water or not to water dilemma?

[eiht98]

Hello growers

since I'm a new grower I really have fear of over watering my 20 days old babies.

My moisture meter shows that the soil is still wet 5 inches from the top even though the top is dry and crusty and I watered 4 days ago.

Is the moisture from the soil enough for the plants to grow or should I add some water?

I noticed that one plant has a few leaves curled up. Isn't this a sign of over watering?

 

[Johnou833]

What are you growing in? Under-watering is not as bad as overwatering so if you're unsure wait another day..

 

[dura72]

first off i never trust moisture meters, they're just not reliable(i've got one and its bloody useless!) there are no exact watering schedules, each plant, even if all the plants are the same strain in the same size pots under the same conditions, will have a different grow pattern. the most common way to water is to just water ur pot till u get a little run off then lift the pot and feel the weight, u then just check the weight of the pot every day and when it seems too light then u water again until u get maybe 10% run off. in my own grow i have my plants in 3 gallon(10 litre, approximate) pots and every 2nd or 3rd day they need watered. i do this by giving them 2 pints(1 litre) at a time (5 plants) give it a few minutes and give them another 2 pints and and then 1 pint, just watch the drip tray until i see sum run off. the plants seem to need a wet/dry cycle to allow air into the roots and then flood them. thats my way of doing it and without a doubt the most common/popular way of doing it buddy.

 

[riddleme]

first off i never trust moisture meters, they're just not reliable(i've got one and its bloody useless!) there are no exact watering schedules, each plant, even if all the plants are the same strain in the same size pots under the same conditions, will have a different grow pattern. the most common way to water is to just water ur pot till u get a little run off then lift the pot and feel the weight, u then just check the weight of the pot every day and when it seems too light then u water again until u get maybe 10% run off. in my own grow i have my plants in 3 gallon(10 litre, approximate) pots and every 2nd or 3rd day they need watered. i do this by giving them 2 pints(1 litre) at a time (5 plants) give it a few minutes and give them another 2 pints and and then 1 pint, just watch the drip tray until i see sum run off. the plants seem to need a wet/dry cycle to allow air into the roots and then flood them. thats my way of doing it and without a doubt the most common/popular way of doing it buddy.

Most popular but wrong.

Water your plants with plenty of run off (not a little) ph the water to learn what it is after that not a worry, and learn to read your plants for when to water.

I am currently teaching a class on this in my NooB thread (we're calling it a game)

 

[tip top toker]

watering with lots of runoff to check the ph, well that's pretty irrelevent to the actual watering, that's just for personal control issues.

i leave my plants till the pot is nearly all dry, which i can tell by it's weight after a little practice, then i just water slowly till it starts to run out the bottom then stop. as said, each plant will drink what they require and not a set amount, i have 2 near identical cheese, one will need feeding every other day, the other one only every 3 days. same age, from same mom, same pot, mixture etc.

don't forget that if youb water for massive runoff, then you've got to sit around for 10 minutes constantly emptying the drip tray so that the pot isn't sat in water (causing root rot)

after re-reading dura's post, i do pretty much exactly as he states just i don't measure the water, they just get what they need, normally around 2L a time or more

 

[riddleme]

watering with lots of runoff to check the ph, well that's pretty irrelevent to the actual watering, that's just for personal control issues.

i leave my plants till the pot is nearly all dry, which i can tell by it's weight after a little practice, then i just water slowly till it starts to run out the bottom then stop. as said, each plant will drink what they require and not a set amount, i have 2 near identical cheese, one will need feeding every other day, the other one only every 3 days. same age, from same mom, same pot, mixture etc.

don't forget that if youb water for massive runoff, then you've got to sit around for 10 minutes constantly emptying the drip tray so that the pot isn't sat in water (causing root rot)

after re-reading dura's post, i do pretty much exactly as he states just i don't measure the water, they just get what they need, normally around 2L a time or more

Meant to check the PH of the water going in, run off does not matter unless your having a problem. You can either follow the herd and grow half assed buds or you can come learn how to kick your plant in overdrive?

Choice is yours

 

[tip top toker]

You can either follow the herd and grow half assed buds or you can come learn how to kick your plant in overdrive?

Choice is yours

care to elaborate?

watering for a small amount of runoff, or watering for a large amount of runoff, is not gonna change your buds from half asssed, to the plants growing in overdrive....

unless there's some study i missed somewhere.

 

[riddleme]

care to elaborate?

watering for a small amount of runoff, or watering for a large amount of runoff, is not gonna change your buds from half asssed, to the plants growing in overdrive....

unless there's some study i missed somewhere.

Read my NooB link

Pic is a bud that is 8 inches tall in the 5th week of flowering under just one 65 watt cfl (with added T9) setup in my avatar, more details in my Goin Loco journal

 

[tip top toker]

yeah, read it and got as far the the mother nature doesn't... and gave up

advice to eiht98, don't use moisture meters, they're guesswork at best. i always tried to use them, ended up with a lot of overwatering issues, and just learnt thoruhg experience to gague the weight of the pot. at first it seems a very vague and innacurate way of doing it, but give it a couple of weeks and you'll learn very soon when to water.

out

 

[riddleme]

yeah, read it and got as far the the mother nature doesn't... and gave up

advice to eiht98, don't use moisture meters, they're guesswork at best. i always tried to use them, ended up with a lot of overwatering issues, and just learnt thoruhg experience to gague the weight of the pot. at first it seems a very vague and innacurate way of doing it, but give it a couple of weeks and you'll learn very soon when to water.

out

Sorry to hear that, there is so much more

 

[wyteboi]

Meant to check the PH of the water going in, run off does not matter unless your having a problem. You can either follow the herd and grow half assed buds or you can come learn how to kick your plant in overdrive?

Choice is yours

i love how u wanna help noobs! thats great but this post is over doin it.
i think the idea is to get all the soil moist, not just the top. THROW AWAY the moisture meter, it will hurt way more then help.
knowing the ph going into the plant is about as usefull as the runoff ph. this guys asked a simple question ,now we probably have him confused.
it dont matter how much runoff u have, just make sure all the soil is moist.

 

[eiht98]

Sorry to hear that, there is so much more

thank you guys for all the tips

 

[dura72]

i dont have to ph my water going in, where i live we've got very good soft water, always 6.5, i occasionally check the ph of the pot and run off but its more curiosity than anything else( i bought the meter therefore i'm gaunna use it!!)coz it never varies much. although one thing i do is leave my water for a day or two to let the chlorine gas outta it, i used to have aquariums and i alway did it for them although its not a huge issue.as i virtually always feed when i water i dont want pints of run off draining every nute outta a plant that i just put into it, sounds like a constant flush to me but like i always say for every person who grows there is a different way to grow, try them all and c where it takes you, or if u can be arsed try different ways at the same time for different plants int the same grow and draw your own conclusions, i'm gonna top,lst and leave various plant in my next grow, its gonna take more time and effort and care but i'll eventually prove theories, to myself at least.

 

[tip top toker]

good luck 20 days and i'd have thought you'd be thinking about when to switch them over to 12/12

 

[Kriegs]

Water or not to water? My answer would be "water" in the condition you describe (top several inches are dry).

The fear of overwatering is a bit overblown. If you have a good lofty soil (the "loft" of most commercial potting soils is very good) and drainage holes in the bottom of your pots, it's hard to overwater. "Overwatering" only damages plants when the roots can't get air. If your soil is good, this won't happen. A lot of times when I see "overwatered" plants, there's another factor, like poor soil choice or soil mix constituents at play.

Water enough to get a little runoff. This means you've watered enough to move wastes and salts out of the soil column. Look at the color of the runoff and you'll see what I mean by "wastes".

I have a meter and it was helpful in the beginning, but these cheap meters are variable and you have to "learn your individual meter" - when it says "7", what does that mean? By the time you do that, you can get the "pot weight thing" burned in your brain. What I would do is take one of your pots with the 5" of dryness up top and water until you get a little runoff. Now, pick up that pot with one hand and just feel that weight. Pick up a dry one and feel that, then alternate between the 2 a few times. The diff will be dramatic, and not that vague after all. That's how I'm doing it now, and it's so much simpler and effective.

Watering will change over time. Bigger plants, higher temps, hot HID's, high exhaust and ventilation -- these factors increase usage, and you'll see your plants' consumption will follow an arc over the grow - steady increase as the plant gets bigger, then trails off toward the end of flowering.