Constant moisture levels or wet / dry cycles?

[Rrog]

Oriah- I have a little hole under the drippers.I can fill with a bit of EWC, etc. As the drippers drip, they take the contents of the well with it.

 

[tusseltussel]

hmmm. how are the root gonna grow big and strong if they never have to seek out water, A big healthy root ball is important. what about fungus gnats aren't you creating a perfect environment for them??? never used a drip system on Mj so I wouldn't know much about it but those are the things I wonder about

 

[Rrog]

Hi Tussel. Your signature is hysterical! My roots always fill the pot completely, but they also did in 7 gallon hardsides. I used to get fungus gnats. Not any more since I started adding Neem, Crab Shell Meal, BTI Dunks and Nematodes. Works for me.

 

[UncleBuck]

five star thread.

i was pondering this question a few months ago myself and i decided this time around to keep my medium (roots organic cut with roots greenlite and perlite) on the more saturated side of moist and saw no upside, only downside.

gotta say, i'm gonna return to my lazy ways and let those useless bottom leaves really droop before heavily soaking. it's hard to time it sometimes so that the useless bottom leaves below the canopy droop and the canopy up top does not, but i've never had any problems doing it that way.

and when i water, i really water. soak it good until some runoff is achieved, wait 10-15 minutes, and add a bit more. i've always gone by the motto "water deep, not often".

still would love to see what others say and if there is any science on this.

 

[tusseltussel]

I have always waited until its not dry but close, never let any leaves wilt but I too water deeply not often.. I like to flod the top so it all evenly soaks in but I imagine that point maybe day before I water could be the sweet spot though you would really haveto moniter the moisture content because as the roots grow they use more so you would have to keep up with that pretty intensly if you wanted to stay in that sweet zone. sounds like its working for some might look into it a little more later tonight, see what it's all about...

 

[Rrog]

I do monitor the moisture level with a very accurate and fast acting Tensiometer. http://www.irrometer.com/pdf/IRROMETERs/111 Model MLT Web 6.pdf I have a couple

Uncle buck- Maybe do a google for Tensiometers and see what pops up. There are many scholarly research articles. Certainly over-moist is bad. Maintaining that sweet spot is... sweet.

 

[uromastyx]

Got the blumats hooked up. Now I just gotta wait and see how they do

 

[Rrog]

Ask some questions!

What size pots?
Did you use large carrots or the smaller ones?
Do you have one dripper or more?

Very cool!

 

[uromastyx]

I have a Green Crack, Flo, Blockhead, and Mobb Boss all in #3 smart pots, with rev's tlo soil mix and spikes. Two tropf blumats per pot no drippers.
Here is a pic before I installed the blumats. Left is flo, front middle is gc, middle blockhead, right top mobb boss, right bottom blockhead male (he doesn't have any blumats, he will be chopped after I pollinate a branch of all the females)

 

[Rrog]

Very, very nice!!

 

[OhioGrassMan69]

If you keep a spray bottle on hand you can get real close to letting the soil dry out but a light water just before the soil gets dry but nt so dry you can crumble the top layer of soil just let it get dryer than damp because roots stretch double in length if the soil is somewhat dry. NOT ENOUGH TO KILL THE PLANTS THO UGH. Wish best of luck and let soil dry out its important

 

[NickNasty]

I do a wet/dry cycle and when I water I water to the point where I have standing water in my trays underneath. The water usually gets soaked up within a day. I haven't seen adverse effects cause of this unless I don't let them dry out. I have thought about using blumats or the like but I run a perpetual and my plant are on rollers so they move often and am unsure how easy it would be to constantly be moving my plants with hoses coming out of all of them.

 

[BeaverHuntr]

I do a wet/dry cycle and when I water I water to the point where I have standing water in my trays underneath. The water usually gets soaked up within a day. I haven't seen adverse effects cause of this unless I don't let them dry out. I have thought about using blumats or the like but I run a perpetual and my plant are on rollers so they move often and am unsure how easy it would be to constantly be moving my plants with hoses coming out of all of them.

I pretty much do the same. I water until I have some water in my trays then I stop. I do the " lifting of the pot technique " or if I notice a slight droop ( that minor drop that tells you the ladies are thirsty ) I water.. I have used various drip system methods with coco coir but I have yet to try them in soil/organics... Blumat sounds awesome though, but I was always taught that letting your medium dry some will make the root system stronger as the roots search for water. Then again blumats sound like cool shit! If anyone uses them in soil/organics please share ..

 

[Rrog]

I use the blumats in soil. They work great. I prefer the constant moisture rather than wet / dry cycles.

 

[Kaotic]

I shoot for wet-damp cycles without ever going to full "dry". Truthfully though, "dry" is not actually dry at a microscopic level. There are three types of soil water.

-Gravitational water- Flows through soil (your runoff was gravitational water before it flowed out the bottom of your pot). Plants and microbiology can use this water.

-Capillary water - Water held in the soil by capillary pressure. This is the water that stays in the pot after you water. Plants and micro organisms can use this water.

-Hygroscopic water- This water is very strongly held to soil particles by surface forces. It cannot be removed from soil without applying heat. Plants cannot use this water (they will wilt even though the water is present). However, SOME microbiology CAN in fact survive with the help of this layer of "moisture".

I prefer to play it safe and water while there is still some capillary water present. If the pot still has a little heft to it, and you can feel ANY moisture with your finger, capillary water is still present.

I like that explanation, I feel like roots extending to find the water deep in the pots or anywhere it’s present is good for the roots to stretch out in search of water, so I say a dry cycle a couple or few times wouldn’t be too bad, good explanation though.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

I like that explanation, I feel like roots extending to find the water deep in the pots or anywhere it’s present is good for the roots to stretch out in search of water, so I say a dry cycle a couple or few times wouldn’t be too bad, good explanation though.

 

[Leeski]

The right moisture levels are paramount to growing in living soil if your soil becomes to dry you will lose biology also your soil structure has to be right in the first Instant i hand water in 15 gallon fabric pots but I couldn’t live with out my blumat sensor

 

[Kaotic]

View attachment 4707559

Lol you my friend are the one of the biggest trolls here on this forum, you even changed your picture to a troll. at least everyone gets a heads up now lol.

ph and you mind providing any proof at all that wet/dry cycle is incorrect, you and your goons, I’m waiting.

 

[Kaotic]

The right moisture levels are paramount to growing in living soil if your soil becomes to dry you will lose biology also your soil structure has to be right in the first Instant i hand water in 15 gallon fabric pots but I couldn’t live with out my blumat sensor View attachment 4707566

Lol your soil does get dry, you just don’t know. Did you not read the same post on here that I quoted.. lol. You might want to read the other peoples posts on here too, see what they say.

My buddy is doing live soil now and he’s blowing up here in LA, follow him @growwbacca on IG.

technically your soil does dry and your roots do need it, the microbes the “live soil”feeds your roots from nutrients it finds, I think you missed the point of no-till live soil.

 

[Kaotic]

The right moisture levels are paramount to growing in living soil if your soil becomes to dry you will lose biology also your soil structure has to be right in the first Instant i hand water in 15 gallon fabric pots but I couldn’t live with out my blumat sensor View attachment 4707566

I can give you 2 points right now that I bet you will not find proof for anywhere just let me know if you want them.