How often should I water? Help please?

N

nacho1022

Member
My growing medium is 60% coco 40% happy frog in 5 gallon small pots. 4 autoflowers, 12 days old. They've already been watered 3 times(once with nutes on day 7. They seem to be happy, but it also feels like I'm over watering. Am I over watering? These pics are from 2 days ago(10 days old). I'll post some new pics in a few minutes because they are quite a bit bigger today. 20160309_110816.jpg 20160309_110810.jpg
 
yeatster

yeatster

Well-Known Member
I see no signs of overwatering.
And looks dry.
In this pic they look healthy and happy.

How much are you watering?

I assume you are going very slow with the nutes, right?
 
B

Ben123456733

Well-Known Member
It depends on many things, the type of bag/pot used grow room temps, room humidity, etc.

With the size of your plants I would probably water every 3 days or so, once they get bigger they will want more water.
 
N

nacho1022

Member
yeatster said:
I see no signs of overwatering.
And looks dry.
In this pic they look healthy and happy.

How much are you watering?

I assume you are going very slow with the nutes, right?
Click to expand...
Ive watered every 2-3 days so far. The smart pots seem to make it dry out faster also. I've only been watering 1/4 gallon for each pot. Is a 1/4 gallon of water for a 5 gallon pot not enough water?
I nuted half strength on day 6 with grow, root, & calmag. They seemed to enjoy it.
 
yeatster

yeatster

Well-Known Member
You cannot time watering with a schedule. They tell you when to water. A baby cries. These babies wilt.

When starting in your final pot, 5 g. In your case, you should treat your autoflower like it is in a small pot when watering. Increasing water volume with growth.

I would start with no more than 250ml/1/16 g., watering directly at the base. This allows your tap root to shoot straight down, searching for water. Increase the diameter and volume of watering as she grows.

I prefer the pot lift method, apposed to the finger in soil. When the pot is light, I. Water.

Foolproof method: get a bathroom scale. Weigh an identical pot with identical medium. Use this weight as a reference.
When your pot is close to reference wheight...water. It might also help to weigh afterwatering, and each day after, so you can get an idea how much she is drinking.(a tad ocd, but it works).

I am not too familiar with happy frog but, my recollection tells me it is a hot medium for seedlings. Cutting it was good.

I use Promix/perlite. I start nutes @ 1/4 strength on day 10. If you already have some nutes in your soil, mine doesn't, I suggest backing off to at least 1/4 strength. Possibly straight water next feed. Autos are really sensitive to nutes, especially in this stage of the game.

I am not an expert by any stretch but I have researched lots and have minimal experience in comparison to alot here. I only advise when I am confident in my methods. Watering autos I am confident.
 
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N

nacho1022

Member
yeatster said:
You cannot time watering with a schedule. They tell you when to water. A baby cries. These babies wilt.

When starting in your final pot, 5 g. In your case, you should treat your autoflower like it is in a small pot when watering. Increasing water volume with growth.

I would start with no more than 250ml/1/8 g., watering directly at the base. This allows your tap root to shoot straight down, searching for water. Increase the diameter and volume of watering as she grows.

I prefer the pot lift method, apposed to the finger in soil. When the pot is light, I. Water.

Foolproof method: get a bathroom scale. Weigh an identical pot with identical medium. Use this weight as a reference.
When your pot is close to reference wheight...water. It might also help to weigh afterwatering, and each day after, so you can get an idea how much she is drinking.(a tad ocd, but it works).

I am not too familiar with happy frog but, my recollection tells me it is a hot medium for seedlings. Cutting it was good.

I use Promix/perlite. I start nutes @ 1/4 strength on day 10. If you already have some nutes in your soil, mine doesn't, I suggest backing off to at least 1/4 strength. Possibly straight water next feed. Autos are really sensitive to nutes, especially in this stage of the game.

I am not an expert by any stretch but I have researched lots and have minimal experience in comparison to alot here. I only advise when I am confident in my methods. Watering autos I am confident.
Click to expand...
Thank you. The soil is bone dry 2 inches down, but that's at the edge of the pot. I'm guessing if it's a smart pot, the outside would dry faster due to the air flowing through cloth. Good point about watering for the tap root. I've been water mainly the perimeter, with the idea of roots searching further for moisture.
They've only been nuted once, every other time was 6.5ph water.
 
N

nacho1022

Member
yeatster said:
You cannot time watering with a schedule. They tell you when to water. A baby cries. These babies wilt.

When starting in your final pot, 5 g. In your case, you should treat your autoflower like it is in a small pot when watering. Increasing water volume with growth.

I would start with no more than 250ml/1/8 g., watering directly at the base. This allows your tap root to shoot straight down, searching for water. Increase the diameter and volume of watering as she grows.

I prefer the pot lift method, apposed to the finger in soil. When the pot is light, I. Water.

Foolproof method: get a bathroom scale. Weigh an identical pot with identical medium. Use this weight as a reference.
When your pot is close to reference wheight...water. It might also help to weigh afterwatering, and each day after, so you can get an idea how much she is drinking.(a tad ocd, but it works).

I am not too familiar with happy frog but, my recollection tells me it is a hot medium for seedlings. Cutting it was good.

I use Promix/perlite. I start nutes @ 1/4 strength on day 10. If you already have some nutes in your soil, mine doesn't, I suggest backing off to at least 1/4 strength. Possibly straight water next feed. Autos are really sensitive to nutes, especially in this stage of the game.

I am not an expert by any stretch but I have researched lots and have minimal experience in comparison to alot here. I only advise when I am confident in my methods. Watering autos I am confident.
Click to expand...
With cloth pots (if you've used them), I never get any run off. Is that bad? I know people check the ph of their runoff.
 
yeatster

yeatster

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't personally water to runoff quite yet. I don't water to runoff until about day 30, others I am sure might disagree with this.
That's a whole lotta soil for a baby. That's a good thing but treat her as if she is in a solo cup for now and she will love you.

If they seem bone dry, and as you have stated you water the parimeter, I would give them 250ml @ the stem

Edit last post: 250ml = 1/16 gallon, roughly.
 
Resinhound

Resinhound

Well-Known Member
I wouldnt use a ridgid schedule,you are going to find water use will change with environmental factors and with the current state of your plant.Your medium I would treat basically like soil,I dont really understand mixing soil with coco,if you are going soiless...then go soiless,imho.

That being said plants that small dont need alot of water,now is the time to force rooting.Dont water directly on it,water from the outside of the pot in,give the plant 2 or 3in of space.The medium will wick to a degree.This will force roots to hunt for water and proliferate the pot much better.Water every 2 or 3 days,increasing your volume as the plant grows.
 
yeatster

yeatster

Well-Known Member
Another method to check the depths of your pot is to put a skewer in your pot, being careful not to disrupt too much. Leave it there for a half hour or so. Pull it out. If it's dry, soil is dry. Wet, soil is wet.
 
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