saturate soil?

[JohnnyPotGrower]

i am about to leave for a 6 day vacation and my babies will be all alone.

usually i water them every 4th day.

should i completely saturate the soil this time, as i may be unable to water for them for up to 7 days.



THANKS
JPG

JohnnyPotGrower Reviewed by JohnnyPotGrower on 03-10-2006. saturate soil? i am about to leave for a 6 day vacation and my babies will be all alone. usually i water them every 4th day. should i completely saturate the soil this time, as i may be unable to water for them for up to 7 days. THANKS JPG Rating: 5

[del...]

you could do that but it's not the best way...if you can, set up a wick system running a cotton rope or strip of cloth (i use towel strips) and run from a water source into the soil, as far as you can. wicks work best when 1st setting up your pots but can be added later if necessary...it's just easier to to do as soil is added. anyway, the cloth/rope strips will transport the water into the pot by itself (if you've ever left a wash cloth hanging over the edge of a filled sink you'll know what i mean) so the bigger the water tank, the longer you can be gone. i use the toilet reserve tank so water remains at a constant level but have seen swamp cooler plumbing used for this.

if you have time, you can also get a battery operated pump from gardenersupply dot com that works very well and has 10 stations it will feed for the life of the batteries, or about 4 weeks and it too can be set up on the back of a toilet to keep water level constant.

[britewire]

Or you could just place your pots in bigger pots and fill the outside pot with water up too 1/10 of the height of the inside pot... that way you're not overwatering them and they can suck up the water whenever they want.

[JohnnyPotGrower]

what if i have saucers under the bottoms of the pots. they are about 2in tall. could i fill them with water and have the soil soak up the water through the drainage holes? would that last a week? would the upper roots dry out?

[britewire]

Not really, I always give water from the bottom when the roots are propperly developed and I've never had any problems with dried out roots. I don't know if it would be enough, cause I don't know how big ur plants are. Give them water a day before you leave and fill the saucer the day after. I think they'll be fine.

[Garden Knowm]

Johnny, you should always saturate.. Always.....

When you dont saturate the roots do not use the entire pot.. I have seen so may people (most growers who subscribe to transplanting) just water a little.. every few days..
When you do this, the roots do not use the entire pot.. they don't use all the soil.. and this causes a root ball to form at the bottom of the pot forcing growers to transplant...

When you completely saturate every 5-10 days and then let the soil dry... the roots use the entire pot and you almost NEVER have to transplant...

This is true for all plants.. and you can even ask somebody at your local nursery


you can even experiment yourself.... and when you finally pull the plants out of the pots you will have the evidence right in front of you!!!

I love you

AND NOW YOU KNOW!!!!!

[karmaxul]

I would soak them with straight water, they should be alright. A saurcer if you need it, the ph will not become lowered at the bottom of the pots as much from being wet for to long with out all the ions so your leaves will have less stress and inturn the chance of yellowing will be less. Alot depends on the pot size. A two gallon should be fine with a two foot plant at normal conditions if you soak it. Enjoy your vacation.

One love
c

[JohnnyPotGrower]

thanks a lot guys for the advice. just to let you all know the plants are about a foot tall and in (i think) 3 gallon pots.

I will saturate them right now (about 2 hours before i leave the house).

i think they will be fine, and if not... just another learning experience.

thank to all again
JPG

[karmaxul]

man you saturate a three gallon she will not dry for two weeks with a one foot plant. Just double the amount of water you feed,
Have fun

One love
c

[karmaxul]

O well to late he already left. At least we know they will not dry out in 3 gallon pots.

Next week if you check this thread let us know what happened will ya, please

One love
c