Watering guidance

[Closet Urban Grower]

Hey there. I've grown seed to harvest only once before so am still getting the hang of things. I have read about the various ways to judge water cycles from online and of course Emilya's blogs and from learned experience. That said, I am still having trouble reading the signs so to speak and wanted to have some third party input. Take for example, my plants below (mainly the healthier one on the right) that were just transplanted into this 3x3 bed. Organic, feed the soil-type grow. I watered just a couple cupfuls to hold them over in 7 gal pots the day prior after they had been let to dry out pretty well. They had just traveled and were transplanted and look a little down, but they looked thirsty to me.

I watered them down a little in the new bed just after transplant (I didn't completely drench it). Now, two days later, it looks like this (below). I can't seem to get it straight. If you saw the picture above, wouldn't you think to water it too?

 

[PK]

right but, how offten did you water it? did you give it a 30min to an hour break beween watering.
Also, you've got two plants in one planter box. This is a no no on so many levels.

Never have two plants in one pot, because one is not going to get all the benefits.
also, what is your soil consist off?

 

[Nunyabiz]

In a 3x3 Living Organic Soil bed what you need is concentrate on your soil tilth.
It helps to have a small amount of cover crop and at least 30% aeration like pumice, rice hills and biochar.
Toss in a few worms.
Once you get your tilth right and roots from cover crop, worms a working all over and use Yucca extract everytime you water then you basically won't be able to over water.
LOS should remain moist at all times, don't let it dry out, best to water small amounts daily instead of flooding it once every 3 days.
Just work on feeding the soil and keeping it at optimum moisture levels at all times.

I probably would have separated those two plants a little further apart.

 

[Closet Urban Grower]

right but, how offten did you water it? did you give it a 30min to an hour break beween watering.
Also, you've got two plants in one planter box. This is a no no on so many levels.

Never have two plants in one pot, because one is not going to get all the benefits.
also, what is your soil consist off?

Appreciate the words. It's in peatmoss/compost/rice hulls/pumice with added minerals, various "meals" like alfalfa. I have not been watering much out of fear of overdoing it and have been sticking to signs rather than schedule. The rule of thumb I have seen is watering in gallons 20% the container volume but have been watering less than that per session. Also, in an 85 gal bed, I definitely thought it could support two plants from what I have read elsewhere but it's all a learning process.

 

[Emilya Green]

Weeds are the predators of the plant world. Our weeds are very aggressive and you can see that in your planter boxes where one plant has become dominant over the other one, in every case. There is no saving the plant under attack other than trying to extract it from its current situation, but it will be tangled and choked by the dominant plant and almost impossible to get out of there. Everyone would be happier if you simply culled the second plant from each container.

Second, it is very hard in a flat large container like that to wait till the bottom of the container is dry before watering again and in these wide and shallow containers, the lower roots are always going to be underwater if you water regularly. The planter boxes appear to be the biggest problem here... they just aren't the best container to grow a weed in... a shallow rooting vegetable maybe, not not cannabis.

 

[PK]

@Emilya cutting the soil in half and transplanting would damage some roots, but i am thinking since the soil is getting cut in half less roots will be disturbed.

the only con i see on doing this is that both plants will get stressed VS if you eleminate the less healthy plant you would save the other one for sure. However, now you got one plant.

 

[Closet Urban Grower]

In a 3x3 Living Organic Soil bed what you need is concentrate on your soil tilth.
It helps to have a small amount of cover crop and at least 30% aeration like pumice, rice hills and biochar.
Toss in a few worms.
Once you get your tilth right and roots from cover crop, worms a working all over and use Yucca extract everytime you water then you basically won't be able to over water.
LOS should remain moist at all times, don't let it dry out, best to water small amounts daily instead of flooding it once every 3 days.
Just work on feeding the soil and keeping it at optimum moisture levels at all times.

I probably would have separated those two plants a little further apart.

Jumping to conclusions but it sounds like you're a buildasoil fan as well. I have been using yucca

Weeds are the predators of the plant world. Our weeds are very aggressive and you can see that in your planter boxes where one plant has become dominant over the other one, in every case. There is no saving the plant under attack other than trying to extract it from its current situation, but it will be tangled and choked by the dominant plant and almost impossible to get out of there. Everyone would be happier if you simply culled the second plant from each container.

Second, it is very hard in a flat large container like that to wait till the bottom of the container is dry before watering again and in these wide and shallow containers, the lower roots are always going to be underwater if you water regularly. The planter boxes appear to be the biggest problem here... they just aren't the best container to grow a weed in... a shallow rooting vegetable maybe, not not cannabis.

Thanks a lot for your time and advice! You are making good points, though I want to make sure we're on the same page. Up until 2 days ago, these plants were in separate 7 gallon pots and were only just transplanted together in 85 gallons. What appears as dominance is, I believe, the pitfall of having a friend water while I was away the last two weeks. What I am trying to achieve in the larger pot is a diverse, hearty, LOS that could support a no-till style garden in the long run. You explain a little bit, but I'm really surprised to hear someone say the larger boxes aren't optimal (mother nature and the ground offers limitless space). Do you mind elaborating on that? Smaller (5-7 gallon pots can't support a large plant through flower without supplemental nutrients if I understand any of this right)

 

[Nunyabiz]

Jumping to conclusions but it sounds like you're a buildasoil fan as well. I have been using yucca

Thanks a lot for your time and advice! You are making good points, though I want to make sure we're on the same page. Up until 2 days ago, these plants were in separate 7 gallon pots and were only just transplanted together in 85 gallons. What appears as dominance is, I believe, the pitfall of having a friend water while I was away the last two weeks. What I am trying to achieve in the larger pot is a diverse, hearty, LOS that could support a no-till style garden in the long run. You explain a little bit, but I'm really surprised to hear someone say the larger boxes aren't optimal (mother nature and the ground offers limitless space). Do you mind elaborating on that? Smaller (5-7 gallon pots can't support a large plant through flower without supplemental nutrients if I understand any of this right)

Umm I am not saying the larger pot isn't optimal not sure where you got that idea.
I am all for the largest pot possible always.
My only small critique was when you transplanted into the 3x3 I would have just seperated them a bit further is all.
You need about 2 feet of space between plants.

Yes LOS needs to be in at least 15 gallon fabric pots.

I use two 25 gallon fabric pots and if I had the space I would opt for 2 , 4x8 beds .
Yes I am a total Buildasoil advocate.

Looks to me your problem is just transplant shock.

 

[Emilya Green]

Nun hit on it... im thinking also transplant shock and for that matter and since they were started separately the roots are not going to be able to fight a whole lot. The friend theory also seems to have a lot of merit... friends do that... and I have seen it many times with relatives. Let's see if they settle in without too much additional complaint.