Watering Help

Hey guys and gals. I have decided to give up on the led's for now and have moved to cfl's. I had to throw out the last batch due to root rot. I have also decided to not try transplanting and have started them in their final 3 gallon pots. I made my own reflectors out of aluminum and have eight daylight 100 watt replacements for four plants. 100% germination rate again with nirvana seeds. They are doing great already as the foliage is darker green with much healthier looking leaves and at 3 days old the stems are fatter than the month old ones under led. They even had their first set of serrated leaves right when they popped out of the soil. I also switched soil to a steralized brand that is made by a local greenhouse. This soil is fucking sweet. It is so consistant all the way through. It has sand and other stuff but I added some perlite.


I have everything under control so far but want to avoid overwatering and just feel like I don't have a grasp of that aspect yet. I have heard that underwatering is better than overdoing it so I am on that track now. There are so many variables though. The soil when planting was nice and fresh and I gave it about a cup per plant and the next morning the top of the soil was dry and cracking so I watered again at a cup per plant. I have done this for three days and every day it is the same. I have a moisture meter that works rather well. The one with the flexible cord on the probe. It says 5 on a scale of 1 to 10 after watering but even though the soil is dry in the morning even down 2 inches it says 3-4 on the meter when inserted all the way to it's 6 inch reach. I don't think the amount of water I am giving is enough to saturate the entire pot like most suggest. I also can't really tell a weight difference at least as much water as I am using. Someone please help give me an idea if I am doing something wrong or right.Just doing everything I can to prevent killing more babies. TIA

hi AK...

for the first 7-10 days of the pants life, it is ok to water a little bit every day.. like you havebeen doing/.. this keeps the young new tender roots moist but not KEEPING the soil SOGGY.. roots need o2...

after the plant has developed roots and you notice that the plant is producing a new set of nodes nearly every day.. you will change you=r watering regiment... you will now water THE SHIT outta of your plants.. if you are using 3 gallon contaoners you will water with at least 1/2 gallon of water.... every 3-10 days... depending on the size of your plants and the room temperature..... you will easily be able to notice a difference in container weight... If you have trays that your plants sit in,. you should let the container sit in the over flow water... It should soak up the water within 1 hour after watering... if it does not, pour the water out....

If you check on your plants everyday or 5 times a day , you wcan even actually wait until they start to droop before you water... ia m not recommending this method especially in temperatures over 80 degrees.. but once you see the, droop it will really allow you to understand when they need watering.. ideally you would water them 12-24 hours before they start drooping.....

cheers

i hope this helped

Picture 1 - thirsty plant - should have been watered 12-24 hours ago
picture 2 - 30 minutes after plant received water
picture 3 - plant that was watered correctly (correct technique) and has even root growth throught the container

iloveyou

um foil for reflective uses is bad because it creats hot spots and can burn some of ur leafs. good job on giving up on led`s there not good for growing

how do I water my plants automatically with 3 gallon containers...do I have to run tubes from the container to the plants?

Garden Knowm said:

hi AK...

for the first 7-10 days of the pants life, it is ok to water a little bit every day.. like you havebeen doing/.. this keeps the young new tender roots moist but not KEEPING the soil SOGGY.. roots need o2...

after the plant has developed roots and you notice that the plant is producing a new set of nodes nearly every day.. you will change you=r watering regiment... you will now water THE SHIT outta of your plants.. if you are using 3 gallon contaoners you will water with at least 1/2 gallon of water.... every 3-10 days... depending on the size of your plants and the room temperature..... you will easily be able to notice a difference in container weight... If you have trays that your plants sit in,. you should let the container sit in the over flow water... It should soak up the water within 1 hour after watering... if it does not, pour the water out....

If you check on your plants everyday or 5 times a day , you wcan even actually wait until they start to droop before you water... ia m not recommending this method especially in temperatures over 80 degrees.. but once you see the, droop it will really allow you to understand when they need watering.. ideally you would water them 12-24 hours before they start drooping.....

cheers

i hope this helped

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I do check my plants at least 2-3 times a day. I figured I could tell easier when they get bigger and they show signs of needing water. But at this stage waiting that long could mean death. I keep my temps in the low 70 degree range. I also have the pots sitting in trays. The pot size will not change since I am in a closet. Would half a gallon would be the minimum I should water once they get bigger? Would that be enough to leave any runoff in the trays? The soil is great so I am not worried about drainage.Thanks again.

gutter8 said:

um foil for reflective uses is bad because it creats hot spots and can burn some of ur leafs. good job on giving up on led`s there not good for growing

Click to expand...

Who said anything about foil? You must have thought that is what I meant by aluminum. I actually made a temporary sheet metal brake and bent up some aluminum sheet matal. I polished the inside before I bent it. I have two of them. I closed the ends in with those oven bottom protectors. It was super cheap and they are thick enough to not get crinkled which would cause hot spots. I am rather proud of them. they work very well. One is just sitting waiting for some clones.

I gave the leds a very valiant effort but had no luck. I spent much money based on the success of the other fella on here that was growing with them and the promise of low power usage. Oh well, lesson learned. I am so happy at the difference in growth rate with these cfl's. They grow by the hour. The stems are already thicker than the others as well as the leaves growing faster and thicker. I have a 400 watt digital hps on the way with an air cooled hood for flowering. I am so looking forward to not having to pay for herb anymore. Have a good one.

Bump.............