Watering practices for living soil

[Vivid Dreamer]

Good day growmies. Hope that you guys are all doing great and in high spirits. 

I have a bit of a dilemma with conflicting information online and could really use some guidance. This is my second grow and one thing i want to be perfect is my wayering habits that will enable to build a solid root system, but still keeping my micro herd alive and kicking. 

Do you guys let the soil dry out completely between waterings(water again when the pot is very light) ? Or do you water before it reaches the point of being bone dry? 

I know that dry conditions will reduce the microbial poppulation in the soil. I need some help - i dont wanna kill what i worked so hard to build. 

[Vivid Dreamer]

Btw im running a bit of an experiment with two different soils...one is a coco based super soil and the other is a soil mix blended with peat moss. I find that the peat moss soil gets hella hydrophobic, being difficult to saturate when allowed to almost fully dry out. 

[SkunkPharm]

There are different views on this. But blumat have made a name for a reason. The keep the moisture content in the soil constant. It is basically a fine balance between water and oxygen at the roots. I have a peat based soil and I water twice a day but in small amounts 100 to 200ml at a time depending on the pot size. I am growing in 5l pots atm.

[Vivid Dreamer]

Thanks Skunk. Im in 5 litre pots atm as well, i want to get this right before i transition into my final pot. Any chance you could post a pic of your ladies?

[ORGANinc.]

On 4/8/2022 at 4:15 AM, Vivid Dreamer said:

Good day growmies. Hope that you guys are all doing great and in high spirits. 

I have a bit of a dilemma with conflicting information online and could really use some guidance. This is my second grow and one thing i want to be perfect is my wayering habits that will enable to build a solid root system, but still keeping my micro herd alive and kicking. 

Do you guys let the soil dry out completely between waterings(water again when the pot is very light) ? Or do you water before it reaches the point of being bone dry? 

I know that dry conditions will reduce the microbial poppulation in the soil. I need some help - i dont wanna kill what i worked so hard to build. 

Hello bud, so depending on your medium and the structure you have created, your medium will dry up or stay wet all hinged on above factors, also the size of your plant. 
 

letting you medium dry up completely in a living soil takes much longer than any other conventional method of growing I have found, due to the fact that living soils contain more organic matter than most soils. They are naturally better at keeping water in the system. Water logging living soil is also the easiest thing any grower can do and does because they are afraid of letting the soil dry out too much.

my advise is to stop worrying about under watering completely and every-time you want to water or not sure if you should, wait another day. Or get a moisture probe, even the lightest pots can still make that needle jump.

keeping living soil aerobic as best you can is very important.  

[Vivid Dreamer]

Thanks so much for the reply bud. I honestly thought this thread had died. Reslly appreciate your help. I've been seeing much better results this grow leaving my soil to dry out even more than im accustomed to. Better root growth and overall faster growth of the plants. I really love growing in soil and i wish i can master it someday and produce high quality, clean medicine just like you pros. This community is great btw, especially sinc3 my grow operation is a secret from most people apart from my wife and a couple of friends. Im the only grower in my circle. 

[ORGANinc.]

10 hours ago, Vivid Dreamer said:

Thanks so much for the reply bud. I honestly thought this thread had died. Reslly appreciate your help. I've been seeing much better results this grow leaving my soil to dry out even more than im accustomed to. Better root growth and overall faster growth of the plants. I really love growing in soil and i wish i can master it someday and produce high quality, clean medicine just like you pros. This community is great btw, especially sinc3 my grow operation is a secret from most people apart from my wife and a couple of friends. Im the only grower in my circle. 

That’s great to hear bud, glad you are having success, I wouldn’t say pros, we are all humble gardeners, and many willing to help. Which is good. Share your grows in the grow diary and let the peeeps help you out even more