Best time to water a plant outdoors is?

[texastiger707]

I have a single plant outdoors. I started her from seed 4-4-13. She has bee outdoors since day 1 here in northern california. I just transplanted her into a 7gallon pot, she was in a 3gallon from start. That was a newbie mistake, shout grew that pot. So I transplanted on friday, so about 2 days ago. I am doing feed/water/water/feed. She is ding water like crazy due to the high temps here. So my question is when is the best time to water and feed her? Should I water in the morning before sun-up or in the evening when the sun goes down? Here are her pics taken last week, I will post new pics later today.

 

[BWG707]

I'm in Nor Cal also, it's over 100 today. I've noticed that the humidity rises drastically in the evenings and throughout the nights so I usually wait til about 3PM, after its been baking in the sun drying out. Then it also has enough time in the heat to dry up a bit before the evening humidity rises again. Humidity been fluctuating between 20 to 90+. I'd rather not water in the evenings and have all the moisture in the soil when the humidity goes up at night. I think it helps with rot and fungus. I'm no expert so maybe I'm wrong, but it just makes sense to me. Maybe someone else can add to this?

 

[texastiger707]

I'm in Nor Cal also, it's over 100 today. I've noticed that the humidity rises drastically in the evenings and throughout the nights so I usually wait til about 3PM, after its been baking in the sun drying out. Then it also has enough time in the heat to dry up a bit before the evening humidity rises again. Humidity been fluctuating between 20 to 90+. I'd rather not water in the evenings and have all the moisture in the soil when the humidity goes up at night. I think it helps with rot and fungus. I'm no expert so maybe I'm wrong, but it just makes sense to me. Maybe someone else can add to this?

ok thank you for your reply.

 

[RainyMorning]

I was always taught in school to water plants in the morning. Lessons mold opportunity.

 

[texastiger707]

I was always taught in school to water plants in the morning. Lessons mold opportunity.

ok thank you for your reply.

 

[TWS]

I just water when they need it . Could be morning and afternoons sometimes but most watering is done in the morning unless they are double dipping.

 

[blaze530]

me i water after the sun has just started to go down, so that the;y can drink it up all night and are refreshed and ready to go in the morning. GL

 

[texastiger707]

ok the reason I ask is. It gets warm,hot here in northern california. So say by like 2pm -3pm she is wilting. so is it ok for her to wilt alittle or is that a sign of her needing water?

 

[jcmjrt]

ok the reason I ask is. It gets warm,hot here in northern california. So say by like 2pm -3pm she is wilting. so is it ok for her to wilt alittle or is that a sign of her needing water?

She needs more water. If she wilted, you have stressed her. You can always use larger pots so she has more reservoir to draw upon...or just water more/more often.

 

[texastiger707]

She needs more water. If she wilted, you have stressed her. You can always use larger pots so she has more reservoir to draw upon...or just water more/more often.

ok thank you. She was started in a 3gallon pot, she is in a 7gallon now.

 

[obijohn]

I water in the morning and again late afternoon if its really hot, or they'll wilt. I'd recommend a minimum 10 gallon pot, outdoors they get rootbound fast, and smaller posts can limit the size

 

[texastiger707]

I water in the morning and again late afternoon if its really hot, or they'll wilt. I'd recommend a minimum 10 gallon pot, outdoors they get rootbound fast, and smaller posts can limit the size

ok thank you for your reply. If I water morning and afternoon. Would it be water/water 1 day. Then water/water the next day. Then feed//feed the next day? If so that means I need to mix nutes for a morning feed and mix nute again for a afternoon feed?

 

[BeefSupreme]

As long as it stays hot and sunny during the day, flood the pot at night. You dont have to worry about molding unless you get water on the leaves or it is cold or damp for a few days after a heavy watering. I like to water at night because the water soaks in all night and less will evaporate. If it is drying out every day, soak the thing as much as you can, even until the water starts coming out the bottom. In those conditions, is extremely hard to over water. Cheers!

 

[texastiger707]

As long as it stays hot and sunny during the day, flood the pot at night. You dont have to worry about molding unless you get water on the leaves or it is cold or damp for a few days after a heavy watering. I like to water at night because the water soaks in all night and less will evaporate. If it is drying out every day, soak the thing as much as you can, even until the water starts coming out the bottom. In those conditions, is extremely hard to over water. Cheers!

thank you for your reply. I water till I get runoff out the bottom but by the end of the day she will be wilting. I ph my tap water but watering everyday is a pain whe trying to ph water 1 gallon at time. So can I just use the water hose to water her or just keep phing the water 1 gallon at a time?

 

[markexpress]

If you're watering with nutes, I highly recommend doing that only late in the evenings. Mornings are bad, in my opinion, because the day heat boils the water from the soil and whatever is left over gets used by the plant to cool itself down. So you end up with nutrient build-up in the soil, its affecting the ph levels and the root health. Plants will end up looking paler and leaves light-green and affect the flowering process negatively (to begin with, starting of flowering will be delayed). Its best to ensure that the plant's roots are in cooler conditions, a bit of a shade. From experience, plants turn out with thicker buds and better more vibrant growth when the roots/soil are in cooler conditions. If I had a choice between planting in full sunlight and sun-baked soil versus a partly shaded (2-4 hours of daytime shade) location, I would choose a part shaded one. From experience, I had better results (and its less visible). Don't let the roots get cooked by the sun/heat. Even the so-called drought and heat resistant strains perform better in conditions with little or no heat/drought.

 

[texastiger707]

If you're watering with nutes, I highly recommend doing that only late in the evenings. Mornings are bad, in my opinion, because the day heat boils the water from the soil and whatever is left over gets used by the plant to cool itself down. So you end up with nutrient build-up in the soil, its affecting the ph levels and the root health. Plants will end up looking paler and leaves light-green and affect the flowering process negatively (to begin with, starting of flowering will be delayed). Its best to ensure that the plant's roots are in cooler conditions, a bit of a shade. From experience, plants turn out with thicker buds and better more vibrant growth when the roots/soil are in cooler conditions. If I had a choice between planting in full sunlight and sun-baked soil versus a partly shaded (2-4 hours of daytime shade) location, I would choose a part shaded one. From experience, I had better results (and its less visible). Don't let the roots get cooked by the sun/heat. Even the so-called drought and heat resistant strains perform better in conditions with little or no heat/drought.

ok thank you. so I could us just plain water in the morning and water with nutes late in he evening? or just do all my feeding and watering in the late evenings?

 

[markexpress]

ok thank you. so I could us just plain water in the morning and water with nutes late in he evening? or just do all my feeding and watering in the late evenings?

Root health is absolutely the most important thing. I've always done my watering in late evenings. Plants work their hardest at night with all that sunlight they captured during the day. There's no harm giving them plain water in the mornings, that works well for sunny locations and hot days.

I use a very fine sprayer and mist the whole plant (leaves + stem/branches) with purified water only, on some evenings after very hot days - in addition to my regular watering of the soil/roots. This way the plant doesn't use up the soil water to cool itself down at night. Avoid spraying anything on the leaves other than pure water. I even try to avoid neem unless totally necessary. Anything else clogs the plant and slows growth!