sup yall, heres the deal. for my current grow, i decided to downgrade from 5 gal pots to 3 gal pots, to save a lil money, that ffof isn't cheap!! ive heard the roughly 1 gal for 1 foot of growth theory. all of my plants are heavily lst'd, and most are topped. its a lil hard to measure the height, but i can gaurentee you most if not all are like 3+ feet. the light is a 1000w hps, ffof soil, yada yada, ff nutes, etc. etc. okay, my issue is this: (and i think it has to do with root space) everytime i water my plants, they seem to just DRINK it up... like fucking chug a lug. so far ive managed to keep them on a pretty aggressive nute feeding shecdule, and have yet to run into any major problems... but seriously, my lights turn on at 7 pm... ill water them with nutes or without, whatever, but in 48 hours, straight 48 hours, they are dry.. like bone dry... in the past ive been able to go 3-4-5 days without watering... but now im scared to even go 3!! im tired of having to fill up my water jugs, dose em up and shit like every 2 days...... i got enough plants , and its taking like an hr or 2 every 2 nights JUST for water.... that ain't even for my plants in veg either.... sheesh.... is it the lack of extra root space? thats making them dry up so much.. cuz they are BIG.... and healthy.... and in 3 gal pots.... ive got 1 in a 5 gallon just for comparison, and while i give it more water, it seems it could probaly last the 3rd day, maybe even the 4th.
the way you describe it it seems the pots are filled up with roots, not really having any space to draw water from except their immediate surroundings... what you could try is putting a layer of soaked hydroton or some other granulate on top of the soil, this helps disperse the fluids better and draws the roots to grow closer to the surface, thereby using more effective space in the pot... the alternative would be bigger pots IMO
word, thats a good idea, hadn't occured to me.... i think ill try tossing a light layer of perlite on top of the soil, or maybe adding a little more dirt, cuz at this point, they are not filled up to the top after so many waterings and so much growth and stuff. the bigger container thing is a no go..... no way im transplanting 5-6 weeks into 12/12, i only got like 2 maybe 3 more weeks to go here... but yah, that would seem to make sense.... when i push my finger down into the soil a few inches, i encounter heavy resistance.... i.e. the rootball.... its pretty fucking compact, hahahaha!! im really maximizing those 3 gals tho...... hehehe. the roots are probaly taking up too much space, and not growing so much anymore..... so they are only drawing water from like a few cm's away.... makes sense! thanks for the input! 7 pm tonight, here comes some soil/perlite mix bitchezz!! along with some water, definetly.... lol mother fucker, i hate getting like 12-14 gallons ready and nute mixed and ph'd..... and then wiggling around a jungle.... haha, ah well.... itll be worth it sooon.... soooo sooooooon.
Do you live in a dry climate? Raising humidity can reduce plant transpiration. Less transpiration = Less water uptake.
you know, if theres one thing ive always neglected in my growing hobby... it would be humidity.... it being winter now i dont think thats an issue.... but i live in CO... sooo.... yah it can get dry at some times.... ive honestly not done too much research with humidity.... i mostly just let it take care of itself.... but it could be causing problems or hampering me from maximizing my shizzit. i know its very important in the upcoming harvest/curing stages, but i really just don't know how to control it.... even with a de/ humidifer, idk, i dont feel like buying one... and just yah.... idk... making excuses.... but its not something ive ever paid attention to.