Fabric pots watering

Joehask

Active Member
So I am in my 7th week of veg on three clones and I have noticed that the top part of my fabric pot is the last thing to dry out. the top will stay kind of moist but my plant will be drooping from lack of water I have all three plants sitting on pot elevators with fans blowing around them so I guess it kind of makes sense that the roots and the fan together will dry out the bottom part of my pot first. Anybody else have problems with this? I keep reading about the finger test when to water your plants and that's what I have been going by but I know my plants needs to be water because after I water them they perk back up. But again the top soil stays kind of moist I haven't been able to lollipop or defoliate so all of the leaves are kind of pushing around my pot covering the soil so that's the one place that doesn't get moving air hitting it. I just want to make sure that I'm not nothing my plants up any input would be very much appreciated!!
 
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TreeFarmerCharlie

Well-Known Member
Your plants are more than likely drooping from over watering. I've grown in fabric pots for 2 years and they top always dries first. How big are your pots, what type of medium is in them, how often are you watering, and how much are you putting in each pot with each watering?
 

Joehask

Active Member
I've been watering every 3 days about a gallon and a half to 2 gallons between all three of my plants. I'm using 3 gallon fabric pots my plants are about 7 weeks old in veg I have 500 watts coming out of the wall LED lights 20 inches away. Again I'm like 95% sure that I'm not over-watering because every time I water my plants perk back up
 

Joehask

Active Member
I have two fans constantly blowing one is on the ground blowing under and around my fabric potsI've been using pretty much the same watering schedule sense week 1 I've noticed this drooping problem a couple weeks ago and like I said I water and a couple hours later they look great
 

TreeFarmerCharlie

Well-Known Member
I've been watering every 3 days about a gallon and a half to 2 gallons between all three of my plants. I'm using 3 gallon fabric pots my plants are about 7 weeks old in veg I have 500 watts coming out of the wall LED lights 20 inches away. Again I'm like 95% sure that I'm not over-watering because every time I water my plants perk back up
What medium are you growing in? Soil? Coco? Either way you should be giving them enough water to get runoff.
 

Joehask

Active Member
The last couple times I watered I didn't water until runoff which was yesterday they were looking good all day I woke up this morning to them drooping so I lifted my pots and I felt light again so this time I used 2 gallons which gave me run off on all three
 

TreeFarmerCharlie

Well-Known Member
The last couple times I watered I didn't water until runoff which was yesterday they were looking good all day I woke up this morning to them drooping so I lifted my plots and I felt light again so this time I used to gallons which gave me run off on all three
This is why the top is not as dry as the bottom. You need to water them until runoff so the soil gets evenly saturated. Your 2-3 days between watering sounds about right, you just aren't putting enough in there.
 

Boatguy

Well-Known Member
My 3 gallon fabric pots in a similiar mix takes about a half gallon every 3 days. If you arent feeding bottled nutes there is no need to water to runoff
 

TreeFarmerCharlie

Well-Known Member
If you arent feeding bottled nutes there is no need to water to runoff
I agree, but watering until you get at least a drip started is a good way to at least figure out how much you need to water to get the water all the way to the bottom of the pot. This was the hardest thing for me to get used to for my current grow (first organic grow).
 

Boatguy

Well-Known Member
I agree, but watering until you get at least a drip started is a good way to at least figure out how much you need to water to get the water all the way to the bottom of the pot. This was the hardest thing for me to get used to for my current grow (first organic grow).
Mine is 3 parts promix, 1 part ewc, 1 part perlite. I water in stages, and 1/2 gallon is the capacity. Anything over i get runoff.
That said, all our gardens are alittle different. 3 gallon pots can get tricky especially later in flower because they can go from damp to bone dry pretty quick
 

Joehask

Active Member
I also have a small fan behind the fabric pot on the right near my air intake blowing directly on the fabric pots. Yesterday I watered with about a gallon and a half between all three of them and the leaves were all turkey pointing up at my light most of the day then today I checked on them and their droopy again in the pots feel light. Is it normal at this stage in growth for my plants to be drinking this much water?
Or do you think I am doing something else wrong? This is my first grow so it's definitely a learning experience but it does make sense to me that the same amount of water that worked 5 weeks ago would not work now
 

Joehask

Active Member
My questions are not regarding the seedling it's just in their my questions are pertaining to my 3 gallon fabric pots
 

Boatguy

Well-Known Member
I also have a small fan behind the fabric pot on the right near my air intake blowing directly on the fabric pots. Yesterday I watered with about a gallon and a half between all three of them and the leaves were all turkey pointing up at my light most of the day then today I checked on them and their droopy again in the pots feel light. Is it normal at this stage in growth for my plants to be drinking this much water?
Or do you think I am doing something else wrong? This is my first grow so it's definitely a learning experience but it does make sense to me that the same amount of water that worked 5 weeks ago would not work now
Temps and plant mass have alot to do with it
 
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