How much water to water a 5 gallon bucket?

yoyoyojoe

Well-Known Member
How much water should be used when watering a 5 gallon bucket. I assume about 2 but I just want to be sure.
 

la9

Well-Known Member
Not sure there is a definitive answer its all what the plant needs.

Exactly, depending on the lights and the size of the plant it could vary greatly. Depends on how much evaporates and how much the plant drinks. I've found once a wekk works pretty good and sometimes I water twice a week, you shouldn't need to water more than that.
 

K1Ng5p4d3

Junior Creatologist
yeh the only thing that matters if your factoring in plant size, is how often your gonna water no matter how much water you give it each feeding. 1 full gallon of water for a 5 gallon bag is just fine, and youll water it more than likely every 3-4 days. My plants are pretty thirsty, 2 days after each watering they get a little growth spurt in them, which means that theyre searching for more moisture in the bag, and stretching their roots out to find it. I give it two more days beyond the spurt to dry out the soil. This has happened every single time i water without exception, and itll continue to happen through flowering, only the buds will swell rather than the plant get taller and bushier. I use 3 full gallons of soil, and i only feed my plants about 3/5 of a gallon every time, and i still need 4 solid days between waterings.
 

hydromikey

Member
I make sure my pots are light before i water. i do a liter per 5 gal pot. about an ounce trickles out the bottom into the saucer and is wicked up by the next night depending. Im thinking about feeding it 2 liters?
 

ShedsAndTents

Active Member
I've been watering with 2 gallons for my 5gal pots. I get about 1/4 gal runoff with the first gallon and a cigarette later I run another gallon through with about 1 gal of runoff(total). I have to feed her almost every 2 days(I wait 3 sometimes when I'm busy)
She's in veg and has never shown ill signs from 2 gals. Make sure your humidity isn't crazy high or the leaves will certainly puff up because the pressure from the water in the pot pushing up, isn't being followed through with rapid transpiration.
 
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ShedsAndTents

Active Member
What soil in the bucket?
Me?
I'm using some soil from my last 2 grows. I think it was a bag of miracle grow with that 5$ bag of perlite from walmart mixed into a 1.5cuft bag of soil. And a hint of super soil mix from natures living soil.
It's been reused about 2 times on its third time now.

Btw I collect that runoff for the next feeding.
 
A good starting point I’ve found is about 1/8 of container capacity. Now if you’ve just transplanted, water the same amount as the last container. 16 oz PER gallon. I would go 8-12 oz per gallon to avoid overwatering and adjust as needed.
 

ShedsAndTents

Active Member
A good starting point I’ve found is about 1/8 of container capacity. Now if you’ve just transplanted, water the same amount as the last container. 16 oz PER gallon. I would go 8-12 oz per gallon to avoid overwatering and adjust as needed.
Now, hear me out, I'm buzzed. BUT.

You shouldn't worry about watering too much at one time, rather, too often.
If it was bad to water too much at one time we would have a flood of growers presenting issues when they flush before harvest.
Roots need oxygen as well as beneficial bacteria. Anaerobic bacteria thrive in an environment that's "water logged" this is why we have wet/dry cycles and hydro uses air pumps.

However! If you're going from a solo cup size to a 5 gallon pot, I suggest you transplant when the little pot is dry, drench the entire 5 gal pot after transplanting, then have a cycle of 1 or so liters every 2-4 days and a complete pot drench once every week and a half or so. After 2 soil drenches you can move on to regular watering :)
You want to keep the roots themselves moist along with encouraging them to reach out for water, if you don't water the entire soil capacity (like rain does) you will have dry spots the roots will literally avoid.

:)
 

ShedsAndTents

Active Member
You cheap fuck :)
Really, after 1 grow the salt buildup will be huge in that soil and your PH will be way out of whack.
Personally, in an indoor grow in soil I never reused it, I like it fresh
Too many contaminants, and as the saying goes, dirt is cheap.
Lol yes I am a cheap fuck, but you have obviously never heard of no-till and will never successfully be a large scale agriculture farmer.
No such thing as salt build up in my soil, and I'm not organic.
Also, roots leave behind exudates, these entice bacteria to form a symbiotic Mycorrhizae where the plants can reach nutrients previously unavailable.

Yes lol I am a cheap fuck, but you are a wasteful fuck :p
 

ShedsAndTents

Active Member
You cheap fuck :)
Really, after 1 grow the salt buildup will be huge in that soil and your PH will be way out of whack.
Personally, in an indoor grow in soil I never reused it, I like it fresh
Too many contaminants, and as the saying goes, dirt is cheap.
Also, what contaminates magically form that weren't already available to your previous plant??
If it grew mold sure, toss that shit in my veggie garden but nah dude, nothing magically happens when you take it from your last plant.

Here's a pic of that plant that has reused soil and I feed it, the runoff.

Some people consider it feeding your plant its own piss, that would be like distilling the evaporation.

This is like eating leftovers, a requirement when I was growing up :)
 

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