Pots VS Soil

[ALFIE45]

Hello everyone!

 

I have been using 60L black bins for pots and i'm sick of watering so much. This year i may just plant in the dirt. Would i use less water.

 

In the pots, the plants dry out way too much because of the bloody heat, and my yields are crap.

 

Any thoughts appreciated

[~sawyer~]

Hello everyone!

 

I have been using 60L black bins for pots and i'm sick of watering so much. This year i may just plant in the dirt. Would i use less water.

 

In the pots, the plants dry out way too much because of the bloody heat, and my yields are crap.

 

Any thoughts appreciated

 

Either way you look at it, your plants are still going to be thirsty and need a drink whether they're in pots or the ground. What sort of substrate are you using in your bins? Just soil? You could try adding something that retains moisture a bit better like coco or perlite.

 

If I were in your situation, I'd dig large holes and prep them with a nice water retentive soil mixture. You won't have the same heat issues that a large black bin would have. So I guess in answer to your question, yes-you may use marginally less water.

 

Maybe time to look at using a pump or something to help ease the watering burden.

 

Hope this helps. (Welcome to Ozstoners btw)

Edited July 30, 2010 by ~sawyer~

[Frazz]

Heya Alfie welcome to OzStoners .. I tell you a good way of conserving water and keeping roots cool , use the big pots but, dig a hole in the ground slightly bigger and deeper than the pot so you can put a few rocks in bottom of hole for pot to sit on so it can still drain excess watering

and what will prolly happen is the roots hang out the bottom and pick up any excess water which is no bad thing either

 

the top of pot should be about level with the ground, i know its alotta digging but it is well worth it in terms of less water loss

 

all the best

[MongyMan]

Water Crystals are good to save water too.

 

 

Peace MM

[Radic]

indoors or out

depending pon air temps and of course, plant maturation or stage of growth

1 to 2lt per day is what each plant uses each day

good drainage is a must

 

imho

outdoors in the soil rulez

i have never been able to produce a bigger plant in pots then what i can do in the soil

but bigger is not always better

Plants don’t have containers in Nature, so they grow larger when conditions are right.

When we put plants in little pots, we restrict how big they can get.

How wide the container is controls how wide the plant will spread,

and the depth controls the height of the plant.

Now, knowing that, we can design the plant to fit into the available grow space

eg need to use wide, shallow containers if we want plants to form into small wide bushes

or

deep wide if we want big tall plants

 

irey guidance

[ALFIE45]

Thanks for the responses people!

 

i am using potting mix with water crystals, the area i am using is only shitty scrub (non wetting sand).

i am thinking of getting the loader in and bring some decent dirt, as i have 4000 acres of good soil. (I cant grow there so dont ask!!!)

 

Frazz i have seriously thought about doing that. i just thought that by giving more rootspace, as in dirt planting, would allow for the plant to search for water making its roots bigger. I may try a few different things and see whats better.

 

My other idea is to drill holes 1/3 of the way down the pot and letting the rest be water. Would they get enough air. I know people who drill drainage holes about 20 cms from the bottom, but i'm thinking the top. The plant could drink for a week!

 

I water about every second day, and every day in the extreeeeeeme heat. 40+. i'm also trying to keep my tracks to a minimum.

 

If there is native veg near, would they steal too much moisture from my plants.

[Frazz]

yea Alfie im not too keen on the idea of having 2/3 of roots in water in the pot , ive grown on river floodplains and ive also lost big plants due unexpected rise in the river and it raised the water table in my pot holes and droowned some plants in few days, in short the roots definitely need oxygen too but as you say some residual water in the pots of 10-20cms doesnt seem to worry pplants

 

have you seen them big black water-bags with drippers on them ? they are desinged to lie at base of plant and slowly drip water at of plant .. never used them myself but may be worth looking at .. google 'water bags for trees'

 

all the best

[GIY]

PLANT IN THE SOIL PLANT IN THE SOIL PLaNT IN THE SOIL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i got a soil science background and can tell you that yes if you want to water less then PLANT IN THE SOIL. soil physics of water penetration and storage is actually really complicated

 

Potting mix can never hold much water because for water to "free drain" out of the bottom of the pot and avoid water logging the substrate must be very course and hold virtually no water. Soil on the other hand is at least twice as dense with about 10000 times more surface area and holds many times the plant available water. YOU CANNOT put soil in a pot however because you risk water logging the plant because the pores of the soil are so fine that they hold water and water will not flow out of the bottom of the pots (think of a pen ink and a mc donalds straw)

 

1 kg of clay can hold nearly 300 ml of water. 100 kg = 300 lts !!!!!!!!!

 

i guerilla grow and after plants are established i can tell you they can survive very harse conditions my plants did fine with three weeks 5 mm of rain and temps >30. The trick was that i picked a site with deep soil used pre emergent herbicide to ensure no water robbing weeds and i sat and read a book while i ran a pump and flood irrigated the whole site for 6 hours !!!! this ensures there is subsoil moisture. Subsoil moisture is worth double what surface moisture is, the technical reason for this is interesting but maybe thats just me so ill spare u guys the explanation.

[ALFIE45]

frazz i have been using a 20 sheep drench container, the ones with a tap on the bottomand found that dripper hose fits perfectly!

 

giy what you said IS very interesting, i think you have made my mind up! The soil is very average sand, there would be red clay down deeper, i did hit it the other day on a fence hole.

 

i may have to start moving some soil

 

Thanks people!

[Chronmasta]

Ground/soil plants = bigger tastier buds imo

 

Have had great success in the past with prepping 1.5'd x 1.5'w holes and dosing each one with 2ltrs of organic poultry manure and 400g of water crystals prior to planting........then when the plants go in i give em a nice mulching and regular feeds with my "super sauce"

However imo, the key for a successful guerrilla mission is to seek a good water source and then work on getting it to the plants...as apposed to carting buckets/bottles through the scrub .....not to mention stealth!!!

 

A few good methods are mentioned in the "watering 101" thread

 

 

Good luck to all having a go at it ...and be safe

 

 

 

 

Chron