bombastic1337
Member
Hi guys,
I am a first time grower and I am still lost about when it's the right time to water. So far, what I have found about this matter in this and other places have been 2 main methods.
I am going to explain how thes methods are performed and why they do not work for me and why they are definitely not working for a lot of other newbies, since forums are infested with overwatering problems and people going mad about the same issue over and over again.
1. First commonly accepted method: "Feel the weight of the pot, dude, when the pot is light you need to water, man!". Could this be any more inaccurate? (use Chandler's tone).
What if I'm Schwarzenegger? A pickup truck might be heavy, but not a pot, no matter the size of it (the poor guy would always overwater his babies because the friggin' pots are always light for him!). For more information, see picture attached.
Jokes aside, this is my first grow, as it is to many other newbies, so this concept of lightness is very vague since I cannot remember how light they were at the beginning, specially since I had to refill the pots with more soil over the wet soil due to tall stems, which happens to a lot of people. So yes, very inaccurate method.
2. Second commonly accepted method: "Stick your finger in the soil. If the first 3 inches are dry, it's time to water". (Hmmm, sticking fingers, checking wetness... you know how to start me up, baby!).
This method is not only inaccurate, but it's also definitely risky. What if we are talking about seedlings in pots of 4 inches high? Or a mother in a pot 25 inches high? Is that 3 inches appliable in both cases? I don't think so, in the first case you might underwater your seedling and in the second case you would definitely drown your mother (and you don't wanna drown your mum, right?).
If you are going to tell me "hey, man, you gain this knowledge with experience" or "you need to listen to your plants". My reply would be "Just admit you have no concrete, accurate response". It happens to me even at my job and I am mature enough to say when I don't know why I'm doing what I'm doing. People need to change their mindsets and accept that there must be an accurate method of measuring when the plant needs water and look together for an exact method that works for newbies and experienced growers. Besides, I have invested around $550 ($100 in seeds) and I do not want them to go down the drain.
In order to try and change this paradigm of "feel the vibe", I am going to introduce some questions that might make you wonder why you use one of those methods without asking yourself if it's accurate and, ultimately, if it's the optimal thing to do to your beloved girls.
1. Why do we have an optimal range of temperature for growing marijuana? I think it's 71.6-75.2 ºF (22-24 ºC).
2. Why do we have an optimal range of relative humidity for growing marijuana? I think I saw in Jorge Cervantes, Ultimate Grow I it's 60-65% for seedlings and vegging and 50% for flowering.
And this goes on for lumen/sq. meter, air flow/sq. meter and for almost any other measurable factor except for the main one, the water, for Pot's sake!
So basically, what I would like to have is a method like one of these two. Do not mind the numbers I write, since I don't know a thing about it. I'm just showing some examples so you get the idea.
Possible method 1: Watering is due when 2/3 (or a percentage, as in 66%) of the soil is dry. This would be easy to follow by sticking your finger in the wet, warm soil (I'm starting to like this growing thing). Although this is not totally accurate, because my finger nerves calculate the temperature and humindity levels by comparison against my own skin temperature and humidity levels. That's why you have to dry your hands before measuring the humidity this way. So, although this is more accurate than the commonly accepted methods, I actually prefer Possible method 2.
Possible method 2: Watering is due when the humidity in the center of the soil it's 30%. There are humidity/pH meters for soil (I actually have one), so this would be the preferred method, since it is really accurate. More accurate than my fingers anyways, which are no longer the same after I dated that French exchange student...
So this is it.
Now what I would like you to do is:
1. If you are a pro, just give your thoughts about it and if you haven't yet, you could start developing one of these methods (preferably Possible method 2) on your next grow. With your experience, you could actually measure the humidity levels in your pots when you decide it's time to water in every stage (seedlings, vegging and flowering) in case they differ.
2. If you are not a pro, but you know one or several ones, tell them to come over here and work with us on a permanent solution to this problem.
I hope you all liked it.
Peace, love, health and fun for all of you.
I am a first time grower and I am still lost about when it's the right time to water. So far, what I have found about this matter in this and other places have been 2 main methods.
I am going to explain how thes methods are performed and why they do not work for me and why they are definitely not working for a lot of other newbies, since forums are infested with overwatering problems and people going mad about the same issue over and over again.
1. First commonly accepted method: "Feel the weight of the pot, dude, when the pot is light you need to water, man!". Could this be any more inaccurate? (use Chandler's tone).
What if I'm Schwarzenegger? A pickup truck might be heavy, but not a pot, no matter the size of it (the poor guy would always overwater his babies because the friggin' pots are always light for him!). For more information, see picture attached.
Jokes aside, this is my first grow, as it is to many other newbies, so this concept of lightness is very vague since I cannot remember how light they were at the beginning, specially since I had to refill the pots with more soil over the wet soil due to tall stems, which happens to a lot of people. So yes, very inaccurate method.
2. Second commonly accepted method: "Stick your finger in the soil. If the first 3 inches are dry, it's time to water". (Hmmm, sticking fingers, checking wetness... you know how to start me up, baby!).
This method is not only inaccurate, but it's also definitely risky. What if we are talking about seedlings in pots of 4 inches high? Or a mother in a pot 25 inches high? Is that 3 inches appliable in both cases? I don't think so, in the first case you might underwater your seedling and in the second case you would definitely drown your mother (and you don't wanna drown your mum, right?).
If you are going to tell me "hey, man, you gain this knowledge with experience" or "you need to listen to your plants". My reply would be "Just admit you have no concrete, accurate response". It happens to me even at my job and I am mature enough to say when I don't know why I'm doing what I'm doing. People need to change their mindsets and accept that there must be an accurate method of measuring when the plant needs water and look together for an exact method that works for newbies and experienced growers. Besides, I have invested around $550 ($100 in seeds) and I do not want them to go down the drain.
In order to try and change this paradigm of "feel the vibe", I am going to introduce some questions that might make you wonder why you use one of those methods without asking yourself if it's accurate and, ultimately, if it's the optimal thing to do to your beloved girls.
1. Why do we have an optimal range of temperature for growing marijuana? I think it's 71.6-75.2 ºF (22-24 ºC).
2. Why do we have an optimal range of relative humidity for growing marijuana? I think I saw in Jorge Cervantes, Ultimate Grow I it's 60-65% for seedlings and vegging and 50% for flowering.
And this goes on for lumen/sq. meter, air flow/sq. meter and for almost any other measurable factor except for the main one, the water, for Pot's sake!
So basically, what I would like to have is a method like one of these two. Do not mind the numbers I write, since I don't know a thing about it. I'm just showing some examples so you get the idea.
Possible method 1: Watering is due when 2/3 (or a percentage, as in 66%) of the soil is dry. This would be easy to follow by sticking your finger in the wet, warm soil (I'm starting to like this growing thing). Although this is not totally accurate, because my finger nerves calculate the temperature and humindity levels by comparison against my own skin temperature and humidity levels. That's why you have to dry your hands before measuring the humidity this way. So, although this is more accurate than the commonly accepted methods, I actually prefer Possible method 2.
Possible method 2: Watering is due when the humidity in the center of the soil it's 30%. There are humidity/pH meters for soil (I actually have one), so this would be the preferred method, since it is really accurate. More accurate than my fingers anyways, which are no longer the same after I dated that French exchange student...
So this is it.
Now what I would like you to do is:
1. If you are a pro, just give your thoughts about it and if you haven't yet, you could start developing one of these methods (preferably Possible method 2) on your next grow. With your experience, you could actually measure the humidity levels in your pots when you decide it's time to water in every stage (seedlings, vegging and flowering) in case they differ.
2. If you are not a pro, but you know one or several ones, tell them to come over here and work with us on a permanent solution to this problem.
I hope you all liked it.
Peace, love, health and fun for all of you.
notice the resounding theme to all of these peoples responses? Noone agree's that there is need for some super accurate scientific method of finding when to water.
