My plants need too much water

[NoobgrowerLbc]

i need to water them everyday. I water untill I see run off. Then next day they are drooping. I give each pot 5-7 gallons of water. Plants are 6 feet tall topped 3 times and bushy. They are in 30 gallon smart pots. Is this normal? Temps are 90 degrees here always.

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

yeah, that sounds about right. i like smart pots, but you have to water them a lot more often than hard sided pots.
bushy healthy 6 footers in 30 gallon pots should be drinking a lot to begin with, make the 30 gallon pots smart pots, and you're about on target.
lower temps would help some, but i'm guessing you're outside, so not much to do about that.

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

if you can, just run a sprinkler on them for a couple of hours in the morning. or you could look into a drip system, or something like blumats.

 

[too larry]

i need to water them everyday. I water untill I see run off. Then next day they are drooping. I give each pot 5-7 gallons of water. Plants are 6 feet tall topped 3 times and bushy. They are in 30 gallon smart pots. Is this normal? Temps are 90 degrees here always.

If you can bury the smart pot about halfway in the ground that will help. If the roots are already grown into the ground, you can still pile dirt up around the bottom half of the pot. Then mulch, mulch, mulch.

And Roger is on point with the drip. Soaker hoses can be turned on really low and just left to run all the time.

 

[NoobgrowerLbc]

How long can I go without water before they start to die. I’m dealing with 90 plants and I get sore every day.

 

[too larry]

How long can I go without water before they start to die. I’m dealing with 90 plants and I get sore every day.

I can't answer that. With that kind of numbers, you really need to plant in the ground. Are you in the bush, or is this a farm situation?

 

[NoobgrowerLbc]

Farm

 

[too larry]

I would run sprinklers until they start to flower. You will have to run some sort of hose system after that.

 

[too larry]

I had an old chief in the Navy who would have said, "proper preparation prevents piss poor performance." Lord knows he said it to me enough. {I do remember it all these years later}

Next year see about adding your amendments to the ground and tilling them in. Planting directly in the dirt is your best bet. {if your ground is pure stone, raised beds are your next best thing} Mulch heavily with alfalfa straw. Go ahead and run soaker hoses or drip lines when you transplant.

 

[vostok]

i need to water them everyday. I water untill I see run off. Then next day they are drooping. I give each pot 5-7 gallons of water. Plants are 6 feet tall topped 3 times and bushy. They are in 30 gallon smart pots. Is this normal? Temps are 90 degrees here always.

if these were mine I'd trash the smart pots

as these type of pots are built to leak like hell anyway

look to your medium too, as more peat than perlite is required

all this should have been adjusted

as summer emerged and the plants hit bud

but not you..?

good luck

 

[socaljoe]

I had an old chief in the Navy who would have said, "proper preparation prevents piss poor performance." Lord knows he said it to me enough. {I do remember it all these years later}

Not sure if this is a case of "great minds think alike" or "fools rarely differ", but I was thinking that same thing. I like it expanded to the 7Ps "Proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance" or "Piss poor planning precedes piss poor performance".

 

[too larry]

Not sure if this is a case of "great minds think alike" or "fools rarely differ", but I was thinking that same thing. I like it expanded to the 7Ps "Proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance" or "Piss poor planning precedes piss poor performance".

An old Air Force lifer was in my office this morning. He was helping with an event, and the organizers were not organized to his liking. He said what one of his old bosses used to say, "poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

 

[socaljoe]

An old Air Force lifer was in my office this morning. He was helping with an event, and the organizers were not organized to his liking. He said what one of his old bosses used to say, "poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

That's a good one too.

 

[eddy600]

Don't rush on the water take your time,runoff might not mean you got all the soil wet. I run the hose on 3 at a time puddling them up 3 times. Up to 103* they are ok for 36 hours,hotter than that i would water 24 hours later

 

[NoobgrowerLbc]

if these were mine I'd trash the smart pots

as these type of pots are built to leak like hell anyway

look to your medium too, as more peat than perlite is required

all this should have been adjusted

as summer emerged and the plants hit bud

but not you..?

good luck

I don’t think there’s any peat. It’s just a mix of farm farm with extra pearlite I added. They do leak like hell.

 

[NoobgrowerLbc]

Don't rush on the water take your time,runoff might not mean you got all the soil wet. I run the hose on 3 at a time puddling them up 3 times. Up to 103* they are ok for 36 hours,hotter than that i would water 24 hours later

i puddled then only once. I’ll try 3 times but dam they will eat my nutrient fast. I feed 5 ml every watering.

 

[ANC]

Next time put your smart pot in a box, just get some empty crisps boxes from the store..

 

[NoobgrowerLbc]

Next time put your smart pot in a box, just get some empty crisps boxes from the store..

why a box? Like cardboard?

 

[ANC]

yeah, I ran coco coir outside in the sun, just by putting my bags in boxes, I'd spray the whole box down with the plant. It keeps the root zone cool as it evaporates and slows down the bags drying out.

 

[NoobgrowerLbc]

yeah, I ran coco coir outside in the sun, just by putting my bags in boxes, I'd spray the whole box down with the plant. It keeps the root zone cool as it evaporates and slows down the bags drying out.

That’s a good idea actually. I been worried about the roots being too hot.