Watering

Hello Smokestack925, keep the RH running around 60% and consider adding perlites to your soil so it will retain water much better. Good luck with your project, I wish you all the best! 👽

I've used Smart Pots for 10 years until recently I just let them sit in the runoff; never once had a root problem. Just recently I got some puck elevators that bring the pot off the bottom of the saucer so they don't re-drink their waste water because I changed my nutes, schedule, and practices. That has left it so the bottoms are now gently moist and not soaked. Search for "Rubber Pots Risers, Pot Lifters" on Amazon. That will take you to a selection that will work with your pot size. I just got these little 1/2" plastic pucks that sit on the saucer and under the pot. I would back off your watering to 16 oz every other day. Error on the side of dryer is my philosophy. I've got some girls in Week 5 of veg in 3gal smart pots and I'm only just now giving them 16oz of water every 3 days. At this stage in early veg they're still building their roots, they needs gently moist soil, not heavily wet. All your plants look like they're praying to the light, which is the sign of good watering. If you're worried back off a bit but they look fine to me.

The main purposes of run-off is to make sure the soil is fully watered all the way through so it will reach the roots and to push old nutrients out to make way for new nutrients and avoid a lockout. Soil that stays moist is also susceptible to mold. This is just based off what I've read and what I'm currently growing. Here is an article that might help: https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/blog-how-to-water-cannabis-plants-a-comprehensive-guide-n1205#just-check-the-soil

smart pots are the fabric or the plastic knobby things? lol. Both are widely used without issues. top "half" shouldn't be completely dry. you can irrigate before that point. If in soil, top 1" dry is a good indicator and feel weight.. go by weight with a simple tug in future. you need runoff, or you will start to cause a buildup of what the plant doesn't drink each time you add more. if in soil, water-only irrigation can be limited runoff, but anytime you fertilize full strength, you want up to 20% runoff. While ramping up to full strength, stick to 'some' runoff, or you will leech what nutrients came with your soil. if soilless, this is simple.. fertilize every single time wiht 20% runoff... wait for it to dry, repeat... always 20% runoff, because soilless provides nothing to the plant. each time you fertilize you are refreshing nutrient contents of entirity of the substrate. when you get to full strength nutes with soil later into a grow, you are basically doing the same thing. Once the nutes in the soil are used up, treat it like soilless for the most part. when you do this, you will have more time between irrigations too... 4 cups a day? stop doing that. Just get some runoff, ensure entirity is wet and wait for top 1" to dry, even if it takes 7-9 days. If you are late in bloom, it might be 3-5 days with a full grown plant in a 5-gal. Early on with a small plant, big pot, it takes a lot longer. by constatnyl adding water to the top, you are training roots to grow superficially. if you let them chase the water downward, it'll be ahealthier root system. wet-dry cycle... numerous benefits but that is a big one.