Sprouts in five gallon pots, watering strategies?

I have four new sprouts that have been out for a few days now. Autos, skywalker og and runtz. I planted directly into their permanent homes, five gallon fabric pots with a ffof/perelite mix (5 to 1), and with a ball of starting mix in the middle. I moistened all the soil a bit when potting, but now the outer edges and top layers of the soil (outside the starter mix area) are really drying out. The starter mix seems to be holding moisture pretty well. Been giving a little bit of water around the sprouts about once a day. I can feel from the weight that there’s still plenty of moisture lower in the pot. Keeping the tent at @70% humidity atm.

Should I make any effort to keep the top, outer layer of the ffof moist at this point, or just let it dry out a bit until the sprouts grow and stretch into those areas? Thanks for any advice. This is my second round of indoor growing. I overwatered one of the plants in the previous grow and do not want to repeat the error, though I don’t want to err in the other direction either.

Water with a 5 ml. Pipette just water the seedling not the whole pot.

Water very little ( as a seedling ) you want it to root out “ looking “ for moisture.

Zero reason to water entire container at this early stage.

Plus ….. that base soil of Fox Farm will feed it alone without anything else for weeks.

It may be a little “ hot “ on some strains at first but plant will acclimate - as long as you don’t dump even more nutes on top of it. It will carry an auto well into its late grow stages without complicated feeds.

Budzbuddha said:

Plus ….. that base soil of Fox Farm will feed it alone without anything else for weeks.

It may be a little “ hot “ on some strains at first but plant will acclimate - as long as you don’t dump even more nutes on top of it. It will carry an auto well into its late grow stages without complicated feeds.

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Thanks. I don’t plan on adding any nutes for the first 30 days or so. Right now they’re just in germinating mix,,but will soon root out into the fox farm. Much appreciated.

Budzbuddha said:

Water very little ( as a seedling ) you want it to root out “ looking “ for moisture.

Zero reason to water entire container at this early stage.

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I really don't get this because I've always thought that the roots won't grow out to the edge of the pot if the soil is only moist around the seedlings. I don't keep the whole media soaking but I water the entire pot evenly.
I really respect your growing and you have great plants but can you explain this to me so if I'm wrong in what I've been doing I can make a change?

It’s really important to moisten the soil prior to potting especially in a large container. Add 10% volume of water ( I mix it evenly ina large container) before planting the seed. Also leaving it in a warm place is a good idea to speed up the soil activity

FirstCavApache64 said:

I really don't get this because I've always thought that the roots won't grow out to the edge of the pot if the soil is only moist around the seedlings. I don't keep the whole media soaking but I water the entire pot evenly.
I really respect your growing and you have great plants but can you explain this to me so if I'm wrong in what I've been doing I can make a change?

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Not really wrong - just not drenched in moisture. You will notice that fresh bagged soil has some moisture ( and heat ) within it.
‘There is no “ certain “ amount to use per se but I find if you control the urge to saturate , your dry backs are better and less hydrophobic issues.

Sometimes as I get final pots ready - I wet the first half of container slightly - add transplant plug and top fill with soil.
Having good watering habits pays off.

Nutty sKunK said:

It’s really important to moisten the soil prior to potting especially in a large container. Add 10% volume of water ( I mix it evenly ina large container) before planting the seed. Also leaving it in a warm place is a good idea to speed up the soil activity

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Ha - you beat me to it before I finished typing.

Some growers aerate the top soil - chopstick / whatever - poking a few holes in top soil to help in watering.

Budzbuddha said:

Not really wrong - just not drenched in moisture. You will notice that fresh bagged soil has some moisture ( and heat ) within it.
‘There is no “ certain “ amount to use per se but I find if you control the urge to saturate , your dry backs are better and less hydrophobic issues.

Sometimes as I get final pots ready - I wet the first half of container slightly - add transplant plug and top fill with soil.
Having good watering habits pays off.

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Thanks man, it's hard to ask for an explanation without it sounding like a challenge on the internet and that was definitely not my intention. I know you have grown really nice plants for a good while, and was just wondering if I should be doing something different.
I just did what logic told me from what I was seeing in my plants. I use Roots Organic in air pots and it's really heavy on aeration materials so it dries really quickly. I know Happy Frog is way slower to dry, especially if you don't add perlite to it. I just do pot lift and when they're light I give them a good watering until I just start to see runoff. It's dry amendments so I'm not looking for any real runoff, just seeing the soil got water all the way through.

i usually start in peat pots but this round i started one in a 5 gallon pot. it took so many days to pop the surface, i started another seed. next day, there she was. so, it took longer than when in peat pots. that's all i know.

i used to always start in party cups but i'm new to autos and LEDs and am learning while i grow.

Budzbuddha said:

Some growers aerate the top soil - chopstick / whatever - poking a few holes in top soil to help in watering.

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Human piss is a natural sufficant/wetting agent when it is in the temperature range of 90-100 real degrees.

Nope_49595933949 said:

Human piss is a natural sufficant/wetting agent when it is in the temperature range of 90-100 real degrees.

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Yes - human PEE ( urine / yellow rain / nut nectar ) is ripe with antifungal properties ( powdery mildew ) too and full of P K / micronutrients.

Grab your junk and saturate your ladies like you’re in a thailand brothel. Good info ^^^.

FirstCavApache64 said:

I really don't get this because I've always thought that the roots won't grow out to the edge of the pot if the soil is only moist around the seedlings. I don't keep the whole media soaking but I water the entire pot evenly.
I really respect your growing and you have great plants but can you explain this to me so if I'm wrong in what I've been doing I can make a change?

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The fact that you both ask AND listen, plus you value the skills of Budz(who I've thought was one of the best auto growers i came across in 18' when starting with them) shows you will learn alot and eventually you'll grow plants better than most you come across here.

Nope_49595933949 said:

Human piss is a natural sufficant/wetting agent when it is in the temperature range of 90-100 real degrees.

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Are you watering your plants with pee lol!

big bud man 413 said:

Are you watering your plants with pee lol!

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Yea, sometimes I have to save up for a day or 2.