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water Watering dilema

LordViykor

LordViykor

Some of my plants seem to be wilting yet the growing medium doesn't seem to be 'dry'.

The mix is one I've made up using coconut coir, coarse sand, garden soil, manure, perlite and vermiculite. It seems to be working well with most of my plants.

My dilemma is am I watering too much or too little? The attached photos show the condition of some of my plants.

normal_watering01.jpg



normal_watering02.jpg



normal_watering03.jpg



normal_watering04.jpg
 
normal_watering05.jpg


normal_watering06.jpg


The choc habs in the green pods are all growing side by side some are doing well others are dropping leaves. The potting mix still seems to have moisture in it.

any ideas or suggestions?
 
Hey mate, IMO it may be that you have medium in which has little water RETENTION. Most of your mediums are great drainers except potentially your garden soil. Maybey You need more retention medium or wetting agents.
Or
I would say water more often, as you wont get root rot or get over watering problems with that mix.
 
Good time for drippers IMO. Bloody hot up in Queesland LV, my guess is that most of your seed stock came from a more forgiving climate.
 
chilliman said:
Hey mate, IMO it may be that you have medium in which has little water RETENTION. Most of your mediums are great drainers except potentially your garden soil. Maybey You need more retention medium or wetting agents.
Or
I would say water more often, as you wont get root rot or get over watering problems with that mix.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll start increasing the watering cycle a bit probably needs it now with the days we've been having.

Novacastrian said:
Good time for drippers IMO. Bloody hot up in Queesland LV, my guess is that most of your seed stock came from a more forgiving climate.
Click to expand...

The missus and I were talking about that earlier today, I've put drippers through the garden beds already.
 
Also remember LV that roots act like a radiator to draw heat away from the plant and with the high temps you can actually "boil" the roots, they get scorched and this will yeild a smaller stunted plant.

Sorry to sound negative but i have the same problem ;)
 
Novacastrian said:
Also remember LV that roots act like a radiator to draw heat away from the plant and with the high temps you can actually "boil" the roots, they get scorched and this will yeild a smaller stunted plant.

Sorry to sound negative but i have the same problem ;)
Click to expand...

I think I may have already done that to some of my plants.
 
LV, you need to dig down to the bottom of the containers and check the soil wetness down there...two years ago during the summer, I lost a lot of plants (~75) to root rot caused by over watering...the top of the soil would be dry every day but the soil in the bottom of the pots was like wet mud...remember this, warm temperatures + over watering = root rot...

if you do find the soil in the bottom of the pots is really wet, start using 1 Tbsp H2O2 (peroxide) per gallon of water when you do give them water...this will kill all the bacteria (good and bad) in the pots...

root rot is caused by bacteria reproducing like mad in a wet soil and gets into the plants "circulatory" system, blocking the pathways from the roots to the stems...they just clog up the "arteries"...
 
AlabamaJack said:
LV, you need to dig down to the bottom of the containers and check the soil wetness down there...two years ago during the summer, I lost a lot of plants (~75) to root rot caused by over watering...the top of the soil would be dry every day but the soil in the bottom of the pots was like wet mud...remember this, warm temperatures + over watering = root rot...
Click to expand...

I use one of those soil moisture meters. They're very inexpensive (about $6.00) and they work very good. Since I bought one of those at my local hardware store I no longer overwater plants. Well not that they give lab worthy results, but it's to get an indication, right?

soil%20moisture%20meter%20probe.jpg


After using this for 2 weeks I found I no longer needed the tool on a daily basis because I was more familiar with the water requirements of my plants.
 
the meters may be good, but I don't trust them...not saying they don't work but nothing like a feel of the soil with your hands to determine the wetness...I know it entails digging in the container but as you say, once you get your routine down, you are set...

you only will have to use the peroxide a couple of times, maybe three if it is going to work, if by the third time you are still not getting any improvement, I would repot the plant...this is JMO...

some of the plants may be already too far gone to do anything about...
 
I stopped using my moisture meter and just check the weight of the container if in doubt. The times I've had soil issues was because I was watering too frequently or watering when the container was still heavy.
 
I bury my containers (after I soak the water when first transplanting) so I don't have to worry about the sun drying out the sides. Then, I give them about 3/4" of rain every week-ten days, depending on the weather. If it stays cloudy, it's every ten days. Sunny, once a week. An inch of rain for a pot whose diameter is ten inches is ~45 ounces or a little less than 1.5 quarts. To make it easier, I add a gallon of water to my sprayer and use it to water four plants.

I like the sprayer because it spreads the water around evenly and I can water all four containers, a bit at a time, and repeat it until I use the entire gallon.

Mike
 
LancelBracken said:
How are they on overcast / not so hot days?

It could be 'psuedo-wilt' :P ...a term i just invented!
Click to expand...

They seem to look the same no matter what the weather is, maybe the diablos are being under watered. Not sure about the others though.


AlabamaJack said:
LV, you need to dig down to the bottom of the containers and check the soil wetness down there...two years ago during the summer, I lost a lot of plants (~75) to root rot caused by over watering...the top of the soil would be dry every day but the soil in the bottom of the pots was like wet mud...remember this, warm temperatures + over watering = root rot...

if you do find the soil in the bottom of the pots is really wet, start using 1 Tbsp H2O2 (peroxide) per gallon of water when you do give them water...this will kill all the bacteria (good and bad) in the pots...

root rot is caused by bacteria reproducing like mad in a wet soil and gets into the plants "circulatory" system, blocking the pathways from the roots to the stems...they just clog up the "arteries"...
Click to expand...

AJ, thanks for the detailed post, I'll have a dig into my pots and have a look. I know I have overwatered some other pots as they were like wet mud.
 
my_key said:
I use one of those soil moisture meters. They're very inexpensive (about $6.00) and they work very good. Since I bought one of those at my local hardware store I no longer overwater plants. Well not that they give lab worthy results, but it's to get an indication, right?

soil%20moisture%20meter%20probe.jpg


After using this for 2 weeks I found I no longer needed the tool on a daily basis because I was more familiar with the water requirements of my plants.
Click to expand...

I might get myself one of these this week, as you say it is an indicator, maybe not perfect but it should give me a base to work off.

wordwiz said:
I bury my containers (after I soak the water when first transplanting) so I don't have to worry about the sun drying out the sides. Then, I give them about 3/4" of rain every week-ten days, depending on the weather. If it stays cloudy, it's every ten days. Sunny, once a week. An inch of rain for a pot whose diameter is ten inches is ~45 ounces or a little less than 1.5 quarts. To make it easier, I add a gallon of water to my sprayer and use it to water four plants.

I like the sprayer because it spreads the water around evenly and I can water all four containers, a bit at a time, and repeat it until I use the entire gallon.

Mike
Click to expand...

Thanks Mike, I'm a bit hit and miss with my watering, I check the dryness of the top of the pot and if it's still moist I don't water. This seems to be my undoing at present. I normally water using a 9 litre watering can and that does around 4-5 30cm pots.

I have been trying to make sure I don't overwater, the more I read here makes me think I've gone too far the other way.
 
Looks like the plants in the first two pictures are really missing some vital nutes as well. The leaves are pretty curled on a bunch of them.
 
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