Please explain the concern about overwatering

I know you need to go easy on the water until roots have formed, and after transplant until they branch out throughout the new pot. They will grow out and search for water as long as there isn’t too much sitting in the soil.

But once the roots have established and gone throughout the container, what is the concern about overwatering?

I’ve been watering my flowering plants 2-3 times a day as my schedule permits, until run-off goes in the trays. Then I leave the run-off and they suck it back up within a few hours, and they are ready for more a few hours after that. They are taking over a gallon a day each.

These are the girls below. 3.5 ft on the left, 3 ft on the right. week 4 of flower on the left week 1 on the right those are 5 gallon fabric pots for scale reference

What will go wrong and am I overwatering?

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I don’t see any over watering according to the plants… what soil? How big of pots are you running?.. are they fabric? If you are in coco that’s just the way it is the more feeds thrrough the day the better off you will be in my experience depending on the set up and the genetics… if you are in soil I’d say your plants are too big for there pots if they are drinking that fast and I would advise going to bigger pots for that specific strain if grown again… other than that I’m not seeing over watering on your plants from what I can tell, but it’s totally possible in any style of growing to over water… to answer your ?? About what will happen if you do over water… plants will droop leaves typically kinda looked blistered from to much water and then it will cause your plant to stop drinking completely then the nute deficiencies show up and wipe out the plant

You are using cloth pots thats why you are getting away with it sorta… I see you have some issues bybthe leaf color and some burnt tips going on there?
But to answer your question, overwatering suffocates your plant. Typically, plants in plastic pots have a half dozen holes for drainage and for air to enter, as well as the soils surface, if the water is standing in the bottom it blocks those holes so no gasses can be exchanged. Furthermore, the salts flushed out collect there.

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They are autos in 5 gallon fabric pots, I would have thought more than enough, but I think they got pretty huge for autos. I did get 7 gallons for the future, but planned to work through the 5’s, but maybe you’re right and it’s not a good idea. The soil is a mix of organic gardening soil, peat, perlite and vermiculite and composted manure. I already got 7 gallon pots for next time.

Thanks for the info! I didn’t know what to look for, and what the impact on the plant would be.

So, I’m thinking maybe she did need all that water through the stretch, but you’re right she has been looking more yellow, and leaves have been dying, but the buds keep looking better so I thought everything was ok. The yellowing has coincided with it sucking up the water more slowly than a few weeks ago, and not the other one is going dry really fast as she starts to bud.

But the fabric pots do explain why it’s not hurting me as bad it other wise would. I’ll cut back, thanks.

In my experience after flip when they are switching from veg to flower and stretching they will consume more water until around week 5 or so and then will drink less water as it nears harvest.
This is using living soil and not a coco based medium and that may be somewhat different if that’s what your using…not sure.

They will start showing deficiency in leaves as it gets closer to harvest. Just the natural progression in my experience

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Hey spiney, thats a pretty cool thing. Found an untrue statement though. The writer states that hydroponic plants will die without a bubbler. Not true… hydroponic root structure is different than soil root. It has airbroots on top and feeder roots on the bottom. While aeration serves to increase availability of oxygen to the root, it mainly serves to keep the solution in suspension. Im surprised the author didnt catch thd flaw in that opening statement?
The Kratky method proves this.
Ive grown huge tomato plants in straight kratky… pain in the ass because of the need for more frequent solution changes.

@Spiney_norman Thank you very much, bookmarked.

I do have a little of the brown spots, but I also had my lights too close in addition to too much water, so it could go either way. I’ll just try to correct for both.

Thanks again guys!

@Teffygreenthumb @Cannabian @Spiney_norman @Skydiver

Do you guys think my pots are too small? They are 5 gallon fabric pots that I am using for auto’s, and they measure slightly over 5 US gallons, not the smaller gardeners gallons.

I got some 7’s that I was going to use when I start Photo’s but now I’m thinking maybe I should get 10’s of 15’s for those and use the 7’s for Auto’s. Unfortunately, I already started the next batch of 2 in 5’s, but I can transplant them before flowering I suppose. I’m LSTing this time so it may be a little more difficult, but I want the highest quality stuff I can get for the effort this takes, so pls lmk if you think the pots are undersized.

These Auto’s got much bigger than I expected. The one on the left is 3.5 feet tall and 3 feet in diameter. The one on the left is 3 feet tall and about 3 feet in diameter and is still stretching. I can only assume the next batch will be similarly sized because I’m doing the same stuff, but better next time.

Not entirely sure even if they are too small for the root system in fabric pots you should be fine might show some signs of root bound but they should make it to the end just stay on top of your watering and feedings… I grew three autos and I had them in 3 gallon fabric and they got way bigger than expected it took a lot of work and attention to ensure they didn’t dry out to frequently watering several times a day I was using coco coir a little different than soil but as root bound as they were they finished decently next time I grow that specific strain I’m putting them in 5 or 7 gallons pots to ensure that doesn’t happen again

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Those should work fine

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Hey Cannabian,
Yeah, lots of articles have mistakes in them. Perhaps he should have qualified it better. Hydro without an air gap would be bad. In soil tho constant watering wont give the roots any oxygen.
The one thing I see that I didn’t know before is the browning along the edges of the leaves which is distinctly different than a brown tip from over feeding. Now that I know this I have seen it in forum photos quite often. Keep your eye out and you will spot it too.
Cheers!

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Yeah I know, Ive seen this too. I think that overwatering can essentially deny a lot of nutrients as well… kinda of a cascading effect. After all, it sets up an anaerobic environment.

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Here was a recent one…Its obvious now that I know…

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