The art of hand watering....

[Blunted22]

OKguys ive been growing for while now and ive always had an autowater system.... Simple enough to water set up timers and let her rip.... Well i switched to organic and hand watering everything....

Now my question is this and i know this is the noobish question in the world but i cannot seem to find a happy medium with watering.... clones especially... well not clones cause i got e z cloners but i use styrofoams atm untill the roots fill the stryofoams then i plant to a 2 gal....

i got about 70+ clones they grow fine look fine but when i go to trasplant some will look like they are starting root rot from always being wet.... others seems like fine and nice white furry roots....

and others look like the roots would be dried to long and start to dry up..... now its not as much of a prob once they get out to the 2 gal seems to be alittle easier....


But i cant seem to find that happy medium....

even the ones that looks liek soggy root rot i wait till they feel almost completely dry before i water again...... should i wait till they are bone dry?


anything you guys can help me with i would appreciate with all my years of growing and all my expierence i feel stupid asking this question but if this is what i need to do to always have tons of white furry roots ill embarasse my self some to figure it out...

lol thats alot of pride to swallow haha thanks peeps...

 

[LolaGal]

Put clones in a dome and mist the dome to keep em humid, less water in bottom of tray.

It's hard sometimes, sorry not going well! I've been having good luck with peat pucks or Jiffy pellets, same thing!

 

[Blunted22]

Now my question is this and i know this is the noobish question in the world but i cannot seem to find a happy medium with watering.... clones especially... well not clones cause i got e z cloners but i use styrofoams atm untill the roots fill the stryofoams then i plant to a 2 gal....

NOt clones man i know i say clones 10 times but if you read this its not my clones cause i have 4-5 e z cloners my clones rock it my next step in styrofoams....

 

[crankndapot]

well just dont overwater, sounds like that is you problem. i usually wait til mine are almost bonedry then water it. if your watering 70 clones it can be annoying to check each individual cup to see if its dry.. helps if you kinda know your medium too to determine how well it holds the moisture

good luck

 

[jamrockjay]

Can u get root riot cubes where ur from? if u can these might help your situation

 

[AndreNicky]

Throw away the soil and pickup some coco-coir, never have to worry about thtese problems again

 

[ZEROorDIE]

when i water my clones (after first transplant into 4 oz cups in soil) i only use a spray bottle and sray down the top of the soil then extra sprays close to the stem. this seems to keep em happy but not over watered. only once they have filled the container with roots do i actually start fully watering em. ive never used styrofoam for clones though so this may or may not work for you.

 

[Old Soul]

So if I understand correctly once clones root you put them in to a 2 gal container? If so, I think this is one of your problems right there. It would be better to start the clones in beer cups, let the roots fill that, then transplant to a 1/2 or 1 gal, and then up to your two gal pot. This way you won't have all that extra medium for them to fill. You will get a better root ball this way and they will reward you with a better yield. When you transplant only water when the container starts to feel lighter as it dries out, this will ensure you do not overwater. Hope this helps.

peace

 

[purpledomgoddes]

simple+cheap black gold coco blend.
w/ cuttings, water from bottom every ~5-7 days. puch holes in styrofoam, place in tupperware-type container. pour water into container. after appropriate saturation weight, use turkey baster to suction out remaining water from container. top of medium stays dry+roots forced to move down to fill up bottom of cup.

 

[Blunted22]

old soul they go from a e z cloner to a styrofoam cup to a 2 gal to a 5 gal....

styrofoam cups are where im having the probs... and obviusly if i see that the roots are crappy when i pull up for transplant becuase of the water i know its a over watering issue...


what im saying is this i pick up everything i water by hand no matter if its a styrofoam or a 5 gal bucket.... i do notice a difference between the bone dry ones and the others....


what im trying to balance is not letting the roots dry out on the bone dry ones and die (lose the white furry start to become dry and brown) and not over watering them....

it just seems that i cant find a happy medium.... i guess ill just go back to bone dry cause the almost bone dry is worst.... lol

like i said it was a stupid question from the begining lol....

 

[420oclock]

You can add perlite and get quicker drainage, makes it harder to overwater.

 

[Blunted22]

yea i use the organic mix lc#3 with the promix so i add perlite already... just i can never find the chunky... maybe thats the difference

 

[ZEROorDIE]

Oh stryofoam cups...

thats what i use def give the spray bottlemethod a try. you keep misting the soil till its wet but not saturated and do so ever couple days. no overwatering prob and its quick an easy

 

[Blunted22]

will it still fill the cups with roots?

 

[moses224]

I go from rapid rooter to 7inch pot let it root out then to gallon. I don't fert until week 3 then i began nute regiment. I leave in gallons for 40 days then movet to 3g for 5 days. Once 5 days is up i move to flower room. Plants loook great. I use pro mix with perlite and worm castings

good luck my friend

 

[swampdank]

I have had better luck tending to clones in a 16 ounce dixie cup full of organic soil. When they outgrow that cup, switch to 8 inch pots, then 3 gal bags. More soil is better for organics. Give more space for micros.

 

[ZEROorDIE]

will it still fill the cups with roots?

yeah i only have em in there for ~1 week before going to 18oz SOLO party cups though. i usually have no prob lifting the plant and all the roots/dirt from the cup after a week. the lower amounts of more spread water force the roots to spread rapidly in an effort to get to the water.

 

[ForestBuds]

I'm doing hand watering just like you. I've been using hand spray container lately but it's too small and need to upgrade big so I've been thinking about it a lot lately.

I have a big question. I plan to use a big rubber maid trash can as a reservoir in the grow room. I'm looking for a long tube that goes in the rubber maid trash can and a water wand that is manual pump to hand water the whole grow room. Anybody know where I can order or get something like that.

Similar to handheld sprayer but on a much bigger scale.

 

[jamrockjay]

ForestBuds, do u mean somethin like a telescopic water wand? If ur in the Uk check out www.suttons.co.uk they have them for under £12 at the monent. If ur not in the Uk check out ur local gardening centre im sure they will have what ur lookin for

 

[Blunted22]

hey man i use a pump with 1/2 black rubber hose easy as pie man....