Am I watering wrong?

[Surfer Joe]

I have been disappointed with the size of my plants recently and was wondering if I am watering them wrong?
I worry that I am taking the idea of letting them get very dry and then watering to runoff too far.
The advice is to check the dryness of the pot soil by using your finger up to the third knuckle and if it feels dry, then water.
But when it's that dry at the top of the soil, the pot still feels heavy and must have much more moisture down below, so I wait until the pot is feeling light and the soil is quite dry on top before watering.
I don't want the lower roots to lack oxygen by always being in too moist soil.
But I worry that I have been damaging the roots throughout the pot by letting the soil dry out too much between watering and also stunting growth because of limited water supply.
The roots don't look vigorous or white when I check them after harvesting a pot.
I am controlling the temperature of the soil and air ok, and the nutes have worked well before.
Just how dry are people letting their soil pots go before watering?
Any advice is appreciated.

 

[boo]

if you can lift the container with just your fingertips it's time to feed...pot does far better when you let the rootball dry out but not to the point of wilting...the fan leaves will guide your watering if you keep an eye on them...

 

[MechaniMan]

I have been disappointed with the size of my plants recently and was wondering if I am watering them wrong?
I worry that I am taking the idea of letting them get very dry and then watering to runoff too far.
The advice is to check the dryness of the pot soil by using your finger up to the third knuckle and if it feels dry, then water.
But when it's that dry at the top of the soil, the pot still feels heavy and must have much more moisture down below, so I wait until the pot is feeling light and the soil is quite dry on top before watering.
I don't want the lower roots to lack oxygen by always being in too moist soil.
But I worry that I have been damaging the roots throughout the pot by letting the soil dry out too much between watering and also stunting growth because of limited water supply.
The roots don't look vigorous or white when I check them after harvesting a pot.
I am controlling the temperature of the soil and air ok, and the nutes have worked well before.
Just how dry are people letting their soil pots go before watering?
Any advice is appreciated.

I used to let my leaves Wilt before watering I think it was a mistake. The reason I think of the mistake because on my second grow here I'm a lot more generous with the water I don't soak the pots but I also don't let them completely dry out I just use common sense. I try to keep the soil damp, just damp without completely saturating it in my second gross seems to be going spectacular with that watering cycle.

 

[PERCHSLURP802]

I have been disappointed with the size of my plants recently and was wondering if I am watering them wrong?
I worry that I am taking the idea of letting them get very dry and then watering to runoff too far.
The advice is to check the dryness of the pot soil by using your finger up to the third knuckle and if it feels dry, then water.
But when it's that dry at the top of the soil, the pot still feels heavy and must have much more moisture down below, so I wait until the pot is feeling light and the soil is quite dry on top before watering.
I don't want the lower roots to lack oxygen by always being in too moist soil.
But I worry that I have been damaging the roots throughout the pot by letting the soil dry out too much between watering and also stunting growth because of limited water supply.
The roots don't look vigorous or white when I check them after harvesting a pot.
I am controlling the temperature of the soil and air ok, and the nutes have worked well before.
Just how dry are people letting their soil pots go before watering?
Any advice is appreciated.

Im experimenting with 4-5 deep planters almost like what they would grow microgreens in size wise. Keeping say 28-30 quarts of medium to a burlap type container then sitting that into a "mircogreen" size container and watering by just filling up the sides and allowing the medium to suck it up over a 2 hour period. I did have my first attempt get mild powdery mildew due to my not keeping myself mindful of just how much water that anount of substrate can absorb before it becomes a prob in this typeof setup. I actually had alot of success on 2nd n 3rd attempts being mindful of waterings based of mediums needs..not my impulses lol

 

[pute]

Like Boo said, I can tell when it is time by lifting the pot. If the pot is light then water/nute it...if heavy wait two weeks and add cal/mag...ha ha. Just kidding.

 

[PERCHSLURP802]

Im experimenting with 4-5 deep planters almost like what they would grow microgreens in size wise. Keeping say 28-30 quarts of medium to a burlap type container then sitting that into a "mircogreen" size container and watering by just filling up the sides and allowing the medium to suck it up over a 2 hour period. I did have my first attempt get mild powdery mildew due to my not keeping myself mindful of just how much water that anount of substrate can absorb before it becomes a prob in this typeof setup. I actually had alot of success on 2nd n 3rd attempts being mindful of waterings based of mediums needs..not my impulses lol

I figured its easier then trying to describe it with my rambling vernacular

 

[Surfer Joe]

I used to let my leaves Wilt before watering I think it was a mistake. The reason I think of the mistake because on my second grow here I'm a lot more generous with the water I don't soak the pots but I also don't let them completely dry out I just use common sense. I try to keep the soil damp, just damp without completely saturating it in my second gross seems to be going spectacular with that watering cycle.View attachment 303600

Thanks. That's the problem. The roots need oxygen but don't get it if the soil is always wet, but how moist should it be?
I know that I water my house plants more often that I do the pot plants, and they don't seem to suffer from the moist soil, but they must also need oxygen for their roots, so I suspect that I am taking the wet/dry cycle for watering pot too far and hurting the plant's development and potential.

 

[JoseyWales]

Thanks. That's the problem. The roots need oxygen but don't get it if the soil is always wet, but how moist should it be?
I know that I water my house plants more often that I do the pot plants, and they don't seem to suffer from the moist soil, but they must also need oxygen for their roots, so I suspect that I am taking the wet/dry cycle for watering pot too far and hurting the plant's development and potential.

Are you planting in bags or pots inside or outside? Picture?

 

[MechaniMan]

I'll put it this way. Right now I have 10 plants going in 7 gallon fabric pots that are 15-18in tall. The fabric Pots have about 5 gallons worth of dirt in them. I will split 2 gallons of water between all these plants about every 7 to 10 days. When they were half the size they are now I would use a little more than a gallon between all of them about once a week.

 

[JoseyWales]

View attachment 303763 I'll put it this way. Right now I have 10 plants going in 7 gallon fabric pots that are 15-18in tall. The fabric Pots have about 5 gallons worth of dirt in them. I will split 2 gallons of water between all these plants about every 7 to 10 days. When they were half the size they are now I would use a little more than a gallon between all of them about once a week.

I think you need more water. I have 5 plants in 5 gal bags with FF soil LED lights ave 78 deg 38% humidity and I use 2 gals every two days .

 

[MechaniMan]

I think you need more water. I have 5 plants in 5 gal bags with FF soil LED lights ave 78 deg 38% humidity and I use 2 gals every two days .

Wow really, they seem to be ok. I will try giving them some more water. I just put up another thread about a male plant that I found that come out of nowhere so maybe it was caused by stress or the fact that I lost power for a couple hours the other day, but I suppose maybe underwatering could cause stress. I don't really know what caused to push out a pollen sac and open it, it just happened out of nowhere and the plant turned out to be a hermaphrodite. I will up the watering frequency if you think it will help

 

[RosterMan]

If it is Hot where you are you should be watering more than that
Mine are drying out after 2 days

 

[sharonp]

This time of the year you might need to water every day or two depending on the pot size. My 3 gallon pots outside need water everyday.

 

[WeedHopper]

I'm growing outside in Fabric pots. I water every day.

 

[JoseyWales]

Wow really, they seem to be ok. I will try giving them some more water. I just put up another thread about a male plant that I found that come out of nowhere so maybe it was caused by stress or the fact that I lost power for a couple hours the other day, but I suppose maybe underwatering could cause stress. I don't really know what caused to push out a pollen sac and open it, it just happened out of nowhere and the plant turned out to be a hermaphrodite. I will up the watering frequency if you think it will help

You could water a bag till you see run off. I don't think you could ever over water a bag. I just guessing but I think a 1/2 gallon every other day should do it. Do you have a tent they stay in with ventilation?

 

[JoseyWales]

This time of the year you might need to water every day or two depending on the pot size. My 3 gallon pots outside need water everyday.

I mostly grow out side and water every day, this year I'm useing 25 gallons a day. It's been real hot last couple of weeks and found my plants drooping in the afternoon so I give them more water. love the my bags, I don't think you could ever over water with bags.

 

[N.E.wguy]

Oh boy. This is a good one. I grow in fabric pots with compost and water by weight. But I use 3 and 5 gal pots ultimately drying time in part has to do with root ball size and plant uptake as much as pot with air flow so on average I'd say my 3gal take 1/2 a gal almost daily and the 5gal are like a gallon every 2 days. (Varies by stage of plant these are full flower)

But when you transplant up you are creating a large void between container wall and root ball of medium so as the roots grow the water % In the void becomes more and drying occurs faster so u will need more water per container the more the plant grows.

Over watering is bad for alot of reasons adding excess unused water increasing rh of room ultimately plants will not be able to expell water properly thru the leaves leading to nute issues mold Invitations and sick plants are a magnet for spider plants so

Definitely important to understand watering and ask as many questions as y need to. Best way is to get a bathroon scale weight the plant at transplant with container and medium before watering to know the "dry pot weight" or atleast have an idea, then after a while u will just know by lifting a pot or by more of a "scheduale" when the plants need to be watered. Waiting till you see it in the leaves is like waiting to fix a problem that should not be a problem to be fixing

 

[WeedHopper]

I live in Texas. With fabric pots I have to water every day.

 

[MechaniMan]

You could water a bag till you see run off. I don't think you could ever over water a bag. I just guessing but I think a 1/2 gallon every other day should do it. Do you have a tent they stay in with ventilation?

Not now because my tent is full with flowering plants. They will be moved in there as soon as those are finished up. Right now I have them in my cool bin but I do have a fan blowing across them. It is about 80° to 85° where they're at. I actually just went down and dumped a half a gallon of water on each plant.

 

[JoseyWales]

I'm growing outside in Fabric pots. I water every day.

I love bags.