The Proper Way To Water A Seedling In A Large Final Container

[COLATL]

Hi Emilya, once again coming to your knowledge for advise, haha... I'm in the final stages of my flowering and I would like to know if you could consider this as mold.
PS: This was the only way is found to get to you, sorry about mixing topics

 

[Emilya Green]

I dont know what this is... looks like a shriveled up calyx. can you pick it out of there intact with a tweezers?

 

[COLATL]

Well... I throw it away already, sorry... But it was just that... It was a brown calyx, I thought It was due to mold on it... Any probable cause?

 

[Emilya Green]

not a clue... never saw that happen before, at least not that I have noticed... maybe someone else can comment on it?

 

[little kitten]

It looks perfect, especially the way the plant perked up after watering!

WoW! Emilya, don't some of these posts make you feel awesome!!!!?

 

[NorthernCosmos]

The Purple Haze auto that I just chopped had some withered single buds sitting right on the main nodes. It looked very similar. Many leaves were also yellowing, with some staring to wither, as usual - so just part of the autumn for the plant I reckon(?)

Edit: ...although COLATL's plant doesn't look very old overall, as in not much autumn colours.

 

[Emilya Green]

WoW! Emilya, don't some of these posts make you feel awesome!!!!?

It really does give me a lot of satisfaction when I see someone who had been overwatering, try my method a see a total transformation in the way their plant responds. I wrote these articles with the intent to give back to this community that gave my family so much, and it gives me great pleasure every time I see that growers all over the world are being influenced by this work, and like you, after reading my theories, now approach these weeds in a totally different manner.

 

[masecrazy]

In the beginning, you may even want to start your seed directly in the final container, simply by putting it one inch deep, pointy end down. It is surprising to some how often this works, even though mother nature does it all the time. If you go this route, lightly mist the area around the seed several times a day with 5-10 good squirts, attempting to only wet down as far as that seed. Continue this until the seedling hits the surface.

Keep using the spray bottle twice a day, now attempting to give enough water to soak in to roughly 3x the plant's height, and in a circle out to 3x the plant's diameter, by at least doubling the amount of squirts you gave to the seedling. Do not soak the entire container right away.... your new seedling cant handle that much water and if the seedling starts to wander or swim in the wet soil, you are giving too much.

Water like this, with these relatively small amounts a couple of times a day, always attempting to get a good part of that water out away from the trunk of the plant, by trying to make the outside edges of that circle 3x the diameter of the plant, the wettest places in the container.... you are attempting to entice the top roots to grow out in that direction.

After the plant has gotten a couple of leaves and gotten taller, it will no longer swim around in the soil if given a lot of water, and it is time to get a bit more aggressive than the spray bottle can do... it is time to move to the watering can and a couple of cups of water at first, slowly soaking the entire top surface of the container. We aren't trying to saturate the container yet, but we do want enough water to soak into the entire surface at least 3x the height of the plant, and we want some of that water to head straight down the middle, where the roots are trying to reach the bottom. This is when it is handy to have been an outside vegetable gardener, so that you know how to test the top of the soil to see if it is moist. When you can no longer feel moisture a day or two later, water like this again.

When the plant's 3x diameter reaches the outside edges of the container, water the entire container slowly, to saturation (runoff) for the first time. It will take a week or more for the plant to use all of that water on this first round, but you don't want the plant to sit idle all of that time either, or it will stagnate. It is time to change the watering pattern again.

Every 3 days or so do a partial watering of the top of the surface, again with only enough water to soak in to the first 3 or 4 inches of soil. Two specialized sets of roots are now forming, the top spreader roots designed to choke off other plants and quickly gather up rain, and the bottom tap and feeder roots. You are attempting to water only the top spreader roots, while the bottom tap/feeder roots continue to work on the water sitting in the bottom of the container for as long as it takes to clear that first full watering.

You may have to do this secondary top watering 2 or 3 times while you wait for the container to dry out all the way to the bottom. Force the plant to grow the necessary roots to do this job by being patient, and the plant will eventually use all of that water. Once the lift method, a dip stick or a moisture meter tells you that is is finally dry down to the last inch of container, it is time to water completely again and repeat the process, while every 3 days watering the top, until the bottom finally syncs up with the top.

Every time you go through one of these cycles, the roots will get stronger and the time between complete waterings will diminish. Eventually the top and the bottom will sync up and you will not have to do the secondary watering any more, you will just be watering the whole container every 3 days or so, as the wet/dry cycle stabilizes at around 3 days.

It is important to cycle the plant like this all through veg so as to force the plants to develop a solid root ball... the roots do not grow to fill that container unless you challenge them. Once you get into bloom, it is time to change your watering strategy.

From then on your goal is not building roots, it is time to really start using the roots that you have carefully built. Your goal at the end of stretch should be to start pumping as much water/nutes into the plant as it can take. I typically will force a plant that is perfectly happy with a 3 day wet/dry cycle into an every other day watering all during bloom... and with the roots you have forced the plant to grow in Veg, they will be able to take just about as much water as they did in 3 days, if you have done this correctly.

Good Luck and Good Grows!
Emilya

Thank you!

 

[Emilya Green]

Thank you!

You are very welcome! Welcome to the forum too!

 

[COLATL]

Hi, Emilia!!

Just to show you how your watering method is working for my plants. I'm just having difficulties trying to figure out how much water I need to get to 3/4 inches into the soil... But, so far so good... Thanks again!

 

[Allhailthebud]

In the beginning, you may even want to start your seed directly in the final container, simply by putting it one inch deep, pointy end down. It is surprising to some how often this works, even though mother nature does it all the time. If you go this route, lightly mist the area around the seed several times a day with 5-10 good squirts, attempting to only wet down as far as that seed. Continue this until the seedling hits the surface.

Keep using the spray bottle twice a day, now attempting to give enough water to soak in to roughly 3x the plant's height, and in a circle out to 3x the plant's diameter, by at least doubling the amount of squirts you gave to the seedling. Do not soak the entire container right away.... your new seedling cant handle that much water and if the seedling starts to wander or swim in the wet soil, you are giving too much.

Water like this, with these relatively small amounts a couple of times a day, always attempting to get a good part of that water out away from the trunk of the plant, by trying to make the outside edges of that circle 3x the diameter of the plant, the wettest places in the container.... you are attempting to entice the top roots to grow out in that direction.

After the plant has gotten a couple of leaves and gotten taller, it will no longer swim around in the soil if given a lot of water, and it is time to get a bit more aggressive than the spray bottle can do... it is time to move to the watering can and a couple of cups of water at first, slowly soaking the entire top surface of the container. We aren't trying to saturate the container yet, but we do want enough water to soak into the entire surface at least 3x the height of the plant, and we want some of that water to head straight down the middle, where the roots are trying to reach the bottom. This is when it is handy to have been an outside vegetable gardener, so that you know how to test the top of the soil to see if it is moist. When you can no longer feel moisture a day or two later, water like this again.

When the plant's 3x diameter reaches the outside edges of the container, water the entire container slowly, to saturation (runoff) for the first time. It will take a week or more for the plant to use all of that water on this first round, but you don't want the plant to sit idle all of that time either, or it will stagnate. It is time to change the watering pattern again.

Every 3 days or so do a partial watering of the top of the surface, again with only enough water to soak in to the first 3 or 4 inches of soil. Two specialized sets of roots are now forming, the top spreader roots designed to choke off other plants and quickly gather up rain, and the bottom tap and feeder roots. You are attempting to water only the top spreader roots, while the bottom tap/feeder roots continue to work on the water sitting in the bottom of the container for as long as it takes to clear that first full watering.

You may have to do this secondary top watering 2 or 3 times while you wait for the container to dry out all the way to the bottom. Force the plant to grow the necessary roots to do this job by being patient, and the plant will eventually use all of that water. Once the lift method, a dip stick or a moisture meter tells you that is is finally dry down to the last inch of container, it is time to water completely again and repeat the process, while every 3 days watering the top, until the bottom finally syncs up with the top.

Every time you go through one of these cycles, the roots will get stronger and the time between complete waterings will diminish. Eventually the top and the bottom will sync up and you will not have to do the secondary watering any more, you will just be watering the whole container every 3 days or so, as the wet/dry cycle stabilizes at around 3 days.

It is important to cycle the plant like this all through veg so as to force the plants to develop a solid root ball... the roots do not grow to fill that container unless you challenge them. Once you get into bloom, it is time to change your watering strategy.

From then on your goal is not building roots, it is time to really start using the roots that you have carefully built. Your goal at the end of stretch should be to start pumping as much water/nutes into the plant as it can take. I typically will force a plant that is perfectly happy with a 3 day wet/dry cycle into an every other day watering all during bloom... and with the roots you have forced the plant to grow in Veg, they will be able to take just about as much water as they did in 3 days, if you have done this correctly.

Good Luck and Good Grows!
Emilya

Hi there Emiliya,

I am new to the site, and I read your post on how to water a potted plant, it was excellent and taught me a lot, so thank you very much for that awesome information I have just started my second crop, originally i started my seedlings in a solo cup with holes drilled into bottom for drainage, however i tried to reuse old pro mix hp soil, which was 2 years old and very dusty in its original container, and that was a mistake, the soil was not able to hold moisture well because it was so old, and I believe this is why my seedlings were so leggy off the start. I since transplanted them to my final container, buried the leggy stems until about an inch from leaves (5g smart pot) with new soil mixed at about 30% perlite so drainage should be good. I am now watering my seedlings in a circle around the base with a spray bottle just to where the soil is nice and moist, then i wait for it to try out again before i water with spray bottle again. I figure i should do this until the plant gets its third set of leaves, then start adding a bit of nutes and watering until runoff. Have i got the right idea or should i be doing something different? My first grow was a success, but i have a lot to learn so any advice is greatly appreciated, tyvm

 

[Emilya Green]

Hi there Emiliya,

I am new to the site, and I read your post on how to water a potted plant, it was excellent and taught me a lot, so thank you very much for that awesome information I have just started my second crop, originally i started my seedlings in a solo cup with holes drilled into bottom for drainage, however i tried to reuse old pro mix hp soil, which was 2 years old and very dusty in its original container, and that was a mistake, the soil was not able to hold moisture well because it was so old, and I believe this is why my seedlings were so leggy off the start. I since transplanted them to my final container, buried the leggy stems until about an inch from leaves (5g smart pot) with new soil mixed at about 30% perlite so drainage should be good. I am now watering my seedlings in a circle around the base with a spray bottle just to where the soil is nice and moist, then i wait for it to try out again before i water with spray bottle again. I figure i should do this until the plant gets its third set of leaves, then start adding a bit of nutes and watering until runoff. Have i got the right idea or should i be doing something different? My first grow was a success, but i have a lot to learn so any advice is greatly appreciated, tyvm

This sounds like a great way to do it! Good luck!

 

[GSCuz]

In the beginning, you may even want to start your seed directly in the final container, simply by putting it one inch deep, pointy end down. It is surprising to some how often this works, even though mother nature does it all the time. If you go this route, lightly mist the area around the seed several times a day with 5-10 good squirts, attempting to only wet down as far as that seed. Continue this until the seedling hits the surface.

Keep using the spray bottle twice a day, now attempting to give enough water to soak in to roughly 3x the plant's height, and in a circle out to 3x the plant's diameter, by at least doubling the amount of squirts you gave to the seedling. Do not soak the entire container right away.... your new seedling cant handle that much water and if the seedling starts to wander or swim in the wet soil, you are giving too much.

Water like this, with these relatively small amounts a couple of times a day, always attempting to get a good part of that water out away from the trunk of the plant, by trying to make the outside edges of that circle 3x the diameter of the plant, the wettest places in the container.... you are attempting to entice the top roots to grow out in that direction.

After the plant has gotten a couple of leaves and gotten taller, it will no longer swim around in the soil if given a lot of water, and it is time to get a bit more aggressive than the spray bottle can do... it is time to move to the watering can and a couple of cups of water at first, slowly soaking the entire top surface of the container. We aren't trying to saturate the container yet, but we do want enough water to soak into the entire surface at least 3x the height of the plant, and we want some of that water to head straight down the middle, where the roots are trying to reach the bottom. This is when it is handy to have been an outside vegetable gardener, so that you know how to test the top of the soil to see if it is moist. When you can no longer feel moisture a day or two later, water like this again.

When the plant's 3x diameter reaches the outside edges of the container, water the entire container slowly, to saturation (runoff) for the first time. It will take a week or more for the plant to use all of that water on this first round, but you don't want the plant to sit idle all of that time either, or it will stagnate. It is time to change the watering pattern again.

Every 3 days or so do a partial watering of the top of the surface, again with only enough water to soak in to the first 3 or 4 inches of soil. Two specialized sets of roots are now forming, the top spreader roots designed to choke off other plants and quickly gather up rain, and the bottom tap and feeder roots. You are attempting to water only the top spreader roots, while the bottom tap/feeder roots continue to work on the water sitting in the bottom of the container for as long as it takes to clear that first full watering.

You may have to do this secondary top watering 2 or 3 times while you wait for the container to dry out all the way to the bottom. Force the plant to grow the necessary roots to do this job by being patient, and the plant will eventually use all of that water. Once the lift method, a dip stick or a moisture meter tells you that is is finally dry down to the last inch of container, it is time to water completely again and repeat the process, while every 3 days watering the top, until the bottom finally syncs up with the top.

Every time you go through one of these cycles, the roots will get stronger and the time between complete waterings will diminish. Eventually the top and the bottom will sync up and you will not have to do the secondary watering any more, you will just be watering the whole container every 3 days or so, as the wet/dry cycle stabilizes at around 3 days.

It is important to cycle the plant like this all through veg so as to force the plants to develop a solid root ball... the roots do not grow to fill that container unless you challenge them. Once you get into bloom, it is time to change your watering strategy.

From then on your goal is not building roots, it is time to really start using the roots that you have carefully built. Your goal at the end of stretch should be to start pumping as much water/nutes into the plant as it can take. I typically will force a plant that is perfectly happy with a 3 day wet/dry cycle into an every other day watering all during bloom... and with the roots you have forced the plant to grow in Veg, they will be able to take just about as much water as they did in 3 days, if you have done this correctly.

Good Luck and Good Grows!
Emilya

Is water.... Water? Eg from the tap or are you ph testing, distilling or collecting rain?

 

[Emilya Green]

Is water.... Water? Eg from the tap or are you ph testing, distilling or collecting rain?

Hi @GSCuz and welcome to the forum!
There is an adage out there that I have gone by for years... if your water is ok for you, your pets and your lawn, it is ok for your cannabis plants.

The only time we absolutely need to run clean, filtered water is when we are doing water based hydro type grows, simply so that we can see the difference between what we put in and what comes out at the bottom and so that we can accurately measure the EC or PPM of our nutrient fluids and be able to directly see how much nutrient is in there.

In soil we really don't care much about the added minerals and even chlorine that is in our tap water. Chlorine is put in our water supplies to kill microbes that might harm us, so if you are running an organic grow that relies on the microbes in the soil to feed the plants, chlorine can cause harm to your grow. In all other cases, the chlorine will not hurt a thing, and truth be told, our plants actually need a tiny bit of chlorine in their diet. In other words, if you are not running an organic grow, and are supplying nutrients out of a bottle or a bag, THERE IS NO NEED TO ELIMINATE CHLORINE.

PH is also greatly misunderstood. The ONLY reason we worry about pH is for our synthetic nutrients. If you are not running chelated (synthetic) nutrients, you have no need to measure or adjust your pH, again assuming of course that your water supply is ok for human or pet or lawn consumption. If you are running synthetic nutes, it is very important to adjust the pH to be at the low end of the pH soil range, immediately before applying it to the soil. The soil has buffers in it usually that will adjust the pH for you over time, slowly causing it to rise and drift across the entire suggested pH range in soil, of 6.2-6.8 pH. Again, if you are running artificial nutes that are designed to not interact while in the bottle or bag, there is a need to get those nutes into the proper pH range as they are applied to the soil, or they will be just as inert as they were in the bottle, and will be useless to the plants, at least until the soil buffers can force your fluids into range.

Then there are the special circumstances that create exceptions. Some soils are made with such strong buffers that they claim there is no need to pH adjust... but instead of waiting for the soil to adjust things over time, I always choose to pH adjust anyway, when it is needed. There are also nutrient systems out there that claim they don't need to be pH adjusted, but again, I choose not to use these 'automatic' and very expensive systems. I grow organically these days, so I have no need to worry about pH... all of my nutes are unchelated and have no need to be in a specific range. The method that I am using to grow organically, @GeoFlora Nutrients, not only supplies the nutrients needed at each 2 week application but it also brings in a fresh supply of active microbes with each feeding. This sets up the special situation where i don't even have to worry about the chlorine in my tap water... the microbes are coming in at such a high rate that the little bit of chlorine in my tap water, that doesn't kill me, my pets or my lawn, is also not killing enough of the microbes to stop the organic feeding cycle. So with this long answer, I am saying that I use plain tap water in my cannabis garden, with no filtering or adjusting of any kind... with one exception. I have a 2000L holding tank in the office area of my grow rooms that I fill up with a garden hose from my tap as needed. Just out of habit, I throw one vitamin C tablet all crushed up into that barrel before I fill it, to drop out any chlorine or chloramine that it might be able to neutralize. Other than that, I don't worry about my chlorine at all.

 

[GSCuz]

Hi @GSCuz and welcome to the forum!
There is an adage out there that I have gone by for years... if your water is ok for you, your pets and your lawn, it is ok for your cannabis plants.

The only time we absolutely need to run clean, filtered water is when we are doing water based hydro type grows, simply so that we can see the difference between what we put in and what comes out at the bottom and so that we can accurately measure the EC or PPM of our nutrient fluids and be able to directly see how much nutrient is in there.

In soil we really don't care much about the added minerals and even chlorine that is in our tap water. Chlorine is put in our water supplies to kill microbes that might harm us, so if you are running an organic grow that relies on the microbes in the soil to feed the plants, chlorine can cause harm to your grow. In all other cases, the chlorine will not hurt a thing, and truth be told, our plants actually need a tiny bit of chlorine in their diet. In other words, if you are not running an organic grow, and are supplying nutrients out of a bottle or a bag, THERE IS NO NEED TO ELIMINATE CHLORINE.

PH is also greatly misunderstood. The ONLY reason we worry about pH is for our synthetic nutrients. If you are not running chelated (synthetic) nutrients, you have no need to measure or adjust your pH, again assuming of course that your water supply is ok for human or pet or lawn consumption. If you are running synthetic nutes, it is very important to adjust the pH to be at the low end of the pH soil range, immediately before applying it to the soil. The soil has buffers in it usually that will adjust the pH for you over time, slowly causing it to rise and drift across the entire suggested pH range in soil, of 6.2-6.8 pH. Again, if you are running artificial nutes that are designed to not interact while in the bottle or bag, there is a need to get those nutes into the proper pH range as they are applied to the soil, or they will be just as inert as they were in the bottle, and will be useless to the plants, at least until the soil buffers can force your fluids into range.

Then there are the special circumstances that create exceptions. Some soils are made with such strong buffers that they claim there is no need to pH adjust... but instead of waiting for the soil to adjust things over time, I always choose to pH adjust anyway, when it is needed. There are also nutrient systems out there that claim they don't need to be pH adjusted, but again, I choose not to use these 'automatic' and very expensive systems. I grow organically these days, so I have no need to worry about pH... all of my nutes are unchelated and have no need to be in a specific range. The method that I am using to grow organically, @GeoFlora Nutrients, not only supplies the nutrients needed at each 2 week application but it also brings in a fresh supply of active microbes with each feeding. This sets up the special situation where i don't even have to worry about the chlorine in my tap water... the microbes are coming in at such a high rate that the little bit of chlorine in my tap water, that doesn't kill me, my pets or my lawn, is also not killing enough of the microbes to stop the organic feeding cycle. So with this long answer, I am saying that I use plain tap water in my cannabis garden, with no filtering or adjusting of any kind... with one exception. I have a 2000L holding tank in the office area of my grow rooms that I fill up with a garden hose from my tap as needed. Just out of habit, I throw one vitamin C tablet all crushed up into that barrel before I fill it, to drop out any chlorine or chloramine that it might be able to neutralize. Other than that, I don't worry about my chlorine at all.

Wow what an amazingly helpful reply, thank you!!!!

 

[EdguyPower]

Hi all. Im new to the forum
Not yet started my grow, but hopefully start it on friday 5th feb (with grow journal of course)
I came upon this thread just on time to save me from expansive mistakes. All thanks to Emilya

Question: how final container watering technique is different for autos if i will be using 5gal Airpots? Considering faster runoff and faster water evaporation.

Cheers from UK

 

[Emilya Green]

Hi all. Im new to the forum
Not yet started my grow, but hopefully start it on friday 5th feb (with grow journal of course)
I came upon this thread just on time to save me from expansive mistakes. All thanks to Emilya

Question: how final container watering technique is different for autos if i will be using 5gal Airpots? Considering faster runoff and faster water evaporation.

Cheers from UK

Hi Ed! I am very happy that I have been able to help you so early! You have asked a great question but there really is no difference in the method that I use, either for Autos or for any particular type of container. You are making some assumptions here that may not be valid.

I use fabric (smart pot) technology myself, and there is really no difference in my method if used in a solid or soft sided container. Airpots are simply a hybrid of these ideas and are not in themselves special in any way... and in fact are probably a little less efficient in what they do than a pure fabric container such as those provided by our sponsor @GeoFlora Nutrients with their very well made cloth containers, Geopots.

The assumption made that you get faster runoff in an airpot is simply not true. Water more slowly if you are getting fast runoff, before the soil has actually been fully saturated. The amount of time it takes to get to runoff is really up to the person applying the water. If I dumped water quickly on my containers I would get fast runoff too... but I wouldn't have saturated the soil. This is why I take an hour or so to water my plants, and then why I come back a half hour or hour later and water again... just to make sure I have loaded that soil with every bit of water it can hold and moved around any microsoil that I can manage to get moving.

Water evaporation being so much greater in an airpot is the other assumption you are making that is wrong. Do an experiment. Take an airpot full of soil, but no plant in it, and water it to the point of runoff. Let me know in about 3-5 weeks if that water has finally all evaporated out of there. Very very little water evaporates from our containers when compared to the amount of water that a healthy set of roots can drain. Using a particular container because of its evaporation rate, completely disregards the 10:1 rule that says that any effect that is at least 10x greater than any others (the water usage of the plant), makes any smaller effects (evaporation) negligible to the outcome. Airpots are used because of their ability to air prune the roots when they hit the sides, and cause as a result a much thicker rootball as the roots split off having hit the air being sucked in from the holes in the sides. The technology has very little to do with extra evaporation and more to do with air pruning the roots.

 

[EdguyPower]

Hi Ed! I am very happy that I have been able to help you so early! You have asked a great question but there really is no difference in the method that I use, either for Autos or for any particular type of container. You are making some assumptions here that may not be valid.

I use fabric (smart pot) technology myself, and there is really no difference in my method if used in a solid or soft sided container. Airpots are simply a hybrid of these ideas and are not in themselves special in any way... and in fact are probably a little less efficient in what they do than a pure fabric container such as those provided by our sponsor @GeoFlora Nutrients with their very well made cloth containers, Geopots.

The assumption made that you get faster runoff in an airpot is simply not true. Water more slowly if you are getting fast runoff, before the soil has actually been fully saturated. The amount of time it takes to get to runoff is really up to the person applying the water. If I dumped water quickly on my containers I would get fast runoff too... but I wouldn't have saturated the soil. This is why I take an hour or so to water my plants, and then why I come back a half hour or hour later and water again... just to make sure I have loaded that soil with every bit of water it can hold and moved around any microsoil that I can manage to get moving.

Water evaporation being so much greater in an airpot is the other assumption you are making that is wrong. Do an experiment. Take an airpot full of soil, but no plant in it, and water it to the point of runoff. Let me know in about 3-5 weeks if that water has finally all evaporated out of there. Very very little water evaporates from our containers when compared to the amount of water that a healthy set of roots can drain. Using a particular container because of its evaporation rate, completely disregards the 10:1 rule that says that any effect that is at least 10x greater than any others (the water usage of the plant), makes any smaller effects (evaporation) negligible to the outcome. Airpots are used because of their ability to air prune the roots when they hit the sides, and cause as a result a much thicker rootball as the roots split off having hit the air being sucked in from the holes in the sides. The technology has very little to do with extra evaporation and more to do with air pruning the roots

Hi Ed! I am very happy that I have been able to help you so early! You have asked a great question but there really is no difference in the method that I use, either for Autos or for any particular type of container. You are making some assumptions here that may not be valid.

I use fabric (smart pot) technology myself, and there is really no difference in my method if used in a solid or soft sided container. Airpots are simply a hybrid of these ideas and are not in themselves special in any way... and in fact are probably a little less efficient in what they do than a pure fabric container such as those provided by our sponsor @GeoFlora Nutrients with their very well made cloth containers, Geopots.

The assumption made that you get faster runoff in an airpot is simply not true. Water more slowly if you are getting fast runoff, before the soil has actually been fully saturated. The amount of time it takes to get to runoff is really up to the person applying the water. If I dumped water quickly on my containers I would get fast runoff too... but I wouldn't have saturated the soil. This is why I take an hour or so to water my plants, and then why I come back a half hour or hour later and water again... just to make sure I have loaded that soil with every bit of water it can hold and moved around any microsoil that I can manage to get moving.

Water evaporation being so much greater in an airpot is the other assumption you are making that is wrong. Do an experiment. Take an airpot full of soil, but no plant in it, and water it to the point of runoff. Let me know in about 3-5 weeks if that water has finally all evaporated out of there. Very very little water evaporates from our containers when compared to the amount of water that a healthy set of roots can drain. Using a particular container because of its evaporation rate, completely disregards the 10:1 rule that says that any effect that is at least 10x greater than any others (the water usage of the plant), makes any smaller effects (evaporation) negligible to the outcome. Airpots are used because of their ability to air prune the roots when they hit the sides, and cause as a result a much thicker rootball as the roots split off having hit the air being sucked in from the holes in the sides. The technology has very little to do with extra evaporation and more to do with air pruning the roots.

Thank you for the quick reply. By the look of the airpots i thought a lot of holes will make water escape faster - well, it doesn't :0 really interesting
Of course i will see it by myself as you said

For now im continuing on reading and bookmarking forums.

Thank you once again and See you around

 

[GSCuz]

In the beginning, you may even want to start your seed directly in the final container, simply by putting it one inch deep, pointy end down. It is surprising to some how often this works, even though mother nature does it all the time. If you go this route, lightly mist the area around the seed several times a day with 5-10 good squirts, attempting to only wet down as far as that seed. Continue this until the seedling hits the surface.

Keep using the spray bottle twice a day, now attempting to give enough water to soak in to roughly 3x the plant's height, and in a circle out to 3x the plant's diameter, by at least doubling the amount of squirts you gave to the seedling. Do not soak the entire container right away.... your new seedling cant handle that much water and if the seedling starts to wander or swim in the wet soil, you are giving too much.

Water like this, with these relatively small amounts a couple of times a day, always attempting to get a good part of that water out away from the trunk of the plant, by trying to make the outside edges of that circle 3x the diameter of the plant, the wettest places in the container.... you are attempting to entice the top roots to grow out in that direction.

After the plant has gotten a couple of leaves and gotten taller, it will no longer swim around in the soil if given a lot of water, and it is time to get a bit more aggressive than the spray bottle can do... it is time to move to the watering can and a couple of cups of water at first, slowly soaking the entire top surface of the container. We aren't trying to saturate the container yet, but we do want enough water to soak into the entire surface at least 3x the height of the plant, and we want some of that water to head straight down the middle, where the roots are trying to reach the bottom. This is when it is handy to have been an outside vegetable gardener, so that you know how to test the top of the soil to see if it is moist. When you can no longer feel moisture a day or two later, water like this again.

When the plant's 3x diameter reaches the outside edges of the container, water the entire container slowly, to saturation (runoff) for the first time. It will take a week or more for the plant to use all of that water on this first round, but you don't want the plant to sit idle all of that time either, or it will stagnate. It is time to change the watering pattern again.

Every 3 days or so do a partial watering of the top of the surface, again with only enough water to soak in to the first 3 or 4 inches of soil. Two specialized sets of roots are now forming, the top spreader roots designed to choke off other plants and quickly gather up rain, and the bottom tap and feeder roots. You are attempting to water only the top spreader roots, while the bottom tap/feeder roots continue to work on the water sitting in the bottom of the container for as long as it takes to clear that first full watering.

You may have to do this secondary top watering 2 or 3 times while you wait for the container to dry out all the way to the bottom. Force the plant to grow the necessary roots to do this job by being patient, and the plant will eventually use all of that water. Once the lift method, a dip stick or a moisture meter tells you that is is finally dry down to the last inch of container, it is time to water completely again and repeat the process, while every 3 days watering the top, until the bottom finally syncs up with the top.

Every time you go through one of these cycles, the roots will get stronger and the time between complete waterings will diminish. Eventually the top and the bottom will sync up and you will not have to do the secondary watering any more, you will just be watering the whole container every 3 days or so, as the wet/dry cycle stabilizes at around 3 days.

It is important to cycle the plant like this all through veg so as to force the plants to develop a solid root ball... the roots do not grow to fill that container unless you challenge them. Once you get into bloom, it is time to change your watering strategy.

From then on your goal is not building roots, it is time to really start using the roots that you have carefully built. Your goal at the end of stretch should be to start pumping as much water/nutes into the plant as it can take. I typically will force a plant that is perfectly happy with a 3 day wet/dry cycle into an every other day watering all during bloom... and with the roots you have forced the plant to grow in Veg, they will be able to take just about as much water as they did in 3 days, if you have done this correctly.

Good Luck and Good Grows!
Emilya

Hi Emilya..
Could you let me know, in the above guide.. 'where' is the plant in this germination stage?

Eg.. full darkness or under a dim light or under full LED etc..

Could you provide any info on the light/temp needed as the babies pop?

Thank you so much!!

 

[EdguyPower]

Yes, if you are lucky enough to be able to store and use your rainwater, by all means take advantage of it. My new house has a cistern that is fed by the guttering... I will have a good supply of fresh clean rain water for all of my grows, inside and out.

Hi. Im able to collect and store my rain water BUT the roof is covered in moss and other growth. Rain gutters around the roof are filled with leaves, small plats and moss. Im able to collect the water from the guttering at the bottom as well as collect water by putting containers in my back garden under the open sky. Here comes 2 questions:
Which water to collect and do i need to adjust the Ph?

Help is very much appreciated