Constant drip for outdoor monsters?

[wiesser]

So I've got some plants in 200 gal. smart pots, pots are totally naked, no mulch or straw. These plants are way bigger than the pots, plants are flowering now and really taking off. The problem is I feel like I can't keep them hydrated. I water in the morning around 15-20 gal, by afternoon they are calling for more water, so I give them another 10-15 gal. I can see that some are asking for more at the end of the day as well, so I give them a little more, maybe like another 10 gal. Plants get full sun all day and there is very little run off coming out of the pots. I've seen a garden using drip emitters basically run the emitters all day, run-off is collected in a pond below the plants and pumped back up to the plants. Im talking a pond full of just run-off!! This sounds really crazy to me, this is my first big outdoor grow and I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined these plants needing so much water. I just wanted to get some feedback before I run my well dry, thanks!

 

[sticky367]

I would recommend mulching, even covering the pots to reduce the amount of evaporation. I've heard it can make a noticeable difference......Hopefully the drippers would be dialed to very little run off if you are low on water. Are you running nutes? more info about your soil/ferts will help people give advice maybe. best of luck hope you don't run out of water

 

[sticky367]

apologize for double post, Ive heard of fabrics that can be used as mulch, sounded pretty interesting to me. Watch out for mulches that will leach nitrogen. a lot of people use hay, especially if its easily accessible and cheap. do know it can harbor rot some people mention that it can do more harm than good, really depends on situation I guess

 

[epicorchard]

I run about 40gal in the am and 40 gal in the evening.

 

[epicorchard]

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=290293

 

[wiesser]

Damn, epicorchard your garden looks great! Thanks for the info, really amazed how much water large plants can go through. I've heard that the root mass is usually just a little bit smaller the plant. If that is true I think my plants have more roots underneath and out the bottom of the smart pot than in the pot itself!

 

[gdbud]

Check out Blumat

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=111046

 

[epicorchard]

Damn, epicorchard your garden looks great! Thanks for the info, really amazed how much water large plants can go through. I've heard that the root mass is usually just a little bit smaller the plant. If that is true I think my plants have more roots underneath and out the bottom of the smart pot than in the pot itself!

Thanks, The key is great drainage... which I currently don't have. 6" of gravel is the best. For now i push my water, only backing off if I see a droopy plant. Its always in a low point. About once a month my soil becomes over saturated and I need to back off for a day or two.

 

[wiesser]

Thanks, The key is great drainage... which I currently don't have. 6" of gravel is the best. For now i push my water, only backing off if I see a droopy plant. Its always in a low point. About once a month my soil becomes over saturated and I need to back off for a day or two.

Do you think you would use more water if you had better drainage?

 

[epicorchard]

Do you think you would use more water if you had better drainage?

Definitely. I have a synthetic feed garden thats gets twice as much water. That garden has mounds built over rocky soil that drains really well. Plants with poor drainage will eventually droop severely as the soil over saturates.