Need help on setting a watering schedule using a raindrip analog timer.

best to irrigate when lights come on or 30-45mins prior if i recall... but earlier is better than later because moare will be drunk before a dark cycle - wet and dark isn't optimal but unavoidable. by watering early in light cycle you reduce that risk. if in a bind, i would never skip an irrigation needed at night if i thought the plants would wilt from lack of water before the next morning. schedule depends on size of plants, size of pots and drainage properties in that pot. you follow the same basic tenets. wait for top 1" to dry and repeat. that is not going to be a consistent time schedule between. you may over time figure out a rough schedule that works well enough. if you are consistent in methods you'll probably see a similar shortening of time between irrigations as you go. if you want to "gas" it with soil, can irrigate once it loses at least 33-50% of weight from pot -- assuming decent drainage qualities exist in the pot - > also means good penetration of O2 for roots - goes hand-in-hand. if you got a waterlogged substrate all the time it's going to be a problem at some point over 3-4 months.