The Proper Way To Water A Potted Plant

[420giirl]

The flowering addendum starts at message #69 of this forum... here is the link: The Proper Way To Water A Potted Plant

Yes... If you start rotating around the room, hitting all the plants in there, by the time you have watered the last one, you will have waited long enough to give more water to the first one. Simply move around in a circle until you finish the job with all the plants.

Ok, thank you so much! Well at least I’m doing something right lol I just wanted to make sure and who else to ask then our very own water guru, Emilya. I just had to double check Bc my first grow I didn’t realize I wasn’t supposed to let their water level get so low like in Veg. I didn’t want to make that mistake again.

 

[420giirl]

As soon as the goal is no longer to grow new roots and the vertical and horizontal growth of the plant has mostly stopped, it is then time to USE those roots. I have found that my plants thrive best in bloom when I switch gears and stop trying to dry them out, and instead try to keep them damp inside the core of the rootball. I finally give credit to the knuckle waterers, and concede that when in bloom, when the top roots dry out, it is time to water.

Ok, so I should wait to change the watering to every 3 day, after 2 weeks Into flower? I wasn’t sure when to start this process and was going to start today. I’m glad I decided to double check!

 

[Emilya Green]

Ok, so I should wait to change the watering to every 3 day, after 2 weeks Into flower? I wasn’t sure when to start this process and was going to start today. I’m glad I decided to double check!

yes... whatever your veg wet/dry cycle has become at the end of stretch (2 weeks from the flip), take one day off of it and start trying to push extra water. You still want the roots to be able to get a hit of oxygen now and then, so I push water for 3 waterings by watering a day early and then on every 4th watering I let them go that extra day, just to reinvigorate the roots.

 

[kikikopa]

You are right... I failed to properly cover this phase. Here is something I have been working on, and lets add it now to this thread as:

The Seedling Watering Addendum:
When starting a seed in a solo cup it is important at first to keep the seed wet, until it gathers enough energy to send the seedling up to the surface. I water with just a small amount, or spray, twice a day until I see the new green plant surface.

By this time the soil in the entire cup should be fairly wet from the twice daily sprayings. Stop watering twice a day and until the second set of leaves come out, continue to water once a day with just a tiny amount, right down the center, so that the water as it falls to the bottom because of gravity, shows the new tap root how to find the bottom.

The second set of leaves coming out is time to start weaning the plant from all this water by forcing it to start using the water already in the soil. The plants will not have established a good root base yet and when you water they will tend to float around. As long as you can see that the plant is still not yet stable, continue to spray or very lightly water when it is time once a day. Once the plant stabilizes in position make the plant wait a full day between waterings and watch those new leaves get bigger by the day. After a couple of waterings the plant will start showing that it is steady and fixed, we call it "established", and then instead of watering around the middle of the plant, extend a circle out to 3x the diameter of the plant. Every three days, if the plant has not yet drained all of the water from the cup, lightly water the outside edge of this circle 3x the diameter of the plants, enticing the roots to grow out that direction. Every 3 days repeat this and in-between those waterings, let the plant work on using all of the water in that cup.

Soon, 3x the diameter of the plant will hit the edges of the container. This is your signal to start properly watering. Water lightly around that outside edge every 3 days, unless the plant has managed to use all of the water in the cup. You can tell when this happens because when you lift the cup up, it will be as light as a feather and you will not be able to tell by weight that there is any water in there at all. Until this happens, continue to water lightly around the edge every 3 days, giving only enough water to go down 3 or 4 inches deep.

Once the plant finally uses all of the water in the bottom of the cup, slowly water the container to saturation (runoff), or by slowly trying to get the cup to hold the most amount of water possible, until any added after that simply comes out of the bottom as runoff. Treat that soil as if it was a sponge, and you are trying to get every last drop in there that it will hold.

Then, do nothing for at least 3 days. If the plant has not drained all the water by then to the light as a feather status, simply water lightly around the edges to 3-4 inches deep and wait another day. Check each day until it is time to water.

Repeat this wet/dry cycle over and over. Each time you do, the time between waterings will get shorter and shorter. Eventually the roots in that cup will be so strong that the plant will be able to use every bit of water you could get in there, in 24-36 hours. When the plant can do this the first time, it is time to uppot to at least a 3x bigger container, and start this wet/dry cycle process all over again.

You are right... I failed to properly cover this phase. Here is something I have been working on, and lets add it now to this thread as:

The Seedling Watering Addendum:
When starting a seed in a solo cup it is important at first to keep the seed wet, until it gathers enough energy to send the seedling up to the surface. I water with just a small amount, or spray, twice a day until I see the new green plant surface.

By this time the soil in the entire cup should be fairly wet from the twice daily sprayings. Stop watering twice a day and until the second set of leaves come out, continue to water once a day with just a tiny amount, right down the center, so that the water as it falls to the bottom because of gravity, shows the new tap root how to find the bottom.

The second set of leaves coming out is time to start weaning the plant from all this water by forcing it to start using the water already in the soil. The plants will not have established a good root base yet and when you water they will tend to float around. As long as you can see that the plant is still not yet stable, continue to spray or very lightly water when it is time once a day. Once the plant stabilizes in position make the plant wait a full day between waterings and watch those new leaves get bigger by the day. After a couple of waterings the plant will start showing that it is steady and fixed, we call it "established", and then instead of watering around the middle of the plant, extend a circle out to 3x the diameter of the plant. Every three days, if the plant has not yet drained all of the water from the cup, lightly water the outside edge of this circle 3x the diameter of the plants, enticing the roots to grow out that direction. Every 3 days repeat this and in-between those waterings, let the plant work on using all of the water in that cup.

Soon, 3x the diameter of the plant will hit the edges of the container. This is your signal to start properly watering. Water lightly around that outside edge every 3 days, unless the plant has managed to use all of the water in the cup. You can tell when this happens because when you lift the cup up, it will be as light as a feather and you will not be able to tell by weight that there is any water in there at all. Until this happens, continue to water lightly around the edge every 3 days, giving only enough water to go down 3 or 4 inches deep.

Once the plant finally uses all of the water in the bottom of the cup, slowly water the container to saturation (runoff), or by slowly trying to get the cup to hold the most amount of water possible, until any added after that simply comes out of the bottom as runoff. Treat that soil as if it was a sponge, and you are trying to get every last drop in there that it will hold.

Then, do nothing for at least 3 days. If the plant has not drained all the water by then to the light as a feather status, simply water lightly around the edges to 3-4 inches deep and wait another day. Check each day until it is time to water.

Repeat this wet/dry cycle over and over. Each time you do, the time between waterings will get shorter and shorter. Eventually the roots in that cup will be so strong that the plant will be able to use every bit of water you could get in there, in 24-36 hours. When the plant can do this the first time, it is time to uppot to at least a 3x bigger container, and start this wet/dry cycle process all over again.

Greetings Emilya,

I was reading over your addendum and have a question for you. This part where you write: "Soon, 3x the diameter of the plant will hit the edges of the container. This is your signal to start properly watering. Water lightly around that outside edge every 3 days, unless the plant has managed to use all of the water in the cup." Should it be unless the plant has managed to use all of the water or until the plant has managed to use all of the water? Thank you.

 

[Emilya Green]

Greetings Emilya,

I was reading over your addendum and have a question for you. This part where you write: "Soon, 3x the diameter of the plant will hit the edges of the container. This is your signal to start properly watering. Water lightly around that outside edge every 3 days, unless the plant has managed to use all of the water in the cup." Should it be unless the plant has managed to use all of the water or until the plant has managed to use all of the water? Thank you.

I think your use of the word "until" is more correct than the unless that I originally used. Thank you... I will use that edit in future editions.

 

[Old Guy Teaches]

Don't forget to PH the water. I prefer 6.1/6.2 REAL IMPORTANT.

 

[Emilya Green]

Don't forget to PH the water. I prefer 6.1/6.2 REAL IMPORTANT.

Real important if and only if you are using synthetic chelated nutrients that require being in a certain pH range in order to break the nutrients free of their EDTA salt bonds and become available (mobile) within the soil and available to the plant.

If you are not using synthetic nutes there is no need to check or adjust the pH, as long as it is within the normal boundaries that support life, ie, between 9-4 pH, and most every fluid we see around the garden would fit within this large range.

 

[kikikopa]

Greetings Emilya. I have a quick question for you when you have some time. The first fan leaves on my seedlings got too close to the light and became crispy. Would you recommend cutting off those burnt fan leaves now that the plants have added new levels? Thank you.

 

[Emilya Green]

Hi @kikikopa and welcome to the forum!

If the leaves still have working green in them, no, I wouldn't recommend chopping them. If they are fried beyond an ability to be productive members of the leaf team, then I see no harm in trimming them. You will find that if the plant really wants something gone, it can easily remove the leaf all by itself, but only after sucking it dry of any nutrients it may have been storing. Until it becomes time to actually trim up the plant prior to going into bloom for better airflow and light penetration, I try to let my plants make all those decisions for me.

 

[kikikopa]

Hi @kikikopa and welcome to the forum!

If the leaves still have working green in them, no, I wouldn't recommend chopping them. If they are fried beyond an ability to be productive members of the leaf team, then I see no harm in trimming them. You will find that if the plant really wants something gone, it can easily remove the leaf all by itself, but only after sucking it dry of any nutrients it may have been storing. Until it becomes time to actually trim up the plant prior to going into bloom for better airflow and light penetration, I try to let my plants make all those decisions for me.

Thank you Emilya. Yes, they do have various degrees of green still remaining so I'll just let them be as you recommend. It does seem like they are being cannibalized now that you mentioned that. Have you written anything about how and when a plant starts sucking dry it's nutrients and what the causation of that is? I've not been aware of that and would like to learn more.

 

[Old Guy Teaches]

Cut them Off. Plant will survive. I cut everything about 3 Months in Below 2 ft.

 

[Emilya Green]

Have you written anything about how and when a plant starts sucking dry it's nutrients and what the causation of that is? I've not been aware of that and would like to learn more.

Other than in plant diagnosis talks I have not gone there... it is too wide ranging of a subject for me to have been able to take it on... it is all I can do to keep up with water techniques. Maybe someday, in my second book...

I have seen plants cannibalize leaves for many reasons... and not just from deficiencies, lockouts or overages. Sometimes a plant will cast off a leaf that it knows is in the way of a bud, or leaves not getting enough light, or suffering from root problems... so sometimes it is hard to tell just looking at a plant how it got there.

 

[Old Guy Teaches]

All you write is true My friend. but your into "The science" of growing weed and yes you should continue to write as many Books as Needed. I think....And maybe Im wrong but the vast majority here are folks that Just wanna grow some weed from seeds and clones to smoke, Have some fun or relieve some pain and maybe have some fun along the way.

I give away A LOT of weed every year as do My 6 "GROW" friends. What I write about is "The simple version" Buy good clones,Get good Nutes and soil,PH your water, Keep it clean, Buy felt pots and enjoy your harvest. It is NOT rocket science unless your writing a book or wanna make it science.......Im growing since late 1960s. Never a issue. I keep it VERY,VERY simple.
Hell I know folks that grow along the Freeways in LA.....REALLY.....LOL!!!!!!!!!

 

[kikikopa]

All you write is true My friend. but your into "The science" of growing weed and yes you should continue to write as many Books as Needed. I think....And maybe Im wrong but the vast majority here are folks that Just wanna grow some weed from seeds and clones to smoke, Have some fun or relieve some pain and maybe have some fun along the way.

I give away A LOT of weed every year as do My 6 "GROW" friends. What I write about is "The simple version" Buy good clones,Get good Nutes and soil,PH your water, Keep it clean, Buy felt pots and enjoy your harvest. It is NOT rocket science unless your writing a book or wanna make it science.......Im growing since late 1960s. Never a issue. I keep it VERY,VERY simple.
Hell I know folks that grow along the Freeways in LA.....REALLY.....LOL!!!!!!!!!

I catch your drift Old Guy and agree that keeping things simple is always the way to go. The more complicated anything is, the more that can potentially go wrong. There is a lot of information online about growing and I've found some contradictions on different topics. If possible, I always like to know the reason for doing something so as to get a complete understanding of the issue and also to see if I agree with the advisor's logic. That is why I appreciate good folk like Emilya who take the time to explain the rationale behind the advice.

 

[Old Guy Teaches]

Agree !!

 

[Old Guy Teaches]

Ya otta see My roses and tomatoes....LOL.........Massive. I walk around my neighborhood giving away a ton Of Tomatoes.April through sept.

 

[kikikopa]

Ya otta see My roses and tomatoes....LOL.........Massive. I walk around my neighborhood giving away a ton Of Tomatoes.April through sept.

I wish I was your neighbor Old Guy. I would peel and roast all the tomatoes you could share with me and freeze them in Ziploc bags and hopefully they would last until the following April.

 

[kikikopa]

Other than in plant diagnosis talks I have not gone there... it is too wide ranging of a subject for me to have been able to take it on... it is all I can do to keep up with water techniques. Maybe someday, in my second book...

I have seen plants cannibalize leaves for many reasons... and not just from deficiencies, lockouts or overages. Sometimes a plant will cast off a leaf that it knows is in the way of a bud, or leaves not getting enough light, or suffering from root problems... so sometimes it is hard to tell just looking at a plant how it got there.

I'm at a crossroad here and could use some advice. It's day 28 for the ladies and they are on the fifth node of development. They are still in solo cups as they've not yet consumed their water supply within 24 hours as of yet which is my understanding as the prerequisite for moving up to the next size pot.

I am interested in topping a couple of the ladies but don't know how that will affect the ladies so soon before transplanting. Should I wait to transplant first before topping or do it now? I also wonder how much development of the fifth node can occur before it eliminates the ability to top the plant? Can you top between the fifth and sixth node for example? This is my first time topping a plant so no experience yet with this process.

After reading many of your posts Emilya, I have a question about up potting. In one of your posts you talk about soaking the soil in the receiving pot and watering the top portion every three days to hit the spreader roots in addition to other steps. Is this procedure the same for all transplanting situations regardless of container size? I plan to eventually settle the ladies into 5 and 7 gallon smart pots after going from solo to about 2 gallon and then to the 5/7 gallon sizes.

On this grow, I am focusing on generating large root balls at each stage of growth in the hope of improving my results. This is a new approach for me and I'm very encouraged by your results and looking forward to an increase in yields and quality using the wet/dry approach. Hats off to you Emilya for all your fine work educating folk around the world.

 

[Emilya Green]

I'm at a crossroad here and could use some advice. It's day 28 for the ladies and they are on the fifth node of development. They are still in solo cups as they've not yet consumed their water supply within 24 hours as of yet which is my understanding as the prerequisite for moving up to the next size pot.

I am interested in topping a couple of the ladies but don't know how that will affect the ladies so soon before transplanting. Should I wait to transplant first before topping or do it now? I also wonder how much development of the fifth node can occur before it eliminates the ability to top the plant? Can you top between the fifth and sixth node for example? This is my first time topping a plant so no experience yet with this process.

After reading many of your posts Emilya, I have a question about up potting. In one of your posts you talk about soaking the soil in the receiving pot and watering the top portion every three days to hit the spreader roots in addition to other steps. Is this procedure the same for all transplanting situations regardless of container size? I plan to eventually settle the ladies into 5 and 7 gallon smart pots after going from solo to about 2 gallon and then to the 5/7 gallon sizes.

On this grow, I am focusing on generating large root balls at each stage of growth in the hope of improving my results. This is a new approach for me and I'm very encouraged by your results and looking forward to an increase in yields and quality using the wet/dry approach. Hats off to you Emilya for all your fine work educating folk around the world.

There is nothing at all wrong with topping your plant while still in the first container... I do it all the time. It is very important not to rush out of this first container. You will never again have an opportunity to have the roots packed into this small of a space with your ability to force a rootball into that constricted space. In every larger container upwards, this process is harder and harder, since it involves so much more space.

Chopping at the 5th, 6th and even 7th nodes will work and will double your yield with just that first cut. It is also common to top between nodes 2 and 3, after waiting for this 5th one to come up, and this results in a plant with 4 main colas. It is also common to top between node 3 and 4, and this acts much like a FIM cut, and it is up to the plant to decide whether to give you 2,3,4 or even 5 main colas. This cut takes the longest for the plant to resolve, and you never know what will result. Topping between 4 and 5 or anywhere upwards from there, always results in 2 main colas.

Yes, I immediately soak the new container upon uppotting so as to merge the two soil regions and to really get the roots going. At any point in the grow and in any sized container, if the plant is taking longer than 3-4 days to drain the water, I give a mini in between watering of just the top surface and mostly the outer edges, just to keep the plant's metabolism high, while waiting on its big bottom roots to drain that water.

It sounds like you are on the way to a wonderful result. The rootball is the key!

 

[Jon]

I'm at a crossroad here and could use some advice. It's day 28 for the ladies and they are on the fifth node of development. They are still in solo cups as they've not yet consumed their water supply within 24 hours as of yet which is my understanding as the prerequisite for moving up to the next size pot.

I am interested in topping a couple of the ladies but don't know how that will affect the ladies so soon before transplanting. Should I wait to transplant first before topping or do it now? I also wonder how much development of the fifth node can occur before it eliminates the ability to top the plant? Can you top between the fifth and sixth node for example? This is my first time topping a plant so no experience yet with this process.

After reading many of your posts Emilya, I have a question about up potting. In one of your posts you talk about soaking the soil in the receiving pot and watering the top portion every three days to hit the spreader roots in addition to other steps. Is this procedure the same for all transplanting situations regardless of container size? I plan to eventually settle the ladies into 5 and 7 gallon smart pots after going from solo to about 2 gallon and then to the 5/7 gallon sizes.

On this grow, I am focusing on generating large root balls at each stage of growth in the hope of improving my results. This is a new approach for me and I'm very encouraged by your results and looking forward to an increase in yields and quality using the wet/dry approach. Hats off to you Emilya for all your fine work educating folk around the world.

You have obviously figured out that you are in the very best hands possible for your stated goal. Very clear communication on your part. Excellent stuff. I took a similar approach as you are as soon as I also started to get hip to this girl and her knowledge base, and I can't begin to tell you the difference it has made in my grows. Emilya's the best. Good luck!!!