Watering

When i was doing guerrilla grows in Southern Ontario, I had plants in marshland, farmers fields and forested areas, all of which required different watering schedules and different methodologies.
It really depends on where your plants are, what the soil is like, how often it rains.

My marshland plants were often at risk of being overwatered, which required, amending the soil prior to planting and and ensuring the ground was built up a little bit, into a "pitchers mound" so that water wouldn't collect there.
Farmers fields required the most manual watering, and involved multiple trips back and forth to the nearby river with our customized "backpacks" that could hold a 20 gallon garbage pail. It was backbreaking work and totally inefficient... LOL

I always wanted to rig up a buried hose to the river that i could attach a battery operated pump to. I'd seen something similar in action on the west coast and it was pretty damn awesome... a 2" hose buried a few inches under the ground, hidden in a bush at the rivers edge. They were using a gas-powered pump but i've seen electric ones that would work well too and would be much quieter.

 

I meant to add... if you can place your grow at a lower elevation than a nearby water source, you'll have it made in the shade when it comes to watering!

Another trick we used was to cut the bottoms off of these short, but wide plastic tubs, (kind of like this: ), which we'd bury in the ground and fill with a good, moisture-retaining soil mix to transplant into. This would help conserve moisture in the root ball, even as the surrounding soil started to dry out. We'd put some slow release fertilizer at the bottom and the plants seemed to really thrive, even as surrounding vegetation was drying out.

 

There are a few methods and what I will include is by no means authoritative:

Water plants. Make sure water is evenly applied to soil. Fine if it "floods" to a certain level, then watch it drop. Try to water them so it just barely drips out but not pours out (so not leeching nutrients, etc..a little is fine).

Pick up/tilt pot to determine if pot still "heavy". If it is, skip watering.

Finger your plant. Stick finger in soil so see if dry towards upper level. Sometimes you might have a pot that retains water on/near bottom, but seems dry at the top. On these, I will just give them a "spot" watering and watch for couple days. Sometimes, like a mean step-father I'll let the bitches fend for themselves for 3-4 days watching for any signs of wilt (if pots seem to be waterlogged on bottom). If they start to a little, go ahead and water them and/or give them enough water to last the day and water them all good first thing in the morning before sun starts shining.

Usually I'll end up watering about every other day. This might change as the plants get bigger. When the plants are real small, its a waste to water them deeply since roots haven't gone that far yet. So when they are little, I'll just give them spot waterings every day, until they get little taller, then shift to a more normal complete watering schedule.

If it's going to be really hot outside, and plants still watered from yesterday or whatever, better to error on side of caution and water them before it gets real hot out. But not a deep water, just enough so it all gets watered, and little run off.

Most people will say it's best to water in the early morning before sun comes out (better), or at night right at/after sunset. But be careful with this, as it could promote mold and mildew. Morning is better. All that being said, and you go out there and see your ladies wilting in the middle of a hot summer day, water-them. Can also put them in the shade to let them bounce back without being under a harsh sun. Case by case basis. Hope this helps.

* I'll water about 1x a week with comfrey for fertilizing. When I used to use MaxSea (veg/bloom) it was about the same--about 1x a week. Reg water for all other times.

 

Actually, natas-420 makes a good point... are your plants in pots, or in the ground?

 

I water my 1 gal pots everyday if im home they go a few days sometimes without if im traveling il try and saturate before leaving.

 

Yea, it's ok (and some could argue--it's good) to let them go "dry" sometimes, as long as you are watching them. It allows the roots to "explore".

 

Water them 2-3x a week if soil retails well. If will be hot outside, error on side of caution and water them as needed to prepare them for hot day. I would rather slightly over-water a plant when it's going to be real hot vs not watering them enough just to make sure from top to bottom their roots have ability to get nuts from a moist soil.

* Try to give them their fertilizer 1x a week or so (so if watering 3x a week, fertilize them every 3rd watering (5-7 days, or something).

 

Sure thing. That's just what I would do if plants in the ground. But listen to what others may suggest. There are a lot of really sharp people on here and it really pays to have an open ear/mind.

In fact, check out @vostok posts about using Aloe to help them through the heat. Absolutely fascinating.

 

Yeah with 1 gal, unless the plant is really thirsty, I would think it would be ok to let them go for a couple days between waterings as you said you sometimes do--which is good. But as always, watch the plant. Yeah , if I was going on a trip/away somewhere, I would give the plant a real good watering before I left too, just for piece of mind, lol. Don't want to come back to a wilting or worse a dead crispy plant, lol. That would suck.

 

I think i was getting some defencies from under watering to start with since i was using mg soil i went easy on the watering. Right now im at half an ph perfect trio dose with full dose of calimagic 1.5 liters of water spread between 3- 1 gal pots is getting atleat 15-20% run off.

 

How many days "old" is the soil from 1st watering? I was just thinking since its usually 30-60 slow release nutes.


<edited: forgot to quote you>

 

My plants in the ground are getting about 5 gallons each per day. I don't know how little I could get away with if I tried. One year I tried to minimize watering and see what I could get away with. The buds turned out rather skinny that year.

I think your needs are going to vary according to your soil, temps, humidity, etc.

 

55days i dont think i was watering enough early on to actually dissolve much of the time released stuff