Soil is drying too slowly....

[Illegal Wonder]

Hey, I currently have 3 female Herijuana in 5 Gal bags and each plant is about 3.5 feet tall... I'm not sure why but my soil has been taking forever to dry out. I watered my one plant over a week ago and the top soil has just gotten dry. I'm using pro mix soil with 1:3 perlite soil mixture and my lest few waterings have been between 3-4 L of water. I'm planning on using less water next time for sure, but I usually don't get run off until about 3L.

Also I am in a 4x4 tent with a 400w HPS

 

[pghdave420]

Has it been humid where your at?humidity can deff keep soil wet

 

[Illegal Wonder]

Has it been humid where your at?humidity can deff keep soil wet

It has been most of this week but I've been having this problem since I got into 5 gal bags... Haven't locked in on my watering, went from under to possibly over...

 

[tusseltussel]

I have not used bags, Ive gotten them and after fooling with them for a few min I knew they weren't for me... can you poke some extra holes in the bottom of them maybe.... I first thought of your in a pot too big for the plant but you said 3 ft tall so you should have some healthy roots... is your environment dialed in

 

[kinddiesel]

warm the room up a bit to 85, they will dry fast, get the air moveing vent it out

 

[Doer]

Well, or maybe they stopped drinking for some reason. I have seen that. One week, they transpire a lot, the next week not so much. The secret life of plants.

 

[JonnyAppleSeed420]

How old are they? Usually they will slow the intake down in the 5th to 6th week of flower. Raising your temps, dropping you humidity, and place a fan blowing on the bags, this should speed up the process a little. JAS

 

[Trousers]

Well, or maybe they stopped drinking for some reason. I have seen that. One week, they transpire a lot, the next week not so much. The secret life of plants.

yep


I water my plants if they need it and do not water them if they do not need it.
I also write on paper and swim in water.

 

[Illegal Wonder]

The thing is I need to feed them, but the soil is drying so slow that there's almost a week and a half or more between feedings... I am between my 5th and 6th week of flower though...

 

[RedCarpetMatches]

Air circulation, get temps up to 75-80, lighting too far away?! Most likely an environment issue as you have enough drainage. I use bags and a little trick you can do is GENTLY push the sides in and create air pockets. I put drainage mat'l in bottom 1/2" of bags also. Been using free samples of grow stones.

 

[tusseltussel]

if it is taking that long to dry out it they may not want food... I know it is soil but back when I did hydro if they drank a lot of water the ppm was too low if they drank no water and the ppm spikes it is too high so could be that they had enough.

The thing is I need to feed them, but the soil is drying so slow that there's almost a week and a half or more between feedings... I am between my 5th and 6th week of flower though...

could always foliar feed if they are running low on fuel

 

[Greensome]

Something else to consider... when you water, have you been pouring enough so that a little runs out the bottom?

I have found that if I put enough water in to only get some of the soil in the bag wet, it will take loner to dry. My guess is that dry, hard dirt at the bottom doesn't absorb well, and this cause the water to sit. I had it happen a time or two and just made sure that my watering went all the way through and that sped up drying. Might not be your problem, just sayin...

 

[BWG707]

I've got a 10gal Smartpot outdoors and I've got to give 2gal a day or it will start drooping. Temps are pretty high and it's almost always windy also. I've found that 2 gal in the 10gal SP is about perfect- just a little drains through to the bottom.

 

[Po boy]

The thing is I need to feed them, but the soil is drying so slow that there's almost a week and a half or more between feedings... I am between my 5th and 6th week of flower though...

as tusseltussel says, you can mist liquid nutes on the leaves without hitting the buds. kind a pain in the ass but if u got the time. GL

 

[Illegal Wonder]

I'm using the organics Go line, I was told to foliar with Aloe in water.

 

[Cobnobuler]

I'm not seeing any mention of Perlite in your mix. I use 30-40% Perlite so them pots can breath. I've grown Herijuana a number of times and its not the thirstiest of plants but it will have its spurts. Learn the pot lifting method to determine when they need water.

 

[333maxwell]

No need to feed them..; your moist soil (assuring it is good aerated soil) still has the nutrients you fed last time, or the time before that.. little uptake of water means little uptake of the nutes already there.. unless they look downright hungry (and even then so), I wouldn't pay it another thought. I would get that air moving and pull the lights in close.. she'll do what she feels best and in a few days you will be watering again.

Just my thoughts.,.

 

[Illegal Wonder]

I'm not seeing any mention of Perlite in your mix. I use 30-40% Perlite so them pots can breath. I've grown Herijuana a number of times and its not the thirstiest of plants but it will have its spurts. Learn the pot lifting method to determine when they need water.

I think you may need to pay more attention there friend... Read the opening post again

 

[desert girl]

I was wondering about your perlite as well. The way I read it you added 1 part promix to 3 parts of soil that has perlite already mixed in. Please, correct me if I am wrong. In addition to your soil mix did you add any additional straight perlite? Just curious.