When to water if soil is not drying?

Hi,

I got a 2 plants scrog going at the moment, flowering for a week now.
They are in 11 liter / 3 gallon pots.

I learned to water once the top 2-3 inches of the soil dries out and the pot feels light.
But in this grow it takes too long. I waited for 7 days once and it was just the top inch that dried up and the pot wasnt still light enough.

I would wait long enough, but the problem is after 5 -6 days the plants start to droop and virtually stops to grow.

Thats why I water after 6 days, even if only an inch under the surface has dried out.
The growth resumes right after watering.

I might fall weeks behinds schedule if i would wait til the soil is properly dry, plus it prolly would reduce yield, as they wont stretch as they should.

I just wanna make sure I'm not harming my plants in doing so...


So... in short, when should i water?

Are your pots tall and narrow? I had a wonderful source for these square 4 gal buckets, all I wanted, in fact. I kept having problems with them, as when the top few in of soil was dry, the lower roots were still wet. I switched to the round ones you see in the back, and the soil dried a lot more evenly. MY OWN HYPOTHESIS on this is use a pot that is no more than 1 1/2 times as deep as it is wide. Any deepr and your roots will stay perpetually wet. See pics:

No, i find my pots to be short and wide...
This is a picture from 2 weeks ago.. same pots tho.

The thing is, i can feel the bottom soil thru the drainage holes. They do feel dry after 3 -4 days, its the top soil that remains moist.

They look OK, you SURE the soil is staying wet? Or is it just sorta damp?

no they are not wet. just damp. The soil will stick to my finger when I stick it in there...
And from what ive learned, that shouldnt happen when u want to water again. it should be really dry.. or no?

Yeah, it should be pretty dry. What's the room humidity? Can you blow a fan across the pot tops?

It sounds like you have a decent solution for this grow. Just water them when the growth slows. On your next grow, add more perlite to your soil. That'll help them dry out more quickly.

You could also try poking some drainage holes around the outside of the buckets toward the bottom. That'll help get more air to your roots. And the white fan in your picture appears to be off...keeping it on 24 hours a day will help your plants transpire and use more water from the roots.

It looks like a nice indica strain you have there. I hope you solve this problem and get some nice buds. Good luck.

I've been gardening for over 30 years and I still use a moisture probe just to be safe. It takes the guesswork out of watering. You can buy an inexpensive one for less than us$10.

I have a feeling my moisture prober doesnt work... are you talking the kind with the ph meter and the light meter on it as well? I left it in a pot for a while and now it seems like none of the sensor are working on it ... I figured it`s because I paid 10$!...

To me it looks like because your plants are so bushy and short, they keep the moisture in at the top of the bucket, may be if you drill a few holes around higher up for now it might help, and I heard you are suppose to cover those hole so that the light dont hit the roots. Good luck

Dont water untill pot is very light to lift. If its taking that long there may be an issue with the root system as the plant isnt drinking as usual. Try a large fan blowing on pots ,this helps a little but get to the bottom of the issue.

Are you feeding?

You might be experiencing lockout from the salts in the nutrients, if you are using non-organic nutes. The salts left behind from the nutes combine with the water and you're left with salt water that's hard for the roots to uptake.

Every time my plants exhibit what you are describing, I flush with about 3x the volume of the pot... after that, they dry out normally (takes an extra day or two due to the extra water) and then I find they uptake what ever I give them again.

Thanks for all your feedback guys, appreciate it!

Stoobie said:

It sounds like you have a decent solution for this grow. Just water them when the growth slows. On your next grow, add more perlite to your soil. That'll help them dry out more quickly.

You could also try poking some drainage holes around the outside of the buckets toward the bottom. That'll help get more air to your roots. And the white fan in your picture appears to be off...keeping it on 24 hours a day will help your plants transpire and use more water from the roots.

It looks like a nice indica strain you have there. I hope you solve this problem and get some nice buds. Good luck.

Click to expand...

Yea I watered them again today just after 4 days of the last one. Top soil still felt moist... But there was no noticeable growth increase from yesterday. This time I watered less quantity wise, letsee if this helps. BTW, its a sativa dom. strain: Amnesia Lemon... But yea it does look indica huh!

*BUDS said:

Dont water untill pot is very light to lift. If its taking that long there may be an issue with the root system as the plant isnt drinking as usual. Try a large fan blowing on pots ,this helps a little but get to the bottom of the issue.

Click to expand...

I know I should water til the pot is light to lift... but thats 8 or more days (havent tried to wait longer than 7 days). What should I do if my plants droop and dont grow for like 5 days? A more important question is... whats bad about watering the plants while the soil is still moist?

AltarNation said:

Are you feeding?

You might be experiencing lockout from the salts in the nutrients, if you are using non-organic nutes. The salts left behind from the nutes combine with the water and you're left with salt water that's hard for the roots to uptake.

Every time my plants exhibit what you are describing, I flush with about 3x the volume of the pot... after that, they dry out normally (takes an extra day or two due to the extra water) and then I find they uptake what ever I give them again.

Click to expand...

I fed them just once, that was a week ago... but ill continue feeding them from now one... with just water in between feeds. I'm using Plagron Alga Grow, its suppose to be 100% organic. Is lockout still a possibility?