I always use a plastic catch plate below my buckets as well as I use a soil additive (water-keep) and I water my veg stuff in 1 gallon pots every 9-10 days and my big gals in 5 gallon every 4 days. I never have any stress showing from lack of water!!! The best gauge is to look at the leaves for "droop" as this shows stress from lack of watering. I also never have a root rot problem!