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?
It's a pot with reservoir for indoors i think! It will be good to retain water for your plant to use. I only used plain pots because I was too cheap to get the reservoir and prefer to control the water level in the pot. Your pots can be good if it doesn't rain a lot in the Fall where you are. If it rains a lot, you won't be able to drain the pot and will have to make holes from the outside to let the water out and pierce the res. I use regular plain 12 gallon pots I plug in with cork screws (3/4 of 6 holes). Leave 1/4 open for drainage. Adjust plugs/rains. Your pots will be good in the summer heat but can overflow if it rains too much (indoor pots).
The rain was my worry too. Guess I could just tilt the pot over at a angle and let it drain after a storm. In the N/W near the border, 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. Am thinking about letting them really veg. in that good 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 ! Will have to think about it some more !
Don't move them every day. It's not the sun light but the amount of direct sun that hits the plants. 6 will need less watering than 8 for example. You can change locations but not every day.
"It's not the sun light but the amount of direct sun that hits the plants." I live on 20 acres in some pretty dense forest. My clearing is about 1 to 1 1/2 acres. It was the amount of sunlight that I was thinking about. If I left them 20 feet back in the treeline on the East side of the clearing, it will take some time for the sun to get high enough in the sky to penetrate that part of the clearing. Where, as soon as the sun clears the mountain, the west side gets hit with the bright light. Shifting them to the west in the morning will give them a few more hours of sun through the day. The reverse is true in the evening, the west side of the clearing is the first to lose the sunlight. It's in shade while the east side stays in sun long into the evening....
Just make sure you move them every day at the same time and at the same place (a bit of a hassle unless possible where you are. They might go in shock if you don't respect the schedule. Not good for stealth unless it's possible. I move my pots 3-4 times in whole season.
If you can imagine, it's a thick forest (have been thinning it out around the clearing) with what looks like a circle of 1 1/2 acres cut out of its center. I flew over it once and that is what it looked like. A hole in the woods. Have the cabin facing south but I still need the sun to rise high enough in the sky to clear the treeline and hit the clearing, Sun rises in the east, the west side gets the first sun. Never thought about "keeping a schedule",makes sense. In the summer, I figure (doing it that way) I could be getting up to 16/17 hours of sun on the girls. My thought was to get as much sun as possible. Don't get a lot of visitors, people tend to keep to themselves up here. Used to grow in S. Cal. many years ago until I was busted, had to step away from it. It's my first try up here, will be fun to see what I end up with !
Ordered Smart Pots, arrive Tues. Am thinking "Smart Pots" and "Whitetail Deer droppings (field raisens)" gonna get me a 6' plant with a 5 lb. bud, bring on the Spring !!!! "BURP"...
Smart Pots are getting thoroughly tested in the city this year. Let's hope they're as good as they say they are.