Watering to runoff

Hi all!
I've just been wondering...
I keep having issues of salt buildup because I can't really water till I get 20% runoff.

If I do, the plants take forever to dry out.
I had to flush to correct my lockout and it's been 5days but the soil is still very moist and the pots really heavy.
I had to pour like 10liters of water to get the runoff I needed.
how do I get around this issue?
Feed way less nutes at a time and just enough water to keep the soil moist for 3days?

Cannaprentice said:

Hi all!
I've just been wondering...
I keep having issues of salt buildup because I can't really water till I get 20% runoff.

If I do, the plants take forever to dry out.
I had to flush to correct my lockout and it's been 5days but the soil is still very moist and the pots really heavy.
I had to pour like 10liters of water to get the runoff I needed.
how do I get around this issue?
Feed way less nutes at a time and just enough water to keep the soil moist for 3days?

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Just my 2c, opinions will vary on whether a grower should water to run off in a soil grow.

There should not be a salt build up in soil if using quality soil, quality water and quality organic fertilizers during a grow that takes 3 or 4 months. Under these conditions watering to run off is not required during the grow.

This allows a person to experiment with watering styles.

By not watering to run off I am able to experiment with watering everyday during flower with small amounts of water. It is a difficult way to water but done properly results can be quite good.

I do re use my soil and have been re amending the same soil for 4 or 5 years and I do leach any build up from the soil between grows.

Heavy use of synthetic fertilizers probably require a different style when watering vs organic.
It is probably a good idea to water to run off if constantly using them IDK.
Good Luck!

I'm using ghe flora micro and flora bloom with luca's formula.
I've been struggling with this kind of issues since the beginning even though I'm getting better at avoiding issues.
So grow after grow I feed less and less.

Even though the luca's formula is made especially for weed, I still had problems when using only half of the doses it advised

So I guess I will try to water less and use a quater of the normal dose?

Nitrogen toxicity is usually the first to point it's ugly head.
using half the dose of fertilizer and in veg, you'll understand it's quite surprising!

Cannaprentice said:

I'm using ghe flora micro and flora bloom with luca's formula.
I've been struggling with this kind of issues since the beginning even though I'm getting better at avoiding issues.
So grow after grow I feed less and less.

Even though the luca's formula is made especially for weed, I still had problems when using only half of the doses it advised

So I guess I will try to water less and use a quater of the normal dose?

Nitrogen toxicity is usually the first to point it's ugly head.
using half the dose of fertilizer and in veg, you'll understand it's quite surprising!

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You would probably do better growing in coco with synthetic fertilizers and following the formula for that type of growing.
In soil IMO someone should not feed synthetic fertilizers until the leaves of the plant begin to show deficiencies then synthetic ferts like you are using will quickly feed the roots but they do not feed the microbes in the soil the way organic fertilizers would.

Feed less.

Flushing and keeping the soil constantly wet will create additional problems. You can create an anaerobic environment where there is no oxygen and the roots can start to die.

Kushash said:

You would probably do better growing in coco with synthetic fertilizers and following the formula for that type of growing.
In soil IMO someone should not feed synthetic fertilizers until the leaves of the plant begin to show deficiencies then synthetic ferts like you are using will quickly feed the roots but they do not feed the microbes in the soil the way organic fertilizers would.

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I see
Growing in coco is an advice I will definitely take as I head it doesn't latch to nutrients quite as much as soil does.

I've juste been your typical stoner using the soil he has on hand because he forgot to buy coco AGAIN and who is WAY too stoked about his new grow to wait for the delivery

xtsho said:

Feed less.

Flushing and keeping the soil constantly wet will create additional problems. You can create an anaerobic environment where there is no oxygen and the roots can start to die.

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With a quote like that I can only believe haha
so I water them so they dry out in 3 to 4 days and use even less ferts when I feed got it!

If growing in soil and are using salts, you should always water to at least 20% runoff otherwise you won't ever be able to flush the excessive salts from your previous feedings. Also, if your plants are healthy and they still seem to be drinking slowly then its most likely an environment issue, not a plant issue. What I mean... how quickly a pot dries out isn't just related to how much a plant drinks, as that only accounts for something like 30% of the whole pot drying out thingie. Seriously, how warm it is in the, and how much humidity is in the, growing environment, play a much bigger role in the whole pot drying out thingie and those two things should always be properly adjusted based on the lighting being used! As some lighting systems, HID, will help dry out your pots more quickly, than say, a CMH light, and if using a CMH light your pots will dry out more quickly than when using, a led / a qb lighting array. Seriously... if you tested what I just described using the same temperature and humidity settings while using each of those lighting systems you would understand that. So that's why you need to adjust those (2) environment setting based on the lighting you are using!

I use the kiss method. I use promix and mega. I let the soil thoroughly dry before watering. I have oscillating air flow. 3 gallon plastic mop buckets with holes. At three weeks from flip they dry out every other day now. 16 cob led with ~80 watts of 660nm. The temp runs 80 max. Below the canopy 72 or so. ~50% humidity. I used to kill them with love.

And I never water to run off. Never check output pH. Input I run at 6.3 ish. EC now around 1.6. Just starting tip burn very lightly. ymmv

piratebug said:

if your plants are healthy and they still seem to be drinking slowly then its most likely an environment issue, not a plant issue.

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I'm using 189watts of leds
humidity sits at 50% maybe more like 55% now that my plants got so huge.
the biggest issue is my temps which I can't get under 28°c or 82°f
I have one ocillating fan blowing air over the canope and I plan on adding one under it as well.
with similar environment, it's usually around mid flower that the rootball has fully densely packed the pot and that allows the medium to dry in a timely manner.

Hard to tell without pictures. This is approximately 12sq feet with ~700 watts of led at the wall. 16 cob diy. They dry out every other day in three gallon of promix. Almost 3weeks from flip. Fertilizer ec 1.6.

dandyrandy said:

I used to kill them with love.

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I think this describes nicely what I'm doing.
well, they look very good and are nowhere near dying. But I could have less issues if I did everything more lightly

dandyrandy said:

Hard to tell without pictures. This is approximately 12sq feet with ~700 watts of led at the wall. 16 cob diy. They dry out every other day in three gallon of promix. Almost 3weeks from flip. Fertilizer ec 1.6.

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very nice plants man!
At this size mine would dry every other day too!

I'm not quite there yet so that's maybe why they don't drink nearly as much
They're almost 6 weeks old at the time and today is the first day since 12/12

Cannaprentice said:

very nice plants man!
At this size mine would dry every other day too!

I'm not quite there yet so that's maybe why they don't drink nearly as much
They're almost 6 weeks old at the time and today is the first day since 12/12
View attachment 4407905View attachment 4407906

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Plants look good. How many sq feet is that that you are trying to light with 189 watts?

Merlin1147 said:

Plants look good. How many sq feet is that that you are trying to light with 189 watts?

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Thanks!
My grow cabinet is a bit less than 3.5 square feets
it's not very big at all, I consider it a big micro grow