How much water for smart pots.

Hi community. This is my first grow and so far so good. My only real question is how much water to give each plant. I currently have 5 plants. 2 super glue. 1 blue dream. 1 candyland and 1 med-Usa. All king klone brand clones. 3 of them are in 15 gallon smart pots. And 2 are in 10 gallon smart pots. They are outdoors in California sun and I used to water every 5 days. Then every 3 days and now in this heat it's every other day. My question is how many gallons of water in should be putting into each size. I mix my nutes up one gallon at a time and feed my girls. I've always just wondered what is the right amount of water i should be putting into the 15 gallon and 10 gallon smart pots. Thank you.

Water Until you have some runoff. Keep an eye on them for signs of wilting... Just a guess, but it's probably best to water them at night so you don't boil the roots.

For sure. I usually only water in the morning before the sun comes up. If I have to I water at night if it was really hot during the day. I never water during the day once the sun is up. It's hard to see the runoff on the smart pots. I need to get some sort it metal grate to put them on when I water them. That way the pots are off the ground allowing me to see the runoff. My plants never wilt. They are thriving. I'm just wondering what the typical amount of water people put in these size pots. Here is a pic of a few of them.

I do it by weight.
If I can pick up a 2 to 5 gal filled with soil.......I water.
Cutting back on h2o towards the chop date..

sunny747 said:

Water Until you have some runoff.

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This can be a little tricky in fabric pots. If you have compaction of the soil, you'll see runoff almost immediately because the water flows to the edges and starts to go out through the fabric. I've seen others here call this "umbrella effect". Water running out, but not much reaching the root ball. I've found that if you regularly loosen the soil with a rod, long screwdriver, thin stake, etc., you can avoid this problem. Don't worry about disturbing the roots. I've been doing this forever with all types of plants in all types of pots and they do fine.

Bacala said:

This can be a little tricky in fabric pots. If you have compaction of the soil, you'll see runoff almost immediately because the water flows to the edges and starts to go out through the fabric. I've seen others here call this "umbrella effect". Water running out, but not much reaching the root ball. I've found that if you regularly loosen the soil with a rod, long screwdriver, thin stake, etc., you can avoid this problem. Don't worry about disturbing the roots. I've been doing this forever with all types of plants in all types of pots and they do fine.

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I completely know what you're talking about which is why i usually water slowlydie. Letting the water soak into the soil before pouring more water avoiding letting the water pool on the surface can combat this a little. But it still happensays every now and then. But mixing the top soil up sounds like a good idea. This way the water doesn't run off the top as easy. Fabric pots can be tricky. Especially since I have good draining soil. But when the water runs out the side of the pots it makes it hard to tell what is actual run off and what just leaked out the side. I usually do the weight technique, I was just trying to get an avg ballpark of how many gallons folks are using in these size pots to achieve the runoff. Luckily fabric pots are harder to over water as well. And in this California summer they are drying out every other day so I know I'm not overwatering, I have zero droop on my plants. I just don't want to under water them too. Especially since it's super hot right now and they are about to switch to flower. Don't want to stunt their growth during this transition. Thank you so muche for the suggestions.

Brandon Nebel said:

And in this California summer they are drying out every other day so I know I'm not overwatering, I have zero droop on my plants.

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I'm in California too and we are in the midst of a run of 100+ degree days and I've had to water the fabric pots every day. I have hay all around the root balls and even some plywood blocking the direct sun, and they are still sucking gallons.

Bacala said:

I'm in California too and we are in the midst of a run of 100+ degree days and I've had to water the fabric pots every day. I have hay all around the root balls and even some plywood blocking the direct sun, and they are still sucking gallons.

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Yea it's been warm. I'm the bay area so it hasn't quite been over 100 ever day. However they are still drinking water. Right now I'm putting almost 2 gallons of water in the 15 gallon pots and about 1.5 to 1.75 gallons in the 10 gallons.

Brandon Nebel said:

I've always just wondered what is the right amount of water i should be putting into the 15 gallon and 10 gallon smart pots. Thank you.

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Unfortunately, it's not that simple. It depends on the size of the plant in relation to the size of the pot. A huge plant in a 15 gal pot might need water every day. A small plant in the same size pot might need water once a week.

I use a rule of thumb of 1/4 gal of water per gallon of soil. So a 10gal pot = 2.5gal of water, 15gal pot = 3.75gal of water. I find this amount gives a little run off and helps me figure out how much water to have on-hand. Like you mentioned, with the fabric pots you have to water in stages to avoid water pouring out the sides at first. I'm growing a couple outdoor gals in 15gal pots and watering every other day now with those amounts.

Foothills said:

Unfortunately, it's not that simple. It depends on the size of the plant in relation to the size of the pot. A huge plant in a 15 gal pot might need water every day. A small plant in the same size pot might need water once a week.

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Thanks. I understand that. I'm just asking for a ballpark figure. For a full grown plaant that's about time flip to flower. I even posted pics of my girls so responders to my question can see exactly what stage I'm at. Omthese are 4.5ft tall and I'm watering every other day.

GroErr said:

I use a rule of thumb of 1/4 gal of water per gallon of soil. So a 10gal pot = 2.5gal of water, 15gal pot = 3.75gal of water. I find this amount gives a little run off and helps me figure out how much water to have on-hand. Like you mentioned, with the fabric pots you have to water in stages to avoid water pouring out the sides at first. I'm growing a couple outdoor gals in 15gal pots and watering every other day now with those amounts.

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Thank you this is exactly what I was looking for. I realize there are a lot of variables. Plant size. Medium used and how well it drains. Etc. I just wanted a ball park to see if I'm underwatering when I water. They are healthy and doing well so I know I'm doing something right. I just wanted to know what other growers were doing. Thank you for your help.

Brandon Nebel said:

Thank you this is exactly what I was looking for. I realize there are a lot of variables. Plant size. Medium used and how well it drains. Etc. I just wanted a ball park to see if I'm underwatering when I water. They are healthy and doing well so I know I'm doing something right. I just wanted to know what other growers were doing. Thank you for your help.

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Cheers, no problem, seems to be working for my 15gal gals but damn they're thirsty, we've had only one good rain in 3 weeks. These are my "stealth" version, they'd be in 50gal if we were legal

GroErr said:

Cheers, no problem, seems to be working for my 15gal gals but damn they're thirsty, we've had only one good rain in 3 weeks. These are my "stealth" version, they'd be in 50gal if we were legal

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Wow those look really healthy. Much fuller than mine. I was trying the lst method and tied down most branches to the side of the smart pot. I was trying to keep them shorter so they don't get taller than my fence. I'm in downtown San Jose, CA and it's not the nicest neighborhood. Would really hate for them to get stolen after all my love and hard work went into them. I also learned a big lesson on my first grow. And that is trying to eliminate too many transplants. I was pussy footing it and wasn't sure what size pots I wanted to end in cause again I was trying to keep them short. So my wife was against 15 gallons at first so I transplanted too many times which I believe stunted their growth. I used mykos every time I did it and they never showed any signs of shock but I know it slowed the growth down. Lessons learned for next time.

Brandon Nebel said:

Wow those look really healthy. Much fuller than mine. I was trying the lst method and tied down most branches to the side of the smart pot. I was trying to keep them shorter so they don't get taller than my fence. I'm in downtown San Jose, CA and it's not the nicest neighborhood. Would really hate for them to get stolen after all my love and hard work went into them. I also learned a big lesson on my first grow. And that is trying to eliminate too many transplants. I was pussy footing it and wasn't sure what size pots I wanted to end in cause again I was trying to keep them short. So my wife was against 15 gallons at first so I transplanted too many times which I believe stunted their growth. I used mykos every time I did it and they never showed any signs of shock but I know it slowed the growth down. Lessons learned for next time.

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Thanks, they look like they'll do fine, usually for outdoor I go party cup -> 2gal -> 5gal, then the final either 10 or 15gal. The bushiness comes from training, those bamboo trellises are good for keeping the height down and spreading them out wide instead of tree-style. Lots of practice and lessons learned, no worries, they're very forgiving plants.

If you go to your local gardening center for common folk, you might be able to find these little clay worms with a smile face on them. they turn ashy pale when the soils dry.

Bacala said:

I'm in California too and we are in the midst of a run of 100+ degree days and I've had to water the fabric pots every day. I have hay all around the root balls and even some plywood blocking the direct sun, and they are still sucking gallons.

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Bro same lmao

If you having issues with hard soil add worms to your mix in the beginning. It only takes a couple. Soil will never harden again. Good day