Water Water Water?

[Muttt]

So .... how much water to use?


I am using 5 gallon cloth pots with an organic soil mix. The problem is, this is my first grow ever. I have no idea how much I'm supposed to water. I understand to not over water. I also understand that I need to wait till the plants are fairly dry before watering .... because they don't like wet feet.

But, the one thing I don't understand yet is ...... how much water do I use.

The first time I watered my plants after transfering them into the bigger 5 gallon pots, I used a gallon of water in each pot. It may sound extreme, but only about an inch of water pooled into the saucers under the pots. I figure the initial soil was pretty dry and needed the soaking. But, I don't think a gallon each time I water would be appropriate. But, then again, I have no idea how much water to use. So, I could be wrong.

So ...... I would like to hear how much water others use, and what size pots you are using. That way I can get a better idea about how much is reasonable or neccessary.

Temps are 75 degrees and humidity is 40%.

 

[JJ Bones]

I water until i get run-off. Some people have particular percentages of run-off, varies by grower, IMO.

Get a good run off of water and you know you watered enough. Then figure out how much water it took to get that run-off and you'll have an idea of how much you're needing. Or count how many seconds you're feeding with the watering wand.

 

[Muttt]

I don't have a faucet in my basement. So, I use gallon jugs to water with. I'll start marking the jug when I see water seeping out the bottom. Then use that as an example of the right amount.

That sound reasonable??

 

[JJ Bones]

You can definitely try that out. Here's a video we made explaining how we water, makes things much easier.

Gardening How To: Water your Plants With Ease - YouTube

 

[Jimmycricket]

Just make sure the soil gets completely soaked. For a 5 gallon pot this can be anywhere from half a gallon to nearly 2 gallons. It depends on the medium and the root structure. Then of course do not water again until the soil is almost completely dry.

Keep in mind often when you first start watering a near dry soil, its common for water to cascade down the sides of the soil until a bit has soaked in to the top layer. So just do not make the mistake of thinking that if you see runoff you have automatically watered enough. You gotta make sure its soaked in throughout the soil and didnt just run down the sides.

 

[JJ Bones]

To Jimmy's point, this is where the watering wands come in handy

Even distribution of water.

 

[Jimmycricket]

Yeah they would be nice. I wish I had a water wand sometimes.

Also I find just dabbing the top soil of each pot first, then adding a bit more, then more then more works best to avoid that phenomenon. As opposed to just pouring a gallon or two of water on a plant.

OH BTW JJ do you guys know of a inexpensive hose syphon unit that does not suck ass? I have tried the Chamilleon one and an ortho one but both are crap and leak.

 

[JJ Bones]

Yeah that's what I do, I will water about 20-30 seconds per pot then move on to the next one, then come back around again and repeat. I grow on flood trays so its really simple.

We just got a siphon called the Hozon, which is for adding nutes to your water when coming out of the faucet. Is this what you're talking about? Check it out, if you're interested I can get you one, not on the site yet but I do have it here in the store.

 

[Muttt]

That garbage can idea is one hell of a good idea. I'm deffinitely doing that.


So,

If I water and there ends up being an inch of water in the saucer underneath, is it OK to leave that water in the dish? It gets soaked back in by morning and then the saucer is dry again.

 

[JJ Bones]

Thanks man.

I personally do not recommend leaving water in the saucers, I would empty them. If you get wicking action your soil can stay too moist for too long inviting root rot etc.

That's why I grow on flood tables, so that I don't have to empty each saucer which sucks! Check out my last grow if you want, you'll see what I mean.

 

[WizHigh]

Hell yea it sucks I have mine on a draining shelf so when I water it goes threw the shelf and to the lower shelf into water catchers and I just empty that one.

 

[Muttt]

I'll have to look for a better tray to use. Put a valve on a drain hose.

 

[WizHigh]

Just get a huge pale and attach a PVC pipe to it and put a valve on that. and let it run to your drain, thats if your grow box is in the basement by a drain

 

[Jimmycricket]

Yeah JJ something like that. The ones I was using hooked to the front of the hose, but same difference.

The main thing is does is dependably work lol. Every single one I have used so far works for awhile then stops. The syphons are meh. I for now have reverted to just having a strong concentrate in a watering can then walking around with my hose and slowing pouring some concentrate in while I water with the hose and the spray action mixes itself.

Much better way if the syphon isnt dependable.

Indoors I just use an old fashioned watering can (its kinda a pain though and should probably find a bigger 3 or 5 gallon type as mine is just 1.5 gal)

 

[Jimmycricket]

Me personally I just use normal old pot tray under each pot. Yeah water fills them up sometimes and it creates a wicking effect but if the plants are big enough they suck up the water within a few hours or at the very most a day.

I could see how it might cause root rot though. Usually I like to water very slowly so that the second even a few drops of water come out the bottom I stop watering that plant.

However if I was rich I would have a drain tray that was the size of my tent. with a drain hole in the center that filled up with nutes and stuff that were run off to be used later. At that point though, you might as well make it a top feed or fill n drain hydro system.

 

[HydroGrowTents]

Hello Mutt,

This was also my problem during my first month of growing and one of my friends taught me how to determine the amount of water my plants needed..

So...this is what I did and you can try it too:
1. First thing in the morning, check the amount of moisture present in your soil. Put your fingers 3 inches below the soil to check for moisture.
2. If it's fairly dry, water them thoroughly and drain for about 20-30 mins. (if you are putting 1 gal in a 5 gallon pot, do it again and try these steps)
3. Weigh the pots
4. Check it the next morning and weigh again
5. Check the weight difference. Any decrease in weight will mean, that was the amount of water the plants used and that is the water capacity your plants needed.But of course, you also need to consider that things changes in a day to day basis.

It works well for me. Hope it will works well with you as well. Goodlunck!

 

[Muttt]

Thanks for all the info guys

 

[LittleAbigH]

Go hydro then you can see how much water is in their! But I work in a green house and we judge when to water by looking at the soil. If it looks dry it probably is, avoid watering before the lights go off. Plants are resilient as hell, under watering will stress the plants but it wont kill them and it should be noticeable if they are under watered (loss of tugor pressure). Root rot from over watering is a more common plant killer than slight stress from under watering.

Hope it helps.

 

[Muttt]

Yep.

I'm starting to get the hang of it ..... I think ..... LOL.


I think I've underwatered so far. I also think these cloth pots dry them out much faster.

 

[Muttt]

Well,

I've deffinitely been underwatering and underfeeding. I soaked them down and gave them some nutes and they took off.