20L (4 gallon) pot - how much water per week?

I have been advised : 1/2 strength nutes > water > 1/2 strength nutes > water - every week.

So the questions is: if overwatering is such a common mistake for us growers

How much water should i aim for in total per week based on the 4 waterings and allowing time to dry out

This allows me to mix my nutes in advance and leave out overnight in the correct ppm's and quantities

Ie 5L nutes - adjusted
and 5L pH'd water

Which does me for the week

Would 10L be enough/too much/too little

Thanks in advance

I don't understand the question

Well if you had one plant in a 20L pot

How much water would you feed it in total for that week?

You should only water if your soil needs it, so trying to base quantities and timeframes on your watering/feeding cycle all depends on your soil mixture and conditions...it might be 4x/week...it might be 2x/week...you don't want to flood the shit out of it, but you don't want to keep it a crispy critter, a nice happy medium. The humidity/amount of drainage/plant vitality/etc all effect how fast your soil will dry out...

Try giving it about 1 liter of water first, lift pot, see some water starting to trickle out the bottom? If so thats good...notice the weight when you lift the pot, if no water coming out give it a little more, lift pot, stick finger the soil, see its wet...wait a few days...lift pot...its getting lighter...stick finger in...hey its getting dryer...wait another day...hay this this is starting to get crusty on top...stick finger in, yup dry...WATER...repeat...

Also you don't need to give nutes for the first 2-3 weeks especially if growing in a "potting" soil...if growing in a potting soil + perlite start nutes about the 2.5-3 week mark at 1/4 dosage, then adjust accordingly every other watering...

Ignore quantities. When it needs watering, you water with it with as much as it needs. If you don't have any run off, then just keep on giving it more. Let it dry up, repeat.

It all depends. Right now I have a plant in a 5 gal bucket. She gets watered once a week give or take a day or two. Just check the pot every couple of days. Lift it up. If it comes right off the ground and feels super light, then water it. If you lift it up and you still feel like your lifting water weight, then don't water. The idea is to trick the roots in to growing throughout the bucket searching for water. The plant in that bucket was vegged for 90 days and is in week 2 of flower.

So basically like this:

first 3 weeks:
Water
Dry
Water
Dry
Water
Dry

3 week markish
1/4 strength nutes+water
dry
water
dry
1/4 strength nutes+water
dry
water
dry
increase nutes every week or two...watch...listen to your baby...she'll tell you what she wants from you(unlike a normal female)

massah said:

So basically like this:

first 3 weeks:
Water
Dry
Water
Dry
Water
Dry

3 week markish
1/4 strength nutes+water
dry
water
dry
1/4 strength nutes+water
dry
water
dry
increase nutes every week or two...watch...listen to your baby...she'll tell you what she wants from you(unlike a normal female)

Click to expand...

Haha - im actually using coco for the first time so im conscious that i need to get those nutes in there as the coco wont supply any at all unlike when i was growing in soil

I will defo go for the redcued nutes - water - reduced nutes - water guideline

But trying to fit that into a nutrient calculator just doesnt always work

Im finding it diffiicult to get it just right

Have any of you guys burnt your plants with neem spraying - everything was going well until i gave her some neem?

whitewidow2 said:

Haha - im actually using coco for the first time so im conscious that i need to get those nutes in there as the coco wont supply any at all unlike when i was growing in soil

I will defo go for the redcued nutes - water - reduced nutes - water guideline

But trying to fit that into a nutrient calculator just doesnt always work

Im finding it diffiicult to get it just right

Have any of you guys burnt your plants with neem spraying - everything was going well until i gave her some neem?

Click to expand...

AH coco...yeah definately nutes, but not too much at first...still want to go slow...better to undernute then to overnute...

As far as neem goes arn't you suppose to wipe it off afterwards...and only if you have real bug problems like spidermites? I have random little flies, but they don't do much damage so I just hung up some fly paper and let them be

Pics in my other link for the damage

https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/474618-1st-coco-attempt-how-she.html

I heard that you had to use neem every time as a preventative

I use a good dose of nil nat or gnat off for the flies

Im wondering if i need to prepare my neem spray to a certain concentration before spraying

Someone said 5ml neem 2ml detergent and 1L warm water

I run a 24/0 veg cycle so if im going to do this again then i should do it lights out and maybe run a 16/8 so as not to assist burn from the T5?

Any comments/suggestions?

Not that 24 hour light sched is the worse thing, but if your using any kind of foliar sprays and what not you should be applying them when lights go out so the plants take it in during the dark hours. Next time I'd say run 18/6. Also you should only being using neem or any other pesticides only if there is a problem. Not as a preventative measure.

Also based off those pics you posted and the looks of your medium, you watering too much. Let the pot dry out more. Use the lift method. Lift the pot up, if it's still heavy with water weight, leave it alone. If it is light and feels like it did when you first filled it then you need to water.

Thanks man - i think im going to scrap her and start again

I am starting again with a new seedling in a root riot cube

Should i saturate the coco to start with?

I think im going to shoot for 4 waterings per week (1/2 stregth nutes > water > 1/2 strengh nutes > water) of maybe 2L at a time??? which should allow some dry out time

Thoughts?

Don't plan when your going to water. It's nearly impossible to due unless you've been growing the same strain for years on end and you know exactly what she needs because of the length you've been growing the same strain. I'm telling you, if you listen to one thing I say on here listen to the lift method. Water your pots when you lift them and they feel like there is barely any water in there. Like I've said you want to train the roots to fill out the pot entirely by allowing the whole pot to dry out the roots stretch out searching for more water. Lift the pots every day. You'll be able to tell when it's water time. Like I said, my LSD plant in a 5 gal bucket right now only drinks once a week. Deeper into flower she will be drinking more than that, but I'll know when that time comes by using the lift method.

I hear you d man420

Its just trying to follow a feeding schedule and water accordingly can be difficult

Like you say, the plant uses less water at the start (veg) and a lot more at the end (flower)

Im trying to have some sort of regime as i already have the ppm's mapped out for each week according to the advanced nutrients nutrient calculator

ie week1 veg 300ppm building up to 1200ppm for week 4 of veg

I know i will have to dry them out for good success so maybe i will start with only 1L at a time and work my way up

I think its easy to work to a nutrient calculator but a lot harder to judge what the plant needs

Some people weigh their pots when dry and then use that to give an indication of when to water (not a method i have tried yet - but a possibility as i have bathroom scales)

I hear ya... just trying to get my head around the whole thing

Just out of interest how much are you giving her per week?

I water until about 10-20% runs out the drainage holes. Typically right now it's about 1-2gals a week. I'm figuring another 2-3 weeks she'll prob need to be watered twice a week. Keep in mind, she vegged for 90 days, now she is in week 2 of flower. She's in a 5gal bucket with coco for my medium. Using House & Garden nutes, following their nutrient calculator on their website. Thus far I'm seeing the best results I've ever had. This is my 5th grow. I'll snap some pics later when I get out of work so you can check her out.

Cool man that would be nice to see... i was considering the H&G stuff but i pretty much have the full AN line up and im supplementing with their sensi/cal grow and bloom

Time to start round 2....

Thats her planted, i will take some pics soon - nothing exciting to look at for the moment

I went with your advice and used less water - only 2.5L pH'd water, H&G roots excellurator, voodoo juice and gnat off - pH 6

My second feed is only 300ppm and composed of the same as above but with Advanced Grow Micro Bloom and Sensi Grow added for the Cal/Mag issues

I will wait til she dries up however before adding the nutrients

At this rate i am going for 2 feedings per week at 2.5L each to start off with and see how i go but i did weigh the pot with the coco dry in it before i started so i should know when is ideal to water

Keep me posted on your grow