I dont really excavate the soil, honestly, i just watch the plant and the soil and know that every few days it will get thirsty. Your soil being kinda toasty may need less frequent waterings? The main thing to take away from this, is if you water away from the stalk, there’s less risk of swamping the roots. I may suggest because you are obviously just learning, to let the plant tell you its thirsty, you will know, it will get weak looking and droopy. At that point, water sparingly and the leaves will perk up in an hour or so. Wait till the plant gets thirsty again and you will see how long it takes for the plant to dry up! Then you water a bit more frequently. Remember that these plants are pretty durable, while its preferred not to stress them, its ok to learn with a starter plant. Everyone learns sooner or later.
Sounds good. Thanks a lot, i promise I’m done with questions… for now… maybe 
Ok here ya go…
This plant is ready for a sip but is still going strong.
Whereas, this plant is thirsty.
Its ok to let a plant get thirsty… but more optimum to keep it happy… If I water the little plant sparingly around the rim of the container it will reach for the water and not over saturate. Be advised that overwatering will also cause drooping but with curled leaves.
Good stuff, thanks
Hi @Cannabian, thought I’d give a quick update. After giving it 20 ml in the method you suggested, the leaves didn’t start to drop until over 48 hours later. So last night, after the 48 hours, I gave it another 20ml. I was hoping the leaves where going to perk up when I checked this morning, but unfortunately they where drooping even further. I did notice after the watering the water pooled on the surface rather than soaking in right away, so I used a toothpick to just stir the top layer a bit where the water was to help it soak in.
In the moment, I went back to the spray bottle dampened the entire surface while staying away from the plant. I would guess either 20 ml wasn’t enough or there’s an issue with the soil.
20 ml is what I would use for a small plant, yours may require more? If you suspect that you have a water issue dont be afraid to excavate some material down far enough to determine if the soil is moist, wet or dry. If you are in coco, probably best to water lightly but water often as coco prefers constant watering, if you are in peat you can let dry out between waterings. I also have noticed that sometimes my plants are droopy first thing as the lights come on and a few hours later they are phototroping or praying to the light god. Also, if you are in large pots you need to excavate where the root is to determine if the root is moist or dry.
Could be it just wasn’t enough, I went right into a 5 gal bag because I heard transplanting was bad for autos. So it could need more water because of that. When I get home from work, hopefully the leaves have perked up, I’ll try using a bit more water next time I water regardless. I guess one good thing about having a stunted plant is I’m not expecting nag much out of this so I can experiment a bit.
Right now I’m just using straight FFOF, but I’ve been looking at soil mixes for whenever my next attempt is. I’ve found two, something that looks a little more advanced in @blackthumbbetty mix and another I saw a moderator post. Any thoughts on either of these? Thanks
Yeah Ive never used FFOF or any of the FOX stuff because I cant get it here, but I hear its a bit too hot for young plants? May be an issue for you? Eventually you should find a happy medium! Pardon the pun!
I keep hearing that FF OF is to hot seedlings. I’ve used it 3 times for seedlings. Haven’t had a problem yet. I guess that whatever experience anybody has sort of dictates future decisions. I’m going to keep using FF OF from start to finish for the foreseeable future. Current grow is starting week 5. I haven’t had to use nutrients yet with the exception of cal-mag. ppm’s on runoff has remained high. This works well for me due to the fact that my spare time extremely limited.
Are you growing autos? Apparently it’s just to hot for autos but fine for photos
First grow was autos. Second and third grow photos. I’m not advocating for OF use. I know a lot of people like using FF Happy Frog for seedlings. Admittedly I knew next to nothing when I started growing. Probably Beginners luck on first grow.
Who knows? I’m a total beginner myself obviously, so I’ll take any edge I can get.
Out of likes, I believe best way to learn is making mistakes, painful but valuable.
Lol I over nitrified my plants a few days ago! I flushed the piss out of them yesterday, the containers are super heavy. Even still the plants are perky and doing just fine so far. Im just learning to grow in promix. I took advice from the local grow shop, now Im thinking it was bad advice. The suggested I mix super soil with it, I think its best not to at least for a first effort. So every grow is an opportunity for learning.
Uh oh, how did you over nitrify your plants? Use a medium with a nitrogen count that was high? Or did you add nitrogen? How far along is your grow?
Possibly both? But Ill make it right.
As you already know, I am using both on my phots and autos and they are very happy so far