Pots taking forever to dry out

mattman089

mattman089

Well-Known Member
Can't pinpoint why, but my pots are taking forever to dry out... I'm talking a week to a week and a half. I'll do a qt to a half a gallon at a time so nothing crazy - at all... If anything it's underwater but due to them staying moist, I've been holding off...

3 gal pots
FFOF with 20% perlite added
75 deg 45 RH daytime
65 deg night time at about 50 RH

I don't like it and plants seem to be growing fine but don't seem to be "thriving" as they normally do... some leaves look curled etc as picture but again, nothing crazy..

Any input would be much appreciated. Last water was on May 30th and can still feel damp/moisture < 2" down so I'm holding back on giving them more water + first fert. feed.

Germinated in pods on Apr
 

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hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
A half gallon in a 3 gallon isn’t that much if the plant is growing. Using it. I think you might be better off with bags. Add more perlite and transplant into 5 gallon bags suggested. Then let it droop and I mean the stem the leaf is on too. Not just the leaf hanging. When the whole deal is starting to visibly droop pick it up. Feel it. Several times. A 5 gallon bag I would start with a few quarts. Wait until it’s dry again before feeding or watering. The roots will drop down seeking water. Increase the volume gradually. You want to get water all the way to the lowest point possible.

Overwatering is the #1 cause of death in plants raised by people. Not just cannabis either.
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Cultivation and aeration of the medium is a must. Cheap bamboo barbecue skewers from the grocery store work great. Pierce the heck out of the medium. How much? You can’t do it too much. The water roots are the lowest. The roots do need oxygen and the cultivation regularly helps. A lot. Do not underestimate it.
 
M

mr. childs

Well-Known Member
mattman089 said:
Can't pinpoint why, but my pots are taking forever to dry out... I'm talking a week to a week and a half. I'll do a qt to a half a gallon at a time so nothing crazy - at all... If anything it's underwater but due to them staying moist, I've been holding off...

3 gal pots
FFOF with 20% perlite added
75 deg 45 RH daytime
65 deg night time at about 50 RH

I don't like it and plants seem to be growing fine but don't seem to be "thriving" as they normally do... some leaves look curled etc as picture but again, nothing crazy..

Any input would be much appreciated. Last water was on May 30th and can still feel damp/moisture < 2" down so I'm holding back on giving them more water + first fert. feed.

Germinated in pods on Apr
Click to expand...
are you thinking of changing to smartpots or something of the like?
 
PadawanWarrior

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
mr. childs said:
are you thinking of changing to smartpots or something of the like?
Click to expand...
Ya fabric pots if you want the soil to dry out faster. I love em and so do the plants. I actually have a huge box of em I bought before I added an exhaust venting outside. Now that I added that my humidity never goes above 30%, and is usually 10-20. I don't think I'm ever gonna need to run my dehumidifier again, it's kinda crazy. And so I realized that I would be watering every other day with em. Right now I have to water every 3 days using 15 gal plastic pots since it's so dry here, and don't want to do it more often. They have really cool transplant ones too cause the regular ones are kind of a bitch to remove the plant from. The transplant ones have Velcro to make it a lot easier.
 
Merlin1147

Merlin1147

Well-Known Member
The plants look happy so I wouldn’t sweat it. Chances are they will root through and with the starter you should be okay. I use FFOF straight out of the bag but when I fill pots and transplant i fluff the media and am I’m super careful to gently place soil in the pot without compacting.
 
P

Psychonautic83

Well-Known Member
I water every day by the time one of my girls gets to the finish line. 3 gallon smart pots, I'm planning to reduce perlite on future soil mixes to try and reduce it.

I ran some plastic pots once, they seem to stunt the plants growth in comparison with fabric pots.
 
R Burns

R Burns

Well-Known Member
Those are small plants for such big containers. It makes sense that they are taking long to dry out. Eventually this will change as they get bigger. You should really have these in like 1 gallons til they are further along. Small plants in big pots also have less root mass than they should. As they don't need to grow in search of water because its always near by. Gotta work with what you git here, but next time plan a couple transplants. For now you can try a supplement rich in molybdenum to get those roots going.
 
R Burns

R Burns

Well-Known Member
hotrodharley said:
Cultivation and aeration of the medium is a must. Cheap bamboo barbecue skewers from the grocery store work great. Pierce the heck out of the medium. How much? You can’t do it too much. The water roots are the lowest. The roots do need oxygen and the cultivation regularly helps. A lot. Do not underestimate it.
Click to expand...
Suggesting to continually damage roots is really bad advice. Aeration should be done with appropriate materials when mixing your soil. No one should be doing this.
 
mattman089

mattman089

Well-Known Member
R Burns said:
Those are small plants for such big containers. It makes sense that they are taking long to dry out. Eventually this will change as they get bigger. You should really have these in like 1 gallons til they are further along. Small plants in big pots also have less root mass than they should. As they don't need to grow in search of water because its always near by. Gotta work with what you git here, but next time plan a couple transplants. For now you can try a supplement rich in molybdenum to get those roots going.
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot for the response. Makes sense too. Last grow I transplanted 2 - 3 times eventually into the same pots Im using now and never had this issue. Good call!
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
R Burns said:
Suggesting to continually damage roots is really bad advice. Aeration should be done with appropriate materials when mixing your soil. No one should be doing this.
Click to expand...
You are totally wrong but I don’t have to smoke your stuff. Know anything about farming at all?
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
“
Aeration
Definition - What does Aeration mean?
Aeration is the process of puncturing the soil to allow better water penetration and to introduce more oxygen into the soil.

When performed outdoors, aeration is most often done with manual or mechanized equipment that either removes cores of soil from the top layer, or by simply puncturing the soil with spikes. For indoor gardening, the goal is the same, but the process by which aeration is achieved is somewhat different. In most cases, the actual soil composition is adjusted to promote more oxygenation and water absorption.

Aeration may also be known as soil aeration or oxygenation.”


https://www.maximumyield.com/definition/136/aeration

Stop listening to ignorant people.
 
R Burns

R Burns

Well-Known Member
hotrodharley said:
“
Aeration
Definition - What does Aeration mean?
Aeration is the process of puncturing the soil to allow better water penetration and to introduce more oxygen into the soil.

When performed outdoors, aeration is most often done with manual or mechanized equipment that either removes cores of soil from the top layer, or by simply puncturing the soil with spikes. For indoor gardening, the goal is the same, but the process by which aeration is achieved is somewhat different. In most cases, the actual soil composition is adjusted to promote more oxygenation and water absorption.

Aeration may also be known as soil aeration or oxygenation.”


https://www.maximumyield.com/definition/136/aeration

Stop listening to ignorant people.
Click to expand...
You are wrong! Sorry man. Aeration is to be done to only the very top of the soil. An inch or 2 at most. Not jamming bbg skewers repeatedly, deep into the soil. Doing it like you described, you are causing root damage and disrupting soil biology. Even properly done aerating is unnecessary if you build a proper soil. All that you would want to do with a proper soil, is loosen up the very top of the container. Your advice is irresponsible.
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
R Burns said:
You are wrong! Sorry man. Aeration is to be done to only the very top of the soil. An inch or 2 at most. Not jamming bbg skewers repeatedly, deep into the soil. Doing it like you described, you are causing root damage and disrupting soil biology. Even properly done aerating is unnecessary if you build a proper soil. All that you would want to do with a proper soil, is loosen up the very top of the container. Your advice is irresponsible.
Click to expand...
Whatever.
 
Herb & Suds

Herb & Suds

Well-Known Member
R Burns said:
You are wrong! Sorry man. Aeration is to be done to only the very top of the soil. An inch or 2 at most. Not jamming bbg skewers repeatedly, deep into the soil. Doing it like you described, you are causing root damage and disrupting soil biology. Even properly done aerating is unnecessary if you build a proper soil. All that you would want to do with a proper soil, is loosen up the very top of the container. Your advice is irresponsible.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what you are on about but I trim roots all the time and if you don't think aeration is important you should try the Plant Warrior containers ...full root exposure
 
R Burns

R Burns

Well-Known Member
hotrodharley said:
“
Aeration
Definition - What does Aeration mean?
Aeration is the process of puncturing the soil to allow better water penetration and to introduce more oxygen into the soil.

When performed outdoors, aeration is most often done with manual or mechanized equipment that either removes cores of soil from the top layer, or by simply puncturing the soil with spikes. For indoor gardening, the goal is the same, but the process by which aeration is achieved is somewhat different. In most cases, the actual soil composition is adjusted to promote more oxygenation and water absorption.

Aeration may also be known as soil aeration or oxygenation.”


https://www.maximumyield.com/definition/136/aeration

Stop listening to ignorant people.
Click to expand...
Haha! Did u read this? The info, here, that you cited, recommends what I said about aerating using material when mixing soil, for indoors! No mention if bbq skewers. Too good man!
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
“After reducing the foliar mass volume, it is now time to reduce the root ball volume and add some new organic soil. This operation should be performed when the soil is not too dry/wet to reduce the stress to plants.

Gently remove the root ball from the pot and put it in horizontal position on the nedge of a table. We’ll need a sterilized sharp knife or cutter.”

So we improve the plant this way but piercing the roots is damaging. Stop listening to ignorant and stupid people.

https://www.philosopherseeds.com/blog/en/keeping-mother-plants-root-trimming/
 
R Burns

R Burns

Well-Known Member
hotrodharley said:
“After reducing the foliar mass volume, it is now time to reduce the root ball volume and add some new organic soil. This operation should be performed when the soil is not too dry/wet to reduce the stress to plants.

Gently remove the root ball from the pot and put it in horizontal position on the nedge of a table. We’ll need a sterilized sharp knife or cutter.”

So we improve the plant this way but piercing the roots is damaging. Stop listening to ignorant and stupid people.

https://www.philosopherseeds.com/blog/en/keeping-mother-plants-root-trimming/
Click to expand...
This is nessesary at times for keeping mother plants. Not recommended for plants on a regular schedule. You are not reading the pages you cite!
 
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