Watering: After lights on or before lights out

My water that I use for both watering and nutes is room temperature and starting next week will be bubbled with an air stone

Just putting this out there, but Ive heard that bubbling water with an airstone, does not add O2 to the water itself. The reason it works for DWC bitches is because it just breaks the water, which sends bubbles to roots for o2 from the air, and not the actual water, if that makes sense. Water does hold o2, but the concept of water/o2 and air o2 is mislearned. Also, colder water holds more O2, where as warming water loses O2 just sitting there. So, its best to keep your water cold, and water at 65Df

GrowMau5, NV and Crazy Dago had a roundtable on this subject.

You can however add o2 to the water via electrolysis
 
Hello fellow growers!
I must be one of the newest members here (joined a couple weeks ago)

(A belated) hello, and welcome to 420Magazine.

QUESTION IS when do you prefer to water your ladies? Shortly after you wake them up or right before bedtime as a snack?

In absolute terms, I don't really think it makes a difference. In regards to soil / soiless plants, I water when I notice that the plant needs to be watered (in other words, when I lift a pot and observe that it is light enough to mean a lack of water, when I look at the plant and see it drooping, et cetera).

However... If you foliar feed - or happen to be a bit sloppy, I suppose, and splash onto your plant's leaves - then I would not do this after lights-out, because I am paranoid about mold, rot, and suchlike and, therefore, wouldn't want to get into the habit. I would also not do so after the lights have been on for a while, because things tend to be warmer then. In such circumstances, I would probably water shortly before lights-on (or immediately following same), and make sure that I had strong airflow blowing on/across the plant(s) - because water droplets make reasonably good lenses, so to speak.

But mostly I water a plant when I notice that it can benefit from it. Again, that is with plants grown in soil / soiless medium. If growing a plant in a big DWC (deep water culture) reservoir, I generally start out by topping off (or replacing, if warranted) the nutrient solution after I see that it has gone down by three or four inches. But late in flower... I've been late for work in the past because I looked in at the girls and saw they were almost out of water, dumped seven (or even more, sometimes 13, depending on how much space the roots left in the plants' reservoirs) into each reservoir - and then came home from work to hear all the various aeration devices... rattling, due to lack of water that would otherwise have muted the noise. But like I stated, this was late in flower, with big plants, sometimes occupying eight or so square feet each. And I often had temperatures that most folks would shake their heads at, so provided LOTS of airflow, both to aid the plants in self-cooling by transpiration and to try to keep the relative humidity down enough that the walls weren't dripping, lol.

BtW, transpiration is a very useful thing for a plant (even though it can lead to mold/rot issues, if there is not sufficient airflow or if you've got really dense buds). And plants can - and will, if needed - transpire quite a lot of water. An acre of corn can transpire 3,000 to 4,000 gallons of water in a day, and a large oak tree can easily transpire 40,000 gallons per year.
 
I have cameras in my tent and I’ve noticed that my plants grow more at night then during the day. Makes me want to water right before lights out, but I don’t have a lot of time so I actually water at totally random times.

How very interesting! I have never even thought to track that. Are they actually growing, or just stretching? By that, I mean... Are they increasing in mass(?), or might this just be a light-seeking response that causes them to stretch, vertically, without actually adding anything (other than height, obviously)?

Just putting this out there, but Ive heard that bubbling water with an airstone, does not add O2 to the water itself. The reason it works for DWC bitches is because it just breaks the water, which sends bubbles to roots for o2 from the air, and not the actual water, if that makes sense.

It has always been my understanding that the actual aeration occurs at the surface. That it is not the bubbles, themselves, but instead it is them "breaking" at the water:air interface. I do not have access to a dissolved oxygen meter since my buddy decided to tell his boss exactly what he thought of him and ended up getting fired from the wastewater treatment plant. But when I did, I found that lots of smaller bubbles seemed to increase the DO level of the nutrient solution more than a less amount of larger bubbles (when the actual amount of air being pumped through the solution was comparable). I might be misremembering that, but I seem to be pretty sure (lol).

BtW, I spent a lot of time at that wastewater plant, mostly in their lab. Those HUGE open in-ground tanks of nastiness seemed to almost instantly grow a literal foot of foam when my buddy would crank the wheels that turned the aerators on. This was a supersaturated situation, so to speak, where there was far more DO present than would normally be (in a static amount of liquid). There were different sorts of "bugs" (lol - but some of those critters were large enough to see with the naked eye) in use at different points in the overall process. IIRC, some were anerobic and others were aerobic. They were definitely aerating the solution toward a purpose.

I just remembered... My buddy used to collect things that made it to the... err... solids (hydraulic press of epic proportions) room. Some of the things that ended up in there... BtW, ladies, please stop flushing your "sanitary" products (no, he didn't collect those - mostly silver coins and assorted jewelery). And to all the smokers in the audience, those cigarette butts are still recognizable as such, too - so it probably wouldn't hurt to use an ashtray next time :rolleyes: .

You can however add o2 to the water via electrolysis

And hydrogen ;) (H₂).

I haven't done that since chemistry class, decades ago. But I seem to remember lots of bubbles. And <SCRATCHES HEAD> I think there was something about sticking a glowing splinter of wood into each test tube to see which one caused it to glow brighter and which caused it to burst back into flame. But I was high so much back then that the first time I came to school without being high... I ended up getting accused of being on drugs. So, again, my memory might be somewhat faulty.

Err... Anyway, wouldn't at least the majority of gas produced by electrolysis still form bubbles and, therefore, end up giving the same result as other forms of aeration? I'm not stating that I have absolutely no doubt that this is the case (although I do think it to be likely) - I am genuinely curious.
 
If your in coco i tend to give half of 1/3rd of my daily amount a morning, 1/3rd mid day and 1/3rd an hour before lights out, i was told to do this by a great coco grower for max growth and yield, for me iv noticed a huge difference.
 
I'm in ProMix so I water ever couple days. I do not have a set schedule, really when I think the pot is light enough I should water. I know when you are watering traditional gardens outside with a hose it's recommended not to water during the hottest part of the day for risk of getting water on the leafs. Droplets combined with bright sunlight cause a prism effect and can burn spots on your leafs. I think most of us indoors are very careful when watering and don't slop water around on the plant like that. I don't folar feed but if I did I would do it at lights out to minimize the risk of burning foliage.
 
Droplets combined with bright sunlight cause a prism effect and can burn spots on your leafs. I think most of us indoors are very careful when watering and don't slop water around on the plant like that. I don't folar feed but if I did I would do it at lights out to minimize the risk of burning foliage.

This is a myth.

You can mist your plants at any time, without anything other than perky plants happening.

In veg and early flower I mist the plants 4-5 times a day or more if it's a day off, no light burn.

I've kept a plant perpetually dripping wet for days with a humidifier, no light burn.


:passitleft:
 
I have cameras in my tent and I’ve noticed that my plants grow more at night then during the day. Makes me want to water right before lights out, but I don’t have a lot of time so I actually water at totally random times.
A camera..... damn I have officially heard it all!! A camera?? Lol
 
Ibhad the same question but I've notived if I feed my girls at night (few hours before lights out) they go really limp and willty when the lights go out but by morning when i get up and check on them they are big and bushy. I had taken pictures of before, drooping during lights off and after lights on and ive noticed a fair difference. Ill try find them and put them up
 
Hello fellow growers!
I must be one of the newest members here (joined a couple weeks ago) and have quietly been sitting reading and absorbing all this knowledge your writing in your journals.
QUESTION IS when do you prefer to water your ladies? Shortly after you wake them up or right before bedtime as a snack? Why do you prefer which?
Thank you all, starting to interact here more now.
In a.m. before lights out
 
A.m. before lights out..I read today reduces chances of bug issues mildew etc. Also let them.dry some before watering...and water in like stages lol at a time..around the edge then the middle etc. Worked for me lol but I only had one lucky grow. And got mites..inspect your plants periodically..w your loupe
 
The correct answer is that the best time to water is at lights on, in their virtual morning. After the rest period where the plants intentionally droop their leaves to deal with things internal and under the soil and without the tremendous amounts of water pressure in the xylem necessary to hold the leaves up to the light, the plants flip a switch when light is coming on. Shortly before dawn the plants anticipate the upcoming light, and they rise up, dramatically increasing the amount of water uptake and the pressure in the trunk of the plant.
With their systems adapted to gather up the morning dew, these weeds are at their peak efficiency at this time of the morning, and this is the perfect time to water. Measurements have shown me that watering at this peak time of day during the period of maximum water uptake allows the container to take up to 10% more water than it would be able to take at any other time of the day, because that is how much water actually physically moves up into the plant WHILE YOU ARE WATERING!
 
Cool Emilya! I'm sure listening..I harvested today..I had mites but not bad..so I let them.go a couple days and screwed and put them to dark for 36. Today I harvested ..bud washed hung to dry in tent ...at 71 right now and RH 60...but just washed today..good airflow..also I put sticky tape on strings..if any lived..they crawl.up..dumped my clones..after jarring I'll bomb. I harvested about day 72..indica hybrid ..double tap... my first grow..p.s. thanks for the science..makes it easier to get the whole picture!
 

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Hello fellow growers!
I must be one of the newest members here (joined a couple weeks ago) and have quietly been sitting reading and absorbing all this knowledge your writing in your journals.
QUESTION IS when do you prefer to water your ladies? Shortly after you wake them up or right before bedtime as a snack? Why do you prefer which?
Thank you all, starting to interact here more now.
When I watered mine right before lights out one died sadly it was about 7 weeks old may be I used too much I'm new too so yeah that's was experience when I did it the other three made it
 
I think.little water little container at first so easy to overwater..transplant when necessary..fabric pots...I'm new too..only one grow butt like you reading..learning trying
 
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