watering question.
- Thread starter charface
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cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
encyst? sporulate? go dormant? suspend their animation? Take a dirt nap! cn
Endur0xX
Well-Known Member
so in a healthy organic living soil, you are saying that it is best to give say 1-2 litres every day in a 7 gallons smart pot as opposed to 4 litres ever few days?
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
I am of the opinion that what won't kill the plant won't kill the bennies. cn
Nullis
Moderator
You don't want to let the soil get too dry for reasons other than the beneficial microbes, but yes if the soil does get really dried out those organisms that don't form endospores or anything will die out or at the very least activity will slow and populations will become reduced significantly.
The other reasons are that when the soil is getting too try, or even if there are dry spots in the soil, root growth will halt or roots will turn yellow and start to die; nutrient uptake will slow or halt because plants need water to absorb the nutrients. Under-watering can often lead to a plant looking as if it has a deficiency when really it just isn't being properly watered.
Furthermore, letting your soil dry out too much makes it more difficult to water properly. If you're waiting until the soil surface becomes hard and shrinks away from the sides of the container, you are definitely waiting too long to water. Then when you do water it is just going to repel it, pissing right thru without really being absorbed into the soil. A moist sponge holds more water than a bone dry sponge does and the same is true for soil.
You want to make sure you are watering thoroughly (seeing run-off) to avoid any dry spots. You should always give your plants a little bit of plain water at first, wait 15-20 minutes and then water thoroughly or fertigate. Once your pots have lightened up considerably and\or the top inch or so of the soil has dried out to just a tad moist, do it again.
The other reasons are that when the soil is getting too try, or even if there are dry spots in the soil, root growth will halt or roots will turn yellow and start to die; nutrient uptake will slow or halt because plants need water to absorb the nutrients. Under-watering can often lead to a plant looking as if it has a deficiency when really it just isn't being properly watered.
Furthermore, letting your soil dry out too much makes it more difficult to water properly. If you're waiting until the soil surface becomes hard and shrinks away from the sides of the container, you are definitely waiting too long to water. Then when you do water it is just going to repel it, pissing right thru without really being absorbed into the soil. A moist sponge holds more water than a bone dry sponge does and the same is true for soil.
You want to make sure you are watering thoroughly (seeing run-off) to avoid any dry spots. You should always give your plants a little bit of plain water at first, wait 15-20 minutes and then water thoroughly or fertigate. Once your pots have lightened up considerably and\or the top inch or so of the soil has dried out to just a tad moist, do it again.
scroglodyte
Well-Known Member
they are aerobes..........they like air
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
great Scott ... I'm a sexobe. cn
charface
Well-Known Member
Thats ok. I inoculate oft.
scroglodyte
Well-Known Member
ima aerohead
charface
Well-Known Member
I like aerosmith as well.
Even though the newer shit sucks balls.
LUDA
New Member
Beginners should definitely rely on judging by the weight of the container, or a moisture meter... although one must test several areas in the containers to get an accurate idea of total moisture.
It is important to the growth of a healthly and strong root system to let plants dry out quite a bit between waterings. It can take several years to understand your plants and their needs enough to feel safe drying containers longer than a few days. However, with gained knowledge and a moisture meter you can easily push your girls to their limits without fear of stress. When you water you want to water just enough to where you see a bit of water coming out of the bottom not gushing or pouring out. Just enough to see a little bit. Then you know the plant has enough water for a good few days. To prevent over watering you can either add more perlite to your soil or add hydrogen peroxide to your water for extra oxygen all the while killing bacteria if any in the soil.
After watering wait a few days to water. Canna plants like a good watering and then a couple days to dry out in between watering. So it’s very easy to over water. Besides the weight of the pot another way to test if your plant needs water is to use a moisture probe if you have one.
The top of the soil should be allowed to dry out between waterings if it's still moist the plant does NOT need watered. You can also use your moisture meter which will tell you the level of moisture down in the soil. You can buy these really cheap at any garden or hydro store or online. They are a good tool for new growers and peace of mind.
It is important to the growth of a healthly and strong root system to let plants dry out quite a bit between waterings. It can take several years to understand your plants and their needs enough to feel safe drying containers longer than a few days. However, with gained knowledge and a moisture meter you can easily push your girls to their limits without fear of stress. When you water you want to water just enough to where you see a bit of water coming out of the bottom not gushing or pouring out. Just enough to see a little bit. Then you know the plant has enough water for a good few days. To prevent over watering you can either add more perlite to your soil or add hydrogen peroxide to your water for extra oxygen all the while killing bacteria if any in the soil.
After watering wait a few days to water. Canna plants like a good watering and then a couple days to dry out in between watering. So it’s very easy to over water. Besides the weight of the pot another way to test if your plant needs water is to use a moisture probe if you have one.
The top of the soil should be allowed to dry out between waterings if it's still moist the plant does NOT need watered. You can also use your moisture meter which will tell you the level of moisture down in the soil. You can buy these really cheap at any garden or hydro store or online. They are a good tool for new growers and peace of mind.
Nullis
Moderator
^That's the thing about hydrogen peroxide in Organics... we don't want to kill any bacteria, of course there are microbes in soil there are supposed to be!
The other thing is that I tend to disagree that it is 'very easy to over water'... and if your soil\medium has the proper characteristics it should actually be a bit of a challenge to over water. Unless the soil is too dense and water-logged the pots would have to just be sitting there in a pool of stagnant water.
The other thing is that I tend to disagree that it is 'very easy to over water'... and if your soil\medium has the proper characteristics it should actually be a bit of a challenge to over water. Unless the soil is too dense and water-logged the pots would have to just be sitting there in a pool of stagnant water.
sorethumb
Active Member
hydrogen peroxide is found naturally in plants and animals and is even found in rain. the soil microbes bennys . im sure can handle it .they have found microbes and bacteria that can take harmful toxic liquid gold and turn it into solid 24k gold but the costs of making the cultures is more then the gold so .
hydrogen peroxide is probably the last thing you want to water into your organic soil, I know those who say small amounts improve o2 and all that but the bacteria and fungi in the soil is what you want there, organic living soil....IE living food/soil web....you will have to reinoculate your soil after doing this so why bother, there is NO NEED to kill anything in your soil aside from pests like thrips or fungus gnats etc.... IE bugs... Go ahead and piss off the microherd in your soil with something like hydrogen peroxide or even worse H2o2.... watch how long it takes to get your plants looking nice and healthy again, even worse do it during bloom so your yield will suffer because you loose time trying to reinoculate your soil so your plants can have the proper nutrition to do what they need to in order to produce those beautiful organic crystally nugs.....
The other thing is no matter what kind of nutrition you are giving your plants, you do need wet and dry cycles. The more you let the soil dry out, the more elaborate of a root system the plants are going to build because they only go looking for water/food when they can no longer get it where they lie...... so you can water your plants too much without over watering.... When you water your plants to soon (without over watering) the roots arent traveling around the pot looking for water/nutrition.... Why do you think the roots eventually find their way out through the holes in the pot....they are chasing the water...... the larger more elaborate root system, the larger the buds and the healthier root zone/overall plant..... Its not wise as it was said above to let the pot completely dry out, a moisture meter as said above is a good idea for newbs, however if you fill the pot with soil before you put a plant into it should give you a fairly close idea of how that pot will feel without any moisture give or take the weight of the plant. Something I do even though I dont like doing it with organic soil (because disturbing the soil is disturbing the microlife) is to stick my finger into the outer edge of the pot, if I get 2 knuckles in and dont feel any moisture its close to watering time based on how heavy the pot is, it can be stretched a bit as well as long as the plants arent going to fall over dead because they are too dry.... If you do some reading into the veganics thread at the top of the organics forum, matt rize suggests letting the plants literally get to the edge of death before watering for the reasons I stated above about the plant needing to constantly continue building and improving the root mass..... If you want nice white healthy roots, use an enzyme like hygrozyme....dead roots will become food for the microlife in the soil as they decompose so theres no need to clean/kill them with peroxide....
And please... if you like having a healthy living soil/food web going on in your plants root zone... leave the hydrogen peroxide for cleaning cuts on your body and h202 for the hydro guys who need a sterile root zone...... Ohh... and you can use the peroxide to sanitize your compost tea buckets and air stones...... so think what it will do to the microlife in the root zone of your plant....
The other thing is no matter what kind of nutrition you are giving your plants, you do need wet and dry cycles. The more you let the soil dry out, the more elaborate of a root system the plants are going to build because they only go looking for water/food when they can no longer get it where they lie...... so you can water your plants too much without over watering.... When you water your plants to soon (without over watering) the roots arent traveling around the pot looking for water/nutrition.... Why do you think the roots eventually find their way out through the holes in the pot....they are chasing the water...... the larger more elaborate root system, the larger the buds and the healthier root zone/overall plant..... Its not wise as it was said above to let the pot completely dry out, a moisture meter as said above is a good idea for newbs, however if you fill the pot with soil before you put a plant into it should give you a fairly close idea of how that pot will feel without any moisture give or take the weight of the plant. Something I do even though I dont like doing it with organic soil (because disturbing the soil is disturbing the microlife) is to stick my finger into the outer edge of the pot, if I get 2 knuckles in and dont feel any moisture its close to watering time based on how heavy the pot is, it can be stretched a bit as well as long as the plants arent going to fall over dead because they are too dry.... If you do some reading into the veganics thread at the top of the organics forum, matt rize suggests letting the plants literally get to the edge of death before watering for the reasons I stated above about the plant needing to constantly continue building and improving the root mass..... If you want nice white healthy roots, use an enzyme like hygrozyme....dead roots will become food for the microlife in the soil as they decompose so theres no need to clean/kill them with peroxide....
And please... if you like having a healthy living soil/food web going on in your plants root zone... leave the hydrogen peroxide for cleaning cuts on your body and h202 for the hydro guys who need a sterile root zone...... Ohh... and you can use the peroxide to sanitize your compost tea buckets and air stones...... so think what it will do to the microlife in the root zone of your plant....
sorethumb
Active Member
not trying to say it would be good for organics not saying its bad either . im sure its more natral then most the chemical fertilizers out there though and ppl still use them . hydrogen peroxide is natrally occureing and is in all liveing organisms even microbes they produce it in the decomposeing of organics . so why would it harm them if diluted idk though im not god of the universe or the garden .lol just my h.o