Top 10 How Often To Water Autoflowers Trust The Answer

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Note how often you water plants and write it down in a log. Get your marijuana plants on a watering schedule—as they grow out of the seedling stage, watering every two to three days is ideal. Keep in mind that as plants get bigger, they will need more water and need to be watered more frequently.So, say you are growing in 12-liter smart pots (which is absolutely perfect for autos) then you should aim to give the plant about 2.5 to 3 liters of feed water. Another way to judge the correct amount of feed water is the amount of runoff.Drooping or wilting is the main symptom of overwatering. Plants droop when they have “wet feet” for too long. Yet overwatering can also cause a variety of other symptoms including yellowing, nutrient deficiencies, leaf spots, brown edges, curling, and more.

How much do you water Autoflower plants?

So, say you are growing in 12-liter smart pots (which is absolutely perfect for autos) then you should aim to give the plant about 2.5 to 3 liters of feed water. Another way to judge the correct amount of feed water is the amount of runoff.

How do you know if you’re overwatering an Autoflower?

Drooping or wilting is the main symptom of overwatering. Plants droop when they have “wet feet” for too long. Yet overwatering can also cause a variety of other symptoms including yellowing, nutrient deficiencies, leaf spots, brown edges, curling, and more.

How much water should a 3 gallon Autoflower?

For a 1 gallon planted pot, ½ gallon of water per watering is sufficient, for a 3 gallon pot, you will need 1½ gallons of water, a 5 gallon pot would require 2½ gallons of water per watering and so on….

Should I use nutrients every time I water?

You don’t want to use liquid nutrients every time you water—use them every other watering, or two waterings on, one off. It depends on the complexity of your soil and the health of your plants. Too many nutrients will damage your plants. Giving weed plants the proper amount of nutrients requires careful monitoring.

Is one week flush enough?

Soil growers should flush the longest, at 1–2 weeks. Coco coir growers should flush for a shorter time, around one week or less (watch to make sure your plant doesn’t turn too yellow too fast, because coco does not hold on to as much extra nutrients).

How often do you water flowering stage?

How often should you water marijuana plants?
Plant stage Water every # of days
Germination 4-7
Seedling 3-7
Vegetative 2-4
Flowering 2-3
7 thg 9, 2021

Why do leaves droop after watering?

Drooping leaves are often a result of overwatering. Too much watering drowns the plant’s roots and causes abscisic acid to build up. Leaf stomata starts to close up and creates obstruction in photosynthesis and respiration.

What does overwatering look like?

If a plant is overwatered, it will likely develop yellow or brown limp, droopy leaves as opposed to dry, crispy leaves (which are a sign of too little water). Wilting leaves combined with wet soil usually mean that root rot has set in and the roots can no longer absorb water.

How do you know if you’re over watering or underwater?

Wilting: Plants will wilt when they’re overwatered and when they’re underwatered, so check the soil to determine which it is. If the soil is wet, it’s overwatered – if it’s dry, it’s underwatered.

How much water does a plant need per day?

This is a little more than 1 tablespoon per day. Water use was not constant during the study; small plants used 1 tablespoon per day, while large plants used slightly less than 2 tablespoons per day.

Can you over water in fabric pots?

Yes. In case the water poured is in excess, the pots can leak water. If the fabric pot or grow bag is damaged, it will leak water easily, but it does not necessarily cause the water to run freely if it is in good condition.

How often should I feed my Autoflower?

Overfeeding your autoflowers can affect your harvest because they will need time to recover and when this happens (especially in the flowering stage), it can take up to 7 days for them to recover and continue growing normally.

Autoflower Feeding Chart for Inert Mediums.
Week Stage Nutrients
9 Ripening & harvest Flush

When should I start feeding my Autoflower?

A hydroponic autoflower cannabis grower will be looking to start their nutrient feeding schedule for autoflowers within a few days of the seeds germinating. Someone growing an autoflower in a 75+ litre sack of quality soil with slow release organics may never need to consider ‘feeding’ with anything other than water.

Should I water my plants everyday?

Plants don’t need daily watering. Instead, water deeply but less frequently. Deep waterings allow the water to seep beneath the roots, which encourages the roots to grow downward.

What water is best for Autoflowers?

Distilled water contains no nutrients, so you need to make sure to add some. Water with no nutrients will suck up nutrients from the soil and plants. Apart from that, distilled water is great, because you know it contains no contaminants and you control exactly which minerals to add.

How many hours of light do autoflowering plants need?

And since autoflowering plants have short vegetative phases and often grow shorter than photoperiod strains, you’ll typically want to give your autos at least 18 hours of light. This allows for robust growth, without overspending on energy.

What’s the best light cycle for Autoflowers?

20/4 light cycle for autoflowers

This uses 20 hours of ‘lights on’ followed by 4 hours of darkness in each 24-hour time period. This light schedule delivers great results and seems to give the plants a healthy autoflower light cycle all the way from seed to harvest.

When should I feed my Autoflower?

Once your autoflower starts really producing bud you should start feeding only blooming nutrients. You should slowly start transitioning from vegetative to flowering nutrients as soon as you see pistils appearing.


How To Properly Water Autos: Over Watering Under Watering Your Plants
How To Properly Water Autos: Over Watering Under Watering Your Plants


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3 Plain Water or Nutrient Solution

4 Oversaturating The Cannabis Grow Medium

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When to water

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How Often Should I Water My Cannabis Plants?

Knowing the right time to feed your plants can depend on many variables, so find out more below about what to consider in order to maintain the perfect watering ratio.

1. Factors that influence cannabis watering

1. a. Medium

1. b. Pot size

1. c. Pot type

1. d. Environmental conditions

2. The best way to water cannabis plants

2. a. Soil and coco

2. b. Hydroponics

3. Plain water or nutrient solution?

3. a. Feeding plain water only

3. b. Nutrient solution

4. Oversaturating the cannabis grow medium

4. a. Overwatering

4. b. Overfeeding

5. Top tips for marijuana watering

6. Best recommended heavy feeders

7. Cannabis crop watering faq

8. In conclusion

If you are new to growing Cannabis indoors or outdoors, having a thorough understanding of how frequently you should be watering or how often your plants require it can be quite difficult. There are many factors that play a huge role such as the pot size, strain, conditions, and substrate. In general, you should water when the medium is around 60-70% dry.

Sebastian Good tells you everything important about watering Autoflowering Cannabis.

Below we’ll explain what you should know when it comes to watering your Cannabis plants.

1. Factors That Influence Cannabis Watering

First of all, every grower needs to understand that a question like “how often should I water?” is basically pointless because your watering schedule will depend on your own specific growing environment. There is no set way to water Cannabis plants or the best time to feed cannabis plants , or any type of house plant for that matter, however, each grower has their own set way, based on what is most practical for them.

There’s no watering schedule that works for all cannabis plants because each cultivar is different.

There are multiple elements that can dictate how much water or how often you need to water your cannabis such as genetics, the phase your plant is in, growing setup and if you’re feeding with every watering or not, but the main ones are pot size, medium, and the environmental conditions.

Medium

As you may know, the substrate is where the roots will be growing, and depending on your preferred mix, it can hold more or less water which can affect the amount of water you need to water with and how long it takes for the water to evaporate. For example, if your substrate contains more perlite, it will allow more oxygenation which can increase the evaporation rate, or if it contains a lot of coco fiber it can take longer for the water to evaporate due to coco being able to retain water for longer.

Pot size

Another factor that can affect how often you water your cannabis plants is the pot size because if there’s more substrate you will have to water with more water and it will take longer for the water to evaporate, obviously, this depends on the stage your plant is in. If your plant is still a seedling you don’t want to water it with a lot of water even if it’s in a 60L pot, but as it grows, you will have to water more and it will take longer for the water to evaporate (when compared to a 10L pot) depending on the conditions.

Pot Type

The type of pot you use, and the conditions inside the pot will have an effect on how often you will need to water your cannabis plants. There is a huge range of options available, but they are definitely not all equal. No matter what type of pot you end up using, drainage should be high on your list of concerns. Many novice cultivators fall into thinking that over drainage is a bad thing, as the plants won’t have a chance to feed properly from the water before it all drains away. This could not be further from the truth. To have the healthiest and most vigorous growth possible, you want your pots to offer high levels of drainage.

If you are using everyday plastic pots you will probably want to drill a few extra drainage holes before you start planting. It’s also a good idea to add a layer of pebbles at the bottom of the pot to help with overall drainage down the line. This stops the drainage holes from becoming clogged and ineffective. Here at FatsBuds, we recommend using air pots or smart pots, especially if you are going to be growing your weed indoors. These pots are made from canvas or fabric and allow for air exchange directly through the material which offers far better root zone oxygenation than terracotta or plastic pots.

This promotes the healthiest and widest-reaching root growth possible and allows for easier root zone temp control. These types of pots do tend to dry out a little quicker than traditional options, so keep that in mind when watering and make the necessary adjustments.

Environmental conditions

But the main factor that influences how often to water is the growing conditions. This happens because, if the humidity levels are too high it will take longer for the water to evaporate whereas if the humidity is too low, water will evaporate faster.

You may need to water more or less often depending on the environmental conditions.

Also, if the humidity is too high it will encourage the transpiration process, making plants absorb more water and evaporating it faster while a lower temperature slows down transpiration and will take longer for the water to evaporate.

2. The Best Way To Water Cannabis Plants

As said above, there’s no better way to water plants, this will depend on your setup. There are several ways to water plants, either by hand-watering, having a drip irrigation system, and bottom feeding among others.

Soil and coco

Soil and coco (with any other things mixed in such as perlite and etc.) are the most common mediums and allows you to water any way you prefer.

Hand watering

This is the most basic way to water a weed plant. Normally you will add enough water until you see runoff. By watering weed in this instance, the growing medium will always stay well saturated, yet will never be encouraged to dry out and increase air capacity.

Bottom Feeding

A very simple and foolproof way to water your cannabis plants by allowing the roots to suck the water up. This only happens correctly when the growing medium is dry enough, to cause a wicking action that will draw the water upwards to the roots.

There are many methods to water your cannabis plant so you should go for whatever suits you better.

Many growers swear feeding in this manner is the most advantageous, then again many will debate that the buildup of salts is far greater. It can also lead to mold and root rot issues if the system is not maintained to a high standard, so always be careful to drain the remaining feed water between feeds.

Drip irrigation system

A drip irrigation system is not very common amongst soil growers but it can be a great choice for coco or hydro growers. This method consists of a small hose on top of the pot that waters your cannabis plants by releasing drops of water non-stop. So to help you have an idea of how much to water and how often, here’s a small guide to help you water your cannabis properly.

Cannabis watering schedule for beginners

Seedling Vegetative Flowering Flushing How often? Coco or Soil ≈100-200ml ≈300-600ml ≈700-1500ml Usual amount of water + 10-20% Every 2-4 days

Just have in mind that this guideline was designed for plants grown in 10-12L pots and under optimal conditions, which are:

Seedling stage – 65-70% humidity and 20-25°C

– 65-70% humidity and 20-25°C Vegetative stage – 70-40% humidity and 20-26°C

– 70-40% humidity and 20-26°C Early Flowering – 40-50% humidity (lowering approx. 5% each week) and 22-28°C

– 40-50% humidity (lowering approx. 5% each week) and 22-28°C Late Flowering – 30-40% humidity and 18-24°C

Your plant’s metabolism is affected by the conditions and will determine how much water your plant absorbs.

Just have in mind that even if your growing the same strain, it all comes down to your plant’s metabolism wich is affected by the conditions, so for example, if you’re growing our Wedding Cheesecake Auto under 30°C in 45% humidity, your plant will need much more water than the same strain under 25°C in 60% humidity.

Hydroponics

Now, when growing hydroponically you need to have a drip irrigation system or any other system that waters your plants automatically. Watering using timed irrigation not only saves physical labor but also ensures the cannabis plants are fed the exact same amount, on a consistent basis. Organic growing mediums fed with drip stakes will grow much faster than when hand watering, and is replicated on enormous scales in the agricultural sector.

Cannabis watering guide for aero and hydroponic setups

Seedling Vegetative Flowering Flushing How often? Hydro (Perlite, clay pellets, or rockwool) 100-400ppm 500-1200ppm 100-1600ppm As close to 0ppm as possible 15min ON, 15min OFF (24/7) Aeroponics 100-400ppm 500-1200ppm 100-1600ppm As close to 0ppm as possible 5s on 4-5min off (24/7)

So, to help you avoid overfeeding and give you an idea of how much you should feed your cannabis, here’s a table for hydro and aeroponics. Have in mind that the amount needed for soil or coco will differ depending on the brand you’re using so you should follow what they recommend.

When growing in hydro or aeroponics, it’s better to feed your cannabis by measuring the parts per million (which is basically the amount of nutrients in the water in a 1/1000000 concentration) in your nutrient solution.

When growing in hydroponics or aeroponics you should always measure the ppm!

Measuring ppm instead of measuring by ml/L it’s better because you get a more exact amount of nutrients, water contains a small amount of micronutrients (aka trace minerals) and due to your cannabis being directly exposed to the water, they will end up absorbing it. So when growing in either of these methods, we highly recommend measuring the pH and measuring the ppm of not only your nutrient solution, but also of the water source; Remember that water purity is very important when growing in hydro or aeroponics.

3. Plain Water or Nutrient Solution?

Hydrating a plant is one thing, however, feeding a nutrient solution is different and there are a few things to consider. The root hairs of a Cannabis plant only need to come into contact with a fine film of water to be able to tap in and extract what they need.

Feeding Plain Water Only

This is basically as organic and simple as one can be, as Mother Nature does all the rest. As all of the necessary primary and trace elements can be found in abundance inside an organic living soil, all that is required is to keep the moisture levels adequate for the living microorganisms. Compost also depends on specific temperatures and moisture levels in order for organic matter to break down over time.

Nutrient Solution

Most growers who follow a nutrient feeding chart will feed a mix of different nutrients until the final few weeks. During the last part of the flowering cycle is the flushing period where plain water is fed to the plants for two reasons.

Break Down Undissolved Salts

The build-up of nutrient salts that can develop over a 10 week period or more can be quite excessive. Especially if using chemical-based nutrients that are designed for hydroponic systems.

You should flush for at least 7 days, during this period it’s normal if the leaves start to yellow.

Water is the source of life and is also a solvent in its own way, meaning the final 14 days will help wash away (aka flushing) the remaining salts increasing the flavor and quality of the ash.

Using Up The Reserve Nutrients

Even though it may seem a drastic change to switch from a maximum nutrient solution, it is necessary to starve the plant forcing it to use up all of the reserved nutrients. This is when Cannabis plants will begin to exhibit rapid deficiencies and is a sign the nutrients are being used up.

4. Oversaturating The Cannabis Grow Medium

There is nothing worse than having the best intention, but unfortunately, too much water or nutrients does not result in more growth, so overwatering or overfeeding your cannabis will have a toll on your plants.

Overwatering

In the event your growing medium is inadequate regarding drainage and water-retaining capacity, then the water evaporation can be very slow causing many issues to occur. Transpiration that occurs through the leaves will need to compensate for the excessive amount of water around the roots. As plants find a way of transporting water through foliage or the root zone, by oversaturating you are jeopardizing the integrity of the plant’s growth, causing stunted growth.

Also, wilting of the fan leaves is a clear indication you have over-saturated your root zone, and the plants are not happy.

Overwatering should be avoided so you don’t stunt plant growth.

This can also happen when underwatering, which is when your plant is lacking water. Even though underwatering shows the same trait, do not feed more water and allow your growing medium to air out until the pot is light to pick up. A cold and wet root zone will cause anaerobic bacteria to infect your garden and kill your cannabis. It is extremely important to keep your root zone oxygen-rich and one reason why felt pots are so popular. And when this happens, cannabis plants will fail to uptake certain much-needed nutrients if the water levels are too great.

Overfeeding

Just like when watering in excess, feeding with a too strong nutrient solution will cause the minerals to build up and the results will be a lockout in nutrients and a line of deficiencies to begin occurring one after another. This happens because cannabis can’t use the excess minerals and they end up burning the tips of the leaves and can end up burning the whole leaf if not dealt with fast.

Overfeeding will affect plant growth so make sure you keep an eye out for deficiencies.

As the nutrient burn continues, the tips of the leaves will start to get brown, crispy, and sometimes twisted; This is very common when using bottled nutrients, that’s why it’s a good idea to look into organic feeding if you have access to them. This is where the importance of pH levels in water comes in; Maintaining pH levels in between the acceptable range (for each specific medium) is one way to avoid this kind of problem because the pH level can block the roots from absorbing the nutrients your plant needs.

So even if you’re feeding your plant properly, higher or lower pH may prevent them from absorbing them and result in similar symptoms as overfeeding but will actually be caused due to the lack of nutrients, known as underfeeding.

Flushing

When your plants are suffering from pH problems or an excess of nutrients, flushing is the best way to solve your issues, and to do it correctly, you will have to water your plants with plain pH’d water.

Flushing allows you to correct the ph and remove the excess nutrients in the medium and roots.

This will correct the pH levels and wash off the excess nutrients in the medium and the roots, allowing you to start feeding your plants from scratch or correcting the pH level, allowing your cannabis plants to absorb the nutrients they need once again.

Top Tips for Marijuana Watering

So, if you’re a beginner grower here are a couple of tips to avoid having some of the problems cited in this article.

How often should I water my Cannabis Plants? Episode 2: Methods & Tips.

Know when to water by weighing the pot

A good way to calculate the watering ratio is to feel the weight of your growing medium when it is at the lightest with no water. This is the point your plants need to be each time before watering. By doing this you will always know when to water without running the risk of overwatering.

Top watering tips for beginner growers!

Use your finger to check if the medium needs more water

If you are hand watering and are not sure if the medium is wet enough, simply insert your entire finger down the side of the pot. Judge how moist or dry your finger feels and this should give you a clear indication of when next to feed.

Water plants with room temperature water

It is better to water plants with room temperature water (around 20-23°C), as cold water can cause shock and encourage a cold root zone.

Water your plants when the lights are ON or up to 30min before

Avoid watering close to lights out, as the plants will not get a chance to use it until lights are on. Humidity levels in the garden can increase and oxygen levels and temperatures around the roots will drop.

Best Recommended Heavy Feeders

For all the growers who like to give their ladies the best nutrients on the market, we have picked our 3 biggest feeders to keep you company in the grow room.

Gorilla Glue Auto 5 out of 5 first time ever growing and got some amazing colors from this strain with low temps ran it at about 58-64 for 2 weeks and got this color Jackin Meoff. Verified customer

A rock-solid performer who can take heavy and frequent feeding, and she will grow big fat buds in return.

This is a resilient strain that needs that extra nutrients to be able to develop the big fat nugs so make sure you feed it properly, always keeping an eye out for signs of deficiencies.

Orange Sherbet Auto 5 out of 5 I grew this with other fast buds strains. I’m very happy how they all grew. I use soil, 19L pots on a 20/4 light cycle. They love it. fastman. Verified customer

When it comes to the biggest autoflowering cultivars around, this lady is certainly up there with extra-large yields and a big thirst.

This plant grows quite big for an autoflower and thanks to its Sativa heritage, it will need that boost when it comes to nutrients to be able to develop big and strong and be able to withstand the weight of the huge amount of buds during flowering.

Gorilla Cookies Auto 5 out of 5 I got 134g off this gal growing in 3 gal pot with 24 hours of light. i’m stoked with the result! Smells like diesel. Was a great grow overall. Charney. Verified customer

Another big feeder who loves a high nutrient ratio, thanks to her Indica-dominant lineage. This strain grows quite stocky and produces huge yields, that’s why you should feed her properly, and in return, it will produce lots and lots of resinous buds and in a big quantity.

Just remember that despite being heavy feeders, you should always pay attention to any signs of deficiency and increase the nutrient dose gradually to avoid stunting growth!

7. Cannabis Crop Watering FAQ

How Much Should I Water My Crop?

While there is no exact answer to this question, with experience you will get to know how much watering your crop will need. The amount needed will be totally dependent on the stage of growth, the size and types of pots used, the intensity of the light, the cultivar, the environmental conditions, the health of the crop, and the style of cultivation. Keep in mind that it is totally fine to let the plants go without water for a day or two every now and then, and is actually recommended by many experienced cultivators. The thinking behind this is that when the roots run out of water they will spread out and go searching for it, resulting in a larger overall root ball. Remember bigger roots mean bigger plants, which means bigger yields.

How Do I Tell If My Plants Are Thirsty?

As mentioned above, a great way to tell if your plants are in need of watering is by getting used to the weight of the plants. Cannabis plants themselves don’t actually weigh that much, with most of the weight coming from the water trapped in the pot. If you pick up a pot and it seems super light, it’s probably time to feed. Another obvious sign that your crop is thirsty and ready for some water is drooping and weak plants. If your plant looks like it is struggling to hold itself up then there is a good chance it needs a feed, but proceed with caution here.

Why? Well, plants that have been overwatered will display similar signs. If you feel like you have fed your crop often enough for it to be healthy and it is still looking weak and lifeless then there is a high chase that you have actually overwatered. The best thing to do in this situation is to feel the weight of the pots and to let them dry out for a day or two to see if there is any improvement.

How Much Water is Too Much Water?

When watering cannabis plants, a good rule of thumb is to aim for about 20 – 25% of the pot size. So, say you are growing in 12-liter smart pots (which is absolutely perfect for autos) then you should aim to give the plant about 2.5 to 3 liters of feed water. Another way to judge the correct amount of feed water is the amount of runoff. You do not want to water the plants until the substrate is just moist without seeing any runoff, as this can quickly lead to nutrient saturation issues.

Every time you water your plants you want to see about 15 to 25 % of the water running off. It’s also important to be able to remove this runoff, a sitting water can lead to its own range of serious issues for your crop. Be sure that you have a system in place to easily remove any and all runoff, such as drip trays. Inclined trays work great, and a wet/dry shop vacuum can help immensely.

Is There a Timing Guide for Watering my Cannabis Crop in Terms of Growth Stage?

Again, as we have mentioned above, this is really dependent on a huge range of factors. But, as a very general guide, you can aim to water your crop in the following way:

Seedlings: at least twice a day, if not three times. Seedlings prefer small, frequent waterings. Do not worry so much about seeing runoff here.

Vegging plants: Daily or twice daily is the best protocol to follow if you are hand watering plants that are in the vegetative growth stage.

Flowering plants: Plants that are flowering require slightly less water than vegging plants, but once a day should still work well. Some growers recommend 4 times per week, with a break every third day

8. In Conclusion

Having a reference when your growing medium is the most lightweight, is a great start point for a beginner grower to work with. Finding the balance of how much your plants are drinking as well as transpiring is a learning curve that can take hands-on experience and require multiple grows under your belt.

Once you find the perfect mix, your Cannabis plants will respond in kind, and remember less is more sometimes. And remember that if you were wondering how to water outdoor cannabis, the process is basically the same but you should be extra careful on rainy days.

For those of you who have the watering game on point, feel free to leave your tips in the comment section below to help out fellow growers!

This post was most recently updated on February 19, 2020.

5 Surprising Signs of Overwatering

5 Surprising Signs of Overwatering

by Nebula Haze

One of the most common problems that cannabis growers run into is overwatering their plants. Overwatering doesn’t mean you’re a bad grower. Growers over-water because they love their plants and want to give them everything. Unfortunately, sometimes we give them a little too much of a good thing. But don’t worry, your overwatering questions get answered today!

Drooping or wilting is the main symptom of overwatering. Plants droop when they have “wet feet” for too long.

Yet overwatering can also cause a variety of other symptoms including yellowing, nutrient deficiencies, leaf spots, brown edges, curling, and more.

The droopiness from overwatering is actually the result of a lack of oxygen at the roots, not from too much water. That’s why hydroponic plants can grow with roots directly in water as long as bubbles are constantly adding oxygen.

Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to pump oxygen into a waterlogged grow medium. Without any pockets of air to provide oxygen, roots start “drowning” when the soil or coco is totally drenched. This can result in a surprising number of different symptoms in addition to drooping because it completely disrupts water and nutrient flow through the plant.

Plants that are overwatered appear droopy. Although most plants get a bit droopy during their “night” period, leaves perk up at the beginning of the plant’s “day”. If your plant seems droopy right after lights come on, you know that you have a problem.

Besides droopiness, the symptoms from overwatering are often confused for other problems. This can be frustrating because you may be chasing solutions to other issues when the only answer is simply to water plants less often or less at a time.

This overwatered plant is slightly droopy, but the more visible symptom is the yellowing on top leaves. The symptoms look a bit like bleaching from the grow light being too close or a potassium deficiency. It can be easy to ignore the drooping and focus on the other symptoms, but in this case, all the symptoms are actually the result of overwatering in a thick grow medium. Watering this plant less often with less water at a time solved the issue. After that, the plant started growing normally.

Overwatering is hands-down the most common reason grower’s plants run into problems, even if the symptoms seem unrelated. The following list will help you figure out whether your plant may be affected.

If you see the following warning signs in combination with droopiness, there’s a strong chance you’re dealing with an overwatering problem. If these symptoms always seem to get worse soon after watering, you can feel almost certain that you’ve discovered the root of your problem…

5 Surprising Signs of Overwatering

1.) Brown Leaf Edges

When I first started growing cannabis I heard this symptom was nutrient burn (too many nutrients), but since then I’ve learned nutrient burn typically only affects the tips of leaves as opposed to all the edges. I’ve also heard this is a calcium deficiency, but that looks more like brown patches or burns on the leaves themselves. I’ve peresonally found that spots on the serrated edges of leaves are often related to root problems or issues with water movement through the plant. Most commonly overwatering.

Overwatering can cause brown spots on the serrated edges of leaves

These brown leaf edges appeared after the plant was heavily watered

How can you tell the difference between brown leaf edges from overwatering vs nutrient burn? The burnt spots appear on different parts of the leaf.

2.) Yellowing or Bleaching

Overwatering prevents plants from conducting normal plant processes. A heavily overwatered cannabis plant (especially a young one) may start looking yellow all over from being overwatered. The yellowing can occur even when roots have access to nutrients and are given the right pH.

This seedling is yellow all over due to being overwatered in a big pot with a thick grow medium

Here’s another example of an overwatered seedling that’s turned yellow all over

Overwatering can also cause symptoms that look similar to light stress because you may see the top leaves close to the light are turning yellow. Although it looks like light stress (a sign the grow light is too close), the issue is actually that the plant isn’t able to move water and nutrients properly. The plant can’t keep up with the hardest-working leaves and they start turning yellow. If you know you’re keeping your grow lights the right distance away and are still seeing yellow top leaves, there’s a strong chance you’re actually dealing with a nutrient deficiency or a watering problem.

This seedling turned yellow on top after the roots were too wet for too long

3.) Nutrient Deficiencies

Brown spots (leaf scorch) on leaves seems to be one of the more common symptoms of overwatering, yet this is commonly confused for a calcium deficiency. In addition to brown spots, it’s not uncommon to see other random deficiencies like potassium, copper, iron, phosphorus, etc.

Brown spots, burnt marks, and leaf scorch can be triggered by overwatering. These symptoms are commonly mistaken for a calcium deficiency, ph problem, or light stress. In the following case, the symptoms always got worse after watering. The leaves curling up at the ends is another clue that this may be the result of overwatering or root issues.

These symptoms appeared the day after the plant was heavily watered. In addition to the brown patches in between the veins, notice how the serrated edges of the leaves have brown spots, too (a sign of overwatering we covered already)

More brown spots from overwatering

The yellowing leaf veins look like a nutrient deficiency, but overwatering is the actual cause (the extreme drooping is a major clue)

This seedling also looks like it’s dealing with a nutrient deficiency. However, the thick muddy grow medium and overall droopiness indicate the issue is actually overwatering.

This odd symptoms on this seedling also look like deficiencies, but they’re caused by a grow medium that’s too wet and thick

Another example of an overewatered cannabis seedling with what appears to be a nutrient deficiency (brown spots, yellowing, etc.)

These brown spots in between the veins kept getting worse every time this plant was watered to runoff. The grower had to start giving less water at a time before they stopped appearing.

4.) Cupping or Curling

Sometimes the symptoms look a bit like heat stress (tipped edges, curling up or down, etc.). Since overwatering is relatively common with heat, this can keep you focused on the temperature when you should also be paying attention to watering habits.

The top leaves curling down, yellow bottom leaves curling up, and stunted size are all signs this seedling is suffering from watering problems

The following seedling looks green and mostly healthy, but notice the soaked grow medium and top leaves are curling down. This indicates seedling is being overwatered.

The grower didn’t realize she was overwatering, and the symptoms kept getting worse. Okay, I’ll admit it was me, but this was a long time ago 🙂 Soon the leaves became wrinkled and papery with the edges folded up

Another overwatered seedling showed a different sort of curling and cupping. I’m thankful for this batch of seedlings because I learned about some of the odd leaf symptoms that can result from overwatering!

This stunted 27-day old seedling is growing slow with curling leaves as the result of being overwatered in a large container

Notice the tips of leaves curling on this next plant. This is the result of overwatering combined with cold. Cold temperatures make it more likely for plants to suffer from overwatering because plants don’t drink as much. You can tell the brown tips are not nutrient burn (though it looks similar) because the browning appears in between the veins instead of just on the very leaf tip. The issue was also localized instead of all over the plant. That lets you know you’re looking at a nutrient deficiency as opposed to nutrient burn. Since this plant was receiving perfect nutrients and pH, that narrowed the problem down to overwatering. Once the plant stopped getting watered so much at a time, the leaves started growing green and healthy.

5.) Topsoil issues

When it comes to diagnosing your sick plant, examining the topsoil can help you narrow down the possible problems. If you notice the following issues with your topsoil alongside any of the plant symptoms above, you can feel pretty confident that overwatering is your villian.

Fungus gnats

Green algae

Soil is constantly wet or waterlogged

Topsoil has turned solid

Indents or divots where water is getting poured heavily

Notice how the grow medium here looks completely soaked with green algae growing on top. Green algae only grows when topsoil is staying wet too long. That lets you know the problem is overwatering in this case without even looking at the symptoms on the plant itself.

Just like algae, fungus gnats can only live when the topsoil is staying wet for long periods of time. If you see fungus gnats (tiny black flies buzzing around the soil) it almost always means you’ve been overwatering the plants.

This plant has a bad infestation of fungus gnats, which means it’s being overwatered. At this point, it’s hard to tell whether the fungus gnats or the overwatering is directly causing the symptoms, but the solution is the same: better watering habits.

It’s common for topsoil to look hard and almost solid if it’s staying too wet for too long. If you’re also seeing green algae and permanent deep divots/holes where the water is getting poured, you can feel pretty certain you’re overwatering

Solution: How to Water Plants Perfectly

It’s common for these issues to be confused for something else. One of the things that can be difficult about diagnosing problems is that many symptoms can be caused by multiple different factors. For example, nutrient deficiencies can be caused by lack of nutrients, but also incorrect pH, bugs, overwatering, etc. Yet if you’re seeing droopiness alongside mysterious symptoms, especially with waterlogged topsoil, there’s a strong chance that watering habits may be the true culprit.

Before you can fix the issue, you have to identify exactly where you’re tripping up. “Overwatering” is a broad term that describes a situation with lots of water at the roots but not much oxygen. There are a few different ways to get there.

Okay, you know your plant is overwatered, but how do you fix it?

Common Causes of Overwatering

Watering too often

Watering too much at a time

Poor draining grow medium (dense, thick, muddy, etc.)

No drainage holes to release runoff water out the bottom

Letting plant sit in runoff water (always remove runoff after watering for the best results)

Poor transpiration (plant can’t efficiently evaporate water through the leaves). This prevents plants from “sucking up” water from the roots like a straw, and results in slow water uptake

Environment: Overwatering is More Likely When…

Weak grow lights – Plants just don’t drink as much under weaker lights. That means overwatering is more common with small LEDs, CFLs, T5s, and other grow lights that are on the smaller side.

– Plants just don’t drink as much under weaker lights. That means overwatering is more common with small LEDs, CFLs, T5s, and other grow lights that are on the smaller side. Small plant, big pot – When plants are small, young, or unhealthy, they just don’t drink as much. When they’re in a container that’s much bigger than the size of their roots, it’s easy for them to drown because they use up all the oxygen and then roots are sitting in stagnant water. The best way to help these plants is give less water at a time until they’re bigger and drinking more. Learn how to water a seedling in a big pot.

– When plants are small, young, or unhealthy, they just don’t drink as much. When they’re in a container that’s much bigger than the size of their roots, it’s easy for them to drown because they use up all the oxygen and then roots are sitting in stagnant water. The best way to help these plants is give less water at a time until they’re bigger and drinking more. Learn how to water a seedling in a big pot. Heat (above 85°F / 30°C) – In the heat, oxygen is less available at the roots. Keeping roots from getting too hot helps the plant better deal with heat. That’s part of why plants become more resistant to heat after they get bigger. The big plants help shade the roots from the grow light, and grow lights are typically further away because plants are taller. This combo prevents roots from heating up as much and plants just become more resistant overall.

– In the heat, oxygen is less available at the roots. Keeping roots from getting too hot helps the plant better deal with heat. That’s part of why plants become more resistant to heat after they get bigger. The big plants help shade the roots from the grow light, and grow lights are typically further away because plants are taller. This combo prevents roots from heating up as much and plants just become more resistant overall. Cold (below 70F) – In the cold, plants are evaporating less water from their leaves, which means they drink less, making it more likely for roots to stay too wet, too long. Roots especially hate being cold. Yeah, roots are kind of picky. Plants can thrive in much cooler ambient temperatures as long as you keep the roots relatively warm. For example, don’t let the roots sit directly on a cold basement floor. Keeping plants slightly up off a cold floor will help them handle a wider range of temperatures without slowing down.

– In the cold, plants are evaporating less water from their leaves, which means they drink less, making it more likely for roots to stay too wet, too long. Roots especially hate being cold. Yeah, roots are kind of picky. Plants can thrive in much cooler ambient temperatures as long as you keep the roots relatively warm. For example, don’t let the roots sit directly on a cold basement floor. Keeping plants slightly up off a cold floor will help them handle a wider range of temperatures without slowing down. Humid (above 65%) – Just like with cold, high humidity prevents water from evaporating properly from the leaves. That means plants are drinking less overall, which increases the chance of water hanging out too long at the roots.

– Just like with cold, high humidity prevents water from evaporating properly from the leaves. That means plants are drinking less overall, which increases the chance of water hanging out too long at the roots. Lack of Air Circulation – A slight breeze is good for your plants. Not only does a little airflow prevent hot spots and strengthen stems, but plants are also better able to evaporate water off their leaves. Gentle air movement also helps keep topsoil from staying wet for too long and can even offer some protection against bugs like fungus gnats and spider mites.

A perfect environment helps plants deal with a variety of root moisture levels without issue. In fact, nearly all environmental problems except low humidity (too dry) increase the chance of plants suffering from overwatering. Extremely dry air can cause slow or unhealthy growth, but it does help plants drink more quickly and water evaporate faster. You can still overwater plants when the air is too dry, but it’s a little less common.

How to Water Plants Perfectly

This section breaks down good watering habits in a variety of different situations.

Seedlings

Don’t give more than 2-3 cups (500-750ml) of water at a time until plants are at least 2 weeks old. Typically seedlings need to be watered every 2-3 days. Every grow is a little different because plants drink more or less depending on how big they are, the environment (temperature/humidity/airflow), the grow medium, and the size/type of pots. However, most seedlings will do well with 2 cups (500ml) of water every 2 days for the first 2 weeks. However, this is a very general guideline. If the top of grow medium looks wet, wait an extra day or two to water. If the grow medium looks totally dry, either water more often or more at a time.

Big pot, small plant

Give just a little water at a time in a small circle around the base of the main stem. Once plants are bigger and drinking more, you can start fully watering them. The 2-2-2 rule from above should work for seedlings in a big pot (2 cups of water ever 2 days for the first 2 weeks after germination). After that, start giving a little more water at a time until you’re able to water plants thoroughly. I’ve found that plants often grow the fastest when you figure out the perfect amount of water that allows you to water every other day. Learn how to water a small plant in a big pot.

Not sure whether to water? Pick up plant pots

When a grow medium is soaked with water, it feels as heavy as a brick. However, when soil or coco is dry, it becomes almost feather-light. That means if you pick up your plant and it feels surprisingly heavy for its size, you should wait a bit longer before watering (and possibly give less water at a time for now). If you pick up a plant and it feels surprisingly light, that means you should water plants today!

Pick up the pot! If plant feels heavy for its size, it probably doesn’t need water quite yet

Watch topsoil

If the topsoil looks wet all the time, you probably should be watering less. Especially if you’re seeing fungus gnats, green algae, or the top looks hardened with divots where water is getting poured too often.

Notice the muddy, waterlogged soil. This plant is getting too much water!

What to do with a too-thick grow medium

If your grow medium is extremely thick or muddy, you have two choices. You can either ride it out and hope for the best, or transplant plants to a better grow medium. If your plant seems to be getting better as it gets bigger, or if you find a different watering schedule that seems to stop the symptoms, you can probably skip transplanting. It’s possible to stunt plants during transplanting so you don’t want to do it if you don’t have to. But if plants are growing poorly despite you altering the watering schedule, you may have to give roots a new home or the plant won’t ever thrive.

If your grow medium is too thick, you can either transplant to a new grow medium or try to let plants adapt. The worse the grow medium, the more you should consider transplanting.

How to Water in Super Soil

If you’re growing in super soil (composted, organically amended grow medium), you don’t need to add any nutrients from seed to harvest. This is super convenient, but you must ensure you aren’t accidentally washing away extra nutrients. In a super soil setup, you’re trying to conserve all the nutrients. The beneficial microorganisms in the soil work together with roots to make sure plant is getting the exact right amount of nutrients at the right time, just like in nature. That means in super soil, you should almost never water plants until they get runoff out the bottom. Whenever runoff water is coming out the bottom, it’s draining away nutrients with it. You’re basically looking to water plant just enough to saturate the medium but none comes out the bottom.

Growing in super soil lets you go from seed to weed without adding any nutrients, but you must avoid overwatering to prevent nutrient deficiencies down the road.

Check out our Super Soil Grow Guide to learn how to grow organic weed the easy way! (includes a day-by-day watering schedule)

When to Start Watering to Runoff

If you’re giving plants extra nutrients in your water, you may want to give enough water to get runoff out the bottom. This helps prevent nutrient buildup in the soil. However, watering to runoff when plants are too small is an easy way to cause the symptoms of overwatering. So when should you start watering to runoff? This guide will help.

Plants are big enough to water to runoff when they’re about this size…

12″ (30cm) tall ~ 2-3 gallon container

24″ (60cm) tall ~ 3-5 gallon container

36″ (90cm) tall ~ 5-7 gallon container

48″ (120 cm) tall ~ 6-10 gallon container

60″ (150 cm) tall ~ 8-10+ gallon container

The type of plant container and grow medium make a difference, which is why the ranges overlap. A thicker grow medium needs to be watered less, while a well-draining or airy grow medium should be watered more. As far as plant pots, just remember that any container which lets air in from the sides (air pots, fabric pots, etc) need more water, more often. This is because water is constantly evaporating out the sides in addition to just being used up by the plant roots. In an air pot or fabric pot, start watering to runoff when plants are on the smaller side of the range. If your plants are in a hard-sided pot, wait until they’re a bit bigger to water to runoff.

These 15″ tall plants in 3-gallon fabric pots are just about big enough to start watering to runoff

What if my plant never gets that big? If your plants are in a big pot, or you’re growing very small plants, you may never need to water to runoff. In some cases, watering to runoff will cause the symptoms of overwatering even until harvest. In this situation, it’s up to you to watch the plant to ensure there’s no nutrient buildup in the grow medium.

When this happens, it kind of reminds me of growing in a DWC or hydroponic setup because you’re basically treating the root ball like a nutrient reservoir.

How do you know whether to increase or decrease nutrient levels? If plants are getting dark green or showing nutrient burn, it means that you should lower the overall amount of nutrients in the water. If plants appear pale/lime green or lots of bottom leaves are yellowing and falling off, it means your plants want more nutrients overall. In that case, increase the overall nutrient levels in the water without changing the ratio.

The short purple plant in this picture will never get big enough to be watered to runoff

How to water to runoff (Soil)

Once plants have reached a good size for their container (check the above chart), they’re ready to start getting watered with runoff. If you’re growing in soil, most plants have already used up the majority of nutrients by this point. That means if you haven’t been providing nutrients in the water yet, now is a great time to start.

Wait until topsoil is dry up to first knuckle (alternative: wait until plant pot feels light to pick up) Water until you get about 10% extra runoff water out the bottom Remove runoff water Repeat

Soil that is ready to be watered (topsoil is dry, pot doesn’t feel heavy)

How to water to runoff (Coco)

In coco, you should be watering with nutrients from when plants are seedlings, so you never have to wonder when to start adding nutrients. However, coco-grown plants seem to want things to be just a bit wetter than soil-grown plants. Plants in coco don’t seem to react well to extensively drying out. That means you’ll typically end up watering a bit more often in coco than soil.

Wait until top of coco appears mostly dry (with a few damp patches left) and pot doesn’t feel heavy Water until you get about 10% extra runoff water out the bottom Remove runoff water Repeat

Coco that is ready to be watered (top of coco is mostly dry and pot doesn’t feel heavy)

Wow, that was a lot. You are now officially an expert on overwatering. You know all the crazy and surprising symptoms to look for when diagnosing your sick plant, and you also know how to water your plants perfectly every time. Congratulations!

Wait! I still need help diagnosing my sick cannabis plants (we got you covered!)

Watering & Fertilizing

For hardy trees, shrubs, perennials and roses, we recommend Holly-tone and Plant-tone as fertilizers. Holly-tone is used for acid loving plants such as Dogwoods, Evergreens, Hollies, Rhododendrons, Azaleas and their relatives. Plant-tone is used for most other plant species.

We recommend the following easy to remember dates for annual fertilizer applications:

April 1st – April Fools Day

May 31st – Memorial Day

July 4th – Independence Day

October 31st – Halloween

Newly planted trees, shrubs and perennials should be fertilized at half of the recommended rate on the package.

Be sure to keep granular fertilizers off foliage and away from stems and trunks.

Scatter the fertilizer around under the drip line of the plant or over the surface of the root ball. Never concentrate fertilizer in one spot or against the trunk.

So you have finished reading the how often to water autoflowers topic article, if you find this article useful, please share it. Thank you very much. See more: how often to water autoflowers in coco, how long can autoflowers go without water, best time of day to water autoflowers, how much water for 2 week old autoflower, watering in veg stage, how much water for 3 week old autoflower, how much water for 3 gallon autoflower, watering autoflower seedlings in big pots

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