Watering Guide - Amounts Defined

So I am new to growing and starting with some Fox Farm Light Warrior just until they get going.

I am looking for someone to make a marijuana watering guide, yes I know you give it enough not to be dry and not to be soaked. But ranges would be helpful, for isntance 1 tbsp to 5 tbsp or 1/4 cup to 1 cup and throughout the stages of mariuana, seed, srpout, veg etc.

Anybody know of a place to find this or have one?

I just planted in 2.5 inch diameter cups by 4 feet, standard little "kids" cups. With Light warrior and I just do now know how much water to put into soil before I place germinated seeds etc and how much to water. Thanks

DadaaP said:

So I am new to growing and starting with some Fox Farm Light Warrior just until they get going.

I am looking for someone to make a marijuana watering guide, yes I know you give it enough not to be dry and not to be soaked. But ranges would be helpful, for isntance 1 tbsp to 5 tbsp or 1/4 cup to 1 cup and throughout the stages of mariuana, seed, srpout, veg etc.

Anybody know of a place to find this or have one?

I just planted in 2.5 inch diameter cups by 4 feet, standard little "kids" cups. With Light warrior and I just do now know how much water to put into soil before I place germinated seeds etc and how much to water. Thanks

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I am subbing to see what type of responses you get. In my opinion it depends on several things, the age and stage of the plants, the type of growing medium (soil, coco, amended etc.). The size of the container, the heat and humidity in the area. The type of lighting, the location of the plants and room (if the room is hot or cold), the list could go on. For example I repot about 2-3 weeks before flowering. During those 2-3 weeks I might give each pot 1 liter of water. Once the plant starts flowering (3-5 weeks into) my plants start "asking" for more water and it changes to 2 liters per watering.

My best suggestion is to water until it drains from the bottom, you can use a measuring cup if you need to know the exact amount your plant and container took at that time. Just remember that the amount changes as the plant roots mature and spread out.

over and under watering are 2 of the most common probs for new growers, for this reason i always reccomend putting a mix of 40/60 perlite in the soil. that way over zealous new growers dont do as much damage as they would if it was just soil. its easy puttng the water in but if you hit probs its a bugger getting it back out!
totally agree though with msbbb on the varying amounts and differing situations
lu

I use the weight test. I lift the pots and feel how light or heavy they are. If it's light i water, if its heavy i dont. As for the amount to be watered, it changes through out the grow so much that making a chart would be tough.

luciferateme said:

over and under watering are 2 of the most common probs for new growers, for this reason i always reccomend putting a mix of 40/60 perlite in the soil. that way over zealous new growers dont do as much damage as they would if it was just soil. its easy puttng the water in but if you hit probs its a bugger getting it back out!
totally agree though with msbbb on the varying amounts and differing situations
lu

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IMO this dude doesn't know wth he is talking about. First and foremost 40% perlite is wayy over-kill. If you ask me 20% is too much. But anyways, posts like that are probably what help cause the excessive fear and worry over something so simple as watering. New growers get so worried about over-watering that they under-water or vice versa.

I am looking for someone to make a marijuana watering guide, yes I know you give it enough not to be dry and not to be soaked.

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Of course you want it to be soaked. Then you let it dry out but definitely not completely. Weight test is good as somebody suggested. Don't wait until the soil surface shrinks and hardens; and water pools on top and runs down the sides. Over-watering is something that happens when the plant roots suffocate; and this happens when the medium is constantly saturated and/or the pots are sitting in stagnant water.
Just water thoroughly, wait. Water thoroughly, wait. You'll do fine seriously. Nobody can tell you precisely how many ml or cups of water to give your plants; so you just water thoroughly and then wait. Remember that after transplanting to a bigger container you can usually wait a bit longer to water, and then water more frequently as the roots accommodate the container; but you'll be able to determine when largely by the weight of the container.

Nullis said:

IMO this dude doesn't know wth he is talking about. First and foremost 40% perlite is wayy over-kill. If you ask me 20% is too much. But anyways, posts like that are probably what help cause the excessive fear and worry over something so simple as watering. New growers get so worried about over-watering that they under-water or vice versa.


This is one of the few things Nullis and I have different views on. I make my own mix and use 35-40% perlite in it. Been doing this for years and I'm used to it. Nullis uses much less perlite and also has been doing it for years and is used to it. NEITHER of us is right or wrong. Simply, what the individual grower prefers and what WORKS for him/her. We all get to the same barn eventually.



Of course you want it to be soaked. Then you let it dry out but definitely not completely. Weight test is good as somebody suggested. Don't wait until the soil surface shrinks and hardens; and water pools on top and runs down the sides. Over-watering is something that happens when the plant roots suffocate; and this happens when the medium is constantly saturated and/or the pots are sitting in stagnant water.
Just water thoroughly, wait. Water thoroughly, wait. You'll do fine seriously. Nobody can tell you precisely how many ml or cups of water to give your plants; so you just water thoroughly and then wait. Remember that after transplanting to a bigger container you can usually wait a bit longer to water, and then water more frequently as the roots accommodate the container; but you'll be able to determine when largely by the weight of the container.

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Nothing to be added to this, he is 420% correct. Do YOU use a watering guide when you're thirsty? Neither do plants.

If you are going to grow, forget the calendar, charts and graphs and such. Learn to read the plants, they will tell you when they are thirsty, hungry and whatever.

It's a feel for the plant, not a graph or time table.

Wet

My best suggestion is to water until it drains from the bottom, you can use a measuring cup if you need to know the exact amount your plant and container took at that time. Just remember that the amount changes as the plant roots mature and spread out.

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I agree with MsBBB, and am going to suggest the same. If you need an estimate, I've found it works out to be about 20% the pots volume,(give or take) when using the types of soil I've used(FF's, MG, etc...).

nullis there are plenty of experienced growers on here growing in 50/50 perlite, personally i found that a bit of over kill, for a new grower i think a 40/60 would help if things went wrong. most new growers over water, personally i now use about 35/65 and ive found this to be an excellent compromise. i also found with that mix i dont need to absolutely drown the pots to get run off. horses for courses, its working for me and a lot of others. it takes experience for new growers how to learn to water and one thing i constantly see on here is soil ringing wet from new growers. even though the info is there new growers always feel they have to keep watering.
lu

^I agree, but I also see underwatering happening alot, due to all the warnings. Usually, they don't let them go to the point of drooping, it's more that when they do water them, they don't give them enough, leaving dry spots in the soil, especially around the edges of the pots. Then, they end up with deficiencies, in soil that otherwise, has plenty of nutes, or, the plants grow slowly because the roots are confined(due to the dry areas). It's a double-edged sword, one that's difficult to explain, without someone actually going through the trial and error of actually experiencing it, and fine-tuning to their own setup.

Personally, I use about 25% perlite, water heavily(to the point of a little runoff), then let dry for 3-4 days(70-80% dry, in 4 gallon pots), and repeat. Works great for me.

EDIT: Since you were asking for amounts, I should add that each 3-4 gallon pot takes a full 2-liter bottle, each watering/feeding.

The reason I shy away from using copious amounts of perlite in soil is that I feel it almost defeats the purpose of growing in a true soil. If what you're going for is more along the lines of a soil-less mix; say you use 40% perlite to 60% coco coir or a coir/sphagnum mix that would seem a bit more reasonable (to me, anyways).
Perlite is a stable, inert material with no nutritive value or cation exchange capacity. It is airy and it drains well... too well. With mixes containing lots of perlite I noticed during transplants or after harvest that it would tend to congregate in various 'pockets' throughout the soil. These pockets of perlite tended to be dry and there wasn't any root mass within them; I can only imagine what roots did grow through them succumbed to air pruning. I am sure the grade/particle size of the perlite probably makes some difference, also.

That aside; if you consider the lack of CEC and drainage abilities it should make sense that the more perlite you use the more frequently you'll water and feed.

^I use close to 25% perlite, and sometimes I'll water around the edges only, to help counteract the air-pruning effect, you've mentioned. I've found that it's better to err on the side or overwatering, when using that much perlite. There's so much aeration that it's damn near imporssible to drown them, but if you underwater, it'll keep the roots confined. So, being that I have less time to tend to my own plants these days, I'm going to cut back on the perlite. Personally, I think that 10-15% is closer to the perfect amount, if you have your watering practices fine-tuned.

the point i was trying to make was that when a new grower starts growing for the first time(not advanced) that a 40/60 of perlite and regular waterings when the pot is light, the pot will feel light between waterings and the new grower can go tits up watering, which a lot of new growers do anyway(not all). as the grower gets a grip on the water they can then reduce the amount of perlite in there next grow. plus a lot of the advice on the forums seems to be that you should water till you get run off so a lot of new guys water the hell out of the soil and then do damage to the roots. with that amount of perlite the excess water will drain easily and they wont get themselves in that much difficulty.
i know a few people that have tried growing and given up because of bad results on there first grow. so rather than keep telling the new growers what our set up is like they need to start safe if you like and then adjust the soil mix when they get to grips with the watering and feeding.
the only thing i would say is to make sure the soil and perlite is well mixed up.
lu

jawbrodt said:

^I use close to 25% perlite, and sometimes I'll water around the edges only, to help counteract the air-pruning effect, you've mentioned. I've found that it's better to err on the side or overwatering, when using that much perlite. There's so much aeration that it's damn near imporssible to drown them, but if you underwater, it'll keep the roots confined. So, being that I have less time to tend to my own plants these days, I'm going to cut back on the perlite. Personally, I think that 10-15% is closer to the perfect amount, if you have your watering practices fine-tuned.

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That seems more reasonable to me also, growing in a soil with humus/castings, sandy loam, sphagnum, coco coir and what I would estimate to be around 10% perlite (chunk and bit grades). This drains perfectly well and retains moisture (as well as air); I water every 2-4 days depending on container size. As the water is absorbed, air is also being pulled into the medium. This is something you can hear/see occur.

All I am saying is that watering properly isn't an 'advanced' aspect of growing. Over thinking, over analyzing and over tending to the plants is the issue. And it just seems to me that over thinking can result when a new grower reads things like "omg don't over water you need tons of perlite" and the rest follows.
A properly constructed mix isn't easy to over-water and watering properly doesn't have to be difficult or feature a learning curve. Light-Warrior especially: that's a soil-less mix and has plenty of perlite. You should be able to water it, as is, for two days in a row (hey maybe even three) and not encounter any of the symptoms of 'overwatering'.

"Watering the hell of it" is not going to cause any harm, so long as there is a proper wet/dry (slightly moist really) cycle. Plenty of people (not me) flush their plants with copious amounts of water as part of their standard growing methodology.

The real problem comes when oxygen in the rhizosphere is depleted. Oxygen doesn't dissolve well in water, so a constantly soaked air-less/compact medium will cause problems, or pots that are sitting in stagnant water/run-off; O2 is quickly depleted, roots suffocate and the medium can eventually turn anaerobic; anaerobic bacteria produce alcohols which are very toxic to plant cells.