Watering amount & frequency in living soil

Hi,
Soon to be adjusting from growing outdoors in the ground to indoors with 20gal fabric pots with the same/similar living soil as outside and I would like to ask what others watering schedules look like inside please.

I've just rigged up some netafim watering rings that are supplying water at 300ml (10oz) per minute which will make the actual watering process much easier for me but it's not so much the delivery method I'd like ideas on, but rather interested in how others are going about it in terms of watering frequency and amount given.

Previously I was watering my plants in the ground with the hose, no different than I was watering the other vegetables, fruits & flowers around the house, although not spraying the foliage of the weed plants. I'd like to be a little more precise moving indoors so appreciate anyone else's advice that is running no till inside. Cheers.

Finger the soil
Get dirty
Finger another spot
Feeling wet ?
the ladies are happy

if dry , your doing somthing wrong lube up n try again

Process to determine if wet or dry. I like the moisture probes and I take 4 readings.

When it reaches the almost dry point (depends on nag size and how far down the probe can go, but under 5 avg is roughly ehat i use), water fully and slowly to slight runoff. Add very small amounts of microbes every watering or every other.

Imo soil grows are not for drip systems But they can and have been done many times very successfully. I believe in testing each plant on a regular basis and watering as needed.

Thai Fox said:

Hi,
Soon to be adjusting from growing outdoors in the ground to indoors with 20gal fabric pots with the same/similar living soil as outside and I would like to ask what others watering schedules look like inside please.

I've just rigged up some netafim watering rings that are supplying water at 300ml (10oz) per minute which will make the actual watering process much easier for me but it's not so much the delivery method I'd like ideas on, but rather interested in how others are going about it in terms of watering frequency and amount given.

Previously I was watering my plants in the ground with the hose, no different than I was watering the other vegetables, fruits & flowers around the house, although not spraying the foliage of the weed plants. I'd like to be a little more precise moving indoors so appreciate anyone else's advice that is running no till inside. Cheers.

Click to expand...

Well, living soil doesn't need (or really appreciate) typical indoor "drybacks." You just don't want it waterlogged.

With fabric pots (even 20g) you might be watering frequently. It really depends on the plant, the ventilation, humidity, the soil makeup, and any mulch/cover plants.

I run living soil, but I use SIPS. They practically eliminate watering issues. So to answer your questions, the method I use for my living soil setup allows the plant to water itself just as it gets thirsty every time. Schedule for watering is topping off the reservoir every few days.

GenericEnigma said:

Well, living soil doesn't need (or really appreciate) typical indoor "drybacks." You just don't want it waterlogged.

With fabric pots (even 20g) you might be watering frequently. It really depends on the plant, the ventilation, humidity, the soil makeup, and any mulch/cover plants.

I run living soil, but I use SIPS. They practically eliminate watering issues. So to answer your questions, the method I use for my living soil setup allows the plant to water itself just as it gets thirsty every time. Schedule for watering is topping off the reservoir every few days.

Click to expand...

No problems. Will just do as was doing outside and water as needed. Cheers.

I use a blumat constant drip system and find that living soil works better when it stays moist. Never drenched; consistently as wet as a wrung out towel. Good draining; water should fall right through if properly hydrated. A perpetual drip can be set almost forever if given lightly. No gushers….
Eventually the root ball will have lots of nooks and crannies where tiny air pockets form; you don’t want to dry them out. If water puddles up and seeps out the sides then the core of the root ball has become too dry and compacted. A sign you are waiting too long in between watering. IMO fabric pots are best for drip systems as overwatering will just flow into the floor. If you set the drip very low the Netafim system might just work but it looks more oriented for outdoor use. You don’t want a flood. Does Netsfim system have a pump or is it gravity fed?

Richard Drysift said:

I use a blumat constant drip system and find that living soil works better when it stays moist. Never drenched; consistently as wet as a wrung out towel. Good draining; water should fall right through if properly hydrated. A perpetual drip can be set almost forever if given lightly. No gushers….
Eventually the root ball will have lots of nooks and crannies where tiny air pockets form; you don’t want to dry them out. If water puddles up and seeps out the sides then the core of the root ball has become too dry and compacted. A sign you are waiting too long in between watering. IMO fabric pots are best for drip systems as overwatering will just flow into the floor. If you set the drip very low the Netafim system might just work but it looks more oriented for outdoor use. You don’t want a flood. Does Netsfim system have a pump or is it gravity fed?

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Swapped to swick cause the blumat s kept flooding as surface dryed and just wouldn’t stop
I even witnessed it happening weekly I’d fill water set them come back next day find it empty and my trays flooded below
So I’d reset over n over till I got bored lol

Richard Drysift said:

I use a blumat constant drip system and find that living soil works better when it stays moist. Never drenched; consistently as wet as a wrung out towel. Good draining; water should fall right through if properly hydrated. A perpetual drip can be set almost forever if given lightly. No gushers….
Eventually the root ball will have lots of nooks and crannies where tiny air pockets form; you don’t want to dry them out. If water puddles up and seeps out the sides then the core of the root ball has become too dry and compacted. A sign you are waiting too long in between watering. IMO fabric pots are best for drip systems as overwatering will just flow into the floor. If you set the drip very low the Netafim system might just work but it looks more oriented for outdoor use. You don’t want a flood. Does Netsfim system have a pump or is it gravity fed?

Click to expand...

Really appreciate the response, good info.
Sorry I should have been more specific regarding my set-up. The netafim rings I'm using are just a way to provide water easily without carrying any in or out, not spilling any on the leaves etc. But the way I've hooked them up us by running a line from tap to RO machine that then feeds into the tent, each plant then has it's own line and ring. Got the rings set supplying 300ml per minute so a nice gentle drizzle. I will take a look at the blumat design also as never seen it and it may provide more ideas.

I've actually just set up a drip system to feed the soil while I'm away for a few months but found it's too finicky if supplying any less than a drop every 15-30seconds which is too much without any plants in them, I wanted about a drop every couple minutes but they always stop after an hour or so. I have now revised to a hemp twine fed down inside the hoses to wick water from esky to soil, it's working perfectly. Cheers.

Here's the wick system I set up after the drip system was too temperamental, I may even look to do something similar in the tent if it turns out to be effective.
Here's the rings being fed from RO machine output line. Good to have a couple options pre-prepared so I'm not chasing my tail.
I also like to run a mulch covering. Usually elephant shit but using rice husk now inside instead. Cheers.

Decided to run some clear lines with hemp twine in them from a big cooler sitting outside the tent just incase it turns out the wick set-up works well, may help if going away from time to time aswell.

Scrap the last idea using clear tubes, appears light hitting the tube will cause algae to build up

I bought the blumat system and then realized I'm always moving my pots around, trimming and what not. Plus the idea soil involves no perlite or lava rocks, etc for it to work right. Still in its box unused.

You will find that the different stages of plant life require different watering schedules. A young plant in veg requires a lot less watering than a plant that’s 2 weeks into flower.
Don’t sweat it, you’ll adapt to your grow!!

kkt3 said:

You will find that the different stages of plant life require different watering schedules. A young plant in veg requires a lot less watering than a plant that’s 2 weeks into flower.
Don’t sweat it, you’ll adapt to your grow!!

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For sure.
I do have a line rigged up supplying RO water that I'll use to water by hand until plants are in final container etc. Still interested in playing around with a wick system and the netafim rings though as nice to have a few options and to know first hand what works or not by doing a few trial runs. I've still got a couple weeks to tinker around with it all before fucking off on holidays for 3months

I guess nobody really monitors how much water they're feeding their living soil in 20gal pots, all good, I'll work it out, no stress.

Thai Fox said:

For sure.
I do have a line rigged up supplying RO water that I'll use to water by hand until plants are in final container etc. Still interested in playing around with a wick system and the netafim rings though as nice to have a few options and to know first hand what works or not by doing a few trial runs. I've still got a couple weeks to tinker around with it all before fucking off on holidays for 3months

I guess nobody really monitors how much water they're feeding their living soil in 20gal pots, all good, I'll work it out, no stress.

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Changes based off environment too so all different and if u have a mulch living top or whatnot

generally good feed 2l a day to 60l plants
But they start on every 3 days 1lish

lmk your wick ideas I’ve done some and doing more idea now haha

2cent said:

Changes based off environment too so all different and if u have a mulch living top or whatnot

generally good feed 2l a day to 60l plants
But they start on every 3 days 1lish

lmk your wick ideas I’ve done some and doing more idea now haha

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Appreciate the rough figures you mentioned. I now understand there's too many variables to really know what they'll need until it's underway. This first run will probably help give me a better idea for my 2nd run as in same conditions etc.

I had a thought about maybe slotting the plants and saucer with base & wheels into another container and using a rope to connect the two to wick water up to soil but then was concerned with if I need to clean the underneath bucket, so probably not going to worry about that idea just yet.

Thai Fox said:

Appreciate the rough figures you mentioned. I now understand there's too many variables to really know what they'll need until it's underway. This first run will probably help give me a better idea for my 2nd run as in same conditions etc.

I had a thought about maybe slotting the plants and saucer with base & wheels into another container and using a rope to connect the two to wick water up to soil but then was concerned with if I need to clean the underneath bucket, so probably not going to worry about that idea just yet.

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No need to clean anything really the microbes digest everything your worried about
The world is convinced germs are real
Bacteria is real fungi and microbes they will eat it all I mean some people and countries clean using em1 microbes not disinfectants as they actualy cause bad bacteria to rise

I have had a bucket in a bucket for many grows never fed feed just topped bucket up they wick up not down it’s not chemical salts so it’s different
Water up wick
Not
Water down runoff

this is my wick system I've been using for a few years with good results. I'm only in 7g bags but I'm sure you could do something similar for your 20g
I use a piece of an old grow bag as the wick sitting on a plant riser. Similar to the SWICK method but without using perlite.
The plant takes up the water it needs, other than that I feed 2 or 3 times from the top with tea and that's it.
Easy as it gets.

2cent said:

No need to clean anything really the microbes digest everything your worried about
The world is convinced germs are real
Bacteria is real fungi and microbes they will eat it all I mean some people and countries clean using em1 microbes not disinfectants as they actualy cause bad bacteria to rise

I have had a bucket in a bucket for many grows never fed feed just topped bucket up they wick up not down it’s not chemical salts so it’s different
Water up wick
Not
Water down runoff

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Okay well in that case I may continue tinkering with it if not really required to clean that bottom water container during the grow

Hash Hound said:

this is my wick system I've been using for a few years with good results. I'm only in 7g bags but I'm sure you could do something similar for your 20g
I use a piece of an old grow bag as the wick sitting on a plant riser. Similar to the SWICK method but without using perlite.
The plant takes up the water it needs, other than that I feed 2 or 3 times from the top with tea and that's it.
Easy as it gets.

View attachment 5257433

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That looks great, I didn't actually think about just having the grow bag sitting on top of the wick. If the wick isn't required to actually go into the soil then I may look to do something quite similar I'd say.

How much water do you keep in there? Do you top up a small amount daily or once a week etc? Cheers.