Do you water as normal when using smart pots?

I will be using smart pots on this indoor grow. I was wanting to know if you water till you get runoff in smart pots or do you water alittle less.

I water the same as I used to water in plastic containers, on average I go 1L of water (~quart) per 1Gal of soil/medium. Only thing to watch for with these pots is they'll tend to dry out faster than you're accustomed to as air actually passes through them. Not a bad thing, they work fantastic, just an adjustment. Cheers.

I have got 5 3 gallon pots standing in a tray about 4 inches high, i pour the water straigt in to the tray, and let the smart pots suck up the water from the bottom.
This works pretty well for me, have done it for a couple of grows

ok thank you for the replies.

I water regular or as needed...

GroErr said:

I water the same as I used to water in plastic containers, on average I go 1L of water (~quart) per 1Gal of soil/medium. Only thing to watch for with these pots is they'll tend to dry out faster than you're accustomed to as air actually passes through them. Not a bad thing, they work fantastic, just an adjustment. Cheers.

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I'm doing my first grow and decided to use air pots. THEY DRY OUT SO DAMN FAST. Loving the growth though

N00b_Farmer said:

I'm doing my first grow and decided to use air pots. THEY DRY OUT SO DAMN FAST. Loving the growth though

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Yeah, you definitely have to water more but I think you'll find it worthwhile in output. I find pretty well any container size dries consistently around 3 days once they're into flowering, some a bit faster, rarely slower. Here's an example of 3x 5gal plants that will finish this week, they're looking close to a qp each

I water everyday or every other day a little bit. I use a large syringe so I can keep track of how much water per plant as they each grow. I like to keep the center of the smartpots saturated enough, while the outsides and top are constantly wicking moisture away from the center.

I've been doing it long enough now to where I'm a pretty good judge by weight of how many mL's of water a pot needs.

I'm running pure organics and water only for these smartpots right now, and I have yet to water till runoff. Another advantage, for me, to my watering system is that I'm using a peat based soil mix, and peat becomes hydrophobic if it dries out. So I've got to keep part of the top layer moist or else watering is a royal pain in the ass.

I'm looking into switching to bluemats, I hear they're nice as long as they work.

But yeah, these pots definitely dry out faster, so watch out for dry spots and make sure your runoff isn't actually running straight off in channels and missing your soil completely. Its better to water slowly, or in steps, and evenly.

That's all I got, all in all they're sweet pots for plants. I've noticed a definite difference in the rootballs from solid pots, and I'm going to be using these for regular flower beds and in my public garden.

a senile fungus said:

But yeah, these pots definitely dry out faster, so watch out for dry spots and make sure your runoff isn't actually running straight off in channels and missing your soil completely. Its better to water slowly, or in steps.

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Good point senile. When they're really dry if you don't water in steps or very slowly you'll end up with some water running straight through. I've found making sure there aren't any air pockets/gaps helps there too, when I up-pot I pack the edges (lightly) to fill any gaps. Wouldn't go back to plastic though, these things rock for building strong root systems.

GroErr said:

Good point senile. When they're really dry if you don't water in steps or very slowly you'll end up with some water running straight through. I've found making sure there aren't any air pockets/gaps helps there too, when I up-pot I pack the edges (lightly) to fill any gaps. Wouldn't go back to plastic though, these things rock for building strong root systems.

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I like to make the top at bit concave, so that water runs into the soil instead of to the edges and down the sides.

Also, when dissecting rootballs, I noticed that there literally weren't any roots at the edges, it was actually a ball of roots contained in the center of the pot. If you have the pot on a drain pan the roots will touch bottom, if you have the pot elevated for air circulation around the roots will literally be in a ball in the center. So when I water I water near the stem, and try to keep that root mass with water in it.


LOL I take a lot of care with my soil, but I built and mixed it myself, and in organics you truly are watering and feeding the soil, and the plant's relationship with the soil is getting it with what it needs. The plants make their own food via the light hitting leaves, and I just water the soil

a senile fungus said:

I like to make the top at bit concave, so that water runs into the soil instead of to the edges and down the sides.

Also, when dissecting rootballs, I noticed that there literally weren't any roots at the edges, it was actually a ball of roots contained in the center of the pot. If you have the pot on a drain pan the roots will touch bottom, if you have the pot elevated for air circulation around the roots will literally be in a ball in the center. So when I water I water near the stem, and try to keep that root mass with water in it.


LOL I take a lot of care with my soil, but I built and mixed it myself, and in organics you truly are watering and feeding the soil, and the plant's relationship with the soil is getting it with what it needs. The plants make their own food via the light hitting leaves, and I just water the soil

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That dip towards the center helps, mine tend to go that way as well, likely due to the medium, 50% Pro-Mix/50% triple mix. I find the root balls depend on how far you push the plant size vs. pot, like if I grow out a 2.5 - 3 oz plant in a 3 gal pot, by the time I remove the root ball it's just a solid mass, although you're right, not a ton of roots right at the edge, they're more evenly spread top to bottom and side to side. Last summer I grew some monsters in 7 gal outdoor, they were about 1 sq metre each and they were just solid roots, almost nothing but roots left at the end.

GroErr said:

That dip towards the center helps, mine tend to go that way as well, likely due to the medium, 50% Pro-Mix/50% triple mix. I find the root balls depend on how far you push the plant size vs. pot, like if I grow out a 2.5 - 3 oz plant in a 3 gal pot, by the time I remove the root ball it's just a solid mass, although you're right, not a ton of roots right at the edge, they're more evenly spread top to bottom and side to side. Last summer I grew some monsters in 7 gal outdoor, they were about 1 sq metre each and they were just solid roots, almost nothing but roots left at the end.

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I defer to you in that regard, I have yet to grow larger plants in the smartpots.

I hope to change that soon


One other sweet thing about them is the ability for the roots to move right through them. If you place a smartpot on the ground outside the plant roots will go through the bottom into the ground. This also means that to transplant you can just bury a smaller smartpot in a larger one, like this.



I basically keep the smaller pot watered always, but when I water I water the exposed sides of the smaller pot and the some of larger pot as well.

A lot of my other plants will just be transplanted outside in the same manner, just bury the pot outside. Stress free transplant indeed.

And the cost of the pot is offset by what the plant is producing.

Have you figured out how to transplant out of them yet? I'm thinking it might be worth it just to use solid pots for the small plants and transplant into the finishing smart pot. I'm comparing 2.75L solid square pots and similar sized smart pots now to see which is better.

GroErr said:

Yeah, you definitely have to water more but I think you'll find it worthwhile in output. I find pretty well any container size dries consistently around 3 days once they're into flowering, some a bit faster, rarely slower. Here's an example of 3x 5gal plants that will finish this week, they're looking close to a qp each
View attachment 3364293

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Sorry to thread hijack, but I feel it's relevant.

How long did you veg? Nutes? Strain? Light? Tent size?

I'm truly amazed

a senile fungus said:

Have you figured out how to transplant out of them yet? I'm thinking it might be worth it just to use solid pots for the small plants and transplant into the finishing smart pot. I'm comparing 2.75L solid square pots and similar sized smart pots now to see which is better.

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Oh yeah, I find them easier, typically go party cup to 1 gal, then to 3 gal, then 5 or 7 gal, I let them go as large as possible in each container before up-potting to the next.

It's easier when the pots are dry but I've done the same when they're wet and works fine. I grab the pot with both hands at the bottom and get a good hold of the bottom edges, then just push the center up with my fingers, it loosens and you just keep the rootball moving up a bit at a time. It gets to a point where you can just grab the stalk and the whole rootball comes with it, another advantage to these imo, the way the roots are built it keeps the whole ball together.

Nice work! Awsome touch gotta love you... Veg time?

i just tip the plant upside down. with my hand around the stem and roots.. like put the stem between my fingers and hold my hand out flat.. and pull the bag off and bam.. into the new one works great and i don't fuck my roots up like crazy like a lot of people do .

N00b_Farmer said:

Sorry to thread hijack, but I feel it's relevant.

How long did you veg? Nutes? Strain? Light? Tent size?

I'm truly amazed

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Sorry missed your questions earlier, those are vegged 8 weeks out of a party cup, maybe an extra few days waiting for the room. I've found a huge difference between 5-6 and 8 weeks veg. When you think about it an extra 2 weeks in a 14 vs. 16 week total cycle isn't much but can make a huge difference. These are in a custom built room 4x9.5x7', I run 2x 3x3's with 2x LEC Sun Systems 315w CMH, they each cover a 3x3 really well. use the 50% Pro-Mix/50% triple-mix, supplemental feeds using just the base AN A&B bloom @600 ppm through flowering. Switched to the mix about a year ago and the lights last summer and quite happy with the results Cheers.

I have 5 10 gallon smart pots in a more wetlands area, ground under the smart pot remains wet which is great for absorption and needing to water it less. They’ve been in there since the end of May. I didn’t think that the roots (although I used Akos) would have ripped through the bottom and into the ground yet. I went to turn the pot because one side was growing faster and larger then the other. When i started to rotate it I noticed incredibly large beautiful white roots that tore when I moved it. Will this kill my plant or just set it back a bit? Here’s a picture of the plant