Watering smart pots? Help a newbie out pls.

Viridios

Viridios

Member
Hey all

Growing in 5 gallon smart pots (fabric), and I've been trying to water as per the plants needs (hard when it's your first grow), but one thing keeps bugging me.

The first inch or 2 goes bone dry but the remaining soil is wet when I use my finger or the moisture meter. So should I water or wait till it dries off more, like to the bottom??? Scared of underwatering even though they look fine.

I'm growing in light mix soil 30% perlite and on day 25 using an led plus I have a dehumidifier running (does that contribute to the top 2 inches drying up?)

Any help for this newbie greatly appreciated and here's a pic (Critical Nevilles Haze haze auto).
 

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smokiemcbowl

smokiemcbowl

Well-Known Member
The two inch rule is ok to go by but obiviously that doesnt work for everyone!

The way i find out when my girls need water is to let them show me. In a 5g smart pot in my set up I water every other day. Let your girl go till she starts to droop. Once You see her start to sag, giver her some water. I do this 3-4 times to really set myself on her schedual and make sure im really seeing her "thirsty" and not some other stress related issue. After that just keep an eye on her and feed when she needs it. Also letting the soil get a little drier than normal is ok. It forces the root system to expand out and search for moisture. A healthy plant should have a robust root system.

Good luck and happy growing!bongsmilie
 
Jypsy Dog

Jypsy Dog

Well-Known Member
I water/feed by weight. Know what a dry plant pot feels like. My mature plants in a 5 gallon SP need tending to every other day. That's in Coco/Perlite. Young plants don't get light for 3 or more days.
 
GroErr

GroErr

Well-Known Member
Eventually you'll just know by looking at them. In the meantime try and get used to lifting the pots and go by weight of the pots, it's about as accurate as you can get and applies to all containers from party cups to 10 gal pots (after that you better have figured it out because you're not going to be lifting 15+ gallon pots!). Not all of your plants will drink the same if you're running mixed strains or even seeds (different phenos). Treat each plant as an individual for watering, feeding.
 
Viridios

Viridios

Member
smokiemcbowl said:
The two inch rule is ok to go by but obiviously that doesnt work for everyone!

The way i find out when my girls need water is to let them show me. In a 5g smart pot in my set up I water every other day. Let your girl go till she starts to droop. Once You see her start to sag, giver her some water. I do this 3-4 times to really set myself on her schedual and make sure im really seeing her "thirsty" and not some other stress related issue. After that just keep an eye on her and feed when she needs it. Also letting the soil get a little drier than normal is ok. It forces the root system to expand out and search for moisture. A healthy plant should have a robust root system.

Good luck and happy growing!bongsmilie
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Thanks bro, great info I just feel worried that I'm doing something wrong. They on day 30 now and I'm watering every 3-4 days. No drooping at all so I'm thinking I'm not underwatering them.
 
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Viridios

Viridios

Member
GroErr said:
Eventually you'll just know by looking at them. In the meantime try and get used to lifting the pots and go by weight of the pots, it's about as accurate as you can get and applies to all containers from party cups to 10 gal pots (after that you better have figured it out because you're not going to be lifting 15+ gallon pots!). Not all of your plants will drink the same if you're running mixed strains or even seeds (different phenos). Treat each plant as an individual for watering, feeding.
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Thanks for the reply haha I don't think I would ever have space for 15 gallon pots (doubt I'll be able to lift a10 gallon :)) But I hope in time I'll be experienced enough to figure it out perfectly.
 
smokiemcbowl

smokiemcbowl

Well-Known Member
Viridios said:
Thanks bro, great info I just feel worried that I'm doing something wrong. They on day 30 now and I'm watering every 3-4 days. No drooping at all so I'm thinking I'm not underwatering them.
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yeah your good man lol definitly not overwatering then. keep an eye on em and theyll treat u right!
 
Moldy

Moldy

Well-Known Member
What they say ^ up there. It's a young plant without a lot of size but when it gets larger she'll be sucking up the water then. What's your RH without the dehumidifier? I'm so dry here that I've used humidifiers before. lol
 
Viridios

Viridios

Member
Moldy said:
What they say ^ up there. It's a young plant without a lot of size but when it gets larger she'll be sucking up the water then. What's your RH without the dehumidifier? I'm so dry here that I've used humidifiers before. lol
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Hey thanks for helping, up there they look good to me no drooping so guessing I'm doing ok. I have noticed these last couple of days that they are drinking faster. On the dehumidifier I would get 80-90% without it in the tent! Just worried it's drying up the top 2-3 inches unnaturaly.
 
Gaz29

Gaz29

Well-Known Member
Better under-watered than over-watered(imo)..
I think you should get one of those moisture-dip ( can't remember ther name) but it'll let you know if wet/moist or dry all the way to the bottom etc.. it'll cost you very little cash .!
Or lift it up etc- see above advice ⬆
Your plant looks fine but if you post it with white light in pics, then we'll see it lots better.. happy growing
Gaz
 
Viridios

Viridios

Member
Gaz29 said:
Better under-watered than over-watered(imo)..
I think you should get one of those moisture-dip ( can't remember ther name) but it'll let you know if wet/moist or dry all the way to the bottom etc.. it'll cost you very little cash .!
Or lift it up etc- see above advice ⬆
Your plant looks fine but if you post it with white light in pics, then we'll see it lots better.. happy growing
Gaz
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Thanks I bought one of those a few weeks back. It's called a moisture meter. Had my ups and downs since my last post. Had slight nute burn, lost leaves to N def or mg def. Had a problem with humidity due to lack of height. Had to get a bigger tent because they exploded in height. All newbie mistakes. But learned from them. I've posted a pic I'm on day 62 from seed. Let me know what you think. Sorry the pics not in white light.
 

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Gaz29

Gaz29

Well-Known Member
Viridios said:
Thanks I bought one of those a few weeks back. It's called a moisture meter. Had my ups and downs since my last post. Had slight nute burn, lost leaves to N def or mg def. Had a problem with humidity due to lack of height. Had to get a bigger tent because they exploded in height. All newbie mistakes. But learned from them. I've posted a pic I'm on day 62 from seed. Let me know what you think. Sorry the pics not in white light.
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@Viridios, your plant looks fine - mistakes are they're to be learned from-& you have said you've learned a few things from this grow- you WILL get better once you have a grow or two under your belt. , looking like 3 to 4 week of more s left till it's done and ready for chop (imo) ,but you've nothing to worry about so continue what you're doing & you'll get there.. happy growing
Gaz
 
P

prpgdad

Well-Known Member
The plant looks good. Remember youve always gotta start somewhere. And if you use a white soft light like cfl for pics you can see if there are any other problems much much better as led and hid lights can hide symptoms.
 
Viridios

Viridios

Member
Gaz29 said:
@Viridios, your plant looks fine - mistakes are they're to be learned from-& you have said you've learned a few things from this grow- you WILL get better once you have a grow or two under your belt. , looking like 3 to 4 week of more s left till it's done and ready for chop (imo) ,but you've nothing to worry about so continue what you're doing & you'll get there.. happy growing
Gaz
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Man you have no idea how much that puts my mind at ease. Thanks for that. As said first time grower but been smoking for over 20 years so can’t wait!! I’ll send a pic in 3-4 but again thanks for that!
 
Gaz29

Gaz29

Well-Known Member
Your welcome.. post up pics every week and you can always look back on it in future plus any more advice/info needed, that's what RIU is here for; to share and help each other.. enjoy your grow
Gaz
Ps. What strain is it you're growing.?
 
Viridios

Viridios

Member
Gaz29 said:
Your welcome.. post up pics every week and you can always look back on it in future plus any more advice/info needed, that's what RIU is here for; to share and help each other.. enjoy your grow
Gaz
Ps. What strain is it you're growing.?
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Thanks and appreciate the advice this place is great for that. I’m growing Critical Nevilles Haze auto. Probably not the best choice for a first grow (just went by the thc level!!).
 
tripleD

tripleD

Well-Known Member
I use 5gal smart pots, and I feed my Auto's 1gal every other day with lights set 24/0... I feed 1.5gal every 3rd day if lights are set at 18/6. This is an average, some auto strains drink more than others....
 
Viridios

Viridios

Member
tripleD said:
I use 5gal smart pots, and I feed my Auto's 1gal every other day with lights set 24/0... I feed 1.5gal every 3rd day if lights are set at 18/6. This is an average, some auto strains drink more than others....
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Hey thanks for the post. I use 5 gallon too but didn’t fill soil to the top as I underestimated the size of my first tent so about 3 gallon I would say. I use only half a gallon of water when feeding every 2-3 days. It does drain out the bottom by only 10% of what I put in. I think I mixed way too much perlite in mine (nearly 30% perlite was mixed).Is there such a thing as too much drainage? Or is it like you said some strains drink more than others?
 
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