Watering your cannabis is a recurring activity that most growers love. Those who tend to smaller gardens prefer to hand water as it lets them connect with their plants. On the other hand, those with larger gardens prefer precise automation where each plant gets the same amount at the same time each day.
When to water your cannabis plants is another one of those topics that are rarely agreed upon in the cannabis community with seasoned growers. However, with new technologies and studies being implemented data is being uncovered every year that shows which methods are the best for growing cannabis.
It turns out that watering your cannabis plants about a half-hour after your lights turn on in the morning is the best time. If you are growing cannabis outdoors then watering about 45 minutes after the sun has risen is the popular opinion.
For those growing indoor cannabis, growers have said that right before the lights go out is the best time to water. Others have said that they just water when the growing medium is dry. Which answer is the right answer? Let’s break down the best times to water your cannabis plants.
Cannabis Are Productive At Night Too
Cannabis produces energy during the day when the sun is out or your lights are on. At nighttime when photosynthesis cannot occur, cannabis plants take that time to metabolize the extra energy they created throughout the day.
This is also the reason why growers who tend to run their lights 24 hours see a decreased yield, the plant has no downtime to metabolize any extra energy so it gets wasted.
Cannabis plants respire constantly, throughout the day and night. This means they are producing oxygen as well as photosynthesis during the day. At night they are still respiring constantly, just without photosynthesis happening at the same time. This means that if you water at night then your plant won’t be using any of it as photosynthesis is not occurring.
What this is saying is that watering when the lights come on gives your cannabis plants time to use up the water converting the light to energy before the lights go out and they use up the extra energy stored. It just makes for a more efficient growth cycle.
Watering At Night Can Create Mold
Keeping your climate consistent is the best way to keep molds under control in your grow room. Unfortunately, not all grow rooms are equal and mold can be a problem that devastates crops.
Molds like powdery mildew are around us all the time and won’t become a problem in your garden unless certain conditions are met. Powdery mildew will proliferate during humidity spikes in your grow room.
Watering your plants at night will hold the moisture in the soil which will slowly release into the air causing the humidity to spike. It’s during these lights-out periods when the humidity is higher than powdery mildew will sneak in and take hold.
Keep It Simple And Water After First Light
If you understand how your cannabis plants operate then you might have a different time to water your plants. Watering in the morning gives your cannabis a chance to use all of the water for their internal processes such as photosynthesis while leaving the nighttime to use any extra juice to convert to energy-giving starches.
Find out more about the watering of your cannabis plants – how to keep your cannabis watered while on vacation, or can you revive overwatered cannabis, and much more on our website!
