Watering fabric pots?

[THE BEAR]

Hey everyone I am currently using 12 liter fabric pots with light-mix soil that I have sitting ontop of a wire platform with a runoff tray underneath,
I will be doing my first watering soon and want to know is there a good way of doing it?
And what's the best way to tell when I need to water again. The pots are still damp near the top but the bottoms on a few are dry. Do I just water like I would a normal pot, (very slow with 15-20% runoff) and wet the outside of the bags too?

 

[Arthur]

Most will say you tell when to water by the weight, after about a 20% drop. Being dry below and moist on top has me thinking your underwatered. I don't see run off every time I water/feed, but maybe every 3 I go to 20% runoff.
Small amounts, let it soak in then more, give it maybe 10 minutes and try again, mediums can become hydrophobic when dry, and can be difficult to get "rewet".
Your catch trays and screens are on point. You want airflow surrounding the bag, not sitting on a catch pan, or in runoff, that's waste, don't let it be reabsorbed.

 

[THE BEAR]

Most will say you tell when to water by the weight, after about a 20% drop. Being dry below and moist on top has me thinking your underwatered. I don't see run off every time I water/feed, but maybe every 3 I go to 20% runoff.
Small amounts, let it soak in then more, give it maybe 10 minutes and try again, mediums can become hydrophobic when dry, and can be difficult to get "rewet".
Your catch trays and screens are on point. You want airflow surrounding the bag, not sitting on a catch pan, or in runoff, that's waste, don't let it be reabsorbed.

Thankyou, the bottom is not bone dry but slightly damp when I push in a little,
I soaked the soil and bags the night before I planted into them, they where still dripping for ages when I put them in the tent under the light,
They were really heavy to lift,
After next watering should I weigh a bags on scales just so I know the weight ?

 

[Arthur]

The scale might help you get the heft learned, betting you won't need it by the time your on your second run! You'll pick it up fast...

 

[THE BEAR]

The scale might help you get the heft learned, betting you won't need it by the time your on your second run! You'll pick it up fast...

That's great, thank you

 

[mdabber]

Watching the leaves too can be an indication. Are they praying feel the bottom of the pot is it still moist. I do every 3 4 days maybe. But ya like he said lifting them feeling how heavy and when a soil dries out it doesn't absorb water as quickly. If your plants are smaller still in a bigger container you could not water even longer. But when they get bigger they need water more often Sure the roots will go to the.bottom. you want the roots to take over the whole container.

 

[Arthur]

I believe 12l is right at 2 gallons, as these ladies get bigger, your going to be watering/ feeding more often, so be prepared to up the amounts and tighten the schedule some. 2 gallons doesn't hold much and the girls will go thru it.

 

[hope2grow]

Hey everyone I am currently using 12 liter fabric pots with light-mix soil that I have sitting ontop of a wire platform with a runoff tray underneath,
I will be doing my first watering soon and want to know is there a good way of doing it?
And what's the best way to tell when I need to water again. The pots are still damp near the top but the bottoms on a few are dry. Do I just water like I would a normal pot, (very slow with 15-20% runoff) and wet the outside of the bags too?

Another option is not watering to run off while their small m8.. i water a set amount every 24/36 hours.. starting at 100ml and working up as they grow. Never seen the point in tipping 2.5L of water into a pot with a tiny seedling/baby plant in it. Entirely personal choice of course but thats how I roll. By the time my girls get to 14 days old they'll be getting around 500/750ml per day. By day 21 ill be watering the pot to max capacity every 24/48 hours. I very rarely water to run off. Having been growing for a few years I have an idea how much a particular size of pot will take before it starts running off. For example.. around 1.5/2L of water/feed will fill your 12L fabric pots to capacity id say. Something to think about

 

[mdabber]

Another option is not watering to run off while their small m8.. i water a set amount every 24/36 hours.. starting at 100ml and working up as they grow. Thats what I do. Never seen the point in tipping 2.5L of water into a pot with a tiny my seedling/baby plant in it. Entirely personalised choice of course but thats how I roll. By the time my girls get to 14 days old they'll be getting around 500/750ml per day. By day 21 ill be watering the pot to max capacity every 24/48 hours. I very rarely water to run off. Having been growing for a few years I have an idea how much a particular size of pot will take before it starts running off. For example.. around 1.5/2L of water/feed will fill your 12L fabric pots to capacity id say. Something to think about

I like to get it soaked let the roots work more less work for me.and the roots grow to the bottom I think you should let the top dry out and the bottom be moist. So the roots seek the water. But there are a bunch of different ways that work and your way might have a faster growing plant. I've never done a side by side comparison

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

@THE BEAR What you need to learn about watering will come with practice. Here are the basic rules: Never let the soil dry out. Soil and or coco can become hydrophobic if allowed to dry. This means it repels water. This in turn will create dry pockets in the soil and roots there will die. If your soil - coco have accidentally dried out use a surfactant to help re-wet it. I like yucca powder. Don't let soil remain soggy by watering too much too often. Root rot, damping off, molds, fungus gnats and other problems start in soggy soil. When you do water water the entire pot. How to learn when to water starts before you plant the seed. Fill your container with fresh soil/coco and weigh it (heft it) this is the lightest weight and consider it a dry pot. Now slowly water until the soil/coco will no longer absorb the water and run-off begins; weigh the pot (heft it) this is the maximum water, the wettest the pot can get. The difference between wettest and driest is the maximum water weight, for ease of explanation lets just say the water weighs 20 pounds. When the pot loses 10 pounds (half of the water weight) it is time to water again. There is an art to watering.

As far as run-off goes soil does not need run-off but you must be careful not to over fertilize with several plain PHed waterings in between fertigation. This really takes skills to get it right. I am working on a tutorial but it is not finished:

Tutorial - A word on Nutrients

The proper use of “salt” based fertilizer to grow Auto Flowering Cannabis. Salts: Natural and man made any chemical compound formed from the reaction of an acid with a base, with all or part of the hydrogen of the acid replaced by a metal or other cation. Learning how to use salt based...

www.autoflower.org