My plants need too much water

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NoobgrowerLbc

Well-Known Member
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

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
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.
 
too larry

too larry

Well-Known Member
NoobgrowerLbc said:
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.
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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.
 
too larry

too larry

Well-Known Member
I would run sprinklers until they start to flower. You will have to run some sort of hose system after that.
 
too larry

too larry

Well-Known Member
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

vostok

Well-Known Member
NoobgrowerLbc said:
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.
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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

socaljoe

Well-Known Member
too larry said:
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}
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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

too larry

Well-Known Member
socaljoe said:
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".
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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

socaljoe

Well-Known Member
too larry said:
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."
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That's a good one too.
 
N

NoobgrowerLbc

Well-Known Member
vostok said:
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
Click to expand...

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.
 
N

NoobgrowerLbc

Well-Known Member
eddy600 said:
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
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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

ANC

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