Impossible to overwater a plant...

In one of the grow vids by Jorge Cervantes he mentions that if a pot has holes in the bottom, it's nearly impossible to overwater as the excess will just run out below.

I wanted to know if this is true.

For instance, I watered my girl this morning to try and lower her pH, and I'd like to do some sort of a flush tomorrow if her pH is still too high.

Thing is, I don't want to risk overwatering her, and I'd just like to confirm what I heard in the video to those who are growing right now.

+rep for a good answer.

Over watering makes it more difficult for the plants roots to absorb much needed oxygen. In turn, this will stunt the plants growth. Without holes in the pots, the plant would drown in water and root rot becomes more prevalent as well. Good luck with your grow. Cheers.

...wait until your soil is dry before you rewater. Overwatering = #1 newbie mistake.

Id say dubious06 answered your question, but even with holes, you can still kill a plant by overwatering it. depending on your soil mix, it could retain water. And if it doesn't drain properly and/or retains water, your water could have trace elements that could be bad or stunt the growth of a young plant.

i have never over watered my plants but its not impossibe but its likely not to happen if it has holes in the bottom

I do not have an actual answer for you as I am too new to offer real advice, I might have something that adds more confusion tho..

In this months High Times someone asks a Q about growing and watering and the advice they are given by the resident answer dude about watering is to "water everyday" I found this odd as I have found a couple things in High Times since I started researching on the net...

There is a LOT of misinformation out there and Lord knows I have followed some it LoL but I have read that high PH is going to hurt more than 1 over water so if you are flushing to correct PH I'd say in my very very humble opinion that it is probably better to over water than leave a high PH

Kimi

You should be fine with a flush the next day after watering. Just let the soil dry out plenty (I look for the bottom leaves to start drooping) after the flush, then continue as usual. This should all be fine as long as you don't do it often (more than once prob).
Even if a container has drainage holes it can definitely be over watered. Say you have a 5gal. bucket for instance...
If you water that everyday, all the drainage holes in the world wouldn't prevent that plant from being over-watered. The important thing, is to let the soil dry out in between waterings and make sure there is run-off after each watering. Not only does this prevent a droopy, stunted plant, but it also promotes root development (the drying out in between waterings, that is).

baaamalaaam said:

You should be fine with a flush the next day after watering. Just let the soil dry out plenty (I look for the bottom leaves to start drooping) after the flush, then continue as usual. This should all be fine as long as you don't do it often (more than once prob).
Even if a container has drainage holes it can definitely be over watered. Say you have a 5gal. bucket for instance...
If you water that everyday, all the drainage holes in the world wouldn't prevent that plant from being over-watered. The important thing, is to let the soil dry out in between waterings and make sure there is run-off after each watering. Not only does this prevent a droopy, stunted plant, but it also promotes root development (the drying out in between waterings, that is).

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exactly. overwatering is a problem when it happens over time because the plant goes days or weeks without the roots being able to breathe and they can rot. watering a shitload or water at once is not overwatering unless it is done so frequently that the soil never dries out. the water should run out the bottom so you know you saturated the whole thing and didn't leave some parts dry. i personally would not water one day and flush the next just because i am not a fan of drenching plants that are more than 2 days away from needing water, but if it's not a habit it should be fine, and like someone said, if your ph is really that out of whack that would be the worse of 2 evils and the problem to focus on. hope it works out.

LadyKimi said:

I do not have an actual answer for you as I am too new to offer real advice, I might have something that adds more confusion tho..

In this months High Times someone asks a Q about growing and watering and the advice they are given by the resident answer dude about watering is to "water everyday" I found this odd as I have found a couple things in High Times since I started researching on the net...

There is a LOT of misinformation out there and Lord knows I have followed some it LoL but I have read that high PH is going to hurt more than 1 over water so if you are flushing to correct PH I'd say in my very very humble opinion that it is probably better to over water than leave a high PH

Kimi

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I think Kimi should stop being so humble.

Thanks everyone. Sounds like I'll be flushing her this morning.

your plants will allways have plenty of oxygen if you have alot of coco/perlite and or vermiculite although watering everyday isnt good for benficial bacteria and can cause all sorta of problems from root rot to viral/bacterial dieses

Started my first grow 36 days ago, and wondered about just this issue. Answer I got was that overwatering means watering too often. As long as you let your plant dry out after a watering then, providing your pot has adequate drainage, you can use as much water as you like when you do water them.

Sup.

I like answering stuff like this from a critical thinking point of view so bear with me. Roots are iddy biddy. Your soil medium is designed to retain water. Granted it has perlite to drain water as well so its not creating puddles in the soil, however! When you water, the bucket becomes heavier, its not magic, theres alot of water left behind. Perlite/sand/gravel for "drainage" per se doesn't drain all the water out of the soil. It prevents compaction halfway down your pot etc where water can become trapped and puddle. This is what "good drainage" means.

A kitchen sponge. You get it wet once every 6 hours and place it on the drying rack by the sink. It can drain, it can drain no problem. Will that sponge ever be dry? Shit no it won't.

High quality soils are like a sponge, they're designed to retain water so your plants can keep drinking. The issue with root root is, constantly submerged plant life does not survive (unless its seaweed or something, blah). Tiny roots going through a sponge, its very possible many of those roots will not escape water no matter how good your drainage may be. Not all the roots need rot for your plant to suffer. Roots need oxygen as you've already read.

Good luck
-Grizz

i think jorge means in one watering. Obviously if you continue to pour water into the pot when it doesn't need it the roots will suffocate. You can over water in any medium. I've even seen rockwool overwatered because of an inadequate drain off. if you pour lots of water into the pot the plant will wilt for a while until the excess is gone and the plant can breathe again. keep pouring in water and the plant will struggle with nutrient uptake.

Overwatering is possible and i'm sure jorge meant in a single sitting.

skunkushybrid01 said:

i think jorge means in one watering. Obviously if you continue to pour water into the pot when it doesn't need it the roots will suffocate. You can over water in any medium. I've even seen rockwool overwatered because of an inadequate drain off. if you pour lots of water into the pot the plant will wilt for a while until the excess is gone and the plant can breathe again. keep pouring in water and the plant will struggle with nutrient uptake.

Overwatering is possible and i'm sure jorge meant in a single sitting.

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BAM! Theres your best response.

GrizzlyAdams said:

BAM! Theres your best response.

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Woop, there it is.