Watering!

[LOTUS1]

I have been looking around the boards for some sort of guide to how much water to give to plants, all this 1ml per 2 litre lark dose not tell me how much water needs to be added to each plant! each time? Could anyone break this down for me a little simpler.

My plants have only just shot through the soil so i im just keeping them moist with plain water for the moment, trying to follow serpents guide but to be honest im straying away because im new to this and need abit more detail.

[Jaqen H'gar]

You should feed them till some water runs off mate, i.e. pour the water in slowly until some comes out of the bottom of the pots.

They will need different amounts at different times as they grow so its not really possible to say feed X amount of water.

Edited February 1, 2016 by Jaqen H'gar

[wotnwhy]

I bottom feed, and go for roughly a 3rd of the pots capacity. So a 6 litre pot, I'd give 2 litres of water to. 12 litre pot would get 4 litres etc.

Edited February 1, 2016 by wotnwhy

[LOTUS1]

That much! even while they are so young? Ok thanks guys, a little more food for thought.

[blackpoolbouncer]

@@LOTUS1 good compost should hold at least 1/3rd of its volume in water.

Always water very slowly from the top, trying not to disturb the soil( a fine rose head is good for this on a watering can)

Dont water again till the pot feels light

[botanics]

@@LOTUS1

Like bouncer said, feel the weight bud, if light then water to run off, then feel the weight, don't water again until light once more

[LOTUS1]

@@blackpoolbouncer @@botanics You two are fucking legends, you always give advice that i can understand and get on board with...

[Greenfinger53]

If the seeds have just broken through the soil then don't go mad with watering, especially if they are in large pots.

I found getting to grips with the wet / dry cycle pretty difficult at first and killed a load of young plants over watering and worrying about always keeping the soil damp.

[Indicaderek]

I go for little and often for seedlings as they drink so little, early on I find this better as pots can stay water logged for a few says with potential for stagnation if they aren't drinking much, if you are watering to run off and doing so every day is likely time to check the roots and consider a larger pot, as said get a feel for the weight of a full pot, 1 litre of water is 1kg so you will notice the difference even with a half litre pot.

[LOTUS1]

@@Greenfinger53 Mate thats exactly me right now, i have planted 4, 1 of which i think cooked but the others seem ok for now, the pots are little weighty so im going to leave them untill they feel light again... also i still have cling film on them but im worried that its keeping to much moisture in the pots?

[LOTUS1]

Thank @@Indicaderek, i havent watered them to run off yet but they do feel a little weighty at the moment

[OddNut]

Ditch the cling film pal, no need for it

[LOTUS1]

@@OddNut thanks mate, i was wondering about that!

[botanics]

@@Greenfinger53 Mate thats exactly me right now, i have planted 4, 1 of which i think cooked but the others seem ok for now, the pots are little weighty so im going to leave them untill they feel light again... also i still have cling film on them but im worried that its keeping to much moisture in the pots?

Yeah if they are only just popping above the ground mate then be careful here with the watering, it can be a bugger in small pots until they establish a tidy root system but if the top dries out a bit because of the lights mate, (but the bottom remains saturated) then what I do here is to spray the top with a mister to keep it damp as you don't want roots just in the bottom half of the pot, you wan't them to establish the pot fully (roots won't develop in pockets of dry soil and stick to the damps stuff see)

e2a

Bin the cling film or you'll get damping off which is a stem rot encouraged by too much moisture and they'll keel over

Edited February 1, 2016 by botanics

[LOTUS1]

@@botanics all taken on board mate, i have ditched the cling film! i have them in 8" pots so i think there about 7.5ltraccording to some conversions i have looked at.