Container that Drains? Soil Drying Out Too Fast?

L

LetsRollABlunt

Member
So I have a couple seedlings starting to grow in some pots I bought at walmart, the pots have a small hole about a half inch wide on that bottom that the water drains from. I notice, however, the soil doesn't seem to be holding it's water very long, yet I've heard some people only water their plants once every three days!? :wall: After 12 hours, it seems as though the soil is completely dry. I'm not sure if this is due to the type of soil, the container, or a little of each? Should I just water more often?

I'm using miracle gro soil by the way.

Thanks in advance for any advice!
 
First get some better quality soil, second is your water just running out the sides of the pots? You might be watering to fast, water a little and let it soak in then water again after the soil absorbs the first watering. You can also add some dishsoap as a wetting agent
 
max316420 said:
First get some better quality soil, second is your water just running out the sides of the pots? You might be watering to fast, water a little and let it soak in the water again after the soil absorbs the first watering. You can also add some dishsoap as a wetting agent
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I was going to do an organic mix with no ferts, since they are still young, should I transplant them to a new medium? In the process, should I switch to a container that doesn't drain through the bottom?

What is a good rule of thumb for watering? I usually pour about 8 oz of water into the pots while holding them over the sink. Am I underwatering?
 
I recently switched from promix to FOX FARM OCEAN FOREST soil and I love it so far. Good shit man but anyways to answer your questions about the holes in the pots, YOU NEED holes in your pots to let excess water drain out, it not your roots would stay wet, suffacate and die. A good rule of watering for me is to lift my pots, to me its the easiest way to tell whether they need watering. But as you keep growing and growing you will soon be able to read you plants and tell when they need watering just by the looks of them..
 
max316420 said:
I recently switched from promix to FOX FARM OCEAN FOREST soil and I love it so far. Good shit man but anyways to answer your questions about the holes in the pots, YOU NEED holes in your pots to let excess water drain out, it not your roots would stay wet, suffacate and die. A good rule of watering for me is to lift my pots, to me its the easiest way to tell whether they need watering. But as you keep growing and growing you will soon be able to read you plants and tell when they need watering just by the looks of them..
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Awsome, I may have to hit up the hydro store to pick some up. Does it already have nutes in it? Hopefully not, because that's something I don't like about the miracle-gro soil. Also, did you mix anything else with the soil? Or just straight out of the bag?

Edit: I just looked up the soil, I see that it already has some ferts in it. Is it still safe for me to fertilize at about 1/4 str without burning if I switch over to this soil?
 
ocean forest does have some nutes in it. i think your good with watering it with ph water for like 2 weeks or 3. you can mix other stuff into it. ive mixed fox farm light seed warrior with ocean forest, and the plants do real well. make sure u ask the guys at the hydro store to be sure that ocean forest wont be to hot for your seedlings.
 
Kudos to above poster, he is right. But the difference between ffof and mg is that miracle grow has cheap ass ingredients and time released food. I started feeding after 2 weeks but mine were clones so they could handle it. If you putting seedlings in it I would just feed with plain water for at LEAST 2 weeks and then start feeding LIGHTLY.. Also to be on the safe side you might wanna go and pic up some dolomite lime to add to it just to keep your ph stable, yes it has a buffering agent in it already (ummm some kind of shell) but just too keep you ph good for your whole cycle and the lime also provides some extra calcium and magnesium and your plant(s) will love you for it
 
Please do not transplant into a pot with no hole on the bottom. You want as much drainage as possible.

I would have to assume that either your containers are way to small, your enclosure to hot, or that you are watering to quickly and the soil is not absorbing any of it.

I grow in aero pots and have to water near everyday during flowering - this is a good thing not a bad thing, more air exchange, and more feeding opportunities.
 
I'm guessing he is not letting the soil absorb the water well enough. What your temps in your room, cause i have had my ac break and it was over 100 degrees and still didn't dry up that quick. Hot as shit in there tho lol
 
Has very little to do with temps.

What is your current soil composed of? Too much perlite can cause there to be an absence of actual soil, thus not being able to hold the moisture that you're wanting it to hold. Just a thought.

Also, if you have really crappy soil than it may not allow proper drainage/moisture hold.
 
kizzzzurt said:
Has very little to do with temps.

What is your current soil composed of? Too much perlite can cause there to be an absence of actual soil, thus not being able to hold the moisture that you're wanting it to hold. Just a thought.

Also, if you have really crappy soil than it may not allow proper drainage/moisture hold.
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has alot to do with temps and atmosphere,if thats the case. plants should up take food way better in the corret enviourment.
 
a mongo frog said:
has alot to do with temps and atmosphere,if thats the case. plants should up take food way better in the corret enviourment.
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Yeah, if that's the problem, but he'd probably tell us if his room was outrageously hot/cold or there was some sort of other atmospheric problem.

This doesn't sound like that though, but I do stand corrected based on what I said. :P
 
The temp stays between 66-72 degrees Fahrenheit at all times. I have two 4" fans from radio shack, one exhausting, and one inputting air. I do notice that the air feels a little dry in my room though.
 
kizzzzurt said:
Has very little to do with temps.

What is your current soil composed of? Too much perlite can cause there to be an absence of actual soil, thus not being able to hold the moisture that you're wanting it to hold. Just a thought.

Also, if you have really crappy soil than it may not allow proper drainage/moisture hold.
Click to expand...

I don't have the bag anymore, but it was just some miracle-gro I found out in the garage
 
How are you checking to see if your soil is actually dry? Are you just looking at the top of the soil and it looks dry?

The way I make sure I don't over water is the check the weight of the pot and look at the leafs. Before you water pick up your pot and notice the weight of it, after you water notice the weight of the pot. Now you have an idea of what your plant feels like watered and when it needs water. Also I wait until my leafs start to droop a little bit, then I know that they are thirsty and I'm not over watering.

You can also put your finger an inch to three inches into the soil (depending on the size of your pots), if the soil is still moist an inch or two under the surface, then you don't need to water yet.

Hope that helps a little.
 
bamfrivet said:
How are you checking to see if your soil is actually dry? Are you just looking at the top of the soil and it looks dry?

The way I make sure I don't over water is the check the weight of the pot and look at the leafs. Before you water pick up your pot and notice the weight of it, after you water notice the weight of the pot. Now you have an idea of what your plant feels like watered and when it needs water. Also I wait until my leafs start to droop a little bit, then I know that they are thirsty and I'm not over watering.

You can also put your finger an inch to three inches into the soil (depending on the size of your pots), if the soil is still moist an inch or two under the surface, then you don't need to water yet.

Hope that helps a little.
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Thanks, I might have to try feeling the weight as a few people here have suggested. I've been using the finger method by going down a few inches, and surprisingly after just 12 hours or less the soil feels completely dry.

Could it be that I'm just not giving it enough volume? I usually do about 8oz of water per plant. (They are just a few days old, and about 1 1/2" in height)
 
Just remember, it's very difficult to over water your plant with one watering. It's frequent waterings when it's not drying out that drowns your plant. As long as your not washing all your soil out, you can add as much water as you want in one watering, to a degree lol. Just remember that any nutes in the soil get slowly drained out when you water. So if you have soil with time-release nutes, then you have to watch how much your watering carefully or you'll over feed it.
 
bamfrivet said:
Just remember, it's very difficult to over water your plant with one watering. It's frequent waterings when it's not drying out that drowns your plant. As long as your not washing all your soil out, you can add as much water as you want in one watering, to a degree lol. Just remember that any nutes in the soil get slowly drained out when you water. So if you have soil with time-release nutes, then you have to watch how much your watering carefully or you'll over feed it.
Click to expand...

Yeah this was something I was seriously worried about since I'm using miracle-gro. I mean, I don't know what else to do other than water them when dry. Hopefully they don't burn from the nutes :(
 
Now that everyone has had their say, I'll have mine.

My guess is that you never got the soil *wet* in the first place. Peat based mixes (MG is one), will actually repel water when dry.

Put your plant is a saucer or sauce pot or something similar. Then water, and allow the water to come up almost to the rim of the pot. Let it sit in this for 1/2 hr or so, till it doesn't float anymore.

NOW, your medium will be fully saturated and you can get on with a 'normal' watering schedule. Do this when ever the medium becomes overly dry and won't absorb water.

Wet
 
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