When to water outdoor marijuana plants?
When to water outdoor marijuana plants is the most important part of marijuana growth, the health, nutrition and vulnerabilities of each of the specimens during its cycle will rely on it. This article outlines best practices, as well as common mistakes about when to water marijuana plants outdoors.
When to water outdoor marijuana plants?
Previously we commented in our article of how to water the cannabis, general advices so much for indoor as for outdoor. Now in this article we will focus on irrigation for outdoor plants, while in a future article we will talk about irrigation for indoor cultivation.
How often watering outdoor plants is one of the questions we hear the most from our grower friends, it all depends initially on where the plants are planted.
If the plants are in containers or pots we must follow certain guidelines, while if they are planted in soil we will have more forgiveness for mistakes, although we will have to follow the same principles.
When to water potted outdoor plants
As the roots are placed into a container with a limited amount of soil and oxygen, precautions must be taken. The greatest is derived from excessive irrigation, the Cannabis plant is a dry plant species.
Being a rainfed plant we must respect its optimal irrigation cycles, how does this work? the roots simply take oxygen at times when the soil is dry, which are the dry periods. While it hydrates itself and takes nutrients at times of watering, periods of irrigation. Failure to respect these cycles can lead to the death of plants.
This looks very simple, but it has its technique, because when the specimens are young, small, they have a root system also of tiny size, because of this it is very possible that they do not cover more than a small percentage of the soil. For this reason, they are not able to absorb much water at an initial stage of the crop, i.e. the ability to dry the substrate is low, so every watering should last longer.
Once the plants begin to grow, their root system occupies a larger space within the substrate, this means that they will need more water to hydrate, so the ability to dry the substrate is high, consequently watering should be more frequent.
When to water outdoor plants in soil
When the Cannabis plant is planted in soil, it has an almost unlimited amount of room for root growth, let’s say, this means that the plant itself can make a living, as well as the capillarity of the soil itself contribute to making the environment more flexible. If the substrate is too wet and the plant drowns because it has no oxygen, it can try to expand its roots to areas of the soil that are not as wet. It also works the other way around, they can grow into wetter areas if they don’t have enough water resources where they are.
This allows certain freedoms when it comes to wrong irrigation, both under and over, although the cycles must also be respected as precisely as possible in order to improve the fruits of the plants, both in quality and quantity.
Having rainfed plants with the right irrigation cycles ensures safer harvests, without the problems of fungus and disease.
The environmental factor in marijuana irrigation
For watering the plants, it is also necessary to take into account environmental factors, both temperature and humidity, which also contribute to the irrigation cycle. The higher the heat, the greater the evaporation, resulting in faster moisture depletion. With less humidity, the watering will also last less time.
Proportionally, the lower the temperature, the less the soil dries and the higher be the humidity, the less likely the substrate is to dry, or even to get wet, resulting in no or slower drying of the substrate.
The wind is an important indicator too, that can help us to know whether it is going to rise or fall the humidity. As more wind, less time to dry the soil, as less wind, more time to dry the soil.
And remember that you always have to treat each plant in a personalized way, it is not worth watering them all at once, as they have different needs.
Wherever it is that you’re growing there will always be a specific time at which you need to spray your plants, as well as water them.
I just planted 5 plants in my vegetable garden. Do I water the leaves or just soak at ground level?
Always water plants soil never the leaves. Also cut back during flower. If in the ground naturally then stop watering all together during flower or you will end up with mildew and bud rot dependent on varieties. Good luck! Check me out on IG > @monster_mass_qualgenics
Grow on! 👍🏼
I’ve heard to water the ground where the root/steam is cause the water in the leaf in the sun will burn like a sunburn on us