For how long should you let your rhizosome dry out after feeding or after watering? Do you rely on monitoring equipment or a timer (or your best judgment) to ensure that your roots are always have ample moisture? At what % dryness do you apply more water? If you are using a timer, how often are you cycling and for how long? Let’s chat hydro!
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I’ve started using a soil moisture meter - I just leave it stuck in one of the Smart Pots. Blumats makes a digital one, which I have still in the box.
If the pots aren’t too big, I’ll lift them up to see how much water they’re holding. I used to stick my finger down into the soil to test the moisture, but I now just leave the soil alone.
When I worked at a large(er) grow, We’d just lift to test the weight of the plant/cube to determine how wet the rockwool cubes were. Also, if the leaves are drooping were a sign. These are just ways to check how wet the medium is outside the normal every other day watering cycle.
I have noticed that different plants feed differently - even tho they might be the same clones. Just some do better than others. It would be nice to be able to monitor each plant, but it also seems like it would be difficult… maybe not with a bunch of sensors and isolated watering hoses.
There’s also a sweet spot of wet to dry… Each cultivar is different, but getting that dialed in would be powerful.
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Experience with high-flow recirculation and either quick dry rockwool cubes (6x6x6) or 1 gallon coco with 4-week veg showed great results by feeding once when the lights come on and you’re done. No monitoring required, tend the plants instead.
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When feeding with salts I allow the media to dry out [near] entirely and provide dry cycles to the plant. I flood the pot. Repeat. I look for 15%-20% runoff.
in rockwool I look for 10-15% run off per drip cycle and I always let the plants in that environment determine the frequency.
In organics I use a meter to keep the moisture content around 100 mbar [I prefer Bluemat]. I put out water when the meter hits 80 and stop at 110 and this is always manual to trigger but automatic to stop [so there is some range].
In general - I do not automate the trigger of watering with the exception of rockwool [which gets more complicated if I provide dry cycles].
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I automate irrigation depending on VPD, Lighting Conditions, and biomass. I do like to take daily spot samples to guarantee consistency in automation. Coco with #1 or #3s can take upwards of 5 feedings per day. Absolute Ph control in the medium and higher DO levels, win win.
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