Help with outdoor solo cups watering

L

Leonwak

Active Member
Hello everybody, im new to the grow business, i lost many seeds abt a couple of weeks ago due to overwatering, trying to avoid it this time, i have seedlings wich sprouted abt 3-4 days ago, have them in solo cups on the roof, i am in venezuela and it is very hot these days,i understand i shouldnt be watering much, but the cups seem to be drying so fast beyond the topmost inch of soil, sometimes in a day or so. i fear they could go completely dry, i am using an organic soil mix that has plenty of organic material, maybe deeper down it is still moist, maybe in the middle of the cup, cant really stick my finger too close to the roots LOL, the ones i lost were getting full sun all day and some dryed and dropped dead in no time, this time i put them under some shade of a tree and also where they wont get direct sun past 2 pm so they wont dry so fast until they grow some sets of tru leaves. should i be watering everyday or every other day? please some advice.
 
Just because the top inch or two is dry does not mean the bottom half is dry too. The dry cycle is just as important as the wet cycle. I would water every 2nd to 3rd day.
 
Oz3 said:
for one get them off the roof! why is it on the roof?
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why wouldnt i have them on the roof? dont they need good light? i plan on having a grow on the roof and another indoors, is it such a bad idea to have them on the roof? if it their age or what? i get so many conflicting advice. could you please elaborate? thanks in advance.
 
Leonwak said:
why wouldnt i have them on the roof? dont they need good light? i plan on having a grow on the roof and another indoors, is it such a bad idea to have them on the roof? if it their age or what? i get so many conflicting advice. could you please elaborate? thanks in advance.
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how many killer grows you seen on a roof brother? trust me its just all trouble on the roof.
 
BubbleBucketz said:
Just because the top inch or two is dry does not mean the bottom half is dry too. The dry cycle is just as important as the wet cycle. I would water every 2nd to 3rd day.
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It's not drying properly or evenly is the most important. It's so hot is why the top layer is always dryer. Not good. Makes everything confusing.
 
Oz3 said:
It's not drying properly or evenly is the most important. It's so hot is why the top layer is always dryer. Not good. Makes everything confusing.
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It's not supposed to dry evenly. The root zone is much cooler then the top inch of soil so it stays moist longer too. You are losing plants because you are drowning them most likely. They need a dry cycle too.
 
BubbleBucketz said:
Just because the top inch or two is dry does not mean the bottom half is dry too. The dry cycle is just as important as the wet cycle. I would water every 2nd to 3rd day.
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And yeah it's like every other day depending if it's flowering or vegging. Your right
BubbleBucketz said:
It's not supposed to dry evenly. The root zone is much cooler then the top inch of soil so it stays moist longer too. You are losing plants because you are drowning them most likely. They need a dry cycle too.
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True if it's in the ground but it's not. Potted should be even
 
Oz3 said:
And yeah it's like every other day depending if it's flowering or vegging. Your right

True if it's in the ground but it's not. Potted should be even
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No it should not be. The putting your finger in the soil to your knuckle method will have you drowning your plants. While that part is dry.....the very bottom of the soil can still be wet and that's where the roots will draw the water.
 
Oz3 said:
It's not drying properly or evenly is the most important. It's so hot is why the top layer is always dryer. Not good. Makes everything confusing.
Click to expand...

i put them in a somewhat shady place, also put a plastic covering over them so as to reduce sun intensity, also they are now by a wall so as to receive sunlinght till abt 2 pm, and then are in the shade somewhat, i intend to have them there until they are big enough to up pot and the bigger pots can hold more moisture and can sustain all day in the sunlight, they are barely a week old, first set of true leaves, today was their first day in such a place, had them by a somewhat sunny window for abt 3-4 days from germination.
 
BubbleBucketz said:
No it should not be. The putting your finger in the soil to your knuckle method will have you drowning your plants. While that part is dry.....the very bottom of the soil can still be wet and that's where the roots will draw the water.
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ill remind you they are in solo cups, so i think they might be drying so fast in this dry summer. i recon the lower part of the soil might be still very moist, i wish i could get it clearer by tonite so as to correct any mistakes and have the outdoor grow very productive, the indoor set might be easier as they are not under the intense elements of nature.
 
Leonwak said:
ill remind you they are in solo cups, so i think they might be drying so fast in this dry summer. i recon the lower part of the soil might be still very moist, i wish i could get it clearer by tonite so as to correct any mistakes and have the outdoor grow very productive, the indoor set might be easier as they are not under the intense elements of nature.
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I have flowered full plants in solo cups as well....Now these need a few watering a day but plants just starting out only need to be watered every 48-72 hours. Like I said....the dry cycle is just as important as the wet cycle. Too much water can literally drown your plants.
solosize.jpg
 
Leonwak said:
Hello everybody, im new to the grow business, i lost many seeds abt a couple of weeks ago due to overwatering, trying to avoid it this time, i have seedlings wich sprouted abt 3-4 days ago, have them in solo cups on the roof, i am in venezuela and it is very hot these days,i understand i shouldnt be watering much, but the cups seem to be drying so fast beyond the topmost inch of soil, sometimes in a day or so. i fear they could go completely dry, i am using an organic soil mix that has plenty of organic material, maybe deeper down it is still moist, maybe in the middle of the cup, cant really stick my finger too close to the roots LOL, the ones i lost were getting full sun all day and some dryed and dropped dead in no time, this time i put them under some shade of a tree and also where they wont get direct sun past 2 pm so they wont dry so fast until they grow some sets of tru leaves. should i be watering everyday or every other day? please some advice.
Click to expand...
Out in the hot sun it is going to be very hard to keep a solo cup going, and in this case I probably would have started the plants in a 1 gallon container. But yes, the hot sun is going to bake the first couple of inches of that cup of soil and the top will dry out very quickly. This however isn't the part of the container that is the most important, that area is down at the bottom, where the tap and feeder roots are trying to survive.

The problem is that those lower roots need to see oxygen on a regular cycle, and they get it when the pool of water sitting in that container falls all the way down to the bottom inch of container. The top of that water table acts like a diaphragm and pulls oxygen way down to the bottom roots. You however are coming along and water too often, before the bottom dries out. This raises the water table back up to the top and the bottom roots remain underwater with no oxygen. These bottom roots can't take much of this before they think that there is a flood happening, and in desperation they protect themselves with a waterproof coating. Unfortunately, this protective coating keeps them from being able to uptake a lot of water, so water use slows down, making the problem worse, and the leaves start reacting to the nutrition deficiencies they are now experiencing.

Learn to use the lift the pot method to determine when it is time to water... that finger to the first knuckle method is for growing tomatoes, not pot. It also works for plants in bloom.... but that is the second part of the story... right now in veg you absolutely must dry out the soil all the way to the bottom between each watering. Fill up a similar container with dry soil. Lift it and note its light weight. Now lift your plant. If you can feel extra weight there, it is the water. Don't water again until you can lift the container and it feels as light as the one never watered. The soil will seem as dry as the Sahara Desert, but your plant will mysteriously seem to be happy. Trust the lift method.... it works well, every time it is tried.
 
Emilya said:
Out in the hot sun it is going to be very hard to keep a solo cup going, and in this case I probably would have started the plants in a 1 gallon container. But yes, the hot sun is going to bake the first couple of inches of that cup of soil and the top will dry out very quickly. This however isn't the part of the container that is the most important, that area is down at the bottom, where the tap and feeder roots are trying to survive.

The problem is that those lower roots need to see oxygen on a regular cycle, and they get it when the pool of water sitting in that container falls all the way down to the bottom inch of container. The top of that water table acts like a diaphragm and pulls oxygen way down to the bottom roots. You however are coming along and water too often, before the bottom dries out. This raises the water table back up to the top and the bottom roots remain underwater with no oxygen. These bottom roots can't take much of this before they think that there is a flood happening, and in desperation they protect themselves with a waterproof coating. Unfortunately, this protective coating keeps them from being able to uptake a lot of water, so water use slows down, making the problem worse, and the leaves start reacting to the nutrition deficiencies they are now experiencing.

Learn to use the lift the pot method to determine when it is time to water... that finger to the first knuckle method is for growing tomatoes, not pot. It also works for plants in bloom.... but that is the second part of the story... right now in veg you absolutely must dry out the soil all the way to the bottom between each watering. Fill up a similar container with dry soil. Lift it and note its light weight. Now lift your plant. If you can feel extra weight there, it is the water. Don't water again until you can lift the container and it feels as light as the one never watered. The soil will seem as dry as the Sahara Desert, but your plant will mysteriously seem to be happy. Trust the lift method.... it works well, every time it is tried.
Click to expand...
Wow thanks for such a clear explanation, helps a lot, just curious, should i water everyday if it seems that they are drying out ? are they good on the rooftop? i have plenty of space for a lot of plants and i intend to build a greenhouse for sheltering them from the heavy tropical rains expected for late june till november or so. should i leave them in the partialy shaded area until they are a bit more developed and then up pot them and then they might tolerate the sun for longer days? this is their first day up on their roof and they are barely developing the first set if true leaves, please advice me on this issue will make things much clearer. thanks a million.
 
Leonwak said:
Wow thanks for such a clear explanation, helps a lot, just curious, should i water everyday if it seems that they are drying out ? are they good on the rooftop? i have plenty of space for a lot of plants and i intend to build a greenhouse for sheltering them from the heavy tropical rains expected for late june till november or so. should i leave them in the partialy shaded area until they are a bit more developed and then up pot them and then they might tolerate the sun for longer days? this is their first day up on their roof and they are barely developing the first set if true leaves, please advice me on this issue will make things much clearer. thanks a million.
Click to expand...
No you should not be watering every day for plants with just one set of leaves. They are too small for daily watering. You need to water every 48-72 hours for right now. Since it's hotter...more then likely in the 48 hour range. If it were cooler, then every 3 days.
 

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