New to soil; How often are you watering?

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Pyreonfire

Active Member
Hi guys!

So, I'm new to growing in soil. Right now I have 4 auto flower plants growing in 3 gallon pots (yes, too big, but being autos I didn't want to transplant) in Fox Farm Happy Frog soil mixed with perlite, worm castings and some hydroton. They are being grown under a 300w LED.

I've been trying to be meticulous about not overwatering. Going as far as to measure out how much I give them in a large 35cc syringe. At this point, I've been watering lightly every day but after reading some threads I'm wondering if I'm watering too little, too often? (My 2 & 3 week old plants get about 50-60cc/day and my 1 week old plants are getting about 20cc/day.)

I know much of watering becomes a "6th sense" but until then, can I get some suggestions for amounts of water and frequency for 2-4 week old plants that are a bit on the small side?

Thanks so much!
 
JavaCo

JavaCo

Well-Known Member
In organics you really are worried more about the bacteria and fungi than the plant. So ideally you would want the soil to remain at a more constant hydration level for peak bacterial activity. Water to run off and you are flooding your microherd, it takes a bit of time to get back into optimum levels depending on aeration it could take quite a while. A good hydrometer will help keep the soil hydrated to proper levels most Cannabis likes around 70 to 80%. I spray the top of my soil and the sides of my fabric pots twice a day with a gallon sprayer and use blumats and a reservoir to keep a more constant soil hydration thus giving the bacteria and fungi optimum conditions all the time. Looks like you have a good bit of aeration so I would think you could water every day. One way without a hydrometer would be to water slowly till you just get run off. Than use 80% of that total water you used to get run off to water every day.
 
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Pyreonfire

Active Member
JavaCo said:
In organics you really are worried more about the bacteria and fungi than the plant. So ideally you would want the soil to remain at a more constant hydration level for peak bacterial activity. Water to run off and you are flooding your microherd, it takes a bit of time to get back into optimum levels depending on aeration it could take quite a while. A good hydrometer will help keep the soil hydrated to proper levels most Cannabis likes around 70 to 80%. I spray the top of my soil and the sides of my fabric pots twice a day with a gallon sprayer and use blumats and a reservoir to keep a more constant soil hydration thus giving the bacteria and fungi optimum conditions all the time. Looks like you have a good bit of aeration so I would think you could water every day. One way without a hydrometer would be to water slowly till you just get run off. Than use 80% of that total water you used to get run off to water every day.
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Thank you for your reply! I believe I have a hydrometer. I'll have to try using it. My concern is that since my plants are still so small and in such big containers, watering to run-off would push out all of the oxygen that their small roots need. So, am I getting you right that it's ok to water daily? I've seen some people say daily and some say that they like to drink in gulps, not sips and to let them dry out between waterings!
 
kkt3

kkt3

Well-Known Member
A good method is to pick your planters up an feel the weight. After a while you will get used to how often you water, then you won’t have to pick them up.

As they get larger they will need more frequent waterings as well.
 
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