Soil too dry? Or is that the noob mistake?

Hi all,

Just started my first grow and i'm trying to workout if I need to water my seedlings.

When I potted the soil (its Guanokalong Complete Mix soil) it was quite a dark colour.

I've had my seedlings in for a few days and now the top seems very dry. So dry that it's a very light brown and crumbles to dust in my hand. The seedlings seem ok but I'm worried I might ruin the soil if i leave it to dry too much?

IT's an LED box grow, 360watt, Temps 24c-27c. Humidity is pretty low at about 25%-30%. Also should note the pots are pretty shallow but wide (due to hight restrictions).

My gut tells me that this way to dry and to give it a good water. But I always read the noob mistake is overwatering so I thought I should check.

Thanks to anyone who can help!

did you soak the soil and let it run off before you put seedlings in the pot?

I wouldn't say I soaked it. But I did water it enough to start seeing some run off at the drainage holes.

The rule of the 'Green' Thumb is weight.
lift the pot
heavy? dont water
Light? Water

but did u put seedlings in when you watered the pot?

chiefsirbong420 said:

but did u put seedlings in when you watered the pot?

Click to expand...

I paper towel germinated the seeds.

When they had roots I potted the soil, gave it a water and put the seeds in.(Seedlings popped up in about 30 hours)

hmm ok so there not over-watered. what i do is keep a spray bottle at room temp by my lil girl and the soil dries very fast so i just give her a few squirts once a day mostly right away when i wake up here she is https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/721368-update-my-lil-girl.html but im using cfl lights not led...

they probably still have moisture deep in the pot, the top always dries out pretty quick. What size pot are you using? bigger pots can hold moisture a lot longer especially under LED since its such low heat.
I recommend getting a cheap moisture meter there very reliable and u can get them for about 5 bucks at any hardware or gardening store

untill the pot feels very light dont worry about it. you can mist the top of you want like others said.

What size is the pot? You should be starting them in a smaller container and transferring them when they have a good root base. When I ran soil I would use the kick the pot method(I know, I know), giving a light tap I was able to tell if they needed to be watered. I watched a guy with a back injury doing it and I thought too myself...hey! I don't need to bend over...BONUS! All you can do now is wait for it too dry out, if your plants are still small you can just water lightly around the plant while letting the rest dry out. Good Luck JAS

For a seedling you should not let the soil dry out at all. Keep it moist until you transplant.

With seedlings I put a piece of paper on top so the soil on top does not dry out so fast.

Wow thanks for all the replies.


I've actually been experimenting. I have two seedlings and I'm time lapsing both of them. One of them i've waterd more than the other and getting some interesting results.

the over watered one tends to have very steady gorwth at all times.

The under watered one tends to pretty much not grow at all untill water is added. Then it grows like mad!

All in all with a big difference in watering they are both exactly the same height!

My bigger worry is can you ruin the soil if it goes BONE dry? or will it be ok?

420Barista said:

The rule of the 'Green' Thumb is weight.
lift the pot
heavy? dont water
Light? Water

Click to expand...

I live my watering schedule by this motto, I think its probabley the only way to do it accurately, People just tend to over think things allot haha. I sometimes stick my finer maybe an inch or two in the soil along the sides of the pot (to avoid touching any roots) then if when i lift my finger and there's moist dirt then its usually fine but that's just me.

bhpushnslide said:

Wow thanks for all the replies.


I've actually been experimenting. I have two seedlings and I'm time lapsing both of them. One of them i've waterd more than the other and getting some interesting results.

the over watered one tends to have very steady gorwth at all times.

The under watered one tends to pretty much not grow at all untill water is added. Then it grows like mad!

All in all with a big difference in watering they are both exactly the same height!

My bigger worry is can you ruin the soil if it goes BONE dry? or will it be ok?

Click to expand...

Cannabis is a very strong plant, They can usually bounce back from any thing that isnt extremely stunting. If the soil drys out your plant gets no water, Therefore it cannot complete photosynthesis so therefore it will not grow, but that does not mean it will die. it should be completely fine as long as you dont leave it dry for like 5 days.

420Barista said:

The rule of the 'Green' Thumb is weight.
lift the pot
heavy? dont water
Light? Water

Click to expand...

I have been using this method for the grow I have going now, my first real grow. It hasn't failed me yet. Also, your RH sounds a little low, which may cause the plant to transpire at a higher rate than say if the RH was in the 55-65 range. This would cause the soil dry faster as the plant is using the water more quickly. I think that's correct. I've heard if your RH is too high the plant doesn't open the stomata and it won't transpire as much, I think it has to do in part to the gradient between the moisture in the plant and the RH. Good luck with your grow!