Halifax hydroponics wants you to get the best results from your grow room. It's not difficult to accidentally end up overwatering your grow room plants. If you have a soil based or peat based plants in your grow room or greenhouse that are being overwatered it's a sure fire way to kill your plants or at the very least leave their roots gasping for air. If you're growing using deep water culture, ebb and flow or any substrate with excellent drainage properties such as rockwool then overwatered plants shouldn't be an issue. However if you use a substrate such as Sunshine mix or another other peat based form then you must be careful. There's a huge difference between moist and saturated. Never allow pots to dry out between watering times as this drives the EC levels in the substrate above tolerance levels. Make sure when you water that there is some run off out of the bottom of the pots. 10% to 20% run off is good. This ensures that even the lowest roots in the pot are receiving what they require. You don't want the roots at the bottom doing an about turn and moving upwards simply to reach out for water that exists only in the top couple of inches. Don't use a saucer under your pots unless the bottom of the pot is raised off the bottom of the saucer to allow for water to drain into the saucer. So long as not roots dangle into the saucer you're plants won't drown. Take care with peat based substrates to water them slowly a little at a time. They have an almost waxy nature so are slow to absorb the moisture. A little perlite in the substrate mix really helps to retain moisture. Polymer gel crystals added to the substrate will also help to retain moisture. One way to ensure your plants never dry out to the point of wilting is to use a moisture probe. These are quite inexpensive and worth the money. With nutrients it's crucial that the manufacturer's instructions be followed to the letter. Over-application of nutrients kills plants by effectively "burning" them. This happens when the plant is absorbing an overload of soluble salts. The salts cause the roots to shrivel up and creates slow absorption of water. The roots become susceptible to disease. Since the plant isn't hydrated, it tends to burn. Some signs of over-fertilization are an excessive amount of leaves or foliage but few flowers. Leaves will also show yellow around the tips. Sometimes the nutrient burn is so bad the edges of leave become crisp and dehydrated. Over-fertilized plants can be saved. You'll basically have to "flush" the extra nutrient out of the plant system by slowly draining the soil with lots of water. Usually four times the capacity of the pot must be gradually poured into the pot and flow out the bottom in order to leach out the excess nutrients. Cut off the burned or damaged leaves since they can't be revived. You'll then have to replant the pot with as much fresh substrate (or soil) as possible and then use fertilizer high in nitrogen for the very next feed. A big thanks from Halifax hydroponics and its staff for taking the time to read this article. The more you know...the more you'll grow!
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