After transplant : old soil too wet, new soil too dry

The_Cat

The_Cat

Member
I transplanted 2 days ago because my old soil was shitty damp potting mix. My new soil mix is perfect, except it's already really dry. I don't really wanna water because my old soil is still one big ball of mud with algae growing in the middle. Should I try to break the old soil and free the roots or will it loosen on its own? Should I water now or let the old soil dry first (it could take a while)? My RH is between 30 and 45 and I'm in veg.
 
The_Cat

The_Cat

Member
What I want to know is if my old damp compact soil will loosen up into the new one. And I also worry about my new soil being way too dry. I will put the air RH back up to 50-60% after I sort my soil problem.
 
nakedgardner

nakedgardner

Active Member
I guess if you're that worried either wait it out for sign of wilting or water it some more and make sure all of the soil is wet then wait a while so that it is near bone dry from top to bottom and continue with your regular schedule.
 
Nullis

Nullis

Moderator
Lol... this is kind of silly.
The reason it is so important to your plants is because it will affect the rate at which they transpire. During transpiration plants release water vapor into the air, it functions along the same lines as osmosis – that the water levels inside and outside the plant will try to level out to equilibrium. This means that if you have a low humidity, your plants will rapidly transpire as water is drawn out into the air, reducing the amount of water within the plant and potentially having detrimental effects when water levels reach to low. If humidity is high then plants will transpire at a much slower rate and have a lesser potential for loss.
Click to expand...
It sounds like whoever wrote this had only a half-assed understanding of plant physiology, to me, anyways.
They totally don't understand water potential gradients or how water actually moves through plants (osmosis!). Water levels never "reach to low" because water is constantly being drawn up from the roots... that is a primary reason why they are there. Of course, if there is no water in soil, or the solute concentration within the soil is too high (too much salinity versus within the plant) there would be a problem, but otherwise no.

An RH between 30-45% is just fine in veg. Cannabis grows in temperate and arid regions. Arid means dry.
 
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nakedgardner

nakedgardner

Active Member
You know I always wondered this?!!! How does cannabis survive in arid environments like in a desert and shit... As long as the roots have water, they'll just drink more often I assume.
 
Dr. Who

Dr. Who

Well-Known Member
Try watering at the edge of the pot. The roots will grow out in search of the water and build faster then watering around the base of the plant stem.
Go ahead and water it that way now, your plant will be fine!
If you wait until the plant actually droops. You will most likely find that the soil will act more like a "brick" and not "take" the water so well. You will then have to put it in a deeper catch tray and water into that with a good flow through, leaving the pot in the tray to "uptake" some of the flow through to get the "brick" fully wet again.....say a 5 minute sit in the catch tray....

Some say to let them dry out to droop......NOT the best idea. Even if the soil feels a LITTLE damp. Watering will not actually "hurt" the plant......Watering it every day, massive amounts and letting it sit in water will.

I like to stick my finger in the soil to my first knuckle.....feel wet? = don't water yet. Feel dry? = water it.
After doing it this way for years......I can tell simply by putting my hand on the soil surface and decide to or not from that.

I also water a metered amount every day. The amount is dependent on the needs of the plant in relation to where it is in its growth. Pot size is another factor. This is something that you can learn over time.
In 3 gallon pots it goes something like this.
Veg. 300ml to start and going up to as much as 1000ml. 750ml is normal at the flip.
Flowering can start as low as 500ml and ends at 1000ml. Sometimes the plant wants more and that's the trick you learn over time.

This above is for plants that finish about 5" tall and have been topped to 4 mains.....

Good Luck
 
Nullis

Nullis

Moderator
nakedgardner said:
You know I always wondered this?!!! How does cannabis survive in arid environments like in a desert and shit... As long as the roots have water, they'll just drink more often I assume.
Click to expand...
A plant will regulate it's water intake and transpiration. They open and close the pores (stomata) on their epidermas, which are particularly on the leaves, e.g. if it gets really hot they will close up. The plant wont loose as much water to evaporation, but it also wont be photosynthesizing.

As for the compact soil, depends on the size of the container. If possible I'd have tried to remove as much of the crappy mix as possible. If the plant wasn't too big you could soak the rootball in water and gently wash the crap soil away. Then transplant to the better mix. If you are going up considerably in container size, the roots should grow into the better mix anyways (I'd have pre-moistened it).
 
vostok

vostok

Well-Known Member
Been Here done that...! and it really pissed me off, carefully remove the plants, gently wash the roots in air temp water, remove the shit first soil and replant your babe in the new soil, water well, allow to recover in a dim light or overnight, ready to go in the morning
 
Nullis

Nullis

Moderator
If you're going the rinse-off route; a couple things would help reduce the shock. Mainly, liquid kelp (seaweed) like Maxicrop, Bio-Weed or Bio-Root, Liquid Karma or similar root stimulator. Apply a powdered mycorrhizal inoculant to the roots if you can.
 
The_Cat

The_Cat

Member
Thanks for the advices... So I did what vostok said and it was SCARY. Half the root-ball is gone so they must be freaking out. There is still some shitty soil left but much less. I backed off the light. I wish I had some root growth liquid now... I'm trowing out that bag of shitty muddy soil now. They should call it Pure Mud, not potting mix.
 
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