How much water do YOU give soil in 5 gallon pots?

jimihendrix1 said:

What soil/medium are you using?? Are there any nutrients in the medium youre using??

It really needs a bit more Nitrogen. 10-10-10 would be better.

I think I read a post you made on Grasscity about this.

You stated basically organic, is more healthy to ingest than chemicals, which isnt true. In the long run, it all breaks down to the same thing.

I myself would spend $24- $30, and order a 3 parts kit of some Master Blend
4-18-38
15.5-0-0
Epsom salts.

I myself feed my seedlings a small amount of food as soon as they break the soil surface.

The above fertilizer will also supply all the nutrients necessary to carry a plant from Seedling-Harvest. IMHO changing to flowering nutrients is a money grab by companies. The main thing is to have a Balanced fertilizer all through the plants life, and the plant will use what it needs. Bottom line is Balanced.

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Okay thanks brother
I'm using pro mix I think pro i read that it had npk not much but some and also with coco and peat moss in it I mixed it with perlite id say 20% ive been watering her every day at least half a liter. I try to be careful not to get too much too close to the stem I water abt 2 in from the stem all around in a circle. Yeah that was me and just a theory I dont know anything about fert so thanks for setting me straight on that I had some come today its a two part for the entire seed to harvest life of the plant. Its auto so I'm only gonna be using .5 tsp of each to a gallon since the normal suggestion is 1.5 tsp of each. I should mention ive only had slight runoff once. The pot i have her in is able to bottom feed but was gonna start doing that when and if her canopy gets harder to water where I'd like. I looked at some pics and I'm pm where a lot of others are in mid week two but I want to do everything I can and appreciate any advice for real its gonna help alot. Anyway tomorrow morning is when I was gonna try nutes for her first time. Any particular way that might be more effective or just regular water? I just hope giving her a gallon won't be detrimental in any way ive also learned that over watering isnt too much its too often

Depends on the Promix whether it has nutrients ornot. Ive used the BX for 20 years, and it has nothing in it except Calcitic, and Dolomitic Lime.

Even though that Promix has Coir in it, dont treat it like Coir, and water it until runoff. 1/2 a liter sounds like a bit much for everyday. Be nice to have a photo of the size of the plant. And I would advise to learn how to use the lift the bucker method to determine if the container is light, or still heavy.

I myself use both the lift method, and a cheap moisture meter like you buy at Lowes. Many dont like moisture meters, and find they dont work well. But Ive found them useful, and will admit, in smaller containers they dont work well for some reason. But in a 5 gallon container, Ive found they work pretty well. And I also drill holes in the sides of my containers, about 3/4 of the way down. 4 holes, a and I measure from several spots on the top of the soil, and from the 4 sides of the container. works well for me. Others miles may vary. But Ive been doing it like this for more than 40 years.
nd on the moisture meter. I never let it get the needle onto the Dry Line. Always just so ever slightly above the Dry Line. Very Low Moist.

So the only tying I'm confused ab is the runoff just because i can't get any with half a liter or less but the soil dries ab an inch or two down after having the light on her all day and the fans going. Would bottom feeding help with anything like that? Yeah I'm def gonna invest in a meter shits just been rly tight so its difficult to do anything rn

Will upload pic in a bit!

Just because it dries an inch down in a 5 gallon container doesnt mean it still doest have moisture a bit deeper in the container.


Your plant is still small. You dont want to drench a 5 gallon container with such a small plant. You will invite root rot.

Again. You do not want to treat Promix like coir, because its not coir, and holds way more water than coir.

Glad i saw this...I have 2 Orangina plants in 5 gallon cloth pots and i have to water every 2-3 days...but my last two grows (ive only done 3) i noticed i over watered alot and had problems..so i only have been watering untill the bottom of my cloth pot is wet..idk if this is good..and im a Newbie..but ive been afraid of overwatering..id say half gallon each of the plants get..should i give more?

1 liter lmfao i water my 3 gal pot with 4 liters of water but i also feed her alot of fertilizer so i need the runoff.

Okay.. Sorry ab the late responses lot of shit going on I just lost my grandpa. She just developed her first "true leaves"? Idk I think thats what theyre called keep in mind pls ive never grown its literally my first time so just trying to retain as much as I need to know. Well thats why I had initially said a liter cuz I dont wanna over water but I dont wanna underwater. I just started feeding her nutes I just havent giver her over half a gallon because when I tried she drooped after even still having runoff. Shes coming along though I can't upload pics because my camera is fucking broken its just been the worst couple weeks man. Thanks for y'all advice though I appreciate u

Jimihendrix1 its promix moisture mix potting soilless soil no npk does have lime but I noticed some yellow mid last week and figured thats her telling me she needs nutes ive been feeding her I actually did a calmag foliar spray 10 min after lights out and well the yellows slowly going away if it keeps on the lowest two (not cotyledons) I was considering even clipping them when she develops another node. Wanna start LST soon

Tnugz said:

Hey everyone, I've been looking around and want your feedback. I grow in 5 gallon buckets and I give my plants about 1 liter each every 2 or 3 days. Seems to keep the soil nice and moist until day 3, then it's time for another drink. They are just starting week 5 of flower today and look pretty happy so far. How about you?

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One gallon every 2 days works for my setup and environment

Ive never measured water. 5 gal air pots with saucer in each that about 3 plus inches high. moderate water volume till one inch in the saucer from runoff. I leave for about 20-30 minutes. Then syphon off most water using cheap syphon from ebay. About week 5ish roots I notice many in the saucer so leaving a bit in the saucer its dry be day 3 after water. never an issue. make sure you add a few days more between water doing so. After many years Ive kinda got it down and more lazy about it. The growing part is not new anymore so I experiment. goal is to get system down so its not a huge time hobby dialed in.....

did i mention if I had one suggestion? Get air pots. 5 gallons.... Much easier to manage when to water etc by lifting pot checking weight and yield much improved. I ran test grows with different style pots and bags. NOT cheap but Iv'e even converted all house plants to air pots and they love it....I would buy more air pots if these ever need replacing.

I have 3 girls just Blooming give them 4 gallons every 3 or 4 days.

Oldguyrealy said:

I have 3 girls just Blooming give them 4 gallons every 3 or 4 days.

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dont be suprised if you get knats. I am normally on a 5 to 7 days water plan in 5 gallon air pots. These plants like to get dry between water but not dropping. I'd give that some thought remember it is a weed....literally

Relaxed said:

dont be suprised if you get knats. I am normally on a 5 to 7 days water plan in 5 gallon air pots. These plants like to get dry between water but not dropping. I'd give that some thought remember it is a weed....literally

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Mine are dropping dry and ready for water.

Tnugz said:

Hey everyone, I've been looking around and want your feedback. I grow in 5 gallon buckets and I give my plants about 1 liter each every 2 or 3 days. Seems to keep the soil nice and moist until day 3, then it's time for another drink. They are just starting week 5 of flower today and look pretty happy so far. How about you?

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My girls are smaller plants and they get about 1.6 litres every 3 days and seem to like it pretty well

Tnugz said:

Hey everyone, I've been looking around and want your feedback. I grow in 5 gallon buckets and I give my plants about 1 liter each every 2 or 3 days. Seems to keep the soil nice and moist until day 3, then it's time for another drink. They are just starting week 5 of flower today and look pretty happy so far. How about you?

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I use air fabric 5 gallon pots and still get about 20% runoff only using 1 gallon.. I don’t understand anyone saying to use almost 3 gallons for a 5 gallon pot. I guess maybe if your plant is insanely huge. It also really depends on what stage the plant is in. I have 3 seedlings in their final pots already (I transplant right into final pot) and I literally give them a cup of water each like every 4 days

Guitar Man said:

Also, it is not recommended to allow too much water out the bottom, as this will act like a "Flush", removing very important nutrients from your Grow Pot. Just water until dripping, then stop.

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it takes an awful lot to actually flush your plants if only using tap water. I recently flushed my plant in a 5 gallon pot and I only had water to do it. It took like 10+ gallons to see PH start to change.

kingdom_living said:

it takes an awful lot to actually flush your plants if only using tap water. I recently flushed my plant in a 5 gallon pot and I only had water to do it. It took like 10+ gallons to see PH start to change.

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You’re watering too fast & wasting water. Water about 1 liter.. then wait 10 mins and add another liter. 10 mins later water with what remains of the gallon. You’ll get more run off than usual from using the same amount of water. Edit: you’ll get more effective runoff.
Not that flushing plants is beneficial in any way, but doing it like that will save you water and nutrients (if applicable).

HydroKid239 said:

You’re watering too fast & wasting water. Water about 1 liter.. then wait 10 mins and add another liter. 10 mins later water with what remains of the gallon. You’ll get more run off than usual from using the same amount of water. Edit: you’ll get more effective runoff.
Not that flushing plants is beneficial in any way, but doing it like that will save you water and nutrients (if applicable).

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Oh shoot I didn’t know that. So you can really flush with just one gallon? I just kept doing gallon after gallon testing the runoff in between and the PH didn’t change until like the 10th gallon. What do you mean you’ll get more effective runoff than usual from using the same amount of water? And flushing plants is beneficial if you have a salt build up, right?

kingdom_living said:

Oh shoot I didn’t know that. So you can really flush with just one gallon? I just kept doing gallon after gallon testing the runoff in between and the PH didn’t change until like the 10th gallon. What do you mean you’ll get more effective runoff than usual from using the same amount of water? And flushing plants is beneficial if you have a salt build up, right?

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I wouldn't say if you needed to flush due to a build up of salts that 1gal of water would be all you'd need. I'm just saying you would use less water to achieve your goal.
Most of the gallon of water will just run off the sides, or find a hydrophobic road straight out of the pot resulting in wasted water.
Pouring a little at a time will let the soil get wet. Once the soil is wet it can be flushed of the excess salts with the next phase of water passing through.
Using a bit of dawn in your water can help as a wetting agent.