Am I watering enough?

Caloran

Active Member
Im growing 7 plants outdoors in 5 gal pots. Three of them are roughly 4 feet tall, not overly bushy but lots of bud sites and look nice and healhty. The other four of them I LST'd and they are roughly 2-3feet but extremely bushy with 10+ top buds each and again appear very healthy and happy with the exception of a few leaves I have found yellowing off at the base of the plant.

Two weeks ago I began force flowering them. They are now flowering nicely with nice popcorn popping up everywhere. After having a talk with a buddy at work im starting to wonder if im watering them enough and by that I meen quantity not frequency.

He tells me when he waters he makes sure he waters them enough that water is dripping out the bottom of the pots and that he typically has to leave his pots on a plate and then come clean up the rest of the water (hes indoor).

I have yet to see any water come out the drain holes in my pots.

Wondering if anyone has any advice on the issue, the seem happy and healthy but Im no expert ... clearly.
 

Luger187

Well-Known Member
every time you water, you want the entire medium to be wet. unless its a big pot with a new seedling/clone.
think about it this way: why would the roots want to grow down to the bottom of the pot if theres never water down there? if you only water the top few inches, theyre comfy where they are.
like your friend said, make sure its coming out the bottom of the pot. then let it dry out a bit, then water again. if u water when its still wet, it causes problems
 

Hoenhiem

Active Member
you have 7 plants from 2 to 4 feet tall. you have managed this far without watering probs so dont overthink this. yes you want to wet the entire medium. but yes roots will also venture where the soil is dry. you may have inadvertently done a good thing. when a medium dries out the roots stretch looking for water. this is why its always better to underwater. it creates a healthy and abundant root mass. for advice i wouldnt change much since it seems your doing well for this long. but i would water more as to make sure the entire medium is wet. goodluck
 

Caloran

Active Member
Cool thanks for the quick advice. Going to try to make sure I give them more for sure.

As a rough estimate, how much water is typical for a plant that size per watering?
 

Carne Seca

Well-Known Member
You also need to get to know your plants. They will tell you when they're underwatered. The leaves start to droop. Hohenheim is right on the money. Like in medication it's always better to under-dose than over-dose. Good luck. Sounds like your plants are doing well. :)
 

Mr.Marijuana420

Well-Known Member
i didnt water one of mine for a little while and the leaves were drooping bad and 20 min after a good watering they started to perk back up
 
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