Ug...might have a water problem. Plz comment.

So...2nd grow here. I'd like to discuss my watering habits. I thought after the first one I had them dialed in, but the lady at the growstore sees it differently. I'm looking for a couple more opinions. I've read several places to use 'weight' and 'soil dryness' as the gauges for when to water. I usually just feel the top couple inches and if it's getting good and dry, almost crusty then it's time to water. I also always look for any signs of dehydration, i.e. wilting and what not. When I water them I don't measure how much I'm giving them, I just water untill it comes out the bottom of the pot and overflows the saucer, then I let them soak it up for a bit, pour off some of the excess and put them back under the lights. I was telling the lady at the growstore I'd recently transplanted from 1g pots to 5g smartpots and watered them all up and they'd been moist for 9 days. She acted like I'd slapped her. She said she waters with 1g every 3 days, 100% nutes, 50% nutes, pure water. Then early flowering 100% nutes cause they eat like mad bitches. Anyways...from what I understand this would keep the roots constantly wet and possibly oxygen starved??!?! I usually water around 3,4,5 days in between depending on pot/plant size. I usually have 2" of pea gravel in the bottoms of the pots but I didn't put it into the smart pots cause I figured they'd drain just fine being cloth and all. I'm not sure about how well they drain. Anyways..I know this was a long and drawn out post but please gimme some hints/tips/comments on watering.

THANK YOU RIU COMMUNITY!!

These pics are 60 days from seed, 10 days from 12/12. And like...6 days from last watering. Was planning on watering them tonight.

She may have bigger plants.

U r on the right track... Although u cannot always go by the "fingering method"... Sometimes the lower portion of your container will be drenched in water, even though the top few inches may be dry, and watering on top of that can absolutely cause the roots to become oxygen-starved, and unable to take up nutes... I'd give em a good watering once every couple two or three days, and absolutely use the "pick it up and see what it feels like" method. Id give em a good, healthy watering, pick up the container and see how it feels, and then let it kinda dry out for a couple days, and pick it up again to see what it feels like when the water is low or used up, and try to keep it somewhere in the middle, always keeping it moist, but not over, or under saturated with water... I use pea gravel in the bottom of my 5-gallon buckets as well, and believe this does help in drainage, not to mention having adequate holes in the bottom, with plenty of space from the bottom of the container to whatever u r sitting them on top of... For me, they r in a closet, on top of a 4' X 2' X 3" deep drain pan, with a grate over the whole thing for good spacing, keeping the canopy as low as possible in the closet, giving me plenty of room to veg for 2-3 months and then flower(which gives me two very nice harvests a year), and I can easily fit 8 five-gallon buckets in there... I have a small submersible fountain pump in the drain pan for the times when runoff builds up and it needs to be drained into an additional and remote 5-gallon "office-style" water jug, via a 1/2" tube... I have plenty of ventilation, with several oscillating fans, and a couple low volt fans at the top to draw out excess heat of the 1,150W array of HPS and MH lamps over the canopy, a nice lil CO2 system, using a 1-gallon milk jug filled halfway with water, with a pound of sugar and a few packets of active dry yeast, which is called the fermentation method, and provides more than enuff supp CO2, and have an avg temp of 75-78 deg F at the hottest part of the day, as I do run my lights during the day so as not to disturb me at night, even though this is contrary to when most growers run their on cycle, but it works for me, so I see no reason to change...

The occaisional watering mixed with 3% hydrogen peroxide in a 50/50 ratio is a welcome oxygenation for root systems as well, even though it may kill some of the beneficial microherds in living soil, but mine always seems to do just fine, and seems to appreciate the added oxygen in the root system...

@Ganja - Thanks for the instant reply. I'm sitting here waiting to go water...hoping someone will shoot me some advice. Your post only created more questions though!! Damn you Please tell me this cause I can't get a straight answer for hell from peeps--IF I SCROG-- How the hell do I work my plants??? I'm used to picking them up and setting them on a counter, inspecting, clipping the dead leaves, watering, blah blah...if they've been trellised do you just leave them in place the entire grow cycle? I know this thread was about watering but I gotta get a answer to this. Now, onto the watering question....lifting 30 5g smartpots to see how light they feel sounds like a fucking pain in my ass!! lol. Ug. I've had the dry top and soaked bottom in these smartpots though, I sexed 9 males out last night and this was the condition of a few of them, not all though. I think my room is a bit crowded at the moment. I started with 45 seedlings, thinking I would sex down to 20-24...only found 9 last night. lol, this is a 'quality' problem.

@Gangja - your 50/50 3% h202...not sure I understand your measurements there. How much H202 per gallon of water? I've done that before, seemed ok, didn't notice much difference, but then again, I haven't been doing this enough to 'notice' differences. The root systems of the males I pulled we're nice and white and plentiful though.

mann just keep doing what you have been....your plants are healthy ....that's the main thing!

of course your plants will take longer to use up the water going from 1gal to 5.

@Lime - That's exactly what I was trying to say to her. 1g plant going into a 5g smartpot...that's like dropping it into a freaking ocean, course it's going to take awile to get dry. It was taking 2-3 days to dry in the 1g. So...5 times the dirt...9 would be about right. But..during that time do you think the roots are being starved for O2?

Mannheim said:

@Lime - That's exactly what I was trying to say to her. 1g plant going into a 5g smartpot...that's like dropping it into a freaking ocean, course it's going to take awile to get dry. It was taking 2-3 days to dry in the 1g. So...5 times the dirt...9 would be about right. But..during that time do you think the roots are being starved for O2?

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no...they will be starved for oxygen when you water to early...drowning them(over watered).... sort of speak...its good to wait til plant tell you when they need water...its not a set schedule. I believe you are on the right track.

every garden is different ... what work for one person may not work for another. tell that to your hydro girl

Thanks for the advice.

Mannheim said:

@Ganja - Thanks for the instant reply. I'm sitting here waiting to go water...hoping someone will shoot me some advice. Your post only created more questions though!! Damn you Please tell me this cause I can't get a straight answer for hell from peeps--IF I SCROG-- How the hell do I work my plants??? I'm used to picking them up and setting them on a counter, inspecting, clipping the dead leaves, watering, blah blah...if they've been trellised do you just leave them in place the entire grow cycle? I know this thread was about watering but I gotta get a answer to this. Now, onto the watering question....lifting 30 5g smartpots to see how light they feel sounds like a fucking pain in my ass!! lol. Ug. I've had the dry top and soaked bottom in these smartpots though, I sexed 9 males out last night and this was the condition of a few of them, not all though. I think my room is a bit crowded at the moment. I started with 45 seedlings, thinking I would sex down to 20-24...only found 9 last night. lol, this is a 'quality' problem.

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if you are going to Scrog you need to let them grow into the screen...... so it will take a few weeks before you can flip to 12/12 to allow them to grow through the screen. lst all plants to as low as you can get them without hurting them ....and place screen over top of canopy/securely.

yah so basically once they start to grow through the screen,you tie em down to screen....and you have to leave em in place so you don't break any branches that are secure to top of screen.

Mannheim said:

Thanks for the advice.

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your welcome...anytime!