So after getting some good results from soil, I would have to say watering might be the most difficult thing to nail down, both how, how much, and how often. This is partially because every plant is different. Not just different strains, but size, whether it leans to one of its parents, climate, then also not having the soil get too dense when watering.
So whether your new to growing, or new to growing soil these tips should help out!
When do you know to water?
2 things here. Early in the plants life it is simplest to just pick the pot up. If it is light soak it, later in the plants life weight might now be enough as the root system could be quite heavy at this point. I suggest fingering it HAHA put a finge r in up to the second knuckle if no dirt sticks or is visibly dry soak it. Don’t assume all plants will be on the same watering schedule.
How much should I water?
An easy rule of thumb is approxiamately 25-33% of your container volume. so a 4gal container should get AT LEAST 1 GALLON, you want to water enough you are seeing drainage.
How should I water?
I used to use a DIY irrigation drip system. It is ok and if you don’t have the time its fine, 10gal bucket with lid, 200gph+ aquarium or fountain pump, pressure regulator, drip manifold (orbit 8 ports for me), 1/2inc inside tube for pump to manifold, 1/8in tubing to 1/2gph woodpeckers.
However the issue with this is all the plants will be eating/drinking at the same rate which may led some to burn and some to stunt and reduce yield. I suggest mixing a bucket then using a container with a decent size opening. You want to start by slowly pouring in a circular motion around the root ball. Give it time for that to soak in, then the rest of the watering should be about a 1/2in from the outside of your container, continue to rotate the plant or the container you are pouring from as you do not want to dump.
Do you find your soil gets to dense from water?
MULCH/HAY/STRAW. I cannot stress this enough. If you are growing in soil you need to have a layer of this on top. this helps slow the water so it doesn’t compress the water as much. This also helps the soil dry at a more even rate throughout the pot.
Last tip about feeding…if you are using a lot of amendments in your mix, you will want to be watering with a lower PPM than most recommendations, this is because a lot of those minerals become available throughout the life of the plant those will raise the PPM (TDS/EC as well) when watered. This could cause unintentional nutrient burn.