Bottom Watering?

I have ten 10" pots that sit inside a Rubbermaid container and using MG moisture control soil (hey, it's working good so far!). I've recently began watering by pouring 2 gallons of water into the outer container rather than on top of the soil of each plant. The pots seem to suck up the water over the course of 5 or 10 minutes and become moist all the way up to the top leaving nothing in the outer container.

Are there any advantages or disadvantages to bottom watering rather than pouring water directly onto the soil?

It's a lot quicker, though I'll probably still top water when I feed.

Pouring the water downwards makes the plants grow more roots down into the soil in search of the water...more roots healthier plant. But I'm no expert, might work to a point, but they could get to moist and promote root rot too.

devilwacause said:

Pouring the water downwards makes the plants grow more roots down into the soil in search of the water...more roots healthier plant. But I'm no expert, might work to a point, but they could get to moist and promote root rot too.

Click to expand...

Indeed, no expert. If the plants are "looking downward for water," then wouldn't it make sense to put the water at the bottom of the pot?
I've spoken with my local hydro-grow store and spoke to him about this. I've been feeding my plants like this since April, and haven't had an issue with root-rot or otherwise.

First off, you feed the plants on a schedule. Personally, I water them (day one), they dry for two days (day two and three), and then feed them on the final day (day four).

I mix up 1 liter per plant with my food. I put the pots in trays that are designed to catch water-overflow (they're clear in my case). The plants are planted in a soil-less mix. This means, no nutrients, neutral pH, and no chance of bugs or things in the soil.


When I pour the food-water mix into the trays, I let the water sit there for 10minutes. When 10minutes have passed, I remove any excess water after that time (unless it's just a few drops). If you find that your plants are showing signs of being over-watered, simply adjust this "sit" time.

I feed-water for two cycles followed by one cycle of just pure water. This will help to prevent /nutrient build up/burn.

During the first stages after the transplant, I did do a small amount of top-feeding as well. I wasn't sure if the roots could reach the water that was being absorbed.


If you have any questions at all, shoot me a PM or message me in this thread.

Cheers!

Thanks for the info JT. I know this method of watering is recommended for several other species of plants, but before I went and messed up a nice looking crop I wanted to ask.

Anybody else bottom water their plants?

I know its an older thread....

But Constant. Did you try it? How did it work for ya?

BUMP
Im very curious to know this as i was planning on filling my room and putting the plants in a kiddie pool, and then pouring the water in the pool and water them from the bottom.
There would not be enough room for me to move in there once they were in there, so watering would be hard for me to do without causing any damage to the plants. I there a down side to watering from the bottom that anyone has experienced ?

Thanks,
SmokenMoose