When and how you should feed your soil based plants

ledtester

New Member
1. A wet/dry cycle works best in a compost based soil

2. Water slowly, so when following my directions, the plant has enough water saturation in the rootball to last untill next watering.

3. To do this, learn with smaller sized pots with larger sized drip trays. Get some 1/2 gallon pots (about 1.8 liters) and grow a plant in it. When it's time to water, water slowly and evenly until your plant drips. Wait 15-30 minutes and see if it has been sucked up. If so, water a little more untill drip. Wait again, and if theres a thin layer of water pour it out. If not, repeat untill you think the rootball is fully saturated.

4. Don't ever leave the plant in the drip tray for more than 30 minutes. After then, if there's still water in the tray then the rootball is fully saturated. You can now safely pour the rest of the water out.

5. You should not water or feed again until you get back to the dry stage again. This means if you forgot to add nutes, do not try to go back and add them. Just wait until next watering. Plants can survive without them for weeks, you WILL still get around to it.

6. (The drying process) You don't want your soil to completely dry out. Do let it get pretty dry to the touch, but not enough for your soil to start shrinking away from the sides of the pot.


What happens is as the plants use up the water you administered, the oxygen gets pulled through the compost keeping the medium aerobic. When you water to the point of saturation, all stale gasses get driven out the the cycle starts again.


What problems can you have?
So here's the scoop. Pythium is a harmful fungi that thrives in warm moist environments with a low oxygen content. Pythium attacks the root systems in plants that have not been properly dried out before their next watering. It's more common along people growing in hydro systems while its warm, but occurs sometimes when you overwater. Want to know how you can "properly" water your plants?

One way to combat this is to use Hydrogen Peroxide. You should use the concentrate due to less impurities. Apply it at 3ml/gallon everyday. It combats root problems and keeps them oxygenated and happy!
 
Have about 10% of the total volume you've watered comeout from the bottom of the plant :blushsmile:
 
Thanks for sharing this info. I know it's an old thread but that doesn't mean people like me are not still benefiting from it. I have been watering this way already but you have given me confidence that my process is safe.
 
Is this for seedlings too? Mine are about 8 days old and i feel like I'm underwatering.
Welcome, HollyHo420.

Most of us know about that feeling you mentioned. The one about how it feels like we are under-watering. The number one killer of seedlings happens when new growers feel that their plants are not getting enough water so they start to water to often.

Seedlings do not need as much water as we think. They are small plants with small root systems. Just because the surface of the soil has started to dry out does not mean that the soil is dry a 1/2 inch down. A lot will depend on how large the container is that the seedling is in. And, just about every time a seedling should be in a small container to start out.

There is a popular thread on this message board called something along the lines of "How to Water a Potted Plant". Look for it when looking around the board or do a search.

Once you find the thread read the first couple of pages to get the general idea of how to water and what to look for. Then read the rest of the thread to get the updates, other opinions and other recommendations on how to tell when it is time to water. Just mentioning this since you are going to learn a lot by checking through the entire thread.

Have a great day.
 
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