How dry and how long to wait to water?

[Bacondoggy]

I'm confused... I was told from my mom and others on here to ALWAYS keep roots wet, but on here I have learned cannabis likes a wet/dry cycle. How long should it really be "dry" for? In early veg, I am watering like 3 times a week, (plus getting rained on) is that about right?

 

[Bacondoggy]

Oh sorry to be a bother, but this just came in the mail, they were only 9 dollars shipped for both - can I put some of this in the tea as well or should this only be mixed with water and applied as a nute or its own feeding?

The world does not CARE how much you know, until they know how much u care.

 

[Bapple]

I'm confused... I was told from my mom and others on here to ALWAYS keep roots wet, but on here I have learned cannabis likes a wet/dry cycle. How long should it really be "dry" for? In early veg, I am watering like 3 times a week, (plus getting rained on) is that about right?

Only water your plants when the substrate is nearly dry, you'll grow bigger plants.

 

[Dan Ultra]

Only water your plants when the substrate is nearly dry, you'll grow bigger plants.

This ^

 

[Racer1921]

Mate there is no problems keeping roots damp all the time. As long as air can get to them its fine. I like to let mine dry a bit before water as it allows roots to grow vigarously looking for water.
As long as there not always real wet were no air can get t here or you will get root rot for sure.
Bigger roots bigger plant.

THE GREEN RACER.

 

[mypassion]

Don't stick your finger in the ground. That is the shittiest method of telling.
Pot weight or leaves dropping can give you a better idea.

 

[Racer1921]

Thats the way to do it.

THE GREEN RACER.

 

[santb]

Don't water if your pots are heavy. Wait until they are light/easy to pick up.
Do NOT let the roots stay wet.
Any type of fertilizer, always use half strength until you know what it does/how strong it is.

 

[Bacondoggy]

Like i said... alternating stories... always keep roots damp (not necessarily "wet"), or not (bigger plants?) Hmmm....

I have been keeping it inside I can't sleep at night so it stays up with me. Last night I changed it, I take it out in the am but last night I just let it sit outside till it got dark, let it sit a few hours (I believe 4 hours of dark is good for the plants),but before I was taking them right from dusk into the house right to the light even if I waited till 12 noon the next day to take it outside (I don't sleep well I am usually up all night) its been getting light in the am through a window in a white bathtub (I unplug the grow lights when it gets light out). My old way the plants were never getting any real darkness.
What do you think about this - let plant sit out to get dark, in 4 hours take it in, then foliar feed like 6am and then out to sun? Was trying to see what light the plant liked more the 28w led or 13w cfl lol

 

[santb]

The plant wants as much light as you can give it at the moment so use both bulbs if you can. The sun is good. That plant looks pretty healthy! Is there drainage holes in the bottom of that cup? If there are, you should be fine. Just water when it weighs much less.. It'll need a re-pot to a bigger pot soon anyway.. But not too big. The trick (I'm just learning this as well) is to encourage the roots to grow; so letting the soil dry out helps this happen. The roots stretch out looking for water. But don't let it go too long.. Bone dry is bad. BUT!! An under-watered plant is not as bad as an OVER-watered plant, as long as you don't let either go too long. By letting the roots grow into a pot, then giving it a slightly bigger pot to grow into, also encourages the roots.. How many times you do this depends on how big/how long you want to veg for. My current grow, I vegged for 6 weeks and had to re-pot 4 times..
Just make sure you always have drainage holes in the pots, and your medium is free-draining. Adding perlite will help with this..

 

[Bacondoggy]

I have perlite in all my mixes...I finally topped it - I was going to bend the top a bit but it snapped as soon as I used barely anyforce. Next time I will try smushing it more then bending, as bending = snap! But this should be ok, right?

 

[Major PITA]

I believe all plants do better with a rest period (dark). But even more important is keeping the light period consistent. If it gets varying amounts each day, you are asking for bloom problems and more likely to hermie.

How dry is "dry"? The plant will tell you when it needs water. If it looks the same as the day before, it doesn't need more water no matter how many days or weeks it has been. My little 18 oz. Solo cups are now at a full two weeks with not a drop of water and they have very high porosity soil with high heat, low humidity and a fan.

 

[Bacondoggy]

I believe all plants do better with a rest period (dark). But even more important is keeping the light period consistent. If it gets varying amounts each day, you are asking for bloom problems and more likely to hermie.

How dry is "dry"? The plant will tell you when it needs water. If it looks the same as the day before, it doesn't need more water no matter how many days or weeks it has been. My little 18 oz. Solo cups are now at a full two weeks with not a drop of water and they have very high porosity soil with high heat, low humidity and a fan.

So a set schedule is just as important? I switched the cfl out for a dual led, focused the beams towards it better and it seems to be really taking off. A full set of leaves is 7 or 5? Bc the top most leaves look like they are making 7 leaves, so fake leaves to a set of one leaf, to 3 leafs then 5 leafs... that foliar spray worked wonders (floralicious plus, fish emulsion only this time), the plant is still damp so no water. I guess if it's in a small pot and in the direct sun and it's hot I should keep an eye on it...should I transplant it NOW or wait till a better time (I can't think of any time better then now, or should it be dry when I transplant it and then score the roots, transplant it lined with ewc (says it helps with transplants), and really give it a drenching? I'm thinking plants generally perk up when they are dry and get water they want so bad so giving it water, and maybe mild nutes when you are stressing them (transplant) would be "stress relief", right?

Look how fast she is growing after topped!

 

[Major PITA]

IMO a set light schedule is much more important.
You do need to take care the roots don't get cooked when a small pot is outside in hot sun. At least your pots are white instead of the usual black.
I time my transplants on what the plant needs. If the root ball is well developed and you have the room for a bigger plant, I'd up-pot once it is dry-ish.

 

[Bacondoggy]

Good to know. I don't know how much the roots have grown I guess I'll see in a few days (maybe less if the sun bakes all the moisture out of the pot). It looks like yummy healthy right now but I guess too damp for a transplant. Grrr I want to do it now... patience young grasshopper lol