I'm trying to learn everything before I start grow and I'm a little confused about watering.. When I need to water the plants? I need to do it every day or maybe 2 days..? In the flowering time in need to water the plant only on the light time, right?
Nobody will be able to give you a number on how often/when you need to water, as that changes dramatically depending on lots of factors such as: - how old are the plants - what is the growing medium - what is/how big is the growing container - what is the temperature/humidity Plants will use more or less water depending on all these factors, the best way to find out what works for you is practice //static.grscty.com//public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.png Also an easy but not completely accurate test is to pick up your container full of medium when it is completely dry and remember how light it feels. After watering, feel again how heavy it is. Now you can quickly tell if your plant is about to dry up, or has some time to go before it needs water just by lifting the container (with some practice of course). Keep reading all the resources you can find, there are a ton on grasscity alone. Not sure what that last question about flowering means.
As mandoluce indicated, you need to water based you the plant's needs at the time rather than on a certain schedule. I've got a sprout that wants water every 3 days-ish right now but that'll change as it grows. When my last plants were in full flower they wanted 1-2 gallons, each plant, every other day. Keep the soil slightly moist but not wet (except for when you water obviously). Pay attention to the plant, the leaves will tell you a lot. Honestly, practicing with a houseplant is helpful.
Imagine this: crush your plant in a blender. However much stuff you have in the jug, that's about as much water as the plant will use per day. If it's hot the plant will use more, some will evaporate from the soil, smart pots dry out from all around, so you do need to use more water than this. But soil hold on to water, it can hold a lot, and it needs to be slightly hydrated or it becomes dust but it easily becomes soggy. If there are no roots in the wet soil it will not get absorbed by the plant, and the plant wont like to grow new roots in to soaking wet soil. This is a common problem for seedlings in large pots. So there is a compromise. You water as much as you need to. They can tolerate drought very well, you can wait until they just start to wilt after days, then a splash of water makes them perky again. The other way around, if you water too much it can take weeks to recover from. Use enough water to last 2-3 days. Keep an eye on it, after 2-3 days consider the situation and wait another day or water. If it's still pretty moist happy soil and the plant is healthy wait another day. You're right that it depends on your plants, your pots, your medium, so you have to work out your own plan. Once a day is too often, once a week is not often enough. FInd an amount of water that falls in between these and allows the soil to become fairly dry throughout the pot.
Spot on advice here.. Water by weight of the pot and nothing else.. I'll let the biggest of that pot size actually wilt before I water all the 3 inch cups for example.. The 2 things newbee growers can be counted on to do without fail is overwater and transplant to soon into to big a pot.. Never fails.. This is what I like to see at transplant.. A solid mass of roots and not one root out of place and not a grain of soil lost.. This will be a totally stress free transplant from 3x3x3 inch to the 5x5x7 waiting under it.. 3x3x3 = 12 inches tall 5x5x7 = 24 inches tall 8x8x10 = 3 to 4 feet tall and off to flower in a 5, 20 gallon or in ground site.. Each stage is just enough bigger that the plant can quickly fill it with roots so the next transplant is as stress free as the last one was.. I like square pots best as they hold the most soil packed under my lights and the shape promotes better root branching IME 3s, 5s and 8 inch pots under T5HO to veg.. About 15 plants per set.. The 8 inch pots will be the late winter early spring set.. The 5s are next spring and the 3 inch are way down at next summer the way things are looking.. Depends how long my winter plants take to finish.. Just how I get it done on the Brass Pharm.. Your style may differ and kids don't try this at home without your parents permission.. LMAO BNW