How much water on organic soil grow?

[Budsworth]

I've got several clones that were just put into soil...and a couple of seedlings. All in FFOF now.

My question is:

How much water to give. I understand that you want to make sure the soil gets dry before watering. So I don't think I'm over watering in regard to frequency. I am concerned that I might be over watering though in regards to quantity when I water.

I generally make up a gallon of water, add a tablespoon of molasses, then use ph down to bring it inside 6.2-6.6. I am using molasses on every watering.

First grow. So your answers will be greatly appreciated.

 

[guest2012y]

Transplant in the mix,(make sure you amended with Dolomite lime) and a light watering will do until they establish roots in that mix. Don't let it go completely dry,but don't flood it to the point where it looks like mud.

 

[mad librettist]

just weigh the pots, and remember you are not trying to rinse out your soil. To me (but not to many) the perfect watering has no runoff. But with my clones I always get some.

By weighing the pots, you will give yourself more data. You'll see, after this little hump and a few errors you won't even think about it.

 

[Lisdexik]

^^^What he said

I always leave another cup full of dry soil nearby so I can compare wet and dry weight directly.

I've found that with small plants, less water every watering and a higher frequency helps them grow faster.

Lisdexik

 

[guest2012y]

just weigh the pots, and remember you are not trying to rinse out your soil. To me (but not to many) the perfect watering has no runoff. But with my clones I always get some.

By weighing the pots, you will give yourself more data. You'll see, after this little hump and a few errors you won't even think about it.

I was going to mention try to learn how to tell the difference by weight,but you guys got it covered. That's something that comes with time,after handling pots for a while you'll get it.

 

[mad librettist]

nah, he'll get it fast!

"a while" can be real short

 

[guest2012y]

nah, he'll get it fast!

"a while" can be real short

Yes.......especially short when you start moving several dozen around. Hey it's good exercise.

 

[Budsworth]

Thanks guys.

 

[Tony Aroma]

I can't really pick up my pots, especially after I put my SCORG screen in. I just stick my finger as far down into the soil as it will go and, if it's dry down there, I water. Through trial and error I know about how much water it will take before it starts running out the bottom, and I use just a little less.

 

[milehimedi]

I have never heard of using molasses on clones, just on flowering plants toward the end. Does it help?

 

[mad librettist]

I can't really pick up my pots, especially after I put my SCORG screen in. I just stick my finger as far down into the soil as it will go and, if it's dry down there, I water. Through trial and error I know about how much water it will take before it starts running out the bottom, and I use just a little less.

Even if you do this in the end, picking up at first teaches you a sense of how much water is appropriate. Passive learning.

 

[carbonskeleton]

A good method to avoid washing out nutrients is to water from the bottom by capillary action.

You can even fertilize while you do it with some compost tea want too. Just take your plant put it in a bucket full of your water let it soak up. Give it some time for the water to get pulled into the soil. Then place it on a rack over something to catch water. Leave them there for a bit so the soil is not above field capacity. This is a good method for beginners because under watering your plant (not giving it enough water at one time) can be damaging like over watering (which also opens the door for pathogens and pests).

In order to incorporate this method into a sog method, you could use a large tray and water in slowly so there isn't much or ideally any water left in the trey when finished.

Remember the soil needs as much air as water for the roots to function properly so you don't want your soil to be over saturated.

 

[mad librettist]

hey great advice. I'll add that if you take a tray that fits your containers, and add about 2 inches of pebbles, you have a humidity tray. Don't put so much water that it covers the rocks, and you will need to water less often. Also helps keep humidity up in the winter.

 

[carbonskeleton]

hey great advice. I'll add that if you take a tray that fits your containers, and add about 2 inches of pebbles, you have a humidity tray. Don't put so much water that it covers the rocks, and you will need to water less often. Also helps keep humidity up in the winter.

This is a very clever idea. Thanks for sharing that.

 

[mad librettist]

I wish I were that clever. That's an old house plant trick.

 

[grapeman]

^^^What he said

I always leave another cup full of dry soil nearby so I can compare wet and dry weight directly.

I've found that with small plants, less water every watering and a higher frequency helps them grow faster.

Lisdexik

simple solutions are beautiful.

Good idea Lisdexik

 

[carbonskeleton]

I wish I were that clever. That's an old house plant trick.

I was thinking it would be great to adapt to an auto watering technique I have seen. If you had enough clay stone to keep your containers an inch or so above the bottom, then used that area as a reservoir and a wicking material to pull the water into the container you might be able to mitigate some of the problems of putting too much water into the tray.

 

[mad librettist]

yup.

and if I have clones going and have to go for a week, I put too much water anyway. they can handle it once or twice.

I use plant nannies as well with bigger containers, so I have water above and below, but no sogginess.

 

[dan_kass]

I recently switched from straight Pro Mix (plus extra perlite) to 3 parts Pro Mix, 1 part coco (gh brick), 1 part EWC and 1 part perlite. To 1gal of that mix I added 2 Tbsp of FF Peace of Mind Fruit and Flower (5-8-4), 1 Tbsp FF PoM Starter (3-4-3), 1 Tbsp FF PoM Acid Loving (6-4-4) and 1 Tbsp of fine dolomite lime.

I was watering the straight Pro Mix with GH Flora (modified lucas/ph style) with the ph @ 5.8 to 6 at first but the plants didn't look as good as they could have so I slide the ph up to 6.3/6.5 and they definitely started looking better...the leaves were actually yellowing up properly during the flush, which they hadn't been doing with a lower ph. But then the problem of the leaves yellowing up super early showed up out of nowhere and at first I was stumped....but then I started reading a few threads in the Organics forum and realized that the nitrogen was probably being leached out of the soil each time I watered....along with all the other nutrients (and dollars.)

The problem IMO with synthetics in dirt is that you have to water with either significant runoff or maybe a slow drip...but then the medium is always wet. I watered hard because I was in 1gal bags and it took it's toll on the Pro Mix (I can't even call it soil.) After a month I've already probably hand watered them 25 to 30 times and by then they're in need of a flush, which only puts more strain on the Pro Mix....and the plant.

So being fed up with synthetics in dead soil I decided to at least add some life with the castings and the coco makes it feel so soft and feathery....the roots LOVE IT!!! No more thin off white roots, now they're bright white and thick with plenty of secondary feeder roots. I'm gonna try and water it with little to no runoff and see how things go. The coco and castings add a lot more water retention so I'm sure it will cut down the amount of watering's per crop, hopefully between 25-40%...It was every other day and even sometimes everyday and now it's every 3rd or 4th day, but they're still youngish

One question I did have though was what is everyone running there ph at? With the mix I'm using now I went back to the 'ole tried and true ph for soil....6.8 to 7. The plants have never looked better. The green in the leaves is a completely different type of green then from the synthetics....they just look more vibrant then they used to.

I'm currently feeding my flowering plants that are still in the straight Pro Mix with Pure Blend Pro Grow and Bloom (15ml bloom and 5ml grow) and 15ml Gen Organics Cal Mag +. But my ultimate goal is start recycling my soil, making my own compost/vermicompost (indoors...I'm not in a house/apartment) and not having to use liquid fertilizers of any kind on my soil plants...just ph balanced tap water thats been bubbled.

But getting back to the original question of the thread....watering slow and trying not to disturb the tilth too much is how I like to do it. I water for a few seconds and then move to the next plant and so on till the original one has fully soaked up the water. Then like a few people said, start judging the weight to see if it's getting close to full saturation without runoff.

Take Care,
Dan Kass

 

[NUG-JUG]

For me i use a combo of three things to tell if they need water;
1. finger test like you said
2. lift the pot method
3. and some plants i let droop a little
I think any one of these methods alone isn't quite enough, but all three together is almost foolproof.