Please can anyone help me please? I am 6 weeks into flower and have been doing this right the way through. I water and feed my plants pretty much every day and as a result have lots of run off, which sits in the tray my pots sit in. Now I've always thought that the plants will suck up all the water they need. But since beginning to research on here, I keep reading that, leaving my plants to sit in standing, stagnant water for any length of time, is not good for them. Is this right? And should I do anything about it? It would be so much hassle to keep the pots out of standing water, and I never set up my grow room with this in mind, so even though I might strictly stick to no standing water on my next grow. It would be impractical to do it now, unless it's gonna seriously effect my yield. Like I said, I've been leaving them in any water that drains through the pots, up to now, and it doesn't seem to be hurting them, though the water isn't very pleasant and I try keep it as leaf free as possible, but it's still a bit icky. But a friend did tell me not to worry about that, since it's all good nutrition for the girls.
I’ll chime in. You are correct; I’ve heard people say that they leave the water in the overflow tray because the plant sucks it up, anyway. Horse Feathers! They are making the plant roots sit in water; dead wrong. I DO water all my plants until some seeps out the bottom (remember drainage?). Then, I syringe up the standing water from the tray. I believe this to be correct.
Some baking stands and something to collect the runoff like a basinis all you need. So longas the runoff water is away from the roots its fine. Empty it once a week or whatever. If youre rich a wet vacuum is another option
Unfortunately I'm not rich so a wet vacuum is out of the question. However this is great info, and is exactly why I joined this forum/community, so thanks you guys, you've all been extremely helpful and very welcoming, I'm so glad I decided to join and I would recommend anyone just starting out growing weed also does the same. I really appreciate this and it's great fun having a whole on line community to bounce my ideas and problems off. My 2 options for dealing with my icky standing water issues are 1: To just carry on as I have been, the plants have spent their entire lives stood in run off from my watering them, but they don't seem to mind it, tho saying that, I have nothing to compare that with, they could be doing 15/25/50% better than what they are now for all I know. 2: I can start bailing out the run off with a bucket/jug. An tho yes it will defo be a hassle, if you guys think it's really worth it, even this late on in the process. Then I'll just afta suck it up and get bailing. But I'm more inclined right now to stay as I am and just prep my room and plant lay out for better and easier access to all the pots for next time.
Personally i keep everything proped up off the ground and out of the drip tray just used things i found around the house and here's what i came up with, easy access to drip tray right here
Yes man! Thanks for sharing this, I'm defo gonna do something just like that, but I'm not sure if it will be this time round. I fear that it's too late to be changing my layout now, being only a few weeks from the end. Like I said, they've always been in standing water, and nothing seems to have gone drastically wrong. I water and feed them and within 2 days all the water has evaporated and the trays are bone dry and ready for another watering. I will certainly be doing this next time round tho, I will never have my girls sitting in stagnant, run off every again, I'll be very interested to see what difference it will make. I'll be sure to let you all know. Thanks again
My word! How much runoff do you get? I use soil and I use this to suck up the excess runoff. NOT expensive at all! I fear that roots standing in water may lead to root rot.
As long as your tray is fully dry by the next watering I'd say your ok to finish this grow cycle as is. It's standing water still in the tray at next water that will cause issues. BNW
I have maybe one or two inches of standing water after a right good watering. But I never water again until it's completely dry. The more research I do, the more I realise what a bad idea it is. But cos of the way I initially set up the room. It's just not practical for me to start draining them now. Especially when I don't seem to be having any problems with it. My thinking was that they would suck up any run off water, back up, as an when they need it. This isn't down to any laziness on my part. I genuinely love looking after my plants and watching them grow and thrive. I seriously thought everyone did that. So do you know for sure that the plants don't suck up any standing water? When I return to find dry trays, is that all down to evaporation? Thanks for your reply, I appreciate any and all feedback.
No I never water them again until the tray is dry. They don't all be stood in water, out of my 4 trays (each containing 2 pots) there's one that seems to always have an inch or so, run off after a good watering. Another which has like half the amount of water in the tray. An the other 2 don't seem to have water in them for long at all. It's really strange cos they all get around the same amount of light. So I can't understand why the water evaporates at different rates. This issue has arisen not due to any laziness on my part. But cos of how I initially set up the room. So unless it's a critical problem, I'm just gonna ride it out and change it for next time. But the reason I did it like that, is cos I was under the impression that any run off would be sucked back up by the plants as they need it. Is this totally wrong?
I allow about a 1/2 hour for my plants/medium(peat) to suck back up the runoff. Then I wet-vac up the rest. There are models that are not that expensive. My $39 Shop-Vac has worked super in my grow room. Before that I used a Turkey Baster.
What are the kind of problems you may have if you were not to do that? I ask cos I don't seem to have had any problems at all, but obviously I wouldn't know if my plants would be twice the size or bulk, if I had of done it. It's my first time growing so I'm expecting to not maximize my yield and I did inexplicably lose one plant a couple of months ago, but after an autopsy I concluded that it was down to poor drainage, it just shrivelled up and died. How many weeks on average would you have your plants in flower? I really want to not rush anything and let it take as long as it needs to. But I have a partner who is eager to harvest and he reckons that it's pretty much a set time period for flowering, so depending on the strain, it's 8/9 week and then you have to harvest. What I'm saying is, let them tell us when it's time. Any thoughts?
I think uneven air flow from your fans will change the evaporation rate, hitting plants differently, the plant that is closest to the intake air might have a different evaporation rate, more or less moisture coming in, stronger plants use more water, uneven soil mix will cause an un even soil saturation, allowing more or less water to flow out, I use self-watering pots with a little perlite in the bottom of the pot and suck up any leftover in about an hour after with a turkey baster. I got the book o r g by the Rev, great results so far
We all agree that GREAT drainage is important, then we let the plant sit in water? (Shakes head in confusion)
While there are times I have gone back to my room in the morning after watering and discovered things still sitting in runoff...I have always been one to suck it out so I have nothing to compare to. I can only assume it will retard growth a bit. Most the strains I have grown take about 10 weeks from flip.
10 weeks actual in flower. Smells will have dropped off a bit from her max stinky phase. She'll have gone from sparkling in the sun like it's covered in diamonds down to a more dull dusted in sugar sort of look. Trichomes will be all cloudy and plenty of amber showing in big swatches. Like a wild assed painter was at it. Even after harvest it's not ready to use yet IME. Needs a minimum of 30 days cure in the jar to reach its best in both flavor and effects. Early harvest and a to short or missed cure is piss poor weed. Grow long enough and you will see exactly what I mean. Headaches, Short duration high, Poor taste and smells. Like mowed lawn clippings. Skinny fingered high Sativa strains can go much longer then 10 weeks. 13-15 even 20 weeks is not unheard of. BNW
Thank you so much, cos that's exactly the kind of info that I was after. I pretty much knew from my own research that it couldn't possibly be such a rigid and specific time scale. Living things just don't work like that. I reckon my partner is just blagging cos come what may, he wants it down before his up coming holiday. Which I specifically asked him not to factor in the money from this. I will definitely be arguing for leaving it as long as is required.
