Watering seedlings

Here's the deal. I'm growing right from my 5 gallon bucket to avoid any transplanting. I saturated the soil like you're supposed to. That was on 12-16. On 12-18 my girl has sprouted. On 12-19 I noticed the soil was getting dry so I did the finger test. It felt close to being dried out so I watered her. I didn't use a whole lot and I did it carefully around the stem so I didn't damage her. Now today, 12-20 the soil feels almost dry again. My question is, how much water should I actually use when watering in a 5 gallon bucket? I watered yesterday and I feel she needs to be watered again, should I? She looks healthy. Also I noticed the cotyledon leaves are getting smaller and the true leaves are getting bigger, is this normal?

Just keep it moist don't let it dry completEly. As it gets bigger, the leaves will tell you when to water, as will the weight of the potted plant. (Full of water is much noticeably heavier)

It's going to be very difficult to control the moisture in a container that large with a plant so small. Next time I suggest you start in a much smaller container, it will be easier to control.

Chrisz0825 said:

my question is, how much water should I actually use when watering in a 5 gallon bucket?

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It's a balancing act. You don't want the top of the soil to dry out (past 3/4" deep, if the seedling is developed its first fan leaves). But, you don't want to water more than you need to and keep the lower parts of the soil too wet either. You have to balance what you feel poking your finger in the soil and the weight of the container. (You don't want to focus on the top part of the soil and lose sight of the fact that everything beneath has dried out.).

Unless you're growing an autoflower, it would have been better to start in an 18oz party cup, transplant to 1gal, 3gal and 5 gal. (You can transplant autos, but new growers tend to cause some shock, and autos aren't suited for recovering from shock.).

You'll have to be patient because the plant may spend 2-3 weeks developing roots without much activity above ground. That may trick you into trying to "help" it with more water, etc.

az2000 said:

It's a balancing act. You don't want the top of the soil to dry out (past 3/4" deep, if the seedling is developed its first fan leaves). But, you don't want to water more than you need to and keep the lower parts of the soil too wet either. You have to balance what you feel poking your finger in the soil and the weight of the container. (You don't want to focus on the top part of the soil and lose sight of the fact that everything beneath has dried out.).

Unless you're growing an autoflower, it would have been better to start in an 18oz party cup, transplant to 1gal, 3gal and 5 gal. (You can transplant autos, but new growers tend to cause some shock, and autos aren't suited for recovering from shock.).

You'll have to be patient because the plant may spend 2-3 weeks developing roots without much activity above ground. That may trick you into trying to "help" it with more water, etc.

Click to expand...

Well I will definitely start my next seeds in a smaller pot. I'm not growing an autoflower. I'm growing feminized northern lights. I just watered with about 12 ozs of water. Not too much but enough to penetrate the soil and get deep enough. The seedling is only 3 days old or so, so the roots can't be too big. Thanks for the heads up on not seeing any activity that my plant is fine. She is slowly bit surely getting a tad bit bigger. I feel the cotyledon leaves are shrinking. Or maybe it's in my head cause the first true leaves are getting bigger. I keep waiting for the next set of leaves but I guess I just have to keep patient.

Starting in large containers makes it a bit more difficult for newbies. Hopefully you have a well-draining mix, but the first time you water you'll definitely want to saturate the soil. However there aren't really any roots to absorb the water yet, so there is still going to be a lot of moisture below the soil surface. As the surface dries out sufficiently just remoisten as you have been and use the indicators that others mentioned such as rigidity and container weight.

You might consider mulching to retain surface moisture.

When theyre that size i water with a one cup cup. cup cup Ill usually water it once a day in that big of a pot. And the cotyledons will die off eventually. Its natural, dont worry.