water or no

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by immafarm3r, Feb 1, 2013.

  1. Ive got 6 small plants vegging between 5-6" tall right now, each is on it's 4th full with 5th nodes shooting out. They are in 3 gallon pots and the soil at the top 1/3 is registering dry with a meter, but going down to the bottom of the container registering wet. I realize the top will dry out quicker due to factors like exposure, air circulation from fan, etc, but some of the leaves are ever so slightly appearing to want water, as they are not standing straight out. I feel like I want to water to give the top roots a drink, but there are a couple of reasons I am hesitant. 1) if the roots are already toward the bottom, then there is still water in that soil, and I don't want to give any chance for root rot conditions to occur. 2) I've recently seen and killed a gnat or two, and don't want to make conditions for them any more inviting than I need to.
    I'm initially holding off on the watering for another day, hoping to get some insights from the peers.
     
  2. #2 usedtocare, Feb 1, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 1, 2013
    That is why you should start small plants in small pots and transplant them to the 3 gal pots when they get bigger. The roots don't reach the bottom of the pot, so the bottom stays wet and gnats start to appear, and the top gets dry. Is it too late to put them in smaller pots? If so, then I would wait to water them until they actually start wilting and in the meantime hope the roots stretch down to the bottom of the pot to get water.
     
  3. #3 immafarm3r, Feb 1, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 1, 2013
    Thanks for the reply. Makes sense. I could go to smaller pots but afraid they've gotten some roots headed down deep that I'd like to avoid disturbing or stressing. Plus due to the space (closet) i am probably going to be switching to flower in about 2-3 weeks. If I went down in pot size, would they be able to finish in a smaller pot? My beginner self went with the larger pots in hopes of making sure they had enough room...that and I didn't want to waste the good soil I got (Roots 707). Or should I just be vigilant at this point with watching for signs of trouble and letting it go a little more dry between waterings? Once I get home today ill throw some pics up. The don't look bad by any means, just not as perky as hopeful girls should be. :)
    -still learning.
     
  4. Like I said, I would monitor them and see if they actually start wilting, then water them. If you just go ahead and water them now you may end up killing them by overwatering. In the meantime, hope their roots reach the wet soggy bottom of the pot and start sucking up the water. When I grew in soil, I started with one gallon pots and when they became slightly rootbound I transplanted them to the 3 gallon pot. You don't waste any soil that way, all the soil in the one gallon pots is wrapped up in the roots and you basically just plop the rootball in the larger pots.
     
  5. Constantly transplanting from party cup to 1 gal pot to 3 gal also gives you more bang for your buck. Everytime you transplant it also gives your roots fresh nutrient filled soil. So you could easily grow for a month or more without any nutrients added to your soil.

    But if you have gnats your going to want to find to destroy them. They're larvae will be in the soil eating your roots till they grow and can lay eggs of their own. If your plants make it that long.
     
  6. Yo Farmer,
    All good thoughts from these guys, hope the pics come soon and we can better help. How are you watering? Are you top watering and letting the pot completely drain, does it sit in a dish to catch water and then absorb the runoff later? A little more info on this may help guide you as well. Also what does the drainage for the pot look like? One hole in center, four holes all opposite from each other, etc? Depending on the answer you may not have enough drainage options and the pot is storing water on you. Lastly are you using anything at the bottom of the pot such as river rock, broken terracotta pots, etc to allow the water to better drain from the soil and out the pot? This helped me big time when I used to grow in soil. I would drill tons of holes in addition to the factory ones, then fill the first 2" of the pot (these were 5 gal so probably one layer in a smaller pot) with river rock. The soil drained beautifully and never kept excess water in the bottom half. Good luck.
    ColoradoLegaliz
     
  7. #7 usedtocare, Feb 2, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 2, 2013
    Good point about the drainage which brings up the question whether your soil has enough aeration, like perlite in it, to allow for good drainage and room for the roots to breathe.
     
  8. Colorado thanks for the response. Response as follows:
    1) top watering to run through.
    2) sits in saucer to catch runoff but I try and empty the runoff shortly after to avoid sitting in water.
    3)8 small holes on bottom of pot equally spaced. (After looking holes seem pretty small, may try to add holes on side at bottom to help drainage, think its help?)
    4) another beginner mistake - no river rock or the likes as you described at bottom

    I'm almost less concerned now with the drainage issues as I think these could be handled almost by a gentle repot if not to slightly smaller containers using some river rock etc, or even to same size, filling bottom 2" with the rock and adding holes or just adding holes to help drain the bottom better. I'm now more concerned with the gnats and the damage they could cause. A couple of the plants still look good, but a couple are really looking more parched now (droopy). I can help that with the water but that gives those little bugs more of a party atmosphere to play in so what can I do to help that issue?

    Couple of pics (had to raise the lights for them and I'm just vegging with 6500 cfls but am ordering me an LED for the flower if I get there...


    image-465310393.jpg



    image-230589479.jpg
     
  9. Ok so how do I knock em out?
     
  10. Yes it's a good mix-
    Roots Organic 707:
    coarse peat, coco fiber, compost, perlite, pumice, worm castings, bat guano,
    fish bone meal, soybean meal, feather meal, kelp meal and much more.
     
  11. well you should be able to find it at any garden/ pet store i would think. hydro stores should also have it. that was to show you what to look for. said it didn't need to be that one.ebey is just my go to place to look for stuff.
     
  12. right. Ok thanks. Hopefully it'll be cheaper than $51 too. Sounds like the same stuff "they" used to spray for Mosquitos last summer. (Pyrethrum)
     
  13. Letting those containers dry out was probably the best thing done. I don't see any more gnats, not saying they won't try to come back after a watering but the plants didn't suffer anymore even without the water for another week so maybe the roots took a turn down and found the water at the bottom. Still have one kinda droopy but they are all still progressing, send side chutes out like crazy over the past week.

    image-1744134071.jpg



    image-664675392.jpg
     
  14. If you put a layer of sand over your soil. It will keep bugs put of it. Next grow add some perlite to your soil. Get a bigger pot. Add rocks or sand to the bottom two inches and sand on the top two inches. Helps fend of bugs and with drainage.
     

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