The first inch or 2 of soil is dry but the solo cup has some weight to it so there is some moisture lower in the soil. Should I water it now or wait for the cup to feel a little lighter? What’s the best way to water this? From the bottom? From the top with a water bottle or with a spray bottle? Also when to start nutes? I have a sample bottle of Humboldt County’s Own Deep Breath.
How and when to water this seedling?
- Thread starter jokerlola
- Start date
It's looking nice and healthy joker!
Unless it's in hot soil I'd say you can start with very diluted nutes with the next set of leaves, and if the bottom feels heavy then there is probably plenty of water down there, which is where the tap root is heading anyway. If the top looks and feels dry you can use a spray bottle to dampen it, but I'd avoid the area right around the stem to prevent stem rot.
Are there good-sized holes in the bottom of that cup? Small holes don't drain because of water tension. It makes the water droplets bigger than the small holes. I like to take a scissors and cut bits out of the bottom edge of my cups. Like this (but don't flip yours over with a plant in it!):
Once it starts to feel light again you can water it with the nutes around the edges of the cup, by tilting the cup as you water to keep the water away from the center. Having it run down the inside edge will get the roots out there in search of water.
Unless it's in hot soil I'd say you can start with very diluted nutes with the next set of leaves, and if the bottom feels heavy then there is probably plenty of water down there, which is where the tap root is heading anyway. If the top looks and feels dry you can use a spray bottle to dampen it, but I'd avoid the area right around the stem to prevent stem rot.
Are there good-sized holes in the bottom of that cup? Small holes don't drain because of water tension. It makes the water droplets bigger than the small holes. I like to take a scissors and cut bits out of the bottom edge of my cups. Like this (but don't flip yours over with a plant in it!):
Once it starts to feel light again you can water it with the nutes around the edges of the cup, by tilting the cup as you water to keep the water away from the center. Having it run down the inside edge will get the roots out there in search of water.
skirk
Well-Known Member
When you get down to 10 grams above dry weight, water until 10 grams below wet weight, with, as @InTheShed advises, holes for drainage. Repeat as required. I use a condiment bottle and water in a circular, outward radiating pattern, keeping in the range I mentioned. You can see my solo is elevated. I don't like sitting in a wet/damp environment and neither do my seedlings. This is the system I use to remove watering guess work.
Good idea with the squeeze bottle and the scale skirk! I was just mentioning in another thread about using a scale to get a baseline dry weight on transplant if the plant-lift method is too confusing.
I'd go with bigger holes at the bottom than the ones in your pic though. You might be surprised at how much additional water will drain out!
I'd plant it in it's final pot and be done, depending on what media you're growing in I'd do very light nutes, unless you're in an amended soil, then you can wait a couple weeks before nutes.
Nunyabiz
Well-Known Member
I always keep mine moist at all times, never soaking wet and definitely never dry.
- Thread starter
- #7
Yeah, I have holes cut in my cup similar to what you show on the bottom edges. This seedling is from 2 seeds I found when I was trimming the dried buds of the Harlequin clone I grew last year. Is it likely going to be a female or does it have a 50/50 chance like normal regular seeds?
Depends on where the pollen came from. If the plant had some nanners in flower that self-pollinated, they will be female seeds that could be more likely to do the same. If the pollen came from a male plant somewhere then it's a 50/50 shot.
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- #9
Grown indoors? Probably female but with possible hermie tendencies. 
skirk
Well-Known Member
I concur. I was sharing my experience when I used solos. After I learned when to water,which is not too often, I switched to germinating in peat pellets and transferring to final pot day after sprout. I'm not proficient at transplanting one container to another.
I do that with autoflowers, but with photos I go from peat to solo cups. Either way, I highly recommend cutting the bottoms of the peat open before you drop the seed in, and then cutting it off entirely when you plant it.
That material doesn't have much give and I've seen roots constricted in them when you pull them out at harvest. Cheap, quick, and easy insurance!
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- #13
So, this plant originally was being grown in a indoor grow room and was given to me at the Denver Indo Expo in January of 2020. I kept her in Veg on my window sill with a supplemental LED. I cut some clones off her for friends and put her outside in a 7 gallon pot. I also wound up keeping 2 of the clones and grew 2 smaller plants from her but I can't tell you which plant the 2 seeds came from. She was most likely put under some stress during all this time plus I had to deal with neighbors putting in new flood lights that they suddenly loved burning all night long.Grown indoors? Probably female but with possible hermie tendencies.
Well if it was a stress hermie it should be good without the stress!
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- #15
So, you can move it to a bigger pot or it's final pot right after it sprouts in a peat pellet? How long do you have to wait to transfer it outside? Besides this one Harlequin seedling, I have 3 (just sprouted) sprouts of another strain in peat pellets and want to get them growing outside in bigger pots as soon as possible.I concur. I was sharing my experience when I used solos. After I learned when to water,which is not too often, I switched to germinating in peat pellets and transferring to final pot day after sprout. I'm not proficient at transplanting one container to another.
I plant my peat pucks and move the seedlings into the sun the day they come up. What size pot depends on if they're autos or photos: photos in Solo cups, autos in their final home.
- Thread starter
- #17
Do you move them outside? If so, do you gradually give them full sun (a little in the morning and a little in the evening) until they can tolerate a full day in full sun?
When they come up they are immediately ready for full sun. If you keep them inside under artificial light then you will need to harden them off.
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- #19
Wow! That's good to know!
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- #20
So does this seedling look like it's overwatered or needs watering? Are those yellow first leaves a sign of too much water? I last watered it about 5 or 6 days ago and I watered till runoff (which I now think could have been too much). The seedling is outside and is getting direct sunlight till about 11:30 am when the eave of my house starts shading it. I will then put it in direct sunlight in late afternoon/ early evening. The medium has looked saturated and the cup has been heavy and has started to feel lighter yesterday and today it almost feels like dry weight. I have not fed it at all yet so are those yellow leaves a sign of it needing food?
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