How often do you water

[Majacers]

Im about to begin my second grow, so im green but i have been reading abit so to get a better outcome this time around and in the book it says only to water once a fortnight and 50% nutrients.

I had been watering more than that before, so have i been doing it wrong?

What watering gives you the best outcome

[Ford Fairlane]

It depends. Size of plants, Indoor or outdoor. In pots or in the ground. weather conditions. There are many variables. I feed much more often than that and use an ec meter to determine how much nutrient solution to use.

[itchybromusic]

i reckon your asking the most important question of them all 

when & how much to water a plant , there is no one answer 

 

As ford said it's one big constant variable , plant size , in or outdoor , pot or ground , medium type , mulch or no mulch 

 

because of all of this you need to come up with some markers or check points , the main one imo is weight , when you put a

plant into a pot of fresh soil , b4 watering it in lift the pot , that weight you feel is a dry pot , once you've watered in your

plant & all draining is done , pick up & feel the weight again , the weight you feel is a full pot , so when your standing 

there looking at your plant thinking should i water it try picking the pot up & feel the weight , if it's lite , it needs water 

heavy = no water , your looking for about halfway between those 2 points of dry weight & wet weight to begin watering

 

ok you check & you think it's about half way , well now you need another maker point , ya finger , push it into the soil 

about halfway between the plant stem & pot edge if soil feels wet = wait , if it feels dry = water , that would give you 2 markers

 

the last marker point , leaves , are a little tricky , generally a well watered plants leaves are pointing upwards to a more or less

degree following the sun as it moves across the sky , when a plant starts to need water it's leaves will start to droop & point 

to the ground not the sky , this is the tricky bit , if you over water a plant the leaves will droop & point to the ground , meaning 

under watering looks almost the same as over watering plants 

 

add to that plants leaves at sun up should be pointing upwards & by sundown pointing down , of cause if you see that & think

water you should then apply the first 2 markers to confirm , also if you water in the morning the leaves should be pointing up 

& if 30/60 minutes after you watered your plants leaves start drooping , that's a sign of over water 

 

those 3 things should look after you reasonably well , i'd add , water slowly don't just dump a bucket of water on your pot , you want 

the water to travel slowly through letting the contents of the pot rehydrate & the water not to just flush out the bottom taking a bunch

of stuff with it you'd rather stayed in the pot , if your in bagged soil they'll have nutrients in it so maybe you don't need liquid nutrients

to begin with , when you do start bottle feeding go with 1/4 strength & slowly work your way up

 

hope that is of some help

good luck

 

Ps there are systems that take the watering out of your hands like Sip's Sub Irrigated Planter or Blumat watering systems 

but not such a bad idea to get a feel for hand watering b4 moving on to other systems   

Edited December 30, 2020 by itchybromusic

[Majacers]

i reckon your asking the most important question of them all 

when & how much to water a plant , there is no one answer 

 

As ford said it's one big constant variable , plant size , in or outdoor , pot or ground , medium type , mulch or no mulch 

 

because of all of this you need to come up with some markers or check points , the main one imo is weight , when you put a

plant into a pot of fresh soil , b4 watering it in lift the pot , that weight you feel is a dry pot , once you've watered in your

plant & all draining is done , pick up & feel the weight again , the weight you feel is a full pot , so when your standing 

there looking at your plant thinking should i water it try picking the pot up & feel the weight , if it's lite , it needs water 

heavy = no water , your looking for about halfway between those 2 points of dry weight & wet weight to begin watering

 

ok you check & you think it's about half way , well now you need another maker point , ya finger , push it into the soil 

about halfway between the plant stem & pot edge if soil feels wet = wait , if it feels dry = water , that would give you 2 markers

 

the last marker point , leaves , are a little tricky , generally a well watered plants leaves are pointing upwards to a more or less

degree following the sun as it moves across the sky , when a plant starts to need water it's leaves will start to droop & point 

to the ground not the sky , this is the tricky bit , if you over water a plant the leaves will droop & point to the ground , meaning 

under watering looks almost the same as over watering plants 

 

add to that plants leaves at sun up should be pointing upwards & by sundown pointing down , of cause if you see that & think

water you should then apply the first 2 markers to confirm , also if you water in the morning the leaves should be pointing up 

& if 30/60 minutes after you watered your plants leaves start drooping , that's a sign of over water 

 

those 3 things should look after you reasonably well , i'd add , water slowly don't just dump a bucket of water on your pot , you want 

the water to travel slowly through letting the contents of the pot rehydrate & the water not to just flush out the bottom taking a bunch

of stuff with it you'd rather stayed in the pot , if your in bagged soil they'll have nutrients in it so maybe you don't need liquid nutrients

to begin with , when you do start bottle feeding go with 1/4 strength & slowly work your way up

 

hope that is of some help

good luck

 

Ps there are systems that take the watering out of your hands like Sip's Sub Irrigated Planter or Blumat watering systems 

but not such a bad idea to get a feel for hand watering b4 moving on to other systems

 

Thanks alot, great tips