Yeah it's definitely dry, but that's usually the case on the outeside edges of the pot, since air gets in contact with it so naturally that should dry out first. But what stumped me was that the middle was dry in a few pots, and even if it wasn't dry it was hard not soft and loam. I just gave them a good slow watering of Aloe water so hopefully they take that in and it hydrates it up a bit. They seemed to take it in fairly well. I'll probably do another slight watering tonight since todays supposed to be 90+ degrees. Thanks for your input man.
Yeah man ,no worries, I have had the same thing happen with any smartie less than a 30 lol even those I've had issues with dry spots. Poor watering habits on my part I suppose lol
I don’t think CC has any friends, seems to burn bridges if you look at what happened between him and MOBO (Blue jay) on IG. Don’t remember the details, but it’s there if you want to dig through Mountain Organics feed.
I’ve had the same problems in my 15 gal smarties I found the easiest way to rehydrate everything evenley was to put a saucer underneath the pot and just keep adding water to the saucer till everything is evenly moist. give them a day or two to dry out make sure you are watering evenly once peat dries out it’s hard to get it to take water again another good reason to go to bigger pots Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Sadly I can't find any saucer pans that fit underneath the 15 gallon smart pots. I think I was looking for 22/24 inch saucer pans. In a month these are going into my tent and they'll stay there forever probably. I slowly watered aloe water in and they took it alot better. I then added a thicker mulch with some more straw, and watered a second time with aloe water slowly and they all retained it. Should be smooth sailing after this. Bigger pots would be nice but I feel as if these 15 gallons are pretty doable.
You can get them from Home Depot or online. Just look for a water heater drain pan. They are the perfect size and have a drain hole! I was going to do that, but ended up getting a used 4x4 flood tray instead because it was slightly cheaper overall. Sent from my SM-G935V using Grasscity Forum mobile app
You might look up 25" saucers! Thats the only way I could find what I was looking for! They're extremely pricey however, think I paid ~25-30 dollars just for one. Shipping is a bit**. I also just sprinkle the top with VERY little water every 5-10 minutes if my soil goes hydrophobic! For a 15 gallon pot, I found about ~2 gallons does the trick (and it takes 30+ min)! So it needs to be applied very slowly. And the tray underneath helps tremendously, I'd recommend it undoubtedly! I even had some runoff last night but no worries, it'll soak back in with the saucer. Shouldnt need to water for another day or two, even with the girls being monsters and just entering flower! Good luck my man! Sent from my VS995 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I have a feeling it's the peat the only reason I say that is it happened to me on a batch and ever since I've been using promix as a base and it hasnt happened to the promix batches Sent from my SM-G960U using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Could just need to do what someone said by hydrating the pots from the bottom though let em soak up what they need Sent from my SM-G960U using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Yeah I'm definitely going to go find some saucer pans. I just can't find any 24 inch pans and that's what I would need. It's the biggest I can fit inside of my tent, 22 inch saucers wouldn't fit under the 15 gallon smart pots.
Could always build something using some pond liner and boards of choice..same upfront cost but could build multiple! That was my only option before going to the 25"ers Sent from my VS995 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
How durable are pond liners??? I’ll be doing a cab rehab in 3 months and am going to get rid of my 15 gallon smartie and useing a pond liner line the cab to hold my soil 20 gallons No drip holes How do ya think it’ll hold up???
@tejashidrow Is an amazing product.The metal frame included was durable, but didnt fit my size, so 1"pvc piping(.20$-.50$/linear foot) cut to size worked perfectly. Depending on applications... and your construction... small modifications to this could be very cost/time effective. Edit: Pond liners in general are a tough material. they dont stand up to sharps to well... but other than that, burst strength is quite high. As far as no way for moisture to leave the bottom...... I dunno Mine are a protection from blumats... so if they were to flood... id bail out the water... as a soil retention system... ill leave others to comment
That right there is your problem. The peat MUST be totally saturated the first time being used/mixed and a wetting agent used to break the surface tension of the peat. My go-to for years was Ivory dishwashing liquid & hot tap water. I've since used aloe juice, but feel the Ivory gives better results at least for the initial wetting when constructing the mix. The aloe gets used more once the mix is in containers like when top dressings of VC dry out and repel water. I've also found that when the initial wetting is done right the mix will still accept water even if it's allowed to dry out. Once that surface tension is broken, it stays broke for the most part. BTW, the Pro Mix accepts water like it does because of the yucca powder (saponins), that are added to it. It does take a decent amount of water for this initial wetting. I make 2cf of mix at a pop and add the water and perlite at the very end of mixing. For 2cf of mix it takes ~7 gallons of the hot, soapy water to thoroughly wet the peat moss and mix. Wet
at what stage of growth do you see the most benefit from a seed sprout tea? I have several hundred seeds from a pheno that wasn't selected for the next round of a breeding project, and I figured what could be better for a sst for cannabis, than cannabis seeds themselves. I only have enough for one good strong tea, what stage of growth do you guys think I should use the tea?
Thanks for the info. Gonna for sure reaserch that pool I really think that with a close eye on watering no drain should not be a problem I’m going to have 3 different ( brands) of moisture meters in there to try to watch the watering. But Ya never know till ya try. I’ve done lots of things dureing my growing tenure that gurus said wouldn’t work But worked just fine for my situation. Pax
I didn't use a wetting agent but it was saturated pretty good. Since I didn't use a wetting agent would you suggest Aloe waterings a little more frequently? They're in 15 gallon smart pots and are about to finish their first cycle. Or is there no way to fully hydrate them now? Maybe plant some clover cover crop to aerate the soil or will that not be beneficial to my cause?