How much water?

[Sparkey224]

I respectfully disagree with the "Dry natural soil will soak up less water" soil or soilless. Imo is having that wet/dry cycle is the most important. Having wet consistent soil all the time is going to have more potential deficiencies and less trich development.

 

[SmokingWings]

I respectfully disagree with the "Dry natural soil will soak up less water" soil or soilless. Imo is having that wet/dry cycle is the most important.

Hydrophobic soil happens when the soil dries out beyond the normal dry stage of the usual wet/dry cycle. Once it is a hydrophobic state water will run through without being absorbed. If the person doing the watering does not know what is going on they are almost always going to fail to get the soil properly watered. The way to fix this is to give the soil a small amount of water and wait 20 to 30 minutes and then add some more water and wait. Eventually the organic particles in the soil has absorbed enough water that it is more damp than dry. At that point the soil can be returned back to the normal wet/dry cycle.

We see threads started or messages posted by growers who feel that their containers are light weight but when they try to water the soil the water almost immediately runs through and is in the saucer. They then want to know what is happening and what does it mean.

It can eventually become a problem if the grower does not realize what is going on. They can end up with a layer of moist soil at the top of the container from the watering sessions and another layer of moist soil at the bottom where the soil wicks up the run through water from the saucer. But, the center layer of soil in the container is dry and not doing anything for the plant.

Another way to find out it is happening is when a grower says that they pour water on the surface and it immediately comes out the bottom "just like it was running down the insides of the pot". And, that is what it is doing, following the hard side of the pot and just flowing through without properly soaking in.

The link below is from the Master Gardener web pages at the University of California and was one of the top links displayed when Mr Google responded when I typed in "hydrophobic soil".

https://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/garden-help/watering-hydrophobic-soil/

 

[Sparkey224]

Hydrophobic soil happens when the soil dries out beyond the normal dry stage of the usual wet/dry cycle. Once it is a hydrophobic state water will run through without being absorbed. If the person doing the watering does not know what is going on they are almost always going to fail to get the soil properly watered. The way to fix this is to give the soil a small amount of water and wait 20 to 30 minutes and then add some more water and wait. Eventually the organic particles in the soil has absorbed enough water that it is more damp than dry. At that point the soil can be returned back to the normal wet/dry cycle.

We see threads started or messages posted by growers who feel that their containers are light weight but when they try to water the soil the water almost immediately runs through and is in the saucer. They then want to know what is happening and what does it mean.

It can eventually become a problem if the grower does not realize what is going on. They can end up with a layer of moist soil at the top of the container from the watering sessions and another layer of moist soil at the bottom where the soil wicks up the run through water from the saucer. But, the center layer of soil in the container is dry and not doing anything for the plant.

Another way to find out it is happening is when a grower says that they pour water on the surface and it immediately comes out the bottom "just like it was running down the insides of the pot". And, that is what it is doing, following the hard side of the pot and just flowing through without properly soaking in.

The link below is from the Master Gardener web pages at the University of California and was one of the top links displayed when Mr Google responded when I typed in "hydrophobic soil".

https://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/garden-help/watering-hydrophobic-soil/

I understand what you are saying but 90% of new growers always overwater/feed the plant.
If you are running hydro soilless extremely important to dry them out and completely saturate them with runoff.
I don't care to look up Master Gardener, just telling you what my plants are telling me..
It's not rocket science here

 

[CaptainLucky]

Once you’re in flower and past stretch you want to make sure your container is almost constantly wet. If you check out @Emilya Green guide on how to properly water a plant in the container she expands on this. Basically you want to run a wet/dry cycle all the way until stretch finishes. At this point the plant is no longer building roots which is what one of the big purposes a wet dry cycle serves, root building.

Once those roots are built and the plant is focused on flowering you want to make sure the roots have all the water they can take. Personally I’ve found when in flower the plant can want water as much as three times a day if in fabric pot. My last grow was in a 3 gallon smart pot I had to water three times a day. It was a 5 foot plant that produced almost 6 ounces though so it was a bit big for its pot size.

The sheer amount of vegetative and flower growth the plant puts on in the final weeks of flower is incredible. Approximately 90% of a plants weight is in water and with the amount of weight it puts on in flower, it needs a hefty amount.

Also, yes like @GainesvilleGreen said.. you don’t really want runoff.. it’s okay if it happens but this isn’t coco or salts where you’re looking for 20% runoff.. Learn how much it can take and what it looks/sounds/feels like right at the limit of watering it

That’s what I’m doing right now because they’re in flowering. I want them to drink as much nutrients now to try and get the best yields possible. But we all have are ways and whatever works best for them that’s the best method. CL

 

[Keffka]

That’s what I’m doing right now because they’re in flowering. I want them to drink as much nutrients now to try and get the best yields possible. But we all have are ways and whatever works best for them that’s the best method. CL

Growing in containers is what causes all of this. If we all grew straight from the earth so many of these conversations and issues wouldn’t exist. Forcing a plant like cannabis to grow in a container adds an entire dimension to growing that doesn’t exist in nature. With that being said, we can pull things off nature can’t by herself. We can push limits on any aspect at once, or all of the aspects of cannabis at all times.

It’s a pretty big trade off we make with nature but the rewards speak for themselves.

 

[Canachris]

Growing in containers is what causes all of this. If we all grew straight from the earth so many of these conversations and issues wouldn’t exist. Forcing a plant like cannabis to grow in a container adds an entire dimension to growing that doesn’t exist in nature. With that being said, we can pull things off nature can’t by herself. We can push limits on any aspect at once, or all of the aspects of cannabis at all times.

It’s a pretty big trade off we make with nature but the rewards speak for themselves.

You have no idea what I would give to be able to grow outside right in the good Ole earth

 

[Canachris]

Ok so I've read all these comments... but my brain can't process very much of it,too much info at one time just makes me confused. but on the Brite side, the plants are getting bigger every day and I'm almost positive they are drinking all that water in about 2 days. is that a because I'm not giving them enough at each watering ? the extra perlite thing was just something I read somewhere about adding some extra in big containers to the bottom 1/3 to aid in drainage. I'm not sure how well it worked or not but every time I checked the bottom b4 watering it seemed dryer than other grows... now this also could have been that I finally learned the proper way to water a plant in a container

 

[SmokingWings]

That might well be the difference, mine is graded 10mm

I went to the store and the pallets of bags of Perlite from last week were gone and a new batch had come in. I picked up the 4 cubic foot bag that is labeled as #2 and 1/2" (3mm).

You might want to try out the same sort of experiment using you 10mm size. Maybe 4 liters of Perlite and 3 doses of a 1/2 liter each of water. That should be as close as needed to International Rules to copy what I did.

This is the bag I bought earlier today. I never noticed before, on any of the bags of Perlite I've had, the mention about "Holds Water."

 

[Keffka]

that a because I'm not giving them enough at each watering

Nope, seems like you’re giving enough. They just use the water that quickly once in flower after stretch.

 

[Canachris]

They are mostly dry today, but the past 3 nights the temps inside have fallen under 65. I'm thinking those nights when the temps stayed around mid 70' she drank more overnight. even tho I prolly could water them today with no harm I'm gunna wait till about an hour b4 lights out an give them a quart slowly then tomorrow I'll give em a good soak. Temps are supposed to be in the 80's with high humidity. Gotta love what summers have become most of June here in the northeast has felt like March, got a feeling July an August are gunna be hell. Hope I can harvest before bud rot weather gets here... sorry for the rant, wake an bake has that effect