I'm dying to water them!

[Sprite]

My plants are in 5 gallon buckets indoors. They are growing great, about 15 inches tall in the first week of flower. The thing is, they just never seem to need water. Next time I won't use such a big container--lesson learned. I have a moisture meter that says the bottom 1/4 is still really wet and the rest is really dry. I have not watered at all since they went into these containers 3 weeks ago, and I didn't give it that much when I transplanted. I want to water them so I can mix in their nutrients, but they just never seem to need it. Should I worry about this?

I know some strains probably use less water than others, but ... Mine is AK 47 in a mix of Scott's potting soil, perlite, and mushroom compost. The mix is heavier on perlite near the bottom of the container. I vegged for about a month only watering every 10 days in 1 g pots! When they have taken water, I have added Hygrozyme and Superthrive (for veg).

I want to water my babies!

[keylime]

A man walking through the desert may die of thirst if he can't reach the water way down in the well. You may want to water your plant. A 15" plant probably does not have roots going all the way down where the moisture is.

food for thought

keylime

[hendrix01]

Dont worry about pot size' the bigger the pot' the bigger the rootball' the more your plant can take up' if you ever decide to feed and water that is'..lol

[middieman440]

i dont grow indoors but im sure you are supposed to water when the 1st 3 inches of soil is dry........another way is to water your plants till water is coming out the drain holes pick the pot up feel the weight of it,next time you will need to water is when the weight decreases by half of the 1st time you watered....

[WashougalWonder]

Having too large of a pot can cause such an issue, the water going to the bottom and stagnating, because the roots when they got there were not happy with the environment. Lesson has been learned, can you repot now?

[Sprite]

Well, at this point, if I re-potted, it would be downsizing to a smaller container. I'm not sure that makes sense to do that to any plant. I won't use this big of a container again though. I can hardly lift them, and that's a pain too.

But, even without much water, they are obviously getting something because they are definitely growing. I'm going to try to slip them some water today--at least enough to give them their nutrients.

[oldhaole]

By this point the roots are at the bottom of your bucket. they are drawing what they need up from there.

Your plant will tell you when she is thirsty. Watch the stage leaves. if they begin to droop, then water lightly. Your plant will grow into the bucket with some time.

A small plant in a big bucket is not bad. Believe me, in no time, that plant will fill the bucket with roots and be sucking down water.

My only concern would be when you move the plant and bucket around. If not done carefully you can break small feeder roots quite easily at this stage.

[Sprite]

Yeah I figure if my containers being too big is my worst mistake so far on my first try, them I'm not doing too bad. Someone just gave me a bunch of cuttings and wished me luck. With the help of this forum and some other stuff online, I got them all to take root. Some are outside, 2 weeks from harvest. The others are inside, in the giant buckets. All the cuttings turned into growing plants, so not too bad for my first try, eh? :thumbsup:

[oldhaole]

Not too Shabby. A far bigger mistake would be to put them in too small pots. Harvest it what it's all about. Enjoy!

[Hbuddy]

You might need bigger drain holes in your bucket and you may have really high humidity. If the leaves arent able to transpire then their roots wont be able to draw in as much fluid.

[Sprite]

Here's the weirdest part--I did go ahead and water them the other day. Then, the very next day, they were drier than before I had watered them. I think I am going to drill some extra holes in the sides of the bottom 1/3rd or so of the buckets to make sure the water isn't just sitting in there.

[Ocotillo]

Are you sure the water really soaked in and did not just run through the side? When I water I really soak them or I don't water yet at all. Some may call me a radical, but when I water I like to fill the pot and then flex the pot to loosen up the soil. I give it another soaking or two again. That is just my own theory so please take with a grain of salt.

Yes, when a small plant is in a big pot it'll need less watering. In this case you can not go by the pot weight alone. You'll have to also do the top test by poking your finger in the first inch or two of soil to check moisture. Your soil probe meter thing will do that too. This is where one may want to "half water" and try to just give a "medium" amount just at the plant. I stopped doing that, now I water or I don't.

If after a week I'd probably be watering anyway. I've gotten so I usually take the first drain water and check not only pH but also ppm/EC. Before getting a ppm meter I must have been in a constant lock out crisis and didn't even know it! Trust your instincts on not using nutes if they are not asking for feeding. Scott's soil is same as Miracle grow soil company, yes? It's probably fairly nut-ed already and probably why you've found not much need yet. Sounds like you're right on track! :thumbsup:

Rep added, friend request sent! A+++
GodSpeed, Doc Oc.




Here's the weirdest part--I did go ahead and water them the other day. Then, the very next day, they were drier than before I had watered them.

[Sprite]

Well, I haven't had even a drop of water run out the bottom. So....I don't know. I don't water much--maybe a 1/2 gallon each plant twice a week now. They don't even seem to use all of that. Mostly just using the water a a vehicle for their fertilizers. I've read that AK-47 doesn't take much water. I'll be interested to see the difference when I get a chance to grow some other strains.

Oh also, I drilled some more holes around the bottom of the buckets. They look like swiss cheese, but I know they aren't sitting in a swamp at least.

P.S. Thanks for the rep and compliments. I'm having a blast!