Question About Watering Young Plants

[CrazyChef]

So it's been 10 days since I moved the girls into their one gallon pots. I have yet to water them. I normally water my more mature plants when they start to droop, but don't think that's the case with girls this young. I know the root systems are still in their formative stage, so too much watering could stunt the root growth. Should I go ahead and water them anyways? 10 days seems kinda long to go without watering. Oh, they're at 28 days old right now, topped, and quadline LST started..

 

[Herby Paisley]

What strain are you working with It depends some like it dry and some like it more moist? Hows the soil feel to you at the top of the pots? If its still damp an inch down into the soil leave them go a bit longer if its dry give them a drink! Cheers!

 

[TurboBucket]

They look to be old enough now that a little droop won't hurt them. The dry cycle helps them send roots looking for water so it's not a bad thing. Droop is ok, Wilt is bad

 

[Emilya Green]

While it is super important to let the containers dry out to the very bottom, you need to consider that the definition of weed means that there are two sets of roots... the bottom feeder roots and the top spreader roots that are designed to choke out any competing plants by stealing all the surface water.
10 days is too long to go without watering the top set of roots, or they simply go dormant. Since you are still waiting on the roots to be able to drain all the water from the bottom of the new containers, you don't want to water with the normal amount of water during that time, but it is extremely helpful to be able to keep watering the top spreader roots with about 1/3 of what it normally would take to achieve runoff. You want to come in at least every 3-5 days with a little bit of water, slowly applied across the top of the container, trying to get it to soak into no further than the first 3 or 4 inches. This way you can keep doing water/nute/water/nute system up top, keeping the plant metabolism high and growth strong, while you still wait for the bottom to dry out.
Eventually, the roots get strong enough that the total wet/dry cycle for the container falls to the 3-5 day time period, and when the roots are able to support a reasonable wet/dry cycle so as to not put the top roots into hibernation, it is finally time to stop the 2 stage watering and simply water the entire container to runoff, properly.

 

[CrazyChef]

While it is super important to let the containers dry out to the very bottom, you need to consider that the definition of weed means that there are two sets of roots... the bottom feeder roots and the top spreader roots that are designed to choke out any competing plants by stealing all the surface water.
10 days is too long to go without watering the top set of roots, or they simply go dormant. Since you are still waiting on the roots to be able to drain all the water from the bottom of the new containers, you don't want to water with the normal amount of water during that time, but it is extremely helpful to be able to keep watering the top spreader roots with about 1/3 of what it normally would take to achieve runoff. You want to come in at least every 3-5 days with a little bit of water, slowly applied across the top of the container, trying to get it to soak into no further than the first 3 or 4 inches. This way you can keep doing water/nute/water/nute system up top, keeping the plant metabolism high and growth strong, while you still wait for the bottom to dry out.
Eventually, the roots get strong enough that the total wet/dry cycle for the container falls to the 3-5 day time period, and when the roots are able to support a reasonable wet/dry cycle so as to not put the top roots into hibernation, it is finally time to stop the 2 stage watering and simply water the entire container to runoff, properly.

Have I ever told you that I love you? Thanks - this is perfect!

 

[CrazyChef]

So if I go with one gallon with a minimum of nutes (using MegaCrop @4g/gal), that should average out to about a tad under 10oz per plant. Following Emilya's watering guide, I should be able to stay pretty close to watering only the top portions of the soil.