Watering Question

[Darade]

Hello all, so I watered my babies abit more, following the watering guide in the final container. I just want to be sure when to water next, so I put my finger in the soil (I'm scared of touching roots, like scared af), and it felt very dry from my finger tip to about a few cm above my first Knuckle, so I went a little deep only to my second knuckle, and it wasn't wet or what I would say moist, it was slighty damp, and cold (I seriously think I touched a root, as soon as I felt cold I stopped).

This is the step I am on.

After the plant has gotten a couple of leaves and gotten taller, it will no longer swim around in the soil if given a lot of water, and it is time to get a bit more aggressive than the spray bottle can do... it is time to move to the watering can and a couple of cups of water at first, slowly soaking the entire top surface of the container. We aren't trying to saturate the container yet, but we do want enough water to soak into the entire surface at least 3x the height of the plant, and we want some of that water to head straight down the middle, where the roots are trying to reach the bottom. This is when it is handy to have been an outside vegetable gardener, so that you know how to test the top of the soil to see if it is moist. When you can no longer feel moisture a day or two later, water like this again

So my question is should I water again, with a few cups, or maybe just leave it for one more day.

 

[Nunyabiz]

Totally dependent on the tilth of your soil, the health of the plant, the VPD.

If everything were ideal you would be watering every single day.
If your soil is crap could be a week between waterings.
This is something you will probably have to decide on your own observations.

For instance I don't even have a cannabis plant in my soil currently, just have a couple clover plants growing plus worms and bugs in a 20 gallon fabric pot and I water them about 6 days a week.

 

[Darade]

I'm currently using pure FF Happy Frog soil. I do notice it does dry out pretty fast. However I am noticing some whiteness now on the tips of my fan leafs (I however think this is due to accidently getting Cal-Mag on it while spraying the soil down) Temps are 70.2 to 82.4, never to reach above this. and Humidity stays down 34% to 42%.

I just don't want to overwater. I noticed almost 0 soil stuck to my finger aswell.

 

[Nunyabiz]

Depending on if your plant is in early veg or late flower your humidity is is low if in veg.
You should be about 78⁰ with 65-75% humidity for a proper VPD.
if you're in late flower then its good to have humidity about where you have it.
Doesn't sound like you're anywhere close to over watering to me.

 

[Emilya Green]

Hello all, so I watered my babies abit more, following the watering guide in the final container. I just want to be sure when to water next, so I put my finger in the soil (I'm scared of touching roots, like scared af), and it felt very dry from my finger tip to about a few cm above my first Knuckle, so I went a little deep only to my second knuckle, and it wasn't wet or what I would say moist, it was slighty damp, and cold (I seriously think I touched a root, as soon as I felt cold I stopped).

This is the step I am on.


So my question is should I water again, with a few cups, or maybe just leave it for one more day.

Hi Darade... I vote for waiting. Your finger in the top of the soil tells you absolutely nothing about how much water is in that container, because gravity has dropped it down as far as it can go. Please read the guide again, and also my first one, How to Properly Water, to get a better idea how to use the "lift the pot" method of telling when the container has actually been dried out.

Actually, I have no idea how I vote after thinking more about it, because I don't know the size of your babies. Brand new seedlings less than a week old need a little dribble of water twice a day. Once they stop moving around, then once a day water lightly out to 3x their diameter, until that diameter reaches the edges of the container. When that happens, water the entire container to runoff. Then wait 3 days. If the plant has not drained all of the water, water with just a small amount, around 1/4 of what it took to reach runoff, only around the outside edges of the container. Wait 3 more days, doing the lift the pot every day to make sure the plant hasn't used all the water. If it still isn't light as a feather, with no water weight, again water with 1/4 the whole amount, just around the outside edges. Repeat until finally the plant has drained all of the water at the bottom and you can feel no water weight in there at all. Water to runoff again. Repeat the above, checking every 3 days to see where you are at.

Good luck... its easy once you get the hang of it.

 

[Darade]

So this is the plant in question. I'm not sure if what I circled is a leaf mutation, but as you can see, the colors of her leafs aren't showing that I'm treating her too good. about the humidity, the only way I was able to keep it up was when I didn't have my induct fan, but I'm in summer, so sadly getting the temp under wraps is far more important.

I am using 6.9 PH Crystal Geyser water, I feel like every time I water her, I'm flushing the nutes outta her, but then thing is, her Cotyledons are still healthy green. So only on one watering I added 2ML/g Cal-Mag. I have multiple jugs, so I don't add it everytime.

 

[Emilya Green]

Now that I see how big your plants are, I suggest that you quickly get to establishing a wet/dry cycle with your plants. This means you are going to have to stop being afraid of overwatering. Write this next sentence down and put it near your watering station. You can NOT over water these plants by giving too much water in one watering session; the ONLY way to overwater is by watering too often.

With your timid waterings your roots have not had a chance to expand all about in that container. This has resulted in a weak root system that is having troubles getting the nutrients out of that soil. Its not bad yet, but as the plant gets bigger, this problem will multiply.

Start watering properly, and your roots will get very strong and fill out that container, and I suspect that your nutrition problem will go away.

 

[Darade]

Thank you so much for the help OMG!!!! I've legit been depriving them of water, because my dumbass was thinking you could add too much lmfao!! Ok so now that you brought it up I completely forgot that right next to this plant I have another on in a red solo cup sitting on top of the soil in another grow bag. The soil is 100% dry, I just had to move the solo cup and lift. I then lifted the other. I will say the other one is only a bit heavier, but not by much. Should I water today then? Til run off, or? I understand, I should then wait for it to dry up a day or so later, by finger, and by lift(THANK YOU! I was always afraid of damaging roots). Or should I just wait til tomorrow morning?

 

[Nunyabiz]

Drying soil out too far will damage roots more than about anything else will.
Soil looks dry to me.
And if you get a humidifier and bring your humidity up to 75% then your temp will fall naturally by a few degrees.

 

[Darade]

I just don't have any more cash to spend after my upgrades (in my journal), when I had the fans off, it was about 80% humidity, the problem is the temp was 86-90 and rising, so I bought the exhaust fan, and now I have to deal with it. I suppose I could try to play with it, as it is on 100% 24/7. Thank you for all the help. I really appreaciate it!

 

[Darade]

While we're all here, am I anywhere close to needing to top yet? I'm gonna be mainlining, for 6-8 colas.

 

[Nunyabiz]

You could probably hook up a redneck AC (ice chest with blocks of ice and two holes drilled in it and a small fan) to bring temps down.
Ideally you want about 77-82⁰ with 65-75% humidity all through veg and first week of flower, then drop temp down to 75⁰ and drop humidity by 5% each week in flower until you're in the 30s for humidity the final week or two before harvest.
Numerous ways to do it just need to figure what works best for your situation.
Myself I grow in a bathroom and just use two small fans for airflow, the exhaust fan in the ceiling, and both a humidifier and dehumidifier plus my house AC and heating to manipulate my temp and humidity exactly where I need it.

 

[Darade]

I meant I just have to deal with the humidity being low. I've read other in a couple places cannabis seedling can be grown in 30%, just not as effecient I suppose. However my babies grow over night, like crazy. This is my first grow, I know it isn't optimum, but I started off with a 2x2x3 tent, and wasn't even gonna upgrade it, I just happened to get a new job, so I was able to come up with the money, on top of the black card if you know what I mean . I agree with Emiliya, I starved my plants just a little too much, and it caused the roots not to grow out as much, as thought I was doing.

 

[Doctor Trevor]

Isn't a pH of 6.9 a little high?

 

[Darade]

Could be, but it won't matter as soon as I add my Nutes, as it automatically will handle PH.

 

[Doctor Trevor]

The nutes will adjust the pH of the solution, but it won't necessarily adjust it accordingly. And the soil will act as buffer for only so long.

 

[Darade]

pH Perfect Grow, Micro, Bloom is a 3-part premium base nutrient trio precisely formulated to give your high-value crops the exact nutrient ratios and concentrations they need. No competitor offers this full spectrum of quality ingredients. When pH Perfect Grow, Micro, Bloom is fed to your plants, they benefit from an unmatched array of amino acids. You’ll also witness amazing results from the fulvic acid and powerful non-ionic surfactant, which form a multi-stage delivery matrix to ensure your plants absorb everything. And the powerful chelation guarantees that every nutrient is more available to your plants’ precious roots than ever before. And that’s not all: pH Perfect® Technology works around the clock to calibrate and adjust the pH for you, so you never have to use meters or add harsh pH-adjusting chemicals ever again


When you use any Advanced Nutrient’s base nutrient, the pH Perfect® Technology inside automatically stabilizes and locks in your pH within the optimal range (called the ‘sweet spot’) of pH 5.5–6.3 – and keeps it there for one week.

*I am in no way affiliated with Advanced Nutrients.

 

[Doctor Trevor]

Good luck with it then!

 

[Sunasun]

*I am in no way affiliated with Advanced Nutrients.

Yeah, but it only works if you use ro or distilled water. Crappy tappy doesn't work.

 

[Darade]

I'm using crystal geyser 6.9 ph R/O spring bottled water.