Is it okay to let the soil dry up before you water your plant again?

tigerstripes

New Member
I read somewhere that cannabis plants love the dry/moist phases. Can anyone confirm whether waiting for the soil to dry out is okay?
 

frankthedog

Member
i wait untill the top inch or so of soil is dry...and i mean dry...when I stick a finger down into the soil it should feel cool and maybe a lil damp...but like i said the top is dry...i never let my plants go beyond this...worried about dry pockets and other ill effects...works for me...when i started i was very worried about watering/over watering...dont think ive used my dumb lil hydration meter in months...seems you just get a feel for it...
 

urban1026835

Well-Known Member
easiest way i can tell you is put some medium in a pot dry pick it up now water your pot untill you get some run off, pick it up so you get a feel for it's weight when fully watered.When your plants get close to that light/dry stage you know its time to water.Depending on the edium i see you said soil what kind though?
Also yes mj does like wet/dry phases that way the roots grow out in search of water during the dry phases ie more roots more bud.
 

tigerstripes

New Member
i wait untill the top inch or so of soil is dry...and i mean dry...when I stick a finger down into the soil it should feel cool and maybe a lil damp...but like i said the top is dry...i never let my plants go beyond this...worried about dry pockets and other ill effects...works for me...when i started i was very worried about watering/over watering...dont think ive used my dumb lil hydration meter in months...seems you just get a feel for it...
Thanks for the tip man. Then I guess it's time for me to water my baby. So I guess the, waiting for the soil to dry then water it again, wouldn't be a good idea?
Shoot, I mean if this plant was founded in central asia, it should be able to withstand some dry weather and hot weather right?
 

333maxwell

Active Member
Read the leaves,, they will tell you you precisely when to water.. unless you plan to be out of town for more than a day, than skip reading leaves.. heh.

Ya.. small pot growers.. pick up the pot.. weight is a GREAT way to get the feel for when you are going to see those first few bottom leaves kind of droop (never wilt) and they are saying 'uhhh excuse me, thirst here'...

IF you get them to the just actually wilting soil is actually dry stage, NEVER give them nutes at that point.. recipe for disasta'...At least me thinks..

Good luck.
 

tigerstripes

New Member
easiest way i can tell you is put some medium in a pot dry pick it up now water your pot untill you get some run off, pick it up so you get a feel for it's weight when fully watered.When your plants get close to that light/dry stage you know its time to water.Depending on the edium i see you said soil what kind though?
Also yes mj does like wet/dry phases that way the roots grow out in search of water during the dry phases ie more roots more bud.
Im using miracle grow that i got from LOWES, I think im gonna let it my plant dry out a little more before i water it. And I did pick up the pot and noticed that it actually got lighter probably due to there being less water in it. If drying it out for a little bit will increase the budding process then, drying out I will do. Thanks!
 

tigerstripes

New Member
Read the leaves,, they will tell you you precisely when to water.. unless you plan to be out of town for more than a day, than skip reading leaves.. heh.

Ya.. small pot growers.. pick up the pot.. weight is a GREAT way to get the feel for when you are going to see those first few bottom leaves kind of droop (never wilt) and they are saying 'uhhh excuse me, thirst here'...

IF you get them to the just actually wilting soil is actually dry stage, NEVER give them nutes at that point.. recipe for disasta'...At least me thinks..

Good luck.
When you say "Read the leaves" what exactly am i looking for? just the drooping of the leaves?
 

333maxwell

Active Member
When you say "Read the leaves" what exactly am i looking for? just the drooping of the leaves?
Not drooping.. never drooping .. a general lessening of the resistance (for lack of a better word).. you will know when they are firm and functioning 100 percent and when they start to barely realize they are thirsty.. Not wilting, not drooping,.. just starting to not be quite as supple and firm.. (heh) as they were.. This, I have found, for small pot growers, the standard for which I most often try to water by. There are exceptions and every day is different, but READ THE LEAVES... They will and do tell you.. I promise..

Of course this is just my thoughts, everyone else's own mileage may vary.
 

333maxwell

Active Member
When you start to nail the timing right, the plants respond almost immediately. YOu water them and you can VISUALLY WATCH the leaves start to respond respond to lapping it up (in plant lingo) within a matter of a a minute or two..
 

RedCarpetMatches

Well-Known Member
I agree with Urban on the weight of the pot. Don't go by just the top inch as the bottom whatever inches can still be plenty moist. Over/underwatered leaves will appear droopy. Of course you can avoid over watering by adding perlite for aeration and drainage. I like to go 1/3 perlite in any soil mix.
 

BWG707

Well-Known Member
Read the leaves,, they will tell you you precisely when to water.. unless you plan to be out of town for more than a day, than skip reading leaves.. heh.

Ya.. small pot growers.. pick up the pot.. weight is a GREAT way to get the feel for when you are going to see those first few bottom leaves kind of droop (never wilt) and they are saying 'uhhh excuse me, thirst here'...

IF you get them to the just actually wilting soil is actually dry stage, NEVER give them nutes at that point.. recipe for disasta'...At least me thinks..

Good luck.
Just curious but why would it be disaster to water with nutes when a plant droops?
 

fir3dragon

Well-Known Member
I read somewhere that cannabis plants love the dry/moist phases. Can anyone confirm whether waiting for the soil to dry out is okay?
I stick my finger a inch or two down and if its dry I water. I also can tell by picking the pot up. If you hold it and have someone water, you will see how heavy it gets compared to dry soil.
 

333maxwell

Active Member
Just curious but why would it be disaster to water with nutes when a plant droops?
Watering dry (as in totally dry) soil in a potted plant with nuted water promotes burning and is stressful on the system. You durn near can 'cook' a plant this way if yer not careful.
 

bullSnot

Well-Known Member
I read somewhere that cannabis plants love the dry/moist phases. Can anyone confirm whether waiting for the soil to dry out is okay?
I used to think this - but really if you get a cheap meter from home depot or lowes (9 bucks) you can monitor the ROOT ZONE moisture. When you water, it will show the high side of WET...when it gets to the lower side of Moist or high side of Dry - that is when I water. if you wait till the soil is completly dry or pot is light (like the soil out of the bag) you are making the plant work to hard. To me it ends up being like 3 days or so. My humidity is in the 40's
 

KryptoBud

Well-Known Member
I used to think this - but really if you get a cheap meter from home depot or lowes (9 bucks) you can monitor the ROOT ZONE moisture. When you water, it will show the high side of WET...when it gets to the lower side of Moist or high side of Dry - that is when I water. if you wait till the soil is completly dry or pot is light (like the soil out of the bag) you are making the plant work to hard. To me it ends up being like 3 days or so. My humidity is in the 40's
The person you quoted hasn't been heard from for a few years so you might waiting awhile for a response.
 
Top