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water Bottom watering

W

wordwiz

Four-six months ago, this was a hot topic. Thanks to Pam and AJ, I started doing to for my plants and saw a great improvement. Well those seedlings have transformed from six-inch plants is nine ounce cups to 16-26 inch things in five gallon containers.

Thursday evening, I came home after a meeting and watered the plants. I would add about a gallon of water at a time, move to another plant, add a gallon, move to the next one. After about five minutes, return to the first plant and start the process over. Did this four times.

Yesterday was quite hot - about 90 degrees with very bright sunlight all day and today was lamost the same. This afternoon, I checked and leaves on most of the plants were drooping badly. I'm thinking that water is running out of the containers instead of soaking into the dirt to the root level.

Then reading AJ's thread about some of his superhots not having blooms (like mine) was one aspect. I looked at my plants and the ones that are on the smaller side, seem to be moist today, but the larger plants, most of them the superhots, were dry as a bone. I'm thinking the root area of the containers is not getting completely moist, such as would happen if the plants were growing in dirt, where water would not simply run out the sides.

So I spent three hours sticking the pots in a big tub and letting them sit for five minutes or more. I could see a big difference in the plants 30 minutes later - the leaves were sticking up instead of drooping, even though the dirt in the top of the containers was still dry.

I used some bloom/fruit nuits in the water (5-13-5) so hopefully I'll see some flowers and pods in the next week ot two.

Mike
 
I mainly do bottom watering now too, especially since I had a bout of Aphids. I'm just getting used to the fact that even though the top part of the soil is dry they don't need more water.
 
I checked the plants today and they look way better. Ended up using more than 30 gallons of water for 36 plants, and I tried to let most of the excess water drain.

No way will I be able to do this all summer and into the fall - the plants will hopefully be way too large. What I'm thinking about doing is tilling the dirt and raking out the top 4-6 inches, setting the containers in the furrow, then raking the dirt back around them. That should, once the dirt settles, slow down how fast water runs out of the container, so in the middle of August, if a drought hits again, I can water them and the roots will get wet, or at least the dirt around them will be moist.

Mike
 
I've found with bottom watering that I've had to water them more regularly so I think I might go back to top watering for every other water.
 
I will definitely have another watering regimen figured out next year...I am watering at least once a day now, some plants are getting water twice a day....temps are hovering around 100F in the day time and 80F at night...one other alternative you have Mike is to use those thingys that you sit the pots in when they are inside to keep them from draining on the floor after watering...I have my nagas sitting in other buckets to catch the run off...
 
Bottom watering is great but you should top water too every so often to flush out salts which can accumulate
 
My plan next year will be to get many of them in the ground rather than containers. I should have enough compost and mixed soil to fill in about 128 sq ft. of my dead area. That would give me room for maybe 24 plants. The rest, I can dig holes and stick the pot and everything in them.

Mike
 
POTAWIE said:
Bottom watering is great but you should top water too every so often to flush out salts which can accumulate
Click to expand...


That's exactly the reason why I usually do both, I can't go wrong then.

QS, you're a naughty, naughty boy ;)
 
POTAWIE said:
Bottom watering is great but you should top water too every so often to flush out salts which can accumulate
Click to expand...

I plan on not bottom watering more than once a week, hopefully once every 10 days - two weeks. Unless I find a larger tub, the most I can water at once is two pots. With 50 plants, at five minutes per plant, that's a lot of time.

Not to mention, once they grow larger and start getting (hopefully!) lots of pods, it's going to be a problem moving them. I'll have to find a different way of making sure water gets all the way to the roots without running out the sides.

Mike
 
If the water is running down the sides of your pot and out, you probably have too much clay or hard soil. Try putting some looser soil or mulch on the top
 
I bottom watered when they were seedlings. Now that they're in 5gal buckets, I can't imagine how I'd bottom water. I water them about once a week, and they seem to be pretty happy. I wait until they get droopy before I water again.
 
POTAWIE said:
If the water is running down the sides of your pot and out, you probably have too much clay or hard soil. Try putting some looser soil or mulch on the top
Click to expand...

Potawie,

Almost zero amount of clay. The bottom layer is 99 percent silt, mixed with some peat. Then there is a layer of top soil that the rootball sat on. Around that is a layer of potting soil and top soil, until the roots were completely covered. The rest is the silt.

Water runs down the side because the dirt doesn't completely adhere to the sides; of course, it doesn't take but a fraction of an inch. Then the pots have drain holes so out it goes.

If I add water real, real slowly, it soaks in, which is what I will have to do when they get larger.

Mike
 
wordwiz said:
Then the pots have drain holes so out it goes. If I add water real, real slowly, it soaks in, which is what I will have to do when they get larger.

Mike
Click to expand...

Duct Tape some of the holes up....I know it sounds funny but it will work....
 
nope, just southern redneck at heart... :lol:

and duct tape works on anything....doesn't it?
 
If it moves and shouldn't - use duct tape
If it doesn't move and should - use WD 40
If it should stay together and doesn't - use Gorilla Glue
If it should stay apart and doesn't - use a hammer

Seriously, AJ, I never thought of that. I don't think I have to worry about water staying in the pots too long - with the temps and low humidity, they should dry out fairly quickly.

One thing I am considering for later this summer if it gets real dry - I have one of those lawn sprinklers that go from left to right and cover about 16 feet at a time. It's adjustable, so I can practically aim it straight up and it will stay there. Turn the nozzle down so it doesn't put out many gallons per minute (and will cover a little less area). It would be equal to a heavy drizzle for an hour or so.

I firmly believe that if roots (at least in the garden) get a good soaking every ten days, they will provide more than enough energy to the plant.

Mike
 
I may have found a simple solution to completely soaking the plants while adding nuits to them, and not having half the water run out the bottom - and I won't have to use duct tape.

Hiding in the garage was an Ortho "Dial 'N Spray" gizmo. I can add concentrated liquid ferts in it and then spray at any ration form about 1 teaspoon to four ounces per gallon. I've used it in the past to water plants, it has a rather direct spray so I don't waste lots of water. What I didn't realize is that the nozzle can be easily controlled so it will output about two quarts to eight gallons per minute. The lower setting allows me to water pots and not have the liquids run out the bottom.

Mike
 
What about getting a big storage type plastic box to water your plants in?

For my little seedlings in 50mm pots, I've been stacking them in this storage box, watering from the top so the water runs through the bottom, and then let them sit in the container for a few minutes. Obviously this should hopefully encourage the roots to find more of the "good stuff" towards the bottom of the pot.

I took some very sickly Yellow Scotch Bonnets from outside that seemed to have been severely stunted thanks to an Aphid army larger than China's military, and they already seem to be poking their roots through the bottom of the pots. Off to Bunnings to get some 100mm pots now.
 
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