myke
Well-Known Member
Pretty much yup. I’ve grown a lot of hydro. These plants grow just as fast and really healthy looking.
Constant moisture vs letting plants dry out
- Thread starter JustBlazin
- Start date
JustBlazin
Well-Known Member
Pretty sure that's the tote I use for my res with my blumats, and your going to use it for one plant
myke
Well-Known Member
Will see,thinking 2 plants ea so approx 11 -12 gallon ea.Pretty sure that's the tote I use for my res with my blumats, and your going to use it for one plant
JustBlazin
Well-Known Member
Should be badass, can't wait to see
A lot of big commercial facilities and companies like floraflex talk about dry backs and being important. I am still hand watering so only once per day for me but my understanding is that multiple small dry backs through out the day with multiple small feedings is common practice in commercial cultivation. Those guys spend so much money researching shit I tend to just follow what they do.
youraveragehorticulturist
Well-Known Member
My soil goes from moistest right after I water, to least moist, right before I water again. But I'm definitely not trying to let my soil be dry between waterings. I think that makes microbes go dormant and causes weird swings in the soil and results in yellow, dead leaves
Wet/dry cycles may be good for soilless or hydro or set-ups like that, I'm not really too experienced with that style of growing. But dry "organic" soil is bad!
Regarding Blu Mats and Calcium build up: I heard Harley Smith from RAW Nutrients (the guy with the side burns) say that using Yucca in your water will keep minerals from building up in your tubes/reservoirs.
Wet/dry cycles may be good for soilless or hydro or set-ups like that, I'm not really too experienced with that style of growing. But dry "organic" soil is bad!
Regarding Blu Mats and Calcium build up: I heard Harley Smith from RAW Nutrients (the guy with the side burns) say that using Yucca in your water will keep minerals from building up in your tubes/reservoirs.
JustBlazin
Well-Known Member
Oh so commercial cultivation is pretty much trying to mimic a Blumat, cause that's exactly what a blumat does, multiple small feedings a day as the plant drinks the blumat let's out more water, it's genius. Sounds to me like multiple small feedings is the opposite of what your saying, they are avoiding the dry periods and keeping a more constant moisture with multiple small feeding avoiding it getting to wet or to dry. Its exactly like the first article I posted points out is what you want never to wet and never to dry
This is a quote from the first article about the dry out period myth
"The practical challenge is to develop irrigation methods that achieve our target moisture level with only minimal fluctuation. For uniform substrate moisture, we must water as frequently as our irrigation system allows with as small a volume per irrigation as possible. Infrequent watering requires larger volumes of water per irrigation and results in larger fluctuations of substrate moisture between cycles. If we simply wait until the crop is dry before we water thoroughly, we get maximum moisture fluctuation and are no longer able to manage the root system."
So it seems according to what you posted the big commercial growers are watering just like that to reduce dry spells and over watering
Nubiewithboobies
Well-Known Member
Omg, why have I not heard of this??? Watering is the scariest part of growing anything for me. I get obsessed. I'm gonna research blumats, but wow, that's a games changer for me...plants that drink all by themselves?!?! Gotta go.... I think I'm having an orgasm.....blumats let's the plant decide when it wants to drink that's what makes them so good. Having blumats, it's akin to having your kid tap you on the shoulder and ask for a drink.
Instead of letting them get super thirsty before you water them again. Would you wait to let your kid drink until he/she was dehydrated? Of course not, so why do it to your plants.Not good things happen if you let your soil dry out to much
Keep it moist people, in more ways than one
Nubiewithboobies
Well-Known Member
What's flipping?
JustBlazin
Well-Known Member
Switching to flower aka 12/12
Not exactly they still have dry back periods and feeds stop 2 hours before lights out and don’t start until 2 hours after lights are on. But really it depends on your medium and what your feeding. Blu mats are great for people not feeding nutrients and in organic soil, as long as you don’t get a run away and flood.
In the grows I’m talking about they are using small pots or rock wool cubes and they wait until they dry back to a certain percentage to feed again.
I don’t fully understand myself yet and I’ve been gardening since like 04. But I always hand feed. I do want to switch to irrigation and floraflex has step by step charts and graphics explaining it all, so I’ll just follow something similar to that once I get irrigation set up. During certain parts of flower they change the dry backs as well and it’s referred to as part of crop steering. So a bit different since they have more control they can alter dry backs and moisture content of the medium for different plant stages.
Nubiewithboobies
Well-Known Member
Ah-ha....I pictured that topsy turvy AS SEEN ON TV tomato growing thing that you flipped over or it grew upside down and you then flip it....thanks for clearing that up for me!
vostok
Well-Known Member
Try it your self and cut back the water to one plant by 50% you can expect a 50% increase in 'oils'What's everyone's thoughts about letting your pots dry out before watering? I used to let them dry out and I had decent results.
But I got blumats last year and now I see that a constant moisture is better for the plants.
Keeping your plants in the sweet spot of a moisture zone is key, not to wet not to dry, keep your plants in that spot and your golden.
Here's a couple articles that I read that have me convinced that constant moisture is best and that the "have to let your plants dry out" bro science should be in the same category as beta max tapes and laser discs.
A plant-centered approach to watering - Greenhouse Canada
Does dry soil promote root growth? Research and greenhouse experience would disagree.www.greenhousecanada.com
Measuring the yield of Cannabis sativa as a response to either automated irrigation systems or traditional hand watering methods in a controlled agriculture environment.
NOTE: If you are interested in supporting KIS Organics and seeing more of this research or want help utilizing a data-driven Blumat design in your garden, you can click here for help with a custom Blumat design. Ben Higgins†§ and Tad Hussey† § - Gold Leaf Gardens, Lacey WA † - KIS Organics...www.kisorganics.com
So let's keep this shit civil if we can please..lol, I know it's a touchy subject
So let's hear what everyone's thoughts are on the subject.
as you may know oil/terps are the protection against sun damage and drying out(UV)
IMO always water by weight, once that weight is down to 25% of the previous I water
Best Time To Water? ...after many bruises we consult the horts who say 1630 hrs
How Often Do I Water Marijuana Plants? | Grow Weed Easy
Learn everything you need to know about watering your cannabis plants. No more guessing or worrying!
www.growweedeasy.com
PopAndSonGrows
Well-Known Member
I grow in coco, so no moisture pretty much = no food. And no food in a coco grow = no bueno.
I do, however, let the top half inch or so "appear" dry and I do wait for the pots to lose some weight, but never totally dry if I can help it.
I do, however, let the top half inch or so "appear" dry and I do wait for the pots to lose some weight, but never totally dry if I can help it.