ or below the 2" marker, we are watering to roots, not the dirt, right?? The only "TOP 2 INCHES" i worry about are on my lawn!!!! Since, thats where their roots are, lol.
 
SIR SMOKER

SIR SMOKER

New Member
amnooneoo said:
I agree, total noob here too. I swear by "WEIGHT" watering, not dampness. Not one issue yet using that technique. If everyone waits for the top 2", its too dry IMO, because hell, my roots are @ or below the 2" marker, we are watering to roots, not the dirt, right?? The only "TOP 2 INCHES" i worry about are on my lawn!!!! Since, thats where their roots are, lol.
Click to expand...

I dont advise sticking your finger in the soil as you will damage the roots at the top. I dont even like probing my soil for that reason as you will see roots grow upwards as well and poking your finger in to the soil will damage them.
Easiest way is wait untill the pot is dry and feel the weight then water them leave for 1hr then lift the pot again to feel the weight and the more you get used to doing that you will know when your plants need watering but going through a wet and dry cycle is best for plant growth.

Sticking your finger 1-2" into the medium is just a crazy thing to do for testing if your plant need water and i would never do this.

(good luck).
SS.
 
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