Watering Techniques?

Hey all,
I would just like to ask watering advice, as my local grow shop dude give me some ideas but didnt fully understand the concept. I am using canna coco, with canna coco nutes by the way
So far my watering technique has been quite basic. I water the plant throughly with my nutes with 20% run off. I then water it 4times or so without run off. Then again i give it a good watering with 20% run off, followed by another 4or etc.. I usually water the plant when the top two inches of my media is dry . I do the 20% run off to flush away any built up salts.

The advice i have been given is to bottom feed. So from what i understood is that you put an inch of draining media in the bottom of the pot, so as the roots are not sat in the water. The plant pot is sat in its saucer (that came with the pot) and you just fill the saucuer up with the nutes, alont with a little watering from the top, but only on the outside edge of the pot (not directly at the stem). The watering around the edges he said promtes the roots to search outwards for the water, so it stops the plant being lazy. The plant then sucks up the water out of the saucer as and when it needs it. And you just repeating this watering technique.

Is this correct, do any of you more experience growers use this method....?
 

McFonz

Well-Known Member
Don't use a saucer for feeding your plants and get a 10% runoff every watering.
You'll get major salt build up if you won't let your nutes run off.

You should water when the pot becomes light when you lift it (called the lifting method. real smart name, huh?) giving the solution slowly until you get a 10% runoff. Thats it.
Once every 3 weeks or so you would probably want to flush it down with water to clean salts, unless you use CleanDrip or something equivalent.

After transplanting water around the edges of the pot for a week. after that water where ever you want.

If you want it to send roots further water it less.



Thats my way of doing it.
 

rocpilefsj

Misguided Angel
I water until I get 20% run off out the bottom of the pot. I let the water build up to about 1/2" above the soil when watering then let it soak in for 45 seconds to a minute, if no run off repeat. Once a month I flush out my salts by running about double the amount of just straight water through the pots. I bought a hydrometer from walmart when I first started to see how much moisture was in the soil but now I prefer to either pick up the pot or put a finger in the soil a couple of inches, if it is dry it is time to water. This is one of those topics where you will probably get a bunch of different answers, and none of them are really wrong, personal preference. Good luck.
 

mr.smileyface

Well-Known Member
I water twice a week. I feed once and water once.
I do about 10% run off.
Some people like to cut the feedings in half and give them steady doses.
I grow kush and it likes in dry at first.
i always mix 25 gallon for 45 2 gallons. There is a few gallons left that i dump.
When the pot feels light, you irrigate.
 

Smrt

Active Member
I water when they need it, as stated, the lift method. Best way cuz MJ plants dont like to be wet. Bottom feeding is for lazy people. As I said, there's no set time for mine. When they need it, they get it, end of story. I prefer at least a 20% run off. If the room runs hot, I water more frequently meaning feed-feed-water as opposed to feed-feed-feed-water. I do this because if it's warm they drink more water and leave more salts behind. And evap on top of that.
 
Top