How much water for a 5 gallon smart pot?

VACAVILLE,CA.GROWER

Well-Known Member
I have a strawberry blue that is 5 weeks old today. I have her in a 5 gallon smart pot with happy frog soil and extra perlite. She is outdoors here in northern cali. I was just wanting to know how much water should someone water with. Should I water till I get run-off in a smart pot?IMG_20150422_194704.jpgIMG_20150422_194645.jpgIMG_20150422_194622.jpgIMG_20150422_194611.jpg
 
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Bugeye

Well-Known Member
5 gallons of dry soil can hold about 1.25 gallons of water, give or take a bit depending on your soil composition.

If you are doing synthetic nutes it is a good practice to water until you produce some run off at least once a week. For organic, less run off.

I ran smart pots for first time last year and found they do dry out faster than solid pots, probably shouldn't be a surprise. It can be challenging to water them thoroughly so do it as slowly as you can.
 

psychadeliq

New Member
Water until it starts to leak out the bottom into the tray, I normally stop watering when this happens and I get about 1/2 or 1/4 in of water in the tray, this is water is removed quickly by the plants.

Its important to water your plants in stages. Though I normally put a about a gallon per pot per water, I start by adding 1 gallon to all six eyeballing the amount. I wait a few min, water again, wait a few water again.

The reason I do this is because soil tends to develop dry pockets that repel water, if you water all at once the water rushes by these dry pockets and runs down into your tray, this might give you a false positive as far as watering enough. Something to be aware of.

Also, aerate your soil, I poke holes with my moisture meter, helps water drain evenly into the soil and lets more oxygen reach the roots.

:hump::hump::hump:bongsmilie
 

X7GrowerX7

Well-Known Member
I have a strawberry blue that is 5 weeks old today. I have her in a 5 gallon smart pot with happy frog soil and extra perlite. She is outdoors here in northern cali. I was just wanting to know how much water should someone water with. Should I water till I get run-off in a smart pot?View attachment 3401993View attachment 3401992View attachment 3401991View attachment 3401990
I have 4 plants and their in 10 gal pots, I give each plant a full gallon of water and the amount of run off I have is always perfect. I water them every 4-6 days. My next grow I'm planning on using 5 gal pots so I can use alittle less water/save on some nutrients. I would think alittle over a half gallon and you'd probably have to water every 3-4 days
 

dubble Js

Member
Those plants are 5 weeks old from seed? That's way faster growth than I get if so!

My 5gal smarts drink up to 6L every 4 or 5 days and that gets me at least 10% runoff
 

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
and thats why you dont water again until the container is light..... right before the plant wilts is best
light = like it was when you filled it with dry dirt. kick it, tip it get the feeling of a dry bag, then add 1/4th the volume of dirt in water.
repeat when dry and light.
 

deno

Well-Known Member
Depends on a few things, plant size, and soil composition, in particular how much perlite is in the soil. Perlite does not absorb much water - its essentially expanded lava rock. Your water cycle should be consistent in that you water when the soil is a certain dryness. You don't want to underwater because your roots will not spread to dry soil. You don't want to over water, because the bottom of the pot will never dry out, preventing oxygen from getting down there, causing all sorts of problems. That's being said, it's better to underwater a little than to over water. Plants are much more robust when they're larger. Small plants in large containers are tricky, and underwatering is often done to prevent the bottom of the container from becoming sour. Like others have said, water a little at first to allow the soil to wet itself evenly. After a few minutes add enough water to get a little drain off. You don't want much drain off because you are washing away nutrients. The amount of water your plant will need will increase as it gets larger. At peak water usage near the end of flowering, I have plants in 5gal containers drinking one gallon per day. I use lots of perlite - makes things easier for me.
 

jp9nine9

Member
Depends on a few things, plant size, and soil composition, in particular how much perlite is in the soil. Perlite does not absorb much water - its essentially expanded lava rock. Your water cycle should be consistent in that you water when the soil is a certain dryness. You don't want to underwater because your roots will not spread to dry soil. You don't want to over water, because the bottom of the pot will never dry out, preventing oxygen from getting down there, causing all sorts of problems. That's being said, it's better to underwater a little than to over water. Plants are much more robust when they're larger. Small plants in large containers are tricky, and underwatering is often done to prevent the bottom of the container from becoming sour. Like others have said, water a little at first to allow the soil to wet itself evenly. After a few minutes add enough water to get a little drain off. You don't want much drainage near the end of flowering, I have plants in 5gal containers drinking one gallon per day. I use lots of perlite - makes things easier for me off because you are washing away nutrients. The amount of water your plant will need will increase as it gets larger. At peak water us.
exactly as you state DENO . I use a 2 gallon pump spray from Wally's $9 . Take the atomizer off and let it full flow . The sprayers have liter & gallon marks making measuring easy. Also use a 3ML syringe to measure nutes.

(You don't want much drainage near the end of flowering, I have plants in 5gal containers drinking one gallon per day. I use lots of perlite - makes things easier for me off because you are washing away nutrients. The amount of water your plant will need will increase as it gets larger. At peak water use)
 

GrowGal

Active Member
Depends how old the plant is and how large it is. Mine are 4 months old and rather large, in 5 gallon fabric pots. I give each of them about 3 gallons of water every other day.

IMG_20200718_181641_7.jpg
 

Shanepr1313

Member
I have 4 plants and their in 10 gal pots, I give each plant a full gallon of water and the amount of run off I have is always perfect. I water them every 4-6 days. My next grow I'm planning on using 5 gal pots so I can use alittle less water/save on some nutrients. I would think alittle over a half gallon and you'd probably have to water every 3-4 days
Growing cannabis a gallon every 5 days for 10gal pots.That’s insane.I always use 5 g grow bags with 4 lights 5 fans mine can’t go longer than 2 and way dry.Your soil needs air,this will help.Add perlite,vermiculite to the soil like 30%.This will help you be able to water/nutes more because more they drink the better the smoke.IMO man
 

Wizzlebiz

Well-Known Member
Growing cannabis a gallon every 5 days for 10gal pots.That’s insane.I always use 5 g grow bags with 4 lights 5 fans mine can’t go longer than 2 and way dry.Your soil needs air,this will help.Add perlite,vermiculite to the soil like 30%.This will help you be able to water/nutes more because more they drink the better the smoke.IMO man
He probably figured it out in the 3 years since that post.
 
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