Do I need to have water runoff in soil?

Im growing purple lemonade, moby dick, and green crack right now. Green crack seems very easy to over water, so I water it less than the other 2, but I never water to the point that I have runoff. Do I need to? I've been watering every 2-3 days depending on dryness of soil. Doesnt seem like any issues, PL actually showed preflowers just before 3 weeks. Very sturdy.

Are you running organic soil or bottled nutes? Organic, dont water till run off. This is called leaching, and rinses nutrients from the soil. If bottled nutes, I would run lower ppms and still not water till run off. If you want to follow the nutrient suggestions, maybe some run off. **I do not use bottled nutes anymore. Just going based off my idea

cirE said:

Im growing purple lemonade, moby dick, and green crack right now. Green crack seems very easy to over water, so I water it less than the other 2, but I never water to the point that I have runoff. Do I need to? I've been watering every 2-3 days depending on dryness of soil. Doesnt seem like any issues, PL actually showed preflowers just before 3 weeks. Very sturdy.

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Looks like parachord being used for lst? Military?
FF

i personaaly like runoff with watering my soil, not so much at first, but when the plants have established a little

It all depends on your input. Meaning feed strength. Organic growers only use water in their amended soil, it needs to be amended correctly with nutrients for the whole grow cycle. Then there's no reason for watering to runoff.

Other way around with nutrient feed in the water. If you don't water to runoff you will get salt buildup and lockouts. You can argue it's possible with low feeding strength but the ratios will be fucked up IMO.

No need for run off until plants are established and are being fed nutrients.

You’ll need run off in flowering to keep the soil free from salt build up as u tend to increase the P and K levels with flowering.

Each plant is unique and the only true way to grow them right is by reading and understanding their needs through the entire cycle.

You don't need run off for soil or even mediums like Coco/Peat as long as your not over feeding or using cheap salt based nutrients that are going to literally get salt buildup or clog up the medium.

The laminated cards are a nice touch.

calvin.m16 said:

You don't need run off for soil or even mediums like Coco/Peat as long as your not over feeding or using cheap salt based nutrients that are going to literally get salt buildup or clog up the medium.

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But one has to know how much water otherwise the bottom of the pots don’t get saturated enough and can dry out causing salts to build.

how do you know you've given enough without seeing at least a little run-off

DaFreak said:

how do you know you've given enough without seeing at least a little run-off

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It usually works out as 1/5th pots volume for no run off. But run off can happen if it trickles down the sides or the water is poured too fast.

I go for 1/5th volume then once established 1/4 of the pot volume for 10-20% run off.

The goal throughout veg and through the stretch is to build a big robust root system. At least once, watering slowly and a small amount at a time, you want to find how much the pot will take to reach runoff. Then you can work to minimize or have no runoff.
If you dont fully water the pot, the roots wont fill the container fully.

While very little runoff is good, none ever, as the 2 gents above say, is not optimal either.

Nutty sKunK said:

It usually works out as 1/5th pots volume for no run off. But run off can happen if it trickles down the sides or the water is poured too fast.

I go for 1/5th volume then once established 1/4 of the pot volume for 10-20% run off.

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This ime is quite accurate.

I have 10 gal pots. They were filled to roughly 7gal and i fed just over 1.5gal every 3 days in stretch. I topdressed recently to closer to 8.5 gal and now they take 1.75gal every 3 days. When i fill them fully they may reach 2gal every 3 days. So those rough #s are good. 1/4 would be too much for my SS...i want the tiniest bit of runoff.

So in my estimate this is darn close to perfect estimating with a good mix. Nicely done!

T macc said:

Are you running organic soil or bottled nutes?

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Im running organic ish. I have my totes of soil and my wife has hers. I grabbed the wrong soil So it's mostly organic lol. Im not adding extra nutes unless needed later.

FastFreddi said:

Looks like parachord being used for lst? Military?
FF

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Yes sir. Medically retired USMC last year.

7CardBud said:

The laminated cards are a nice touch.

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Thanks! Im using it for my grow journal and got bored at work.

cirE said:

Im running organic ish. I have my totes of soil and my wife has hers. I grabbed the wrong soil So it's mostly organic lol. Im not adding extra nutes unless needed later.



Yes sir. Medically retired USMC last year.


Thanks! Im using it for my grow journal and got bored at work.

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Thank you for service, I'm ret'd CF, 031 Infantry.
FF

Nutty sKunK said:

But one has to know how much water otherwise the bottom of the pots don’t get saturated enough and can dry out causing salts to build.

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True, what I've done is figured that you need to supply 20% of the containers rated volume. So a 10 gallon pot with coco/perlite needs 2 gallons of nutrient solution to just drip out the base slightly once the plant is established. Early off its good to only water every 3 days, then 2 days, then every day if needed or as needed.

I have grown a few runs with Advanced Nutrients Connoisseur in Coco without any risers or vacuuming of run off. Personally now I'm feeding very aggressive with House & Garden Cocos so I make sure to have one of these puppies on standby. https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-16-Gal-6-5-Peak-HP-NXT-Wet-Dry-Shop-Vacuum-with-Detachable-Blower-Filter-Hose-and-Accessories-HD1600/304795082

I grow in a basement so all I have to do is roll the shop vac over to the sump hole and twist off the drain plug and it blasts out. lol

cirE said:

Im running organic ish. I have my totes of soil and my wife has hers. I grabbed the wrong soil So it's mostly organic lol. Im not adding extra nutes unless needed later.

Yes sir. Medically retired USMC last year.

Thanks! Im using it for my grow journal and got bored at work.

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FastFreddi said:

Thank you for service, I'm ret'd CF, 031 Infantry.
FF

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Thank you guys for your service.

FastFreddi said:

Thank you for service, I'm ret'd CF, 031 Infantry.
FF

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Thank you as well! My last deployment I was in Iraq and worked with CF.