Possible issue starting, thoughts??

So my girl is largely an outdoor (was bringing inside overnight until a few days ago)-I noticed a black hole at the joint of two stems, on a lower level tier of the plant. Very small hole, but big enough to stick a safety pin tip into-haven't really seen many other signs of distress-a few small abrasions to some leafs, but no bugs, from what I can tell. Since this is the only stem affected should I just cut it off and move on?
This is only my second grow and I know from last time that problems can progress quickly.
Thanks in advance

Add some good soil to your pot. You'll be fine.

Your plant is very healthy i dont think a pest would want to or be able to get into it they usually attack unhealthy plants. Im not positive though. Maybe something tried and ur plant told it to f off haha. Either way great plants man

Also it appears to look overwatered. Maybe uve just foliared not sure but id def let soil dryout slightly more

jensenbeach1 said:

Also it appears to look overwatered. Maybe uve just foliared not sure but id def let soil dryout slightly more

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Yeah last season I didn't realize, but was overwatering like crazy-this season it's about once a week, but I'll make doubly sure that the soil is dry about an inch down.

Username85 said:

Yeah last season I didn't realize, but was overwatering like crazy-this season it's about once a week, but I'll make doubly sure that the soil is dry about an inch down.

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Yes this is something im getting a better handle in myself im not a soil grower first year. I went up to week w.o watering now i water slightly less lets the soil dry quicker. Def a science to get used to especially when they all drink at different rates. Going to be real fun once theyre in ground cant lift them to check weight lol

Username85 said:

Yeah last season I didn't realize, but was overwatering like crazy-this season it's about once a week, but I'll make doubly sure that the soil is dry about an inch down.

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Idk if you will believe this but my trip to the property yesterday i reached into pots my boss used last year and there was STILL moisture in the bottom. Literally no watering for over a year now and it had a semi damp feel under a few layers. It was a heavily mulched soil (looked just like mulch pretty shit soil) but I was blown away it wasnt dry all the way through. Im going to be using alfala hay for mulch i believe will help prevent overdrying etc. I wonder if anyone in here have a general guideline for watering per x amount of soil. I understand size of plant, temps etc play a role just curious if theres a pretty solid formula for mass of soil.

Username85 said:

Yeah last season I didn't realize, but was overwatering like crazy-this season it's about once a week, but I'll make doubly sure that the soil is dry about an inch down.

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dry an inch down can mean wet the rest of the way, then you water on top of water and the bottom can get rancid. Try and shift your thinking toward watering a thirsty plant and away from watering a medium as perceived dry by a human, that's helped me a lot as I've started working with soil again. I lost a lot of plants to that dry inch rule, when i started phasing soil back in i started using thirsty plant instead of thirsty dirt and i probably only had to water that plant a dozen times its whole life and i didn't have really any troubles except for a short cold snap(winter)

jensenbeach1 said:

I wonder if anyone in here have a general guideline for watering per x amount of soil. I understand size of plant, temps etc play a role just curious if theres a pretty solid formula for mass of soil.

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It is definitely not a linear progression of water requirement as soil quantity and size of pot gets larger. There are just too many factors involved for a set formula.

Johnei said:

It is definitely not a linear progression of water requirement as soil quantity and size of pot gets larger. There are just too many factors involved for a set formula.

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Ok cool thats understandable, I wonder if my soil test will have a water holding capacity on it and they will be able tell me full saturation. Just a thought im worried about it once i cant pick up the pots anymore see rates of drinking.

Some people may say this is bad ie. hydrophobic too dry soil etc., but I like to only water when the leaves slightly droop, air is just so important for monster growth.

I scratch the soil surface and the rim/dry crack around interior of the pot before watering for it to actually absorb and not go right through.

you can use a wetting agent to beat that, add a drop of soap of your choice and the water will lose its surface tension and will be more readily absorbed. There may be better or worse soaps for this, should be easy to find a good one, or there may be better wetting agents than soap.

A little droop was also my criteria for "thirsty" i wouldn't let it go full wilt but the bulk of the container weight was gone, shoulda clarified that

dirtWeevil said:

dry an inch down can mean wet the rest of the way, then you water on top of water and the bottom can get rancid. Try and shift your thinking toward watering a thirsty plant and away from watering a medium as perceived dry by a human, that's helped me a lot as I've started working with soil again. I lost a lot of plants to that dry inch rule, when i started phasing soil back in i started using thirsty plant instead of thirsty dirt and i probably only had to water that plant a dozen times its whole life and i didn't have really any troubles except for a short cold snap(winter)

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I was gonna say my plants dint seem to need any water to hold off for days bothers me past when i feel it needs it but i still hold off lol. Curious weevel if they say to water plants on hot days to prevent leaf burn or is it because of increased drinking rates?

Johnei said:

Some people may say this is bad ie. hydrophobic too dry soil etc., but I like to only water when the leaves slightly droop, air is just so important for monster growth.

I scratch the soil surface and the rim/dry crack around interior of the pot before watering for it to actually absorb and not go right through.

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I have similar issue its the surface tension of water beads so soap would work like weevil said but i jist hit the top with very little water to saturate the top and then water rhroughout. Ive noticed that if i water a really dry pot it will appear i have runoff but its water rushing through medium

Sorry for the thread jack, i made a post about this awaiting replies. Weevil have u found any reliable moisture meters? I read they only represent inch around the probe do u have any suggestions to better gauge other than wilt?

Yup, little droop, but NOT wilting.

Forgot about the soap thing, and i think only like 1 tiny drop in a whole bucket will do it yeah, I'm gonna start doing that for my own waterings, after I figure out which soap is good to use. Some of them probably have bad shit, and definitely no antibacterial soaps. Good1

(I thought this was your thread jensen man.. HAHA)

Get castile soap

jensenbeach1 said:

Sorry for the thread jack, i made a post about this awaiting replies. Weevil have u found any reliable moisture meters? I read they only represent inch around the probe do u have any suggestions to better gauge other than wilt?

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Not at all, I'm enjoying reading the thoughts/input on this. I'm super green so info is definitely appreciated-definitely going to rethink my watering schedule

dirtWeevil said:

dry an inch down can mean wet the rest of the way, then you water on top of water and the bottom can get rancid. Try and shift your thinking toward watering a thirsty plant and away from watering a medium as perceived dry by a human, that's helped me a lot as I've started working with soil again. I lost a lot of plants to that dry inch rule, when i started phasing soil back in i started using thirsty plant instead of thirsty dirt and i probably only had to water that plant a dozen times its whole life and i didn't have really any troubles except for a short cold snap(winter)

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Yeah I thought that inch rule was almost a golden standard-I know it can be tricky picking up bits of info without firsthand experience. I'm going to slow down the watering a bit and see how she does-due to my neighbor situation she will not be put in the ground, feeling the pot weight should hopefully be a better indication along with plant appearance. Thanks for the input

I'm very new to soil still, I've never had any meters so i can't comment on that. I've never grown outside no idea about hot days but if my vegetable patch looks sun bent i usually give those a water