Going on Vacation

[greensmoker]

I am worried about watering my plants. I have one Early Widow ( Fem) and three regular widows ,that I grew from seed , in 3 1/2 gal buckets filled with coco coir . They are about done vegging in my small grow box but I won't switch the ( CFL ) lights to 12/12 until I get back from vacation. I have been giving them aprox. 16 oz water every other day or so adding nutes every other time. So I am going to be gone seven days and I don't want to loose my grow at this time. I am thinking of giving each plant / container about 50 oz of water to hold them over till I get back. So I guess with my ramblings I am trying to find out is it better to give them too much water or let them dry out a bit. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Also, I don't have anyone to take care of them and I don't really want to get into some McQuiver type watering system unless its real simple. Thanks & Cheers !

 

[greensmoker]

My Bad. I see that this should be posted in FAQ.

 

[KarlJay]

I'm no expert, but...

Seven days it a bit too long to go without water. I go about 4 or 5 days right now and it seems to be working.
One option could be a water container with a small hose so that it gets a drip feed.

Example, take a 1 gallon milk jug, punch a pin hole in it so small that it takes several days to drain out. You can run a hose down to the plants or have them just drain straight into the plants.

If you have time, you can test it in your sink. If time is limited, measure and mark the jug. Time it for say 1 day, after 1 day, 1/7 or so should be drained out.

Another option is to move them to a larger pot or grow bag. If your in a 3 gallon, move to a 10 gallon grow bag and water them just before leaving. Maybe even do both, move them to larger pots/bags AND add the water bottle with a hole.

If you have the room, you can just take a plastic water bottle, poke 2 very small holes in it and put it on top of the soil.

Some say a soaker hose works too, but that would take more work.

Over watering and under watering... well I'd say over watering would be more recoverable, but there really isn't a need to choose between the two when you have other options.

Home depot sell a $20 water timer... get an 'O' ring sealed tub of water, attach the timer to the outlet, adapt on a small runner hose to each plant, set the timer for whatever works based on flow rate / tube size...

 

[Jimmycricket]

You can not give too much water in a single watering, when watering plants period. Excess will drain out and thats it.

Coco drys out very quickly every other day sounds like too little from my knowledge of coco, but if that is working, then so be it. However 7 days between watering with coco will DEFINITELY be too long.

A easy solution is to setup a wicking system.

Basically youll have a tray filled with water, with a rolled up rag going from inside the water up to a bottom hole in your plants pot. slowly water will wick up the rag and keep the coco moist. You have to do it right or it wont give enough or possibly give too much moisture.

The other option is to just place the pots partly submerged in a tray of water. The plants wont like being so wet but if its between that and them drying out and dying being too wet is prefered imo. You could possibly avoid the negatives by airating the water (putting a air pump pumping air into it).

Then the best option is to setup a auto drip system. There would be many ways to do it, but the simplest would be to get a 2 liter soda bottle, drill a hole in the cap then a small hole in the bottom, in the hole on the bottom you will run tubing (this must fit well and not leak). Then cap the end of your tubing, then you will run the tubing along the tops of the pots, and very very carfully you will take a needle and poke the tiniest hole possible in the tubing, one hole for each pot. If you find the water is comming out too much (where the 2 liters will not last a full week) then you will need to partially clamp the line so the flow from the bottle is slower.

Hopefully the directions where sufficient.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

The other option is to just place the pots partly submerged in a tray of water. The plants wont like being so wet but if its between that and them drying out and dying being too wet is prefered imo. You could possibly avoid the negatives by airating the water (putting a air pump pumping air into it).

Thats a pretty good option in my books... but depends on how quickly plant pots dry out ?

As mentioned before a DIY dripper is another good alternative with a 2 liter fizzy drinks bottle for res.

 

[Jimmycricket]

Yeah the 2 liter would be the best in terms of control and optimally keeping the plants happy. Just got to do it perfect or else plants may dry out or may drown depending on some factors.

Sticking them in the tray of water is just super easy hehe and pretty hard to fail with if its only for a week .

 

[greensmoker]

First I would like to thank the mods for moving my post to the proper place and to thank those that have replied. KarlJay, I do like your idea of some kind of drip set up. Jimmycricket, You are correct that coco does dry out fast and I do not want to loose this grow. A few weeks ago I transferred the plants from one gal containers to the 3 1/2 gal buckets. I have not yet put a drain hole in the buckets knowing that I would be going away. I am thinking of thoroughly watering the plants and have about 2-3 inches of water in the bottom of the buckets ( actually small trash cans , 1 ft tall). Kinda the same idea that you suggested about placing them in a pan. Might not be the best solution but they should recover from being water logged. I will also place some plastic on top of the coco to help reduce evaporation. I will let you know how it turned out when I get back. If all is well I will switch them to 12 / 12 and start flowering. Hopefully I can post some pics. Wish me luck with the plants and with Vegas baby!

 

[greensmoker]

Well I made it back from vacation and the plants are doing just fine. I simply gave them a healthy drink of water before I left and again when I got back. They have been on 12/12 since last Wednesday so I hope to see good things soon. Thanks for the support as , yes , I was a little worried. My last few grows with autos were disappointing and I really want / need this grow to succeed. I am hoping for much better yields with the Fem Early Widow and Regular White Widows. Actually trying to get a seed supply with this grow. We'll see and I will let you all know.

 

[Jimmycricket]

glad to hear it

 

[canabinerd]

I like the idea of a propagation tray and an airstone. Basically turns any pot into a super-hempy.
+Reps on that one