Stepped out of my comfort zone and bought a water only soil today. I put it in 3 gal fabric pots very fluffy not packed tight. Now when I water (very light) it just pools on top... How the hell do I water this crap. Any suggestions?
Since you said this is your first time, lemme ask you this:
Did you either layer or mix the water-only soil with a base soil like BioBizz Light or Roots Organic?? If not, you run a high probability of burning whatever you put in there.. If you did, the next best thing I suggest, is how you water.. Personally, I bought a turkey baster, and literally just slowly plunge water around the base of the plant, and slowly work my way to the outsides of the pot.. It takes a second or 2 the first few times you water for it to get absorbed, but I've found that if you slowly add water, or incrementally add to the pots, for example.. Once my soil has been watered, I use either a 1cup or 2cup measuring cup, and slowly make concentric rings around the plant.. Once the cup is empty, I fill it back up and move to the next plant.. By the time I get to the last plant, the first plant's water has been absorbed into the soil and I'll add another cup, and so on and so on.. After a couple watering, the soil pulls it in much easier..
Another thing you could use is yucca extract, as it mildly alters the surface tension of water, and allows it to seep into the pores of your grow medium "easier"..
Seeing one plant though weighing in that high is not a consistent example. Strains like Autoultimate are constantly pulling huge plants.
I was a little disappointed with the size of my AutoUltimates, albeit in "water-only" soil, but I still managed close to 6oz off one plant.. They were definitely the larger of my plants, and the quality is good..
I've said it before, and I'll say it again; Dinafem has some of the BEST, most consistent genetics of ALL of the plants I've grown.. In my soil mix, I'd say up until I dwarfed that one Critical+, they all grow to nearly 3ft, and yield from 4-6oz total, start to finish.. DP was okay for size/quantity, but the quality is great!!!
I'd almost rather grow a couple smaller, higher quality plants, than a couple massive ones that the bud is just, "meh".. Then again, I'm not really into commercial gains with this, but I do enjoy knocking the socks off of the local weed man, and they start asking if they can get half-p's and p's of it.. I'm usually like, "Well, if we set up a 12-plant grow at YOUR house, I'll get the seeds and soil, you just provide the electricity and water." Not one taker yet!!!!! Most of them are scared or don't want to get robbed.. I usually just tell them, "Don't let people know you grow, and you won't have that problem.."