Written by: Emily Joswiak • August 28, 2023• Green Living

Cannabis Watering 101: Tips for Beginner Growers

The last thing you want as a new cannabis grower is to kill your plants before harvest. Here are tips for beginner growers on properly watering plants.

Taking care of cannabis involves temperature, humidity, nutrient additives, and, most importantly, water. Here are cannabis watering tips for beginner growers.

Ensuring Optimal Water Quality

Water quality plays a key role in how well you cultivate cannabis plants. Combined with nutrient additives, it determines how well your cannabis crops develop, especially with your station’s location. For instance, even if your tap water contains calcium, it can damage your plants and irrigation system.

You ideally want to water your cannabis plants with purified reverse osmosis water, collected rainfall, bottled water, and left-out tap water with eliminated chlorine. Furthermore, cannabis needs water with specific pH levels, particularly between 6 and 7, or even 6.5, for growing in soil. Lastly, too many chemicals in your water can harm plants. So either dilute the water for crops using rain or reverse osmosis water, or let the water sit out for 24 hours.

Consider Drip Irrigation Systems

There are various cannabis watering methods, including drip irrigation systems. A drip irrigation system is an incredibly helpful watering method that helps newbie growers save money and helps the plants get more nutrients with an automated process. Drip irrigation is also particularly helpful for larger crops or grow stations in hotter climates.

Drip irrigation distributes consistent, even liquid across plants, allowing for controlled watering frequency. Furthermore, growers can control the volume of water released, which helps manage nutrient delivery.

Identifying Under- and Overwatering

Another of the watering tips for beginner cannabis growers is identifying signs of over- and underwatering. While it’s more common to overwater your cannabis plants, underwatering can also occur.

Underwatered Cannabis

Your plants will show signs of underwatering in various ways, including bent stems, no new leaf production during the vegetation stage, yellowing or browning leaves, and a lifeless, dry appearance.

If you notice signs of underwatering, using neutral-pH water and providing fertilizer after their revival can help. If they aren’t recovering, checking the water’s pH can help determine if inadequate pH levels are the culprit.

Overwatered Cannabis

Overwatered cannabis can occur when new growers don’t pay attention or overcompensate. Some signs of overwatering include muddy pot soil, swollen, discolored, or curled leaves, and wilting. Using drip irrigation systems can help distribute water evenly across all plants to prevent overwatering.

Likewise, monitoring water runoff at the cannabis container bottoms can help determine if your plants get overwatered. If water stagnates there for too long, check drainage and reduce the water flow. Lastly, implement a strict watering schedule to prevent overwatering.

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