No, seriously.... that 11-blade is remarkable!
Only seen that twice.... Some old skool Mexi shit
Only seen that twice.... Some old skool Mexi shit
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Ganja
- Thread starter GanjaRebelSeeds
- Start date
Ganja, would you please elaborate on what you mean when you say to check to make sure you're not overwatering? What would you recommend someone learning about proper watering look for?
In my opinion over watering is the most common mistake made by growers expert and beginner. A lot of times a plant can look healthy even when it's being overwatered. Problems resulting from too much water may not be noticeable until it's too late.
Pathogens thrive in moist conditions,when the soil is not able to properly dry out in-between waterings it allows pathogens to breed and potentially enter your plants vascular system. Overwatering can also cause rot,molds,slow growth and all types of bullshit you don't want.
When I check to see if a plant needs water or has too much water I start with a visual check. The leaves can tell you whether a plant has the right amount,too much,or too little water. Leaves that hold themselves up or point slightly towards the sun are fine. When leaves point down or begin to wilt it can be too much or not enough water. Confusing,I know.
If the leaf is pointing down and the leaf stem is arching downward you can feel stiffness in the leaf stem,this means too much water.
If the leaf stem is having trouble supporting the leave because of lack of water you will also see a slight wilt,and you can feel a softness in the leaf stem. It's simple,soft stem= not much water in the plants vascular system.
In order for organic soils to properly create new available nutrients the soil needs to go through a wet and dry cycle. Basically you don't want to let the soil get completely dry and you don't want it to stay totally saturated with moisture. The middle ground is watering right as the soil is beginning to get dry right before the plants roots can't find enough water and the plant begins to slightly wilt. It's a trick,balance,and takes lots of experience to get it right. I still make mistakes from time to time.
Then the key is understanding the plants increase demand for water as the roots and plants grow and get bigger and spread further and deeper into the soil. It's hard to determine how deep water penetrates the soil from just the feel of the top surface. Wind and temperature also are factor in how much water a plant and the soil uses and needs.
Sometimes the amount of water used can be dictated by the plan for the week. Indoors I want to feed a lot. So I like to have my soil dry and ready for water ever 2-3 days and eventually every day as they get bigger. That way I can pump em full of organic goodies and put some weight on the buds.
Outdoors if I'm planning on feeding or applying a tea I'll water less so I won't be watering in my feed while the soil is too wet. However you never want to feed while the soil is too dry also. It can cause burn from taking too much concentrated nutrients into dry roots with out enough moisture.
When I'm not planning a feed I ideally water ever 2-3 days. And with outdoor plants I try to use as little water as possible without under doing it so I can make the most of the water and cause as little negative environmental effect as possible. Water is the planets most precious resource besides oxygen so I try not to waste it and use it responsibly. So,lot's to consider and think about and a lot to balance.
All in all it's very basic,yet seems complicated. Let the plants tell you what they need. The more time you spend with them and the more experience you have with them the more you can understand their reactions.
With watering,just keep it simple and pay attention,use common sense and you'll get it.
Hope this long winded response makes sense as I'm not fully awake until I finish my coffee and I still have a few sips left.
Peace
Thanks for taking the time, Ganja.
Of superficially "simple" tasks like watering our plants is the art and science of ganja growing made.
I think the most helpful part of your post is where you detail how you read the signs you observe in plant leaves.
It makes sense that gardeners tend to overwater out of a desire to "help" the plant grow bigger, faster. But I'd like to revise the old advice that says it's the most common problem: in my experience it's easy to go too far the other way.
For myself, I was so worried about overwatering when I started growing herb that I don't think I watered enough, both in frequency and depth. As a result, my plants were smaller and less healthy than they could have been, I think.
I tried to hop right on the bandwagon of homegrown smartpots with drip irrigation, without (I see in retrospect) understanding the plant-soil-water interaction well enough. I didn't have any real basis for programming the drip cycles and what's worse, didn't even realize it was a problem.
So I'm asking because it's something I've been working on.
This year I have delayed installing drip irrigation and just hand-watered (we have a tiny garden by Nor Cal standards). This is helping me to get that triad better in mind: I know how much I have watered a given plant; I can watch the rate of absorption; and I can get a sense of how the plant responds in the hours following irrigation. Doing this has given me a tentative sense of a difference between more of a maintenance-type watering and pushing it a bit more...and I'm finding that they tend to respond with good, vigorous growth that seems pretty linearly related to the watering amount.
But of course there is a limit where vigorous growth will give way to anaerobic swampiness and malevolent microbeasties will emerge to wreak havoc on our darlings.
Ay, there's the rub...
With this hot weather I've been watering every day, and I wonder whether I shouldn't try to restrain myself a bit more. Tom Hill has put some advice out there that's similar to yours, Ganja, with respect to time between waterings. He also mentioned doing lighter and deeper waterings, with the lighter ones on the order of 10% of the container size (20 gallons for a 200g container). I don't remember the percentage for the heavier waterings, but they're much closer to full saturation.
I like that you're thinking about conservation, too. Mulching, dripping, catchment, and allied techniques should allow us to have a much smaller impact than we otherwise would without sacrificing quality and yield.
Thanks again for the response, and apologies if this is long-winded and / or convoluted.
Of superficially "simple" tasks like watering our plants is the art and science of ganja growing made.
I think the most helpful part of your post is where you detail how you read the signs you observe in plant leaves.
It makes sense that gardeners tend to overwater out of a desire to "help" the plant grow bigger, faster. But I'd like to revise the old advice that says it's the most common problem: in my experience it's easy to go too far the other way.
For myself, I was so worried about overwatering when I started growing herb that I don't think I watered enough, both in frequency and depth. As a result, my plants were smaller and less healthy than they could have been, I think.
I tried to hop right on the bandwagon of homegrown smartpots with drip irrigation, without (I see in retrospect) understanding the plant-soil-water interaction well enough. I didn't have any real basis for programming the drip cycles and what's worse, didn't even realize it was a problem.
So I'm asking because it's something I've been working on.
This year I have delayed installing drip irrigation and just hand-watered (we have a tiny garden by Nor Cal standards). This is helping me to get that triad better in mind: I know how much I have watered a given plant; I can watch the rate of absorption; and I can get a sense of how the plant responds in the hours following irrigation. Doing this has given me a tentative sense of a difference between more of a maintenance-type watering and pushing it a bit more...and I'm finding that they tend to respond with good, vigorous growth that seems pretty linearly related to the watering amount.
But of course there is a limit where vigorous growth will give way to anaerobic swampiness and malevolent microbeasties will emerge to wreak havoc on our darlings.
Ay, there's the rub...
With this hot weather I've been watering every day, and I wonder whether I shouldn't try to restrain myself a bit more. Tom Hill has put some advice out there that's similar to yours, Ganja, with respect to time between waterings. He also mentioned doing lighter and deeper waterings, with the lighter ones on the order of 10% of the container size (20 gallons for a 200g container). I don't remember the percentage for the heavier waterings, but they're much closer to full saturation.
I like that you're thinking about conservation, too. Mulching, dripping, catchment, and allied techniques should allow us to have a much smaller impact than we otherwise would without sacrificing quality and yield.
Thanks again for the response, and apologies if this is long-winded and / or convoluted.
Dam, just seeing this, TAGGED!!!
I would love to throw my two cents in:
Watering obviously depends on your climate, if your in ground or above, and how much is absorbed into your medium. For example, Tom Hill says 10% of the container size. This would be WAY too much for me in the bay area where the water table in the ground stays very high all year round. I personally use about 2.5 gallons of water a week on my 150 gal pots. I use ACT's which help retain water, but no where near 10%. If I were to add 15 gal of water to my plants they would die very fast. However I am loving GRS explanation of what the plant should look like when over/under watered. One thing that was new to me is gauging if the stem is soft or hard to determine over or under watering. Great advice!
Edit: as for another example, I still have some plants that are in 3 gal pots outdoors, and the plants are a good 5ft tall. These I have to water at least a gallon of water twice a day. So that would be 33% of the total volume of soil, watered twice a day.
Watering obviously depends on your climate, if your in ground or above, and how much is absorbed into your medium. For example, Tom Hill says 10% of the container size. This would be WAY too much for me in the bay area where the water table in the ground stays very high all year round. I personally use about 2.5 gallons of water a week on my 150 gal pots. I use ACT's which help retain water, but no where near 10%. If I were to add 15 gal of water to my plants they would die very fast. However I am loving GRS explanation of what the plant should look like when over/under watered. One thing that was new to me is gauging if the stem is soft or hard to determine over or under watering. Great advice!
Edit: as for another example, I still have some plants that are in 3 gal pots outdoors, and the plants are a good 5ft tall. These I have to water at least a gallon of water twice a day. So that would be 33% of the total volume of soil, watered twice a day.
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^^The variation mentioned here makes clear how situational these things are: climate, soil mix, weather...
Soil mix is another great point. I have noticed when buying soil that is commonly used by the big boys up north that it has a large water holding capacity. Compared to Roots Organics or Fox Farm, which dries out way faster. This year I have two soil mixes, one from the Earth Worm Soil Farm in Chico. The second is a custom mix I make that uses coco. This mix I have to water more often than the EWSF, and if it gets hot I really have to pay attention.
This is crazy, not familiar with Roots Organic [there is sooooo much better out there] but Fox Farm I consider to be damn near clay! Its some of the densest, [ocean forest especially] wettest, most musty smelling garbage to dump out of a bag.
Its extremely dense and waterlogging[holding]
Its extremely dense and waterlogging[holding]
anonymousgrow
Active member
I agree hella, the worst bag i came across when i bought a bunch of different ones to run side by sides with was sanctuary soil empire builder. I had heard good things but the bags of soil we bought we terrible.
Apologies for the lack of updates. Here's a peek. This pic was taken during the rain storm on 9/20. Over 2 inches, not a good start to the fall. Plan ahead and support your plants, early! Don't get caught with your pants down.
ECSD, one of my favorites.
ECSD, one of my favorites.
dayum brah!!
Nice dude glad to see you still rocking the diesel!
bottomland
Member
GRS. That's a nice plant, Y is it not covered ? If u r able to, I wouldn't let the rain wash any of my buzz away. ( not picken, just wanting to help.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXyp3OJq578
Boom Shakalocka!!
Happy harvest!!!
5G's Yellow X (OG x Sour), maybe cut just a tad too early.
Headband X (OG x Sour)
GSC
May have mixed up this pic. Either Double OG Sour, or Double Sour OG. I enjoy looking at it either way.
Peace
Boom Shakalocka!!
Happy harvest!!!
5G's Yellow X (OG x Sour), maybe cut just a tad too early.
Headband X (OG x Sour)
GSC
May have mixed up this pic. Either Double OG Sour, or Double Sour OG. I enjoy looking at it either way.
Peace
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Till next time..
damn just saw this thread...congrats on another successful season. gotta try and run more of your gear for 2014. eyeing the 5g yellow x OG x chems and the double oG sours. want something nice and vigorous and with the classic funky headband sour terpenes. my chem4xSD cut is nice but too fluffy the buds don't hold enough weight.
wallywombat
Member
God daymmmmmum yummy
