Watering... Better in the morning or at night

[CannaDestroyer]

having a bit of an arguement with a grower friend of mine, hoping the mag can settle this for us. he says it is better to water before the lights go out, because thats when plants do there "work". i completlely disagree i think watering just before lights out encourages problems because the plants use little water with the lights off. also i'm pretty sure that plants are most active with the lights on. what is the communities take on this?

 

[fireman]

Actually i believe it is best to water either before the lights go out or right when they come on, after like an hour or so. This is so the plant can take up the water more efficiently than when it is completing the process of photosynthesis.

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

The best time to water is the best time to water. If that is morning or afternoon or mid morning or early evening doesn't matter. Watering when the soilmix is the right amount of dry is the key, whatever time that falls at. Hourly attention to watering gives best results.

 

[daydreamer]

with indoor soil grows, you are trying to replicate outside nature, just doing it inside for security reasons. so in nature, when is the best time for it to rain? it can rain anytime, and plants have evolved to handle that fact. when the top inch or 2 of soil dries out, it's time to water.

 

[SlowCalaToker]

Doesn't matter. Just watch them, get to know how long they can go without water until they start to wilt, then water the day before that. They need a good wet/dry cycle.

I water right at lights out, that's when I get home from work.

 

[seederido]

as far as i remember, jorge ses: water in the morning, take clones @ night (theoretically).
i've read that at night, hormones etc are supposed to retreat to the roots, so clones taken at night are supposed to root more easily. so i guess it makes sense to water in the morning, when all the stuff is retransfered to the plant...

anybody got an opinion on this? i'm sticking to watering when dry, as mentioned above...

greetings [wave]

 

[moonie]

I dont water before lights out just because I dont want the humidity to go up to much at night. The stomatas are generally open between I think around 5am-9am? thats when I foliar feed, I water right after.

 

[PhenotypeX]

I have no proof, just my own personal opinion. I think its better to water in the morning, that way the plant can use the energy its getting from the light to suck the water up and make use of it.

 

[reckon]

in the OLD days before glass enclosed lights and cool tubes, you watered during the dark cycle, because if you accidentally splashed some water onto the hot bulb, it's an instant CRACK! POP! (and a room full of sodium vapor)

but I agree the "wet/dry" cycle is more important than the time of day when growing in soil.

 

[sanke]

The best time to water is the best time to water. If that is morning or afternoon or mid morning or early evening doesn't matter. Watering when the soilmix is the right amount of dry is the key, whatever time that falls at. Hourly attention to watering gives best results.

this right here

 

[CannaDestroyer]

with indoor soil grows, you are trying to replicate outside nature, just doing it inside for security reasons. so in nature, when is the best time for it to rain? it can rain anytime, and plants have evolved to handle that fact. when the top inch or 2 of soil dries out, it's time to water.

this very much agrees with my line of thinking. i almost put in the first post, i realize the proper wet/dry is more important than when watering occurs, guess i should have. i have watering down, no problems there. i am more or less interested in the pros and cons of watering at lights on/off, if there are any. indoor container growing sometimes needs to be tweaked to best replicate a "perfect day" in nature.

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

"jorge ses:" Grrr, don't get me started!

 

[Greencloud]

When lights are off, plants store their nutrients in the root systems. During the light cycle, plants can actually use the nutrients given to them. If given at the beginning of your ganjas day, it would have lots of time the receive nutrients and use them in it's structure before it stores them in it's root system for the night.
Also, watering at night, when temps are cooler, and plants can't use water, is begging for fungal problems.
I've seen lot's of things work for lots of people, but l like to water in my ganja's morning. At least the first 4 hours.

 

[mexilandrace]

For me, my plants look the happiest when the lights go off if I watered them just before they came on that day. As I result I always try to water just before or just after lights on.

I run my flower cycle in the middle of the night to save on electricity so sometimes I fall asleep before I end up doing my watering. Doesn't seem to hurt anything regardless of when I do it. I just think they prefer it first thing in their morning.

I know for outdoor stuff, like grass for instance, you never want to water just before sundown because it promotes fungal problems and root rot. No clue if that carries over into our indoor hobbies.

 

[Kcar]

I see a plant as a water pump that is active during the "day" and shuts down at night.
So I say water in the morn so the plant has something to pump.
Also, the humidity thing.

 

[mexilandrace]

When lights are off, plants store their nutrients in the root systems. During the light cycle, plants can actually use the nutrients given to them. If given at the beginning of your ganjas day, it would have lots of time the receive nutrients and use them in it's structure before it stores them in it's root system for the night.
Also, watering at night, when temps are cooler, and plants can't use water, is begging for fungal problems.
I've seen lot's of things work for lots of people, but l like to water in my ganja's morning. At least the first 4 hours.

actually plants use up energy stores at night in order to heal and grow. Most life on earth follows the same basic concept of "sleep=growth and heal time"

during the day the plant stores some of the energy from the sun to use in the night.

the simplest way I can explain it is if you picture a plant like a solar powered battery and the roots are the battery with the leaves and such being the solar panels.

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

"When lights are off, plants store their nutrients in the root systems. During the light cycle, plants can actually use the nutrients given to them." That is amazing, where did you learn that?

" I see a plant as a water pump that is active during the "day" and shuts down at night." Why do plants seem to grow more in the night then?

 

[Deleted member 75858]

I know for outdoor stuff, like grass for instance, you never want to water just before sundown because it promotes fungal problems and root rot. No clue if that carries over into our indoor hobbies.

Watering at night also keeps the dissolved oxygen levels down.

 

[Blaat]

Waters' used in both photosystems and the calvin cycle, I don't think it makes much of a difference. It might be beneficial to benefit early in the day however to maximize root breathing.

Edit: Looked it up and I was mistaken, water is only used in photosystem II as an electron donator, but I think my breathing point still stands.

 

[Dr.Dank]

Water in the morning thats when the plants wake up, I'll usually wait an hour after the plants have woken up to feed em... 8-9 in the morning.