Water log

I water twice per week. The plants are in 10-gallon fabric pots. I do a full plain water on sundays with 20% runoff to measure pH, and ppm and the plants are all basically 6.5 pH, and PPM ranges from 300 on some plants, and 1100 on others. Most are 500 ton 600 ppm.

Each plant runoff result gets logged in a spreadsheet.

Then, on Thursday, I water each plant with 6.5 pH, water temp at 21c, and the ppm at the difference from Sundays ppm, so if the plant had a runoff ppm of 300 in Sunday, I water a half gallon of water with bloom of 700 ppm.

Anyone recommend a better watering regiment? Nutes always go down, so I know the plants are taking up the nutes.

I also try to keep the tent at 45RH at all times. I have 3 thermometers, one two inches above the canopy, one 2 inches below, and one at the pot level. I am not too concerned with the floor as it is always colder and more humid, same for below the canopy, but the one right above I try to keep RH at 45, and VPD between 1.1 and 1.5 kPa so the canopy is less humid, helping uptake.

How do others manage thier watering? Is there a better way?

What medium are you growing in and how much water each time ?

Herb & Suds said:

What medium are you growing in and how much water each time ?

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Substrate is re-used and flushed fox farm ocean forest with some lime mixed in.

Sundays is one gallon of water each plant to create enough runoff

Thursdays is half-gallon tipoff. No runoff.

I reused the soil from last grow since its not as hot anymore and added lime as a pH buffer

Nykodemuz said:

Substrate is re-used and flushed fox farm ocean forest with some lime mixed in.

Sundays is one gallon of water each plant to create enough runoff

Thursdays is half-gallon tipoff. No runoff.

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Two gallons per week in a ten gallon pot
Isn’t enough let alone runoff
Pics?

I just finger my ladies to check for moisture, about to the knuckle. I water until run off if dry to that level. Ends up being 2 or 3 times a week.

I’ve got 2 plants in 5 gal pots-giving em 2 gals each every 2 days, not sure how you’re giving 1.5 gal a week to 10 gal pots

Herb & Suds said:

Two gallons per week in a ten gallon pot
Isn’t enough let alone runoff
Pics?

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Pics...

It sounds like you are keeping your plants perpetually underfed and making alot more work out of feeding than you are getting in return. It doesnt have to be that complicated.

All my watering is on a timer, I just keep a reservoir filled at 1.6ec and ~6.1pH and they get fed 2x a day for 1 minute. I dont stress about runoff EC or pH, I just make sure what is going in is at the proper strength and that I get run off during the second feed of the day....the plants will use what they need and since everything is on a timer, I never miss a watering that might cause my PPM's to spike.

I’m gonna have to speculate in light of bud shots
oversized pots and undersized plants
Not hating just saying where are your plants in ten gallon pots or better yet why?

Probably should have used 5-gallon pots. Two of them are and I feel them the same yet for some reason the smaller pot takes in more water than the 10 gallon before I get runoff. Thank you for making me just realize that the plant jn the smaller pot takes up more water due to larger root system

Herb & Suds said:

Two gallons per week in a ten gallon pot
Isn’t enough let alone runoff
Pics?

Click to expand...

So.younare saying I should perhaps water 2 gallons each on Sundays, and maybe a gallon every other day? I've always been concerned with overwatering and its difficult with the equipment I have to keep the RH down when I water. Each time I water the RH in the tent spikes to 60% and takes the dehumidifiers 5 to 6 hours to get back to 45%. I also water at the beginning of the light cycle.

I have heard it is almost impossible to overwater fabric pots. If this is true, I would worry less about overwatering.

What do you think I should I change my watering schedule to?

Nykodemuz said:

So.younare saying I should perhaps water 2 gallons each on Sundays, and maybe a gallon every other day? I've always been concerned with overwatering and its difficult with the equipment I have to keep the RH down when I water. Each time I water the RH in the tent spikes to 60% and takes the dehumidifiers 5 to 6 hours to get back to 45%. I also water at the beginning of the light cycle.

I have heard it is almost impossible to overwater fabric pots. If this is true, I would worry less about overwatering.

What do you think I should I change my watering schedule to?

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It is almost impossible to overwater big plants, fabric pots or not. My plant in flower, goes thru 2 gallons of water every day and a half, but she's a big girl.

Nykodemuz said:

So.younare saying I should perhaps water 2 gallons each on Sundays, and maybe a gallon every other day? I've always been concerned with overwatering and its difficult with the equipment I have to keep the RH down when I water. Each time I water the RH in the tent spikes to 60% and takes the dehumidifiers 5 to 6 hours to get back to 45%. I also water at the beginning of the light cycle.

I have heard it is almost impossible to overwater fabric pots. If this is true, I would worry less about overwatering.

What do you think I should I change my watering schedule to?

Click to expand...

I go by the thought of watering your pot about 30% of their size-so if you’re in 10 gal pots, it would be at least 3 gals per pot per feeding, BUT I don’t know if that’s right for your plant, there are variables.
You said the smaller potted plants can take up more water than the large, correct?
if that’s the case, the large pot could have become hydrophobic (you have soil down deep in the 10 gal that’s getting no water and it’s just wicking off from the top layers).
When I water I pour a little on the surface, wait until I see if sucked into the soil before pouring more on top, it’s a slow process sometimes, but gets all the medium saturated.
How big are your plants, are they flowering?
During veg I was only watering once every 4 days, but now in flower my plants are much bigger, which is why I have more frequent watering

Username85 said:

I go by the thought of watering your pot about 30% of their size-so if you’re in 10 gal pots, it would be at least 3 gals per pot per feeding, BUT I don’t know if that’s right for your plant, there are variables.
You said the smaller potted plants can take up more water than the large, correct?
if that’s the case, the large pot could have become hydrophobic (you have soil down deep in the 10 gal that’s getting no water and it’s just wicking off from the top layers).
When I water I pour a little on the surface, wait until I see if sucked into the soil before pouring more on top, it’s a slow process sometimes, but gets all the medium saturated.
How big are your plants, are they flowering?
During veg I was only watering once every 4 days, but now in flower my plants are much bigger, which is why I have more frequent watering

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The smaller pots seem to take more water before they start to show runoff, yes.

I only water till there is enough runoff to take a reading of the water chemistry

If I water more, more often, I have a hard time keeping humidity down at the canopy and don't want powdery mildew and want to keep VPD within the 1.1 to 1.5 kPa.

I have no way to control temperature. I am at the mercy of the lights and the ambient outside temp for heat. Temperatures range between 62⁰F at night, and 77⁰F during the day.

I had my lights 18" above the canopy, but have moved them up to 24" to lower the temp to 72⁰F during the day.

My 10-gallon fabric pots sit on a raised spike trays, the big beige square ones that Lowes uses to display plants. Runoff never touches the bottom of the pot and never sits in runoff.

After I water and the runoff stops, I take my chemistry readings then wet vac all the excess runoff out to help get the environment back to ideal RH and VPD levels.

My plants are 7 weeks into flower. All top fan leaves have turned purple, orange, red, and yellow. When they dry up and brown, I remove them as well as dead and yellowing leaves below the canopy.

My plants are about 4 feet tall.. I have defoliated them bare and have about a 6" think canopy of fan and its very dence on the white widows. I've been wanting to get rid of the large but I just don't have the time so I deal with it.

I can increase the amount of water to two gallons each, but should I increase the watering frequency to every other day without worry of overeating with fabric pots?

Perhaps two gallons once a week, and one gallon every other day?

What is your RH for day/night? Any possibility of adding a dehumidifier?
Not sure if it’s too cold, but 62° night time is pretty chilly-I use LED and daytime I run around 80-82° and night time is around 68-70°. Some of the purpling on your leaves can be from cold temps.
Using LED lights the plants can handle higher temps versus an HPS light. It still just sounds like it may be a watering issue-if you’re only waiting to get the amount of runoff for a ph/ppm test I would think they’re being under watered. You usually want to see a 20-25% runoff amount in your drip tray-so for a 2 gal watering it wouldn’t be abnormal to have a 1/2 gal runoff in your tray.
What I would try and do is wait until your pots are dry (feel light when lifting) and then water very slowly-pour small amount of water, wait for it to be sucked into the soil, repeat until you see a good trickle of water coming from the bottom. If you pour too quickly it can just leak out of the side of the pot before getting deep down to the soil.

I have two dehumidifiers working overtime. It just takes 5 to 6 hours to get the RH back to ideal levels.

The temp was 62⁰F at night sometimes but that was a month ago when it was subzero outside. It has been 65 to 68 at night lately as its getting warmer out.

I will definitely try your watering method.

I really can't lift the plants, they are scrogged. I just put my finger in to my knuckle and if it feels cold and moist, I wait a day. But perhaps at this point its moot since its hard to overrated fabric pots

I do see what you mean with pouring too fast. It does come out the sides and I do try to water slowly. I will try using a finer shower setting on my wand head.

Time is my issue. I have limited time to water and automatic irrigation systems are expensive.

I only have an hour during the week to water

Nykodemuz said:

I have two dehumidifiers working overtime. It just takes 5 to 6 hours to get the RH back to ideal levels.

The temp was 62⁰F at night sometimes but that was a month ago when it was subzero outside. It has been 65 to 68 at night lately as its getting warmer out.

I will definitely try your watering method.

I really can't lift the plants, they are scrogged. I just put my finger in to my knuckle and if it feels cold and moist, I wait a day. But perhaps at this point its moot since its hard to overrated fabric pots

I do see what you mean with pouring too fast. It does come out the sides and I do try to water slowly. I will try using a finer shower setting on my wand head.

Time is my issue. I have limited time to water and automatic irrigation systems are expensive.

I only have an hour during the week to water

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I meant an hour per day to water. It takes me 3 hours sometimes to water all the plants and take runoff readings. I can however forgo the readings probably at this point as it is a pig pain to do it all the time.

Username85 said:

What is your RH for day/night? Any possibility of adding a dehumidifier?
Not sure if it’s too cold, but 62° night time is pretty chilly-I use LED and daytime I run around 80-82° and night time is around 68-70°. Some of the purpling on your leaves can be from cold temps.
Using LED lights the plants can handle higher temps versus an HPS light. It still just sounds like it may be a watering issue-if you’re only waiting to get the amount of runoff for a ph/ppm test I would think they’re being under watered. You usually want to see a 20-25% runoff amount in your drip tray-so for a 2 gal watering it wouldn’t be abnormal to have a 1/2 gal runoff in your tray.
What I would try and do is wait until your pots are dry (feel light when lifting) and then water very slowly-pour small amount of water, wait for it to be sucked into the soil, repeat until you see a good trickle of water coming from the bottom. If you pour too quickly it can just leak out of the side of the pot before getting deep down to the soil.

Click to expand...

My RH during the day and night has ranged from 40 to 50, but most of the time lately its between 48 and 44 RH. However I rely mostly on VPD of 1.1 to 1.5.

However when I spray lost.coast for pm, the RH spikes to 70% for hours and gets back to 45% which is my target

Nykodemuz said:

My RH during the day and night has ranged from 40 to 50, but most of the time lately its between 48 and 44 RH. However I rely mostly on VPD of 1.1 to 1.5.

However when I spray lost.coast for pm, the RH spikes to 70% for hours and gets back to 45% which is my target

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Sticking to VPD charts can be maddening, definitely the way to go, but a potential pain in the ass nonetheless lol