I had been trying to germ some cheap brick bag seeds and that wasn't working out. So one of my chums being the awesome guy that he is, germs me some better qualitity seeds, and gets them started in his window seal for me. I got them when they were probally about 2-3" out of the soil. I repotted them in big 8" pots. I didn't have quite enough soil to fill them up but they are 3/4 of the way up atleast. I burried the plants down in the soil to where only like 1/4 of a inch was coming out of the soil. (So basically there's like 4 leaves so far and a little bit of stem going into the soil.) Here's my question, my soil is drying out like crazy. I mean I can water and 12 hours later it looks dry. 24 hours later and the soil crumbles in your hands...... How often should I really be watering here? I've read like ever other day, and even heard people say every 3 days etc, but this dried out soil is freaking me out. My babies just started looking healthy (the pointed their leaves up at me) and I don't want to kill them.
some info will get you a good reply. what soil did you use? under lights? what lights? where are the pots? not next to a heater i hope. have you stuck your finger in to see if its dry all the way down or just at the top? do you just splash a bit of water on the top when you water or soak the soil till it comes out the bottom? anything else about your grow that you can say might help find the problem.
The first thing I tell anyone about pot plants is that they are exactly what they are named: weeds. They can take some severe punishment and still grow. With this in mind, the watering cycles can usually be determined in a number of ways. It all varies depending on the size of your pots and the amount of Perlite/Vermiculite in the soil, but you can usually tell that your plant wants water when the leaves just begin to droop. A number of people highly advise against this practice, but it is my theory that what doesn't kill the plant will only make it stronger in the end. Another way, if you're not comfortable with that method, is to let the pot dry out thoroughly. Pick up the pot a number of times and remember the weight of a dry pot. After this, water the plant and then embed the weight of a newly-watered pot in your head. Eventually, you will know your plants well enough to instantly "know" when they need water. ~Lycanthropy
are you saying lycan that the only evidence of an underwatered plant is droopy leaves. are there other tell tales of underwatering? jus curious
some info will get you a good reply. -more than happy to. what soil did you use? -All I could find/afford was mircale grow soil for now. Next paycheck I'll get some better stuff for my first "real" grow. This is basically just letting me get a feel for growing. under lights? what lights? -600 watt mh. where are the pots? not next to a heater i hope. -chilling on the closet floor, with a fan on low blowing on them. have you stuck your finger in to see if its dry all the way down or just at the top? -Thanks for pointing that out to me. I would of never thought about that...... I just did and there is some moisture at the VERY bottom of the pots. do you just splash a bit of water on the top when you water or soak the soil till it comes out the bottom? -I've been trying not to overwater, so yeah I pretty much just splash the top. It will be hard for me to see when water comes out of my pots. It's kinda hard to explain but the bottom of the pots sorta clicks on to the tops as a drip tray. They're 4 drainage hole and 4 holes in the bottom of the pot. The other 4 holes that don't drip get pluged up by the plugs in the dip tray and it looks like one solid piece sorta. (My pots only cost 88 cents each at Wally World). anything else about your grow that you can say might help find the problem. -I'm not really having any problems thus far. My babies have perked up under the light. No sign of light or nute burn. The only weird things are..... *One of the plants seems to have leaves curly up (toward the sight) but doesn't show any signs of strecthing. (Although all the plants were stretched when I got them. So I just burried alot of them under the soil.) *One plant is showing amazing growth. When I left today it had 4 leaves at the same node level. When I came back the 2 biggest leaves had grow up on another node. I mean this sucker is taking off. The only weird thing is that one of it's leaves looks normal untill the tip of the leaf. There it kinda looks like it was cut into a spearhead type shape. None of the other leaves are like this. *You guys think it would be wise to set up my co2 dripline now? My only concern is the very tall osciallating fan. (It's the round tube kind that has a fan that goes vertically). I'm scared it will blow all the co2 away. But without it my temps will be out of control. And I have no real way of venting my space. Any input is greatly appericated. I'm going to toke one for all ya'll right now.
ok, the water is going from the pots in 3 ways. the plants are drinking it the heat from the light is evaporating it the fan is speeding the other to things up a lot, wonderfull things fans. if you cant tell when water is comming out the bottom then water with about 1/3 to 1/2 the amount of water to the amount of soil. erm i said that bad, if you have 3 liter pots of dirt then water with 1 to 1.5 liters of water. any exsess will run away, overwatering is only a problem when the soil is wet all the time and has no chance to dry out a little, not a problem for you so feel free to give them a bath now and then. its time to water again when u get an inch or so of dry soil at the top. dont put ur finger in further again as you may disturbe the roots that will be growing. if you need to vent a lot then i dont think the co2 will be worth using unless you can time it well (fans off/co2 on) it would be worth sorting this as the heat will be less of a problem for the plants with the extra co2. the safest thing to do would be to just vent as much as poss to keep temps down and fresh air will have a lot of co2 in it.
Hey shorty, Are you still doing this grow in a limited height environment? My soil seems to dry out crazy fast on the surface, but I usually stick my finger down to 1-2" below before I decide to water or not. Overwatered one plant when it was young, and it's earliest leaves are still kind of an icky pale color. Also, if the MH is drying the air in your space out real fast, maybe put a small saucer with some water in it near the plants to evap. I think someone here mentioned it can help.
Yup I'm doing the bowl of water thing right now, thanks for pointing that out to me. I had heard sid (I think) say it before but I must of just forgot it. I'm going try to set my timers and co2 up later today. And yes I still have a limited height grow. This grow is just an experiment. And to be completely honest with you guys, only one of my plants is doing anything worth a chit right now. So I should hopefully be getting some white rhino, k2, or top 44 soon to grow.
hey man whats goin on im goin through almost the same shit u are, i got sum seeds planted them about a week later they starting sprouting, there about 4 inches now, 4 leaves ive been watering my plants alot lately, like you my soil has been drying out quick as hell i water my plants at leaset 2-3 times a day to tell u the truth u aint gonna hurt ur plant by watering it more than once a day
I guess that's OK but you really need to watch that you don't overdo it especially if it's in a small pot. If the soil gets all soggy, the roots can't get enough O2, and you end up with yellow icky leaves. I flooded one of my plants when it was in a little cup, and the leaves that were damaged then still look like crap, even though new leaves look OK. But hey, if it's working for you power to the people!
Holy shiz that's why my leaves have been turning yellow. I just noticed it and my two bottom leaves (the ugly looking round ones) have been starting to get a little yellow. Alright well now I know why and I'll easy up on the water. Thanks man.
Ack, I should have specified -- those 2 little leaves at the bottom (cotyledons) dry up and fall off all plants once they are able to use their larger "normal" leaves. So if that's all that's yellowing or curling, you're probably cool
Glad you said that, iwas startn to wonder about my one month old, she looks great except those bottom leaves are yellow and i definately dont over water. Can i pullm off or just leave them on n letm fall off?
Better to let'em fall off... they don't affect plant growth in any way... and if you pull them off too soon, you might also rip away some healthy tissue... ooh, not recomended, especially in the seedling stage..
I didnt read the last couple of post so I dont know if anyone mentioned this, but plants dont drink theyre wather only with theyre roots. As you know, you cant have rain inside your house, so heres what you should/must allso do: every day the cold air drops down to the ground and wets the plants with a bit of fresh wather. you should do that to, every morning, get up at about 6am spray your plant a bit with wather and turn of the linghts (make it a gentle spray, you can buy this sort of sprayer in markets - a sprayer that sprikles your wather, you know what I mean, that will make your plant absorb its wather directly through the leaves. do this everyday in the morning, and every two days do it in the evening allso. anyway - heres the recepy you should follow: 6AM - get up, spray it a bit on the leaves 8AM - turn on the lights and the fan 8PM - wahter it just a bit on the soil 12PM - wather it some more and turn of the lights. this will make you plant just eat, so it will have a lot of energy when it "wakes up". like every living organism, the plants need some rest. the thing works for me
Plant needs light in order to eat --> photosynthesis... I'm not sure what you meant by the plant "eating" in the dark...
I think that is advisable only if you're living in a place with really dry air... case in which you should humidify the air and not the plants,... but anyhow, what I'm trying to say is that rain, and direct "wather" on the surface of Cannabis plants could be detrimental to them as it can easily trigger moulding and bacterial activity (keep in mind, we're not talking about Ficuses over here..)... Peace!
First of all, plants don't feed on water, they feed on nutrients that water transports from the soil(or medium)... Second, not all plants are the same... some plants need to sweat, such as some varieties of Cannabis, and therefore have transpiratory trichomes on the surface of their leaves, and if you spray the leaves you might plug up these trichomes and stop the plant from sweating(not mentioning the respiratory trichomes, through which they release oxygen)... as a matter of fact, different varieties are different: usually you can tell from the surface of the leaves(the plants who's leaves' surface is shiny are plants that don't sweat much or don't sweat at all(usually in the Indica category), whereas plants that have kind of a rough surface on the leaves have a lot of transpiratory trichomes, which means they need to sweat (usually Sativas), and besides the fact that they get plugged up, these trichomes are the ones that can trap the water on the surface of leaves and create small echosystems ideal for fungus and bacteria...
lazy 1st off you dont need to mist mj. it doesnt need it and like heavystone says it can be harmfull. also a lot of mj grows in places with very little rain so if your gonna use the "its what nature does" argument then its a false argument. are you mad??? plants aint the only thing that needs rest, get up at 6am! not if i can help it mate and never on the weekend. personaly i have a job and a life, i cant be doing with all that everyday if i had to do it id rather buy crappy bud and stay in bed. oh and i noticed this was your first post. welcome to the city, i hope you enjoy your stay