I bought two 18" pots from WalMart the other day. They hold at least 10 Gal. of soil, here is what I'm looking at. As you look inside the pot, you can see 4 drain holes. They don't go through the bottom pan, it appears that there is a "water pan" attached to the pot (permanent). I filled the pot with water to see how it works and here is what happens, the water drains out until it reaches about 2 1/2 " from the bottom of the container, then it stops draining. Am trying to figure why it is made like this. The only reason I can come up with it being like that is to retain water at the bottom for the plant to use. Is that a good thing? Again, it appears to be a pot set inside a 2 1/2" deep water pan. Has anyone ever used one of these and if so, how did it work for you ? It seems like it would almost create a Tea like liquid after it filters down through the soil and keep the soil moist for root use....Any thoughts?
hehe very very new at plants in general eh? the water will be absorbed by the soil, any EXCESS water will drain down those holes. So yes those holes are good. If water is coming out of it, you're watering too fast too much.
I hate to disagree, but as long as you're using good airy soil with adequate drainage you can't hurt a cannabis plant by giving it too much water, only by watering it too FREQUENTLY. You want to saturate the planter every time you water, so that all the roots some water and nutrients. The only soil plants I am currently growing(mainly a hydro grower now) are my mother plants(ease of maintenance), but every watering they get I have at least 10-20% runoff. No you do not want your roots in standing water(root rot), but in most of the planters that you are talking about, the bottom "saucer" comes off with a light pull as they are usually held on by 4 simple clips. The saucer is there to keep your planters from draining out onto your floor. Now with these larger 10 gallon planters it will take many months for your roots to fill it up and if you do leave a little water in the bottom, this will allow your plant to wick up the moisture they need if you forget to water on a regular basis. Hope this helps and good luck.
Just new at using this type of pot. The pot itself is attached to a saucer that is 3" deep. It's attached by 8 to 10 studs that run up through the bottom of the pot. There are 4 holes in the bottom of the pot that drain into the saucer. The saucer being 3" deep means that the water level in the pot must be higher than that for it to drain out of the saucer. Guess I'm not being too clear on this. Was hoping that someone uses these and might give some pointers. Maybe I should just try to remove the saucer and let it drain straight onto the ground....I know a plants tap root can run straight down for a pretty good distance when given the room, would hate to risk root rot from being submerged in water sitting on the bottom of the pot.
i use the same pots, just smaller. when you water them just soak the soil till water comes out of the bottom holes, it will overfill the "pan" attached to the bottom and spill out, thats what you want. thats how you know the soil is fully watered. then what i do is wait a minute or two and tip the pot to one side, this will dump the extra water out of the "pan".
That will work. Good to hear someone else uses them. The rain was my worry. Guess I could just tilt the pot over at a angle and let it drain after a storm. I'm in the N/W near the border, with deep woods and a clearing cut into the middle of it for our homestead. It does get hot in the summer and the days are looooooong. Stays light to 10:30/11:00pm. With that much daylight, might be good to have a small water source at the bottom of the pot, soil can "wick" it up when needed. Am thinking about letting them really veg. in that good high mountain sunlight. My plan is to move them back into the treeline on the West side of the clearing in the morning (so they can soak up that soft early sun) and then move them into the Eastside treeline for the more intense late evening sun. I have the time , so I will be able to baby them like that !