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Watering Questions

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by pzkiwi, Mar 13, 2012.

  1. #1 pzkiwi, Mar 13, 2012
    First time grow. It's been about 1.5 weeks and I haven't been following a regular watering schedule because what I've read so far is to "water when the soil feels dry."
    I've never grown anything so I just been using my best judgement as to what "feels dry" means - its been working out to roughly every other day, sometimes I'll water them back to back days.
    My plants are starting to look a bit droopy to me and one of them is showing a bit of yellowing which I read can be from over watering.

    Any suggestions for a regular watering schedule?

    Or can someone describe better what "dry soil" is?

    Should I be letting the soil get as dry as when it was in the packaging before watering?
     

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  2. #2 pinkbear, Mar 13, 2012
    the finger test is a good way to tell. stick your finger 1-2 inches down when it feels dry then water. also weight is a good method too. but takes time. i can now tell just by picking up my plant if the soil is dry or not. but then again i water my plants the same every week. tues/thurs/sunday
     
  3. #3 toastybiz, Mar 13, 2012
    It's far more than how often you water. How much do you give each watering? And do those cups have drainage holes in them? You definitely want drainage holes.

    When you water do so thoroughly, until the soil is saturated and you get good runoff. Then none at all until it dries out a bit. Finger test works -- stick it about up to about the first knuckle and if it feels the least bit damp then wait. Eventually you will get used to the lifting the lighter weight of a dried-out cup or pot and know just by the weight when it needs watering.

    Not having grown anything before might be to your advantage because the things most commonly grown, little flowers and tropical houseplants, have very different watering requirements than MJ and so a lot of newbie MJ growers follow those old patterns and end up killing their plants.
     
  4. #4 pzkiwi, Mar 13, 2012
    I'm giving 3 plants about a half cup of water total each watering.

    I do have drainage holes and I have my solo cups siting on plates, but the plates never seem to be wet even immediately after watering.
    -Am I under watering?

    When you say we want good "runoff" does that mean watering until the top layer "floods" a little before absorbing the rest of the water (this is when I've stopped watering when i do water)?
    Or
    Do you mean we want to see the water drain out from the holes each watering?

    Thanks for the responses so far, really appreciate it.
     
  5. #5 pinkbear, Mar 13, 2012
    there is a difference between mud and wet soil. runoff means the water coming out of the bottom of the drainage holes. its not about how much water your putting in (if you have good drainage) just water them good and wait till the soil drys up a little dont stress it. if you have good drainage and the right soil you can dump 1 gallon of water in the soil cups and its not going to over water them. over water occurs most when people dont have good drainage or they water way to often. dont stress it to much. its easier to over water then under water
     
  6. #6 pzkiwi, Mar 14, 2012
    I have 4 pen cap sized holes under each cup and again, I've never noticed any water actually draining from the bottom except for the first watering of the loose dry soil.

    What I noticed is i filled the cup about 3/4 full and watered and the soil became lumpy and shrank to about 1/2 of the cup height.
    I stirred it around a bit to loosen it up again and topped with a bit more soil and water and loosened it up a final time.
    Let it sit for a while before planting and and that was the only time water drained through the holes (I used a lot more water then).

    Do you think I didn't wait enough between the initial watering and subsequent ones
    Or
    I messed up with the soil prep

    Anything I can do now or just sit and wait if its one or the other or both?
     

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