Skunk Baxter
Well-Known Member
You know, when I decided to take up indoor growing, I knew I was going to run into some situations that were going to stump me a bit. I knew that a lot of the things I've learned over the years about growing outdoors just wouldn't apply. But I never dreamed I'd be baffled by something this friggin' simple.
What the heck is the best way to water rock wool cubes, and the best way to determine when plants in rick wool need watering? We've got 10 White Widow seedlings vegging in 4-inch cubes, which we water by hand, and I'm just having a hell of a time figuring out the best way to consistently water them. I initially figured that it would be fairly simple; just give them each an equal amount of water every day. But the damned things don't all seem to hold the same amount of water - we usually give them a half cup a day, but the next day some of them are dry as a bone and others seem to be as wet as when we watered them the day before. It's always the same ones, and it doesn't have any relationship to plant size. Some of the smallest seedlings are the ones that dry out the fastest.
I also figured initially that the best way to determine when they needed water would be to just pick 'em up and see how heavy they felt, but that idea went by the wayside too. When roots started coming out of the bottoms of the cubes, we placed them on a bed of hydraton to protect the roots, so now we can't pick them up without disturbing the roots.
So what do you guys do? I feel like an idiot asking how to water a plant, but what's the best way to keep the cubes consistently and uniformly moist without overwatering them? Do you just drench them and then drain the tray every 2 or 3 days, or what? How worried do I have to be about overwatering - am I overthinking that? They're a month old, and several inches tall, with well-developed root systems - but I don't like the way some of them are starting to look, and I'm pretty sure that inconsistent watering has a lot to do with what I'm seeing. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, and I'll rep the living daylights out of everyone who helps me out here.
What the heck is the best way to water rock wool cubes, and the best way to determine when plants in rick wool need watering? We've got 10 White Widow seedlings vegging in 4-inch cubes, which we water by hand, and I'm just having a hell of a time figuring out the best way to consistently water them. I initially figured that it would be fairly simple; just give them each an equal amount of water every day. But the damned things don't all seem to hold the same amount of water - we usually give them a half cup a day, but the next day some of them are dry as a bone and others seem to be as wet as when we watered them the day before. It's always the same ones, and it doesn't have any relationship to plant size. Some of the smallest seedlings are the ones that dry out the fastest.
I also figured initially that the best way to determine when they needed water would be to just pick 'em up and see how heavy they felt, but that idea went by the wayside too. When roots started coming out of the bottoms of the cubes, we placed them on a bed of hydraton to protect the roots, so now we can't pick them up without disturbing the roots.
So what do you guys do? I feel like an idiot asking how to water a plant, but what's the best way to keep the cubes consistently and uniformly moist without overwatering them? Do you just drench them and then drain the tray every 2 or 3 days, or what? How worried do I have to be about overwatering - am I overthinking that? They're a month old, and several inches tall, with well-developed root systems - but I don't like the way some of them are starting to look, and I'm pretty sure that inconsistent watering has a lot to do with what I'm seeing. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, and I'll rep the living daylights out of everyone who helps me out here.
