How much rain is too much for small plants

Hi yall,

For those that read my intro post, thank you for your wonderful advice and your warm welcome. I hope we can all be friends and I like the atmosphere here. Everyone seems super helpful and nobody seems condescending or rude when someone is ill informed or making a mistake. Ill be sticking around

Anyhow, I have little baby stunted plants that look probably about 4 to 6 weeks behind. I was apparently over watering, the pots still feel a little heavy on the bottom but the top soil is pretty dry for about the first inch or so. It's gonna be a dry day today, but tomorrow mid day it's supposed to start raining and do so on and off all day.

Being that i was most likely over watering and just messing up my watering practices, I was thinking of just bringing them inside tomorrow morning in my sun room. I have a digital ph and moisture meter, that if I stick the electrode more than like 5 or 6 inches Into the pot, it says the soil is wet, which is probably about halfway down the pot. [Pretty sure they're 2 gallon pots] If that doesn't change by tomorrow morning, I'm thinking I should put them inside, but I know that rain water is very healthy for them. What do you guys think? Should i keep them out for like the first 10 minutes of the rain so they get a little of it, or just put them inside. Im supposed to get about a quarter of an inch of rain over the day. Last watering they had was collected rain water on Wednesday, so it's def beein a few days. I use FFOF for my medium and they were just put into bigger pots a week ago. I think that day I transplanted I watered too much (and throughout the rest of the process, I'm learning! Lol)

I was informed that roots chase the moisture downward, so if it stays too wet, they won't really grow, and I'm trying to prevent any further stunting. Thanks for reading.

I can take some pics if need be and sorry if I seem stupid.

In a contained space the same principles apply whether inside a grow room or outside under the sun and getting rained on. Things are different if the plants are in the ground, as you can imagine the bottom of the pot is a long ways down.
Adhering to a wet/dry cycle in soil is going to give the best results.

I hate to be that noob but was does that mean? Like watering it, let it dry out for a bit, then repeat? When I started growing (this is my first) I thought the soil always had to have a little moisture and that's where I've stunted them.

and stop beating yourself up….growing is not as simple as some would have you believe. We all have to learn and that always involves mistakes and failure.
Allowing a potted medium to dry out before watering is a hard thing to do….we naturally want to water early and take good care of our plants.
A good rule to follow is: If you think it probably needs water, it doesn’t. If you are almost sure, it still doesn’t. Waiting another day or 2 is almost always the best choice.
You’ll have better results if you wait too long (and the plant starts drooping), over watering too soon and depriving the roots of much needed oxygen.
I’ve accidentally let mine go a day or 2 too long when I was out of town. They looked pitiful and I was worried to death. But less than 24hrs after watering they were better than ever.
Good luck and never be ashamed or hesitant to ask even the most basic questions…..most growers are good folks who love to help and see others succeed.

YoshiMike13 said:

I hate to be that noob but was does that mean? Like watering it, let it dry out for a bit, then repeat? When I started growing (this is my first) I thought the soil always had to have a little moisture and that's where I've stunted them.

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Wet/dry cycle means to soak the entire pot of soil, very slowly, when you water. Take your time and only give it a small amount, let that soak in, wait a couple minutes and move to another section. Make sure you have good drainage and you want every square millimeter of medium to get wet….top to bottom and side to side.
Then you wait until the entire pot is dry….not bone dry but not far from it.
Most growers eventually can tell from lifting the pot and feeling how heavy (or light) it is.
Most of the trouble I’ve had with stunting and really slow growth has been when I had a small plant, with a small root system in a large pot.
You don’t want to employ the wet/dry process with a tiny plant in a 5gal pot……different rules apply.
That’s why I’m a proponent of starting in a small container, allowing the plant to grow and fill the space with its root system, then moving to a larger (but not too large) pot.
Autos can be fickle when you transplant but not if you are careful, do it correctly and really allow the root system to fill the smaller pot before you transplant.
Photos are much tougher and can bounce back from damn near anything.
Shoot me a pic of yours and I’ll gladly give you my take.
Im not saying you can’t grow outside in a container…..but getting things established is crucial before you let Mother Nature dictate your watering schedule.
i grow in ocean forest and can help you for sure.

Get used to the weight of the pot when it's dry and when it's just been watered, then wait to water again until it gets light but before the plant wilts. You'll get used to it with practice.

Thanks everyone

Welcome to RIU, I started out with stunted re-veg nutrient burn over watering, just about everything you could do wrong. In one month I have learned more about the intricacies of growing than I thought possible. Two things for you, first like bullmark said don't beat yourself up. Two, it's a trial by fire. You will mess up, you will do the wrong thing at the wrong time. Just learn from it and this forum its a huge resource for knowledge. Google anything and RIU has results in the top 3. Search is your friend.

Bullmark said:

and stop beating yourself up….growing is not as simple as some would have you believe. We all have to learn and that always involves mistakes and failure.
Allowing a potted medium to dry out before watering is a hard thing to do….we naturally want to water early and take good care of our plants.
A good rule to follow is: If you think it probably needs water, it doesn’t. If you are almost sure, it still doesn’t. Waiting another day or 2 is almost always the best choice.
You’ll have better results if you wait too long (and the plant starts drooping), over watering too soon and depriving the roots of much needed oxygen.
I’ve accidentally let mine go a day or 2 too long when I was out of town. They looked pitiful and I was worried to death. But less than 24hrs after watering they were better than ever.
Good luck and never be ashamed or hesitant to ask even the most basic questions…..most growers are good folks who love to help and see others succeed.

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Just read this and thought Id add that a plant will sometimes droop after watering as well as when needing watered. It may occur when the temperature isn't ideal as well. If you can swing it build a pvc hoop house to cover the plants with, this will allow you to better control the environment. Good luck with the grow!

Yeah I did a lot of things wrong lol but I'm determined to make them happy at least. I also was smoking some weed I got from a friend and there was a big ass seed in that heaux so I planted said mystery seed. I'm gonna do like a little series on mystery seed once he breaks soil. Should probably do so tomorrow or Monday.

And yeah I was planning on getting one of those little green houses to put the plants in. That way I can just zip/roll/close it up if it's gonna be a bad weather day.

YoshiMike13 said:

Yeah I did a lot of things wrong lol but I'm determined to make them happy at least. I also was smoking some weed I got from a friend and there was a big ass seed in that heaux so I planted said mystery seed. I'm gonna do like a little series on mystery seed once he breaks soil. Should probably do so tomorrow or Monday.

And yeah I was planning on getting one of those little green houses to put the plants in. That way I can just zip/roll/close it up if it's gonna be a bad weather day.

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If you can afford it spending the money on the pvc, rebar, greenhouse plastic and bootstrap farmer clips is a better investment. Attached pictures is what I have grown in in the past. Lots of room for the plants and myself when needed. Again good luck and enjoy your grow!

I wasn't gonna go that route until I got a house of my own.

farmingfisherman said:

If you can afford it spending the money on the pvc, rebar, greenhouse plastic and bootstrap farmer clips is a better investment. Attached pictures is what I have grown in in the past. Lots of room for the plants and myself when needed. Again good luck and enjoy your grow!

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Wow….that is one sweet setup….and the plants look like fire. I’ll listen to anything you have to say and would suggest the OP do the same. Very nice.

Bullmark said:

Wow….that is one sweet setup….and the plants look like fire. I’ll listen to anything you have to say and would suggest the OP do the same. Very nice.

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Appreciate the kind words but what I've managed to grow over the last few years has come from the great information others here on RIU have been kind enough to share. Growing is something all people should learn to do no matter if its Mary Jane or strawberries. It is very rewarding to be able to walk into your garden and harvest food for your family and friends.

farmingfisherman said:

Appreciate the kind words but what I've managed to grow over the last few years has come from the great information others here on RIU have been kind enough to share. Growing is something all people should learn to do no matter if its Mary Jane or strawberries. It is very rewarding to be able to walk into your garden and harvest food for your family and friends.

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Absolutely agreed. growingyhibgs is literally life sustaining in many ways. It's part of the circle of life. It needs to happen.