How to water?
1. Always use filtered, distilled or RO water ( more about that below ).
2. You want control over your water pressure and stream, so we suggest pouring water into your spray bottle ( without the spray part ) or a cup or glass. This gives you a bit more control.
3. You want to water around the edge of the bag, in a circular motion. Don’t water near the stem ( more about this below ).
4. You want to water until run-off ( read more below ).
5. Water when the medium dries out ( more about that below? Yup you guessed it! ).
Some questions we think you might have:
Wondering why we water around the side of the pot?
You always want to pour water around the edge of your pot or bag. Slowly and carefully, pour water around the edge, in a circle. This helps the seedling remain stable but it also helps the plant grow faster and bigger. Roots will always look for water, so if you water around the edge, the roots have to seek the water out. This means they grow out, towards the edge of your pot. Do you know what happens when you have nice wide roots? You get a beautiful, big plant. The saying goes, “As above, so below”. This means, the bigger your roots, the bigger your plants.
What is ph?
In basic terms, ph describes the acidity levels of water. A high ph, above 7, is considered basic or alkaline, whilst a ph below 7 is considered acidic. A ph of 7 is neutral.
Wondering why we only use filtered or distilled water?
Tap water often has impurities in it that you wouldn’t want to give your plants (like chlorine). On top of that, it often has a high ph, which means it’s alkaline. Cannabis plants like neutral or slightly acidic water. Using bottled/ distilled or RO (reverse osmosis) water, means you know the ph of the water is neutral. You can get these waters, bottled at any store and you can refill your bottles at any Fruit and Veg or water store ( instead of the cost and environmental impact of single use water bottles). The ph is especially important when we start to feed our plants nutrients. The nutrients will take the ph of your, neutral pure, water down, to make it slightly acidic. This is ideal for cannabis plants. They absorb nutrients best when the water is slightly acidic. Feeding with alkaline water can result in nutrient lock out, which we don’t want.
* More about feeding in a later post *
What is run-off and why is it important?
Run off is when you water your plants and the water soaks through all the medium and runs out of the bottom of your bag. It’s important to water a little at a time until run-off happens. This means all your roots are soaked nicely but you‘re not over watering.
How much and how often should you water?
This question does'n not have a definitive answer, sorry. The general rule, is that you want to water whenever the medium dries out. You can test this by sticking your finger into the medium. You want it to feel cold and damp up until your second knuckle. If not, you should water. In a hot, dry climate this might be once a day but in a cooler or more humid climate, you’d water less. Remember, your plant also loses more water when it’s windy, so keep an eye on those babies. If your plants look frazzled and crispy, they need water. If the look limp and droopy, they are getting too much water, lay off for a few days until the plant returns to normal. You want to water early in the morning or during the day. Your plant can only absorb water during daylight hours. Watering at night will leave you with soggy roots which leave you prone to mould and rot. We don’t want that.
We’ve found the 3L natural grow bags need between 500ml - 1L of water before run-off occurs.
Beware of over watering.
Cannabis roots don’t like to sit in water so if you’re unsure, water less rather than more. It’s also important to not allow your fabric bags to sit in their own run-off puddle. Ideally, move them away from that area after watering or put your plant on a raised surface to help drainage.
How we help you water correctly?
We have especially chosen the natural, fabric grow bags and the perfect medium mix to help prevent you from over watering. The bags and medium offer great drainage and aeration, to keep roots happy and healthy.
If you have any questions, pop them in them comments and we’ll answer them for you. Don’t be shy, we’re all here to learn.