The Proper Way To Water A Potted Plant

[Edge05]

Love seeing videos and stuff like this, learning soo much!

 

[CannaBeardGrows]

ok here we go, I had to make a NEW acc as I could not change the name on my old one. yah communities like this are invaluable

 

[Emilya Green]

ok here we go, I had to make a NEW acc as I could not change the name on my old one. yah communities like this are invaluable

Glad to see you in your true form! lol Thanks so much for putting out that video on watering, it really hit the key points and it was a great plug for 420Mag! You covered it: overwatering is bad, uppotting is good and roots chase the water! By the way, you didn't butcher my name either, you said it exactly right. Emilya, like in Sensimillia. -- Sense Emilya

 

[StoneOtter]

I remember reading your post for the first time and it felt like the missing piece of the puzzle.

That's exactly it! The message and means to get it done. Don't forget the slightly lesser magic of curing the fungus gnat issue we get with over watering. It's the single most important thing to get right for me.

 

[Still Vegging Bro]

I grow in 1 gallon pots and in the medium I use which is Canadian sphagnum peat moss (80-90% by volume) it takes 1L of water to soak it. I water the same as you except I haven't been doing the center ball. I've been watering 1/2L inside, 1/2L outside. Now I will break it down into 3rds and get that center ball. Thanks for the information.

Same Here..

 

[Dennis922]

I just wrote this in response to someone, trying to explain how pH works in a container. I liked what I said so much, I decided to add it to this thread.

The pH at the bottom of your container is not the same as the pH at the top of the container where the soil is starting to dry out.
Don't overthink it. Water at the correct pH every time and at least at that moment you know the pH of the entire container is 6.3, where you set it. And accuracy counts... there is a huge difference in adjusting to 6.2 and 6.5. 6.3 is the sweet spot. Hit it every time and keep practicing until you can. I remember many days of up and down as I struggled with the mix.
When you water at 6.3, the soil takes over from there. Most of our "pot soils" are buffered so that they are trying to achieve a 6.7 pH, so as the soil dries and loses the influence of your liquid adjustment, the pH in that region begins to rise, swinging slowly through the range, and as it does, it is unlocking nutrients bound up in your nutrient solution so that they can become available to the plant. If you never hit the correct pH range, the nutrients just sit there, doing nothing but wasting your money.

Which PH meter do you use Emily? From what I'm reading the cheaper ones aren't accurate and are difficult to calibrate. It sounds like I need to spend like $200 to get a decent one. Would love your thoughts. Thanks!

 

[Emilya Green]

Which PH meter do you use Emily? From what I'm reading the cheaper ones aren't accurate and are difficult to calibrate. It sounds like I need to spend like $200 to get a decent one. Would love your thoughts. Thanks!

When I needed to check pH (I run living organic soil now) I relied on the same old cheap Hanna $59 digital meter for years. It required changing out the sensor tube about once a year, but it stayed fairly accurate between times. I would bet there are much better meters out there these days though, and I am sure you don't have to spend more than $50 to get one that will work.

 

[MaddHacker]

 

[HigherTheHigh]

Hello @Emilya

I just wondered a little something, im in soil as you know organically but iv decided to add Plagron Green Sensation to the mix as its a 4 in 1 nutrient, my last water was:

2ml Per L of Root Juice
3ml Per L of Fish Mix bring these to up to 750ppm

Then i added 0.5ml of Plagron Green Sensation adding up to 900ppm.

One of my plants looks like its starting to show slight N toxicity signs, but, this is to only some of the smaller leaves on some of the bud spots.

My question is, should i lower some of these measure for the next feeding or keep feeding as i am?

This is what im thinking for every 3-4 days as there drinking 2-3L each time, full feed, 1/2 feed/plain water, full feed, 1/2 feed and so on?

Also im in canna terra pro plus and my last watering i fed them at 5.8ph was that a bad idea?

Thank you .

 

[Emilya Green]

Hello @Emilya

I just wondered a little something, im in soil as you know organically but iv decided to add Plagron Green Sensation to the mix as its a 4 in 1 nutrient, my last water was:

2ml Per L of Root Juice
3ml Per L of Fish Mix bring these to up to 750ppm

Then i added 0.5ml of Plagron Green Sensation adding up to 900ppm.

One of my plants looks like its starting to show slight N toxicity signs, but, this is to only some of the smaller leaves on some of the bud spots.

My question is, should i lower some of these measure for the next feeding or keep feeding as i am?

This is what im thinking for every 3-4 days as there drinking 2-3L each time, full feed, 1/2 feed/plain water, full feed, 1/2 feed and so on?

Also im in canna terra pro plus and my last watering i fed them at 5.8ph was that a bad idea?

Thank you .

Lots going on here, but if you are seeing toxicity signs, reduce the nutes. Maybe go to the more normal watering method of nutes/plain water/nutes/plain water.... that extra half feed is probably what is throwing you off. Soil is not usually run the way you are doing it. A pH of 5.8 in soil also sounds like a bad idea... do you have something against 6.3? Tell me your thinking there.
Next time, give me a shout in your journal thread @higherthehigh so I can come in and look at what is going on and how you got there.. I am sure I could go into more details there.

 

[Dennis922]

The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant
Also covered: the importance of pH and why we successively up-pot


How to Water
Over the last several years I have put a lot of study into this, and I feel that I can now define the proper way to water a potted plant. Keep in mind that this discussion applies to at least 3 gallon containers and bigger. Please realize that this special plant of ours does not grow like anything else you have ever tried to grow, and no matter how good you are at growing peas, beans and tomatoes, you will have to change your methods to grow a weed.


The first rule of watering is to always water slowly, using no more than a quart at a time, pausing often to let the soil suck air in behind the water as it pools on the top. For me, that involves a routine of watering each of my plants with 1 quart, then taking a nice relaxing drink of whatever beverage I have brought with me to the tent. Then I take a deep breath, making sure to exhale deeply onto this plant, letting her know that I love her. After this, I take a nice big hit off of the pipe that also followed me into the tent, and then after a nice pause and maybe another drink, I go back to plant #1 and repeat the cycle. For 2 rounds, I water the entire surface of the soil, watching it pool up and get sucked down.


After this initial wetting of the top, my watering method changes a bit. Now, I want to do whatever I can to make the outside edges of the container, the wettest areas. Still only using a quart at a time, I now carefully water only there, all around the plant, only on the edges. While doing this, I slow down a bit so that the water doesn't pool as much in the center, always concentrating on the edges. The center will end up getting some too, and that's fine, but the wettest areas of the pot will be on the outside edges and you will be driving nutrient rich soil into the dense original root ball. Continue this, again going slow, maybe with a deep breath in the middle of it, and then continue all around, taking drinks, deep breaths and hits in between each round. Continue until you see the first signs of runoff, and then stop.


Look carefully at the surface of your container now. You will clearly see where the root ball is from your last transplant, because it will now be sticking up just a little bit above the original outer rim. Very fine soil has been driven through the original root ball with the flow of water and soil from the outer edges. This micro fine soil is very rich with nutrients because of its mobility. When you water from the outside edges, you force this micro fine sludge into the dense root ball, where it can do the most good. Once you establish this flow pattern in the container, you can be assured of totally replacing the micro soil in the center of the root ball with new soil, every time you water. Watering in the normal way does not create his circular flow, and root growth cannot be nearly as aggressive.

Lastly, take one last quart of water, and water very very slowly, just in the raised area where the original root ball is. As you do so, watch what happens at the outer edge of the original root ball.

You will see the very finest soil, almost a mud, migrating out of the old root ball, and into the middle! This completes the process of soil exchange in the container. In this manner, all the roots get to take advantage of the nutrients in the soil, and the roots follow the migration of the nutrient rich soil, toward the outer edges, creating lateral growth. I strive to actively drive the soil out of the middle, making room for the roots to grow more dense and bigger there, and as they do, the lateral growth also has to increase. Using this method, I have seen a steady increase in the amount of water needed to get to run off throughout the grow and by the end, plants watered in this way use approximately 30% more water than is seen using standard watering techniques. Watering in the manner I have described allows for a constant circular flow of soil throughout the container and will create an extremely dense root ball.

Now it is time for a truism. It is best to water the roots, not the plant. A healthy and robust root system means a happy and productive plant. Neglect the roots and your plants can die, and certainly will be less than they could have been.

When do we water?
By far, one of the most common plant problems that I see with new gardeners is a lack of understanding as to when to water. New people get it set in their mind that watering every day or every other day is best, or that somehow, mysteriously, they know in their own human minds exactly how much water the plants need. These well-meaning new gardeners will determine that they will give exactly one quart or some other random amount, each time, no more... and no less, and really believe that they are doing a good thing for their plants, making these decisions for them.
Just as bad as these over-thinkers are the tomato gardeners, the "stick your finger in the ground" crowd, who proclaim: it's time to water when it is dry below the second knuckle. What they fail to realize is that when the top 2 inches is dry, the lower half of the container could still be saturated with water. Both of these common mistakes in watering methods are quick ways to drown your plants. These methods are not correct for growing weeds, and using them can actually kill your plants.


Marijuana is a weed, and the main thing that this scientific term refers to, is a class of plant that thrives in adversity. In order to grow it well, you need to understand that this incredibly robust plant works differently than other, less hardy plants. It is an extremely aggressive grower if you allow it to be, and to grow prize winning pot, you need to use its abilities to send out new roots to your advantage.


Watering incorrectly is the most common mistake that new weed farmers make. This plant needs a clear wet/dry cycle in order to thrive. If you keep it moist, you will kill it. The roots will aggressively chase your water, whatever you give them. If you just give a small amount every couple of days, that water will drop right to the bottom of the container. Your roots will follow, and will cluster on the bottom, instead of growing laterally throughout the container, and since they continually sit in the nutrient rich water, the plant sees little need to grow additional roots. How you water makes a huge difference in the formation of the root ball, and how this development happens is up to you.


There are many ways to tell when it is time to water, and if you wait long enough the girls will actually tell you that they are thirsty. They do two things when they see that they need water, they throw out a smell, and they begin to wilt, starting at the bottom, moving up. You can also use the lift method to tell when the container is dry, and almost always you will "feel" a dry container, before the above mentioned wilt and fragrance pump happens. Rusty Trichome taught me an important lesson; every time I think that I need to do something to my plants, I wait a bit... and I try to move at the speed that my plants are moving. "Patience, above all else." --Rusty


If you have a moisture meter you can also use it to find where the wet/dry (water table) line is in your container, and you can watch that wet/dry line move down over time. I used to graph my water table level by day, so that I could project ahead when the wet dry line would reach the last inch of container. Your wet/dry line will never go lower than that last inch or so, because once you get down in there, you are in all the big tap roots and mass at the bottom, and it tends to stay wet there longer because of capillary effect. Again, if you wait for the first sign of wilt and that perfume pump that happens at "water me" point, it will usually be just a bit longer than your measurements would indicate. Once the water table line is anywhere in that bottom inch is ok to water. You have dried out 95% of the water by that time and the roots have been chasing it as the wet/dry line progresses both downward and outward. The suction caused by the diaphragm that is the water table, will have pulled oxygen down deep into the container, and filled any voids. The roots will be happy.


Why do we up-pot?
The art of successive up-potting is important in growing a healthy root system. People like to be lazy. I am constantly seeing new gardeners take a little sprig of a weed and put it in a big 3 or 5 gallon container, thinking that they have done a good thing, and are now done with it... it's on to harvest time! The problem is, this doesn't work, because it gives you zero control over developing the roots, and without crazy watering techniques, almost no chance of a solid root ball forming. It is imperative to successively up pot your plants through stages so that the root system can roughly take on the same size and shape as the plant in order to get the maximum productivity. The roots grow aggressively in these weeds, and if you confine them to a container the size of the plant, they will fill that space in a short time with a dense root system. Putting a plant in an oversized container can and often does, result in all the roots going to the bottom, drowning the plant, root rot and overall poor health because of a lack of a root ball, and certainly less than optimum harvests. It is important to force these weeds into producing a root ball at various stages, to give the plant the ability later on to take in the massive amounts of nutrients needed to produce lots of quality buds.
The plants in the smaller containers can also more directly show you when they are thriving or more importantly when they are not. A strong healthy plant will eventually outgrow its container and an observant gardener is carefully watching the length of time between wet/dry cycles, and directly relating shorter cycles with more robust roots. A smaller container also gives the gardener the ability to see when the moment arrives that the amount of soil the plant is in is no longer large enough for the plant's abilities to be happy in it, because it will be obvious when the plant can drain the water that soil is able to hold, in less than 24 hours. Your soil and your container at that point have ceased at that point to be a good enough buffer, and it is time to double the space the roots have to work with. Let your plant show you when that time is, and try not to make decisions for her.


Why is pH important?
Some people claim that pH is not important, and if you are a pure organic gardener, never applying chlorinated water or salt based synthetic nutrients at your plants, pH indeed is not important. For the 99.9% rest of the world, a very important lesson for the new gardener to learn is the importance of pH. There is a scientific reason why a proper pH allows the plants to use synthetic nutrients, and why being outside of the proper range can cause deficiencies. If you want to grow pot using chemicals, you need to invest in a method to test the pH of any water going into the plant, whether it is plain water or water mixed with nutrients, and whether it is applied to the roots or sprayed on the leaves. If you neglect the pH, you can easily create deficiencies in your plants, and if left unchecked, you can even kill them. If you spend a lot of money on nutrients, it makes sense that you would want to also create the proper environment so that the plant can use these nutrients, but with a pH way out of the 6.3-6.8 range in soil, a lot of those expensive nutrients will just sit there, not doing the plant any good. If you are in a soilless mix, pH in the range of 5.5-6.1 is necessary. It is only within these ranges that all the nutrients are mobile, are able to be broken free of their salt bonds and be in the form that can go into the plants. Most soils and systems are designed so that you can apply liquids at a lower pH and then the soil or the soilless mix causes a drift, so that the pH can visit each spot in the usable pH range for that medium, and all of the 17 needed nutrients will be picked up, each in its turn.


I hope that this study on containers, watering and pH helps someone who reads it. This paper was a result of having to explain these same concepts over and over and over again to new growers at they hit the forums, until finally I put all these thoughts together into this paper. Some of the thoughts previously given have also been refined for this publication, as questions were asked and answered the last time I posted it, and I have learned better ways of explaining my thoughts. Here, I give you, approximately draft 10 of this paper.


Be well everyone and blessings from my garden to yours,
Sense Emilya

Hi Emily, what about the active microbes we feed into the soil? Wont those die off if we let the soil dry out?

 

[Emilya Green]

Hi Emily, what about the active microbes we feed into the soil? Wont those die off if we let the soil dry out?

Hi Dennis! Great question! First, we don't totally dry out our containers or our plants would certainly die. Even if we wait for wilt to water, there is still a bit of water left in that soil. It definitely would be a problem if we killed off all of the microlife in our soil if we were running a grow that depended on that microlife, but that microlife is a bit more resilient than you might think. One single handful of soil can contain up to 6 billion microorganisms. As the soil dries, some will flourish and some will die out in each wet dry cycle, but unless we totally dry the soil out for an extended period of time, there are still pockets of moisture where the microlife will continue to survive and indeed a lot of moisture is stored in the bodies of the single celled organisms themselves and they can simply go dormant in a dry soil! The highest populations of fungi and microorganisms are near the roots, and even though the soil might be getting pretty dry, as long as the plant is still strong, there is moisture in and around those roots that is available due to capillary action. Perlite, vermiculite, pumice are also last places of refuge for moisture in the soil, and places for the microlife to hole up and survive during the dry times.
When you do water finally, unless the plant has wilted and you have clearly depleted all of the moisture out of the container, there is still 5-10% of the water left in there in pockets where the microlife is still alive. This is enough to keep the microlife, especially those that exist near the roots, thriving. Imagine too the incredible rate of reproduction that occurs as soon as water hits a population numbered in the billions.... it doesn't take long at all to re-establish more than enough microlife to get the job done. Even so, knowing that a container of soil that is drying out periodically isn't the best environment for keeping microlife alive, those growers who are relying on that microlife to feed their plants, regularly add new microlife via products such as Big Bloom or by regularly brewing their own compost teas. Even though there is a lot of marketing hype surrounding soils that have added mycorrhizae and other microbes, most growers kill these off almost immediately by using chlorinated water, or by using acids to adjust the pH of their synthetic nute solutions, or simply by not having the raw materials in the soil that the microlife need to survive . Those gardeners who feed out of a bottle are not as nearly dependent on the microlife as they might think they are and even in a totally non living soil with zero active microbes or fungi, these gardeners do ok. It is almost tragic how many people spend extra to have mycorrhizae in their soil, and then never take advantage of them or actually kill them off as soon as they start working the soil.

 

[Knifemaker420]

Huge thanks to @Emilya for the awsome watering guide. Like several others who have commented, I also wish Id have found this thread about a week sooner. I planted my 3 autoflower seeds directly into 5gal fabric pots on the recommendation of several folks here. They are now 4 days old and I assume it would be too late to go down to a much smaller pot to build roots then back into the 5 gal in a couple weeks.
I know better for next time now.
Thanks again
Have a knife day
StaySharp

 

[DaddyKush]

I planted my 3 autoflower seeds directly into 5gal fabric pots on the recommendation of several folks here.

The fear I'd have with this situation is it's so easy to overwater. There are no roots yet to uptake the water and it can take forever for the soil to dry out between waterings. I know people don't like transplanting with autos because time is such a big factor, but I'd still want to do at least one transplant so I have an established rootzone before going into the 5 gal.

 

[Knifemaker420]

The fear I'd have with this situation is it's so easy to overwater. There are no roots yet to uptake the water and it can take forever for the soil to dry out between waterings. I know people don't like transplanting with autos because time is such a big factor, but I'd still want to do at least one transplant so I have an established rootzone before going into the 5 gal.

My next grow is going to be in doc buds high brix soil and I will plant into a 1 gal pot then up into my 5 gal pots.

 

[Emilya Green]

The fear I'd have with this situation is it's so easy to overwater. There are no roots yet to uptake the water and it can take forever for the soil to dry out between waterings. I know people don't like transplanting with autos because time is such a big factor, but I'd still want to do at least one transplant so I have an established rootzone before going into the 5 gal.

Yes it is very easy to overwater. If you follow my system however, it is impossible to overwater. Sadly the popular advice about how to work with autos recommends that you do not uppot, somehow thinking that transplanting is harmful to the growth of an auto. As a consequence of this advice that goes against everything we have learned in the indoor plant world, many people growing autos in these large containers get lost... they overwater, have no idea how to expand the roots, and as a result it is very common to see very small auto plants that barely yield an ounce dried.
There are people who can water in a large container and just have a feel for how much and how often to do it. I do not. I needed a system that could be used to the same great results each time. This is why I developed my watering guide, so that we could learn to use the natural wet/dry cycles of our containers to our advantage, not just to know when to water, but also to eliminate the guesswork as to how much to water each time. It is easy in my system... you water to runoff. There is no overwatering possible if you simply wait for the container to dry out between waterings with this system. Yes, autos grow faster than regular plants. So transplant them faster too. Those who have learned to work at the faster pace of the auto know that not only can you uppot several times, just as in a photo plant, but you can get the same advantages for doing so, just on a faster timeline. People have also learned that using a faster pace, they can even top and train their autos in the short time allowed.
Next time, don't listen to all the auto hype and try growing it in the tried and true fashion of indoor container growers for decades, and try uppotting a couple of times. Compare that grow to one where you just let the plant do what it wanted to do in a big container. I suspect you will be convinced.

 

[Archiweedies]

Good advice Emilya.

There are people who can water in a large container and just have a feel for how much and how often to do it. I do not.

I find it easier to water large containers. The one gallons I find I have to be extra patient or else the water goes straight down the sides and out the bottom.
Short little splashes, around three of them, with a few minutes between each seems to take care of The hydrophobic action of the dried soil. Then I can water about a 1/4 cup or so at a time. If I do it right, I get a little tiny puddle of runoff. I usually give the plant one last drink just to make sure it’s completely saturated.

 

[SavPatvh]

The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant
Also covered: the importance of pH and why we successively up-pot


How to Water
Over the last several years I have put a lot of study into this, and I feel that I can now define the proper way to water a potted plant. Keep in mind that this discussion applies to at least 3 gallon containers and bigger. Please realize that this special plant of ours does not grow like anything else you have ever tried to grow, and no matter how good you are at growing peas, beans and tomatoes, you will have to change your methods to grow a weed.


The first rule of watering is to always water slowly, using no more than a quart at a time, pausing often to let the soil suck air in behind the water as it pools on the top. For me, that involves a routine of watering each of my plants with 1 quart, then taking a nice relaxing drink of whatever beverage I have brought with me to the tent. Then I take a deep breath, making sure to exhale deeply onto this plant, letting her know that I love her. After this, I take a nice big hit off of the pipe that also followed me into the tent, and then after a nice pause and maybe another drink, I go back to plant #1 and repeat the cycle. For 2 rounds, I water the entire surface of the soil, watching it pool up and get sucked down.


After this initial wetting of the top, my watering method changes a bit. Now, I want to do whatever I can to make the outside edges of the container, the wettest areas. Still only using a quart at a time, I now carefully water only there, all around the plant, only on the edges. While doing this, I slow down a bit so that the water doesn't pool as much in the center, always concentrating on the edges. The center will end up getting some too, and that's fine, but the wettest areas of the pot will be on the outside edges and you will be driving nutrient rich soil into the dense original root ball. Continue this, again going slow, maybe with a deep breath in the middle of it, and then continue all around, taking drinks, deep breaths and hits in between each round. Continue until you see the first signs of runoff, and then stop.


Look carefully at the surface of your container now. You will clearly see where the root ball is from your last transplant, because it will now be sticking up just a little bit above the original outer rim. Very fine soil has been driven through the original root ball with the flow of water and soil from the outer edges. This micro fine soil is very rich with nutrients because of its mobility. When you water from the outside edges, you force this micro fine sludge into the dense root ball, where it can do the most good. Once you establish this flow pattern in the container, you can be assured of totally replacing the micro soil in the center of the root ball with new soil, every time you water. Watering in the normal way does not create his circular flow, and root growth cannot be nearly as aggressive.

Lastly, take one last quart of water, and water very very slowly, just in the raised area where the original root ball is. As you do so, watch what happens at the outer edge of the original root ball.

You will see the very finest soil, almost a mud, migrating out of the old root ball, and into the middle! This completes the process of soil exchange in the container. In this manner, all the roots get to take advantage of the nutrients in the soil, and the roots follow the migration of the nutrient rich soil, toward the outer edges, creating lateral growth. I strive to actively drive the soil out of the middle, making room for the roots to grow more dense and bigger there, and as they do, the lateral growth also has to increase. Using this method, I have seen a steady increase in the amount of water needed to get to run off throughout the grow and by the end, plants watered in this way use approximately 30% more water than is seen using standard watering techniques. Watering in the manner I have described allows for a constant circular flow of soil throughout the container and will create an extremely dense root ball.

Now it is time for a truism. It is best to water the roots, not the plant. A healthy and robust root system means a happy and productive plant. Neglect the roots and your plants can die, and certainly will be less than they could have been.

When do we water?
By far, one of the most common plant problems that I see with new gardeners is a lack of understanding as to when to water. New people get it set in their mind that watering every day or every other day is best, or that somehow, mysteriously, they know in their own human minds exactly how much water the plants need. These well-meaning new gardeners will determine that they will give exactly one quart or some other random amount, each time, no more... and no less, and really believe that they are doing a good thing for their plants, making these decisions for them.
Just as bad as these over-thinkers are the tomato gardeners, the "stick your finger in the ground" crowd, who proclaim: it's time to water when it is dry below the second knuckle. What they fail to realize is that when the top 2 inches is dry, the lower half of the container could still be saturated with water. Both of these common mistakes in watering methods are quick ways to drown your plants. These methods are not correct for growing weeds, and using them can actually kill your plants.


Marijuana is a weed, and the main thing that this scientific term refers to, is a class of plant that thrives in adversity. In order to grow it well, you need to understand that this incredibly robust plant works differently than other, less hardy plants. It is an extremely aggressive grower if you allow it to be, and to grow prize winning pot, you need to use its abilities to send out new roots to your advantage.


Watering incorrectly is the most common mistake that new weed farmers make. This plant needs a clear wet/dry cycle in order to thrive. If you keep it moist, you will kill it. The roots will aggressively chase your water, whatever you give them. If you just give a small amount every couple of days, that water will drop right to the bottom of the container. Your roots will follow, and will cluster on the bottom, instead of growing laterally throughout the container, and since they continually sit in the nutrient rich water, the plant sees little need to grow additional roots. How you water makes a huge difference in the formation of the root ball, and how this development happens is up to you.


There are many ways to tell when it is time to water, and if you wait long enough the girls will actually tell you that they are thirsty. They do two things when they see that they need water, they throw out a smell, and they begin to wilt, starting at the bottom, moving up. You can also use the lift method to tell when the container is dry, and almost always you will "feel" a dry container, before the above mentioned wilt and fragrance pump happens. Rusty Trichome taught me an important lesson; every time I think that I need to do something to my plants, I wait a bit... and I try to move at the speed that my plants are moving. "Patience, above all else." --Rusty


If you have a moisture meter you can also use it to find where the wet/dry (water table) line is in your container, and you can watch that wet/dry line move down over time. I used to graph my water table level by day, so that I could project ahead when the wet dry line would reach the last inch of container. Your wet/dry line will never go lower than that last inch or so, because once you get down in there, you are in all the big tap roots and mass at the bottom, and it tends to stay wet there longer because of capillary effect. Again, if you wait for the first sign of wilt and that perfume pump that happens at "water me" point, it will usually be just a bit longer than your measurements would indicate. Once the water table line is anywhere in that bottom inch is ok to water. You have dried out 95% of the water by that time and the roots have been chasing it as the wet/dry line progresses both downward and outward. The suction caused by the diaphragm that is the water table, will have pulled oxygen down deep into the container, and filled any voids. The roots will be happy.


Why do we up-pot?
The art of successive up-potting is important in growing a healthy root system. People like to be lazy. I am constantly seeing new gardeners take a little sprig of a weed and put it in a big 3 or 5 gallon container, thinking that they have done a good thing, and are now done with it... it's on to harvest time! The problem is, this doesn't work, because it gives you zero control over developing the roots, and without crazy watering techniques, almost no chance of a solid root ball forming. It is imperative to successively up pot your plants through stages so that the root system can roughly take on the same size and shape as the plant in order to get the maximum productivity. The roots grow aggressively in these weeds, and if you confine them to a container the size of the plant, they will fill that space in a short time with a dense root system. Putting a plant in an oversized container can and often does, result in all the roots going to the bottom, drowning the plant, root rot and overall poor health because of a lack of a root ball, and certainly less than optimum harvests. It is important to force these weeds into producing a root ball at various stages, to give the plant the ability later on to take in the massive amounts of nutrients needed to produce lots of quality buds.
The plants in the smaller containers can also more directly show you when they are thriving or more importantly when they are not. A strong healthy plant will eventually outgrow its container and an observant gardener is carefully watching the length of time between wet/dry cycles, and directly relating shorter cycles with more robust roots. A smaller container also gives the gardener the ability to see when the moment arrives that the amount of soil the plant is in is no longer large enough for the plant's abilities to be happy in it, because it will be obvious when the plant can drain the water that soil is able to hold, in less than 24 hours. Your soil and your container at that point have ceased at that point to be a good enough buffer, and it is time to double the space the roots have to work with. Let your plant show you when that time is, and try not to make decisions for her.


Why is pH important?
Some people claim that pH is not important, and if you are a pure organic gardener, never applying chlorinated water or salt based synthetic nutrients at your plants, pH indeed is not important. For the 99.9% rest of the world, a very important lesson for the new gardener to learn is the importance of pH. There is a scientific reason why a proper pH allows the plants to use synthetic nutrients, and why being outside of the proper range can cause deficiencies. If you want to grow pot using chemicals, you need to invest in a method to test the pH of any water going into the plant, whether it is plain water or water mixed with nutrients, and whether it is applied to the roots or sprayed on the leaves. If you neglect the pH, you can easily create deficiencies in your plants, and if left unchecked, you can even kill them. If you spend a lot of money on nutrients, it makes sense that you would want to also create the proper environment so that the plant can use these nutrients, but with a pH way out of the 6.3-6.8 range in soil, a lot of those expensive nutrients will just sit there, not doing the plant any good. If you are in a soilless mix, pH in the range of 5.5-6.1 is necessary. It is only within these ranges that all the nutrients are mobile, are able to be broken free of their salt bonds and be in the form that can go into the plants. Most soils and systems are designed so that you can apply liquids at a lower pH and then the soil or the soilless mix causes a drift, so that the pH can visit each spot in the usable pH range for that medium, and all of the 17 needed nutrients will be picked up, each in its turn.


I hope that this study on containers, watering and pH helps someone who reads it. This paper was a result of having to explain these same concepts over and over and over again to new growers at they hit the forums, until finally I put all these thoughts together into this paper. Some of the thoughts previously given have also been refined for this publication, as questions were asked and answered the last time I posted it, and I have learned better ways of explaining my thoughts. Here, I give you, approximately draft 10 of this paper.


Be well everyone and blessings from my garden to yours,
Sense Emilya

What would be an ideal time frame for a good wet/dry cycle.

 

[Knifemaker420]

What would be an ideal time frame for a good wet/dry cycle.

I believe there isn't a set timeframe, you just need to wait until the plants tell you they need water. Putting them onto a timeframe that you've decided is best for them may not be what they really need.

 

[StoneOtter]

What would be an ideal time frame for a good wet/dry cycle.

Hi Sav, good question. I start in small solo cups or smaller. The small cup really cant be over watered because of it's small size so I give it a good watering and wait until I see the very first sign of wilting, then I water again. (this is after seedling stage is over) That's the cycle. As the plant grows it shortens the cycle of watering. So I might go from 4 days to 3 then to 2 and 1 day between waterings. The plant tells me by wilting slightly when to water. When it has me going to water every day it's time to put it in a bigger pot and start over finding the watering point. Huge roots grow when I do this. This is for veg. Flower cycle is different. I know the pattern of watering by this time and stick to it unless a plant gives me a sign.