Hey all, I will be out of town for a week and have picked up a drip watering system. I can set it to dispense any milliliter of water at any interval. I was wondering how much and how often you all think I should set this too based on the current growth of my plants?
For context, these are Zkittlez autoflowers, 5 weeks out from the seeds popping. I have currently been watering pretty lightly just a couple of milliliters every 2 or 3 days. Im also curious when I should start watering these until runoff as well as when to start adding the nutes. These are planted in 5-gallon bags, the soil is 2/3 Fox Farm Ocean Forest and 1/3 Happy Frog. Below are a couple of pictures of both my plants! Any suggestions are welcome!
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They need more water and it’s safe to water to run off. The FFOF will feed for approximately 5 weeks not counting the seedling stage. Soil likes a wet to dry cycle so I would see what amount it takes by hand to get some run off then set the auto drip for 2-3 days later at that amount. The frequency of watering or feeding will depend on the vessel size and how well the soil drains. I see a decent amount of perlite so drainage shouldn’t be an issue 
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How long will you be gone
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Yes I mixed in additional perlite to the soil before planting! But this is just the feedback I was hoping to get, I really felt like they were ready for the runoff watering but had read stuff that said to wait until the diameter of the plant was about the size of the pot… Sounds like I will start adding nutes when I get back!
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I wouldn’t start nutrients until you tested the run off PPMs and PH. The PPPMs will let you know how much nutrients still remain in the soil and we’ll as the PH. Feeding a hungry plant beats the alternative of flushing one that’s suffering toxicity from over feeding
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I will be gone about 8 days! Leaving in a week so I’ve got some time to play around. I’ve got a full tank of water sitting out dechlorinating right now so it should be ready to go tomorrow to start testing how much it takes to get appropriate run off. I have an TDS meter I have yet to use, so I will get on that this week as well to see what the soil is sitting at. Any idea on what PPM level I should be looking for that requires me to start adding nutrients? I’ve seen some wildly different numbers online - some say only add when below 400 others have said 1000…
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In general, I start fully watering my autos when they are about three weeks old
Think I’ve seen that, too, and maybe that works for some styles of growing. I know that my plants would be underwatered by a week or two if I did that. (I also use soil.)
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@Twelve1 This is the mindset I will have going into my next grow. I feel like I got off to a slow start as a result of this underwatering. The plants look healthy but they are significantly smaller than I feel they should be at this stage and I’d put my money on underwatering being the culprit.
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They do look healthy and they’ll stretch. Autos can be small for genetic reasons, too, so it can be tricky to pinpoint the exact cause for smaller auto plants, but watering them fully when they can handle it and want it will stack the odds in favor of them growing to their potential.
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I target 800-1000 PPms each feeding
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I appreciate the great feedback from you both, @OGIncognito @Twelve1 . I feel like I have a lot better footing going about these next steps now! I hope you enjoy the rest of your day 
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Anytime Grow Bro, tag me and I’ll hang out with you on this awesome journey
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