OK, Who waters in sips or copiously? Why? What kind of water?

9 years ago

We all have different watering techniques and I was wondering who of us waters in sips as compared to those who water in until it runs from the bottom?

Why do you water in sips?

Why do you water in gulps, copiously?

When you do, what's your prceedure? What kind of instrument do you use? Do you water with rain water, tap, well, fresh, store bought, or facuet?

Do you see any downside to any of the watering techiques and or positive ones?

As we all know, watering our plants properly in one of the most important things we can do for the best growth on our plants. Please share your view and habits.
Let's se if we can help each other to water in a way that is best for our plants:-)

How do you gauge your moisture in your pots and when you you know it's time to water.

Mike

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Comments (17)

birdsnblooms
9 years ago
Hey Mike,

I'm not a sip waterer..:)

My plants are watered until water seeps from drainage holes.
I also find it important to water clockwise or counter-clockwise so entire rootball is saturated.

One reason I like clear, plastic pots...while watering, you can visually see roots receiving water...especially Orchids potted in bark.

Sips just don't do it, especially for plants potted in large containers. 5" and up.

Sips moisten top soil, but roots remain dry..And we all know roots need liquid to grow, or else they'll dry out and plant will die.

Just my way of watering..perhaps others have different methods.

BTW, my solo African Violet is watered from the bottom-- water in the saucer. Toni
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
9 years ago
I violently water my plants. Biblical deluge style watering....
Especially during the Summer - I aim the hose, close my eyes, and count to 100, hahaha.
Just joking about that last part, of course. I start slowly, sort of pulsing the hose-sprayer,
and then pick up the pace as the mix accepts the moisture and begins to hastily drain.

Tap-water most often; rain-water when available; vinegar added for my prized Citrus :-)

Josh
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dsws
9 years ago
I'm no expert. I've just gotten back to having some houseplants after not having any for several years. I used to prefer watering from the bottom: fill the saucer and keep it full. So far I've been watering from the top until it flows out the bottom, and dumping the saucer.

If sips are frequent enough that the total amount of water is sufficient, I don't see why they would wet only the surface and let the roots dry out.

What I've heard against sips is that minerals don't get flushed out. No matter how you fertilize, it will never match what the plant uses down to the last atom. If you water so that it drains, the difference will flow out the bottom. If you don't, the difference will accumulate.

Another thing I've heard about watering tropical houseplants is that if you use tap water, you should let it reach room temperature before watering. This also gives a chance for any chlorine in the water to dissipate.
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
9 years ago
Dsws,
I, too, prefer to use just slightly lukewarm water (room temp or so).
The jury is still out whether cold water "shocks" roots, but that's not why I do it.
I use slightly warm water so that the flushing is a little more effective and so that the
drying process theoretically occurs that much sooner. I try to water on a sunny morning
so that the plant has warmth, light, and the entire day to make use of that moisture.

Now, about that Chlorine. These days, it's very common for cities to use Chloramine actually,
which doesn't dissipate due to its stability. So if your water has Chloramine, there is no
benefit (other than temp) to letting it sit out.

Just to add to this. Al has described how letting water sit could actually be concentrating
the chemicals in the water; thus, there is some doubt as to whether or not there was much
efficacy in the first place (when Chlorine was used primarily).

Josh
jodik_gw
9 years ago
Our watering methods are most likely closely tied to the medium we use... mine is. I am able to water copiously every time I water because I use a mostly inorganic, sharp draining medium that holds its structure and allows for decent drainage. The water I use is from a well, and is pulled before it reaches a water softener. I fill gallon jugs in another building and bring them into the house. They sit until reaching ambient temperature.

I can go a few days in between waterings for some pots because I've used a bit more in the way of moisture retentive ingredients.

I, too, try to do the watering in the mornings... giving the plants all day to dry to where they need to be, or to get accustomed to the temperature and moisture change before the sun goes down. Seems to work out well.

Testing for moisture is something I do before watering any plant.
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
9 years ago
Luckily plants only have to be inside here for around 3 months. Inside, it varies by plant because it's usually pretty cool in here, and much more humid than most houses for winter because we don't use the central heat. I also have most of my plants in much bigger pots than most people would consider normal because they have to be able to stay put in 40-50 mph gusts when outside, very common here. And they have to be able to go at least 24 hours in the heat and sun outside. But even so, most of them get watered copiously and often. OTOH, although I don't have many pots I wouldn't consider well-draining, still not comfortable with getting a Sans or jade completely dripping wet, and have seen no reason or evidence to do so. If a plant doesn't use much water, why drench it? Plus, that's just unnecessary work of going to the sink. Then the really big pots I can't pick up. I'm not asking DH to put those in the shower for a flush, and would then have a giant, dripping pot to deal with, no way to prop it in a tilt to finish dripping. They'll be fine with sips of tap for that short amount of time. If I do find a wilting situation, we'll get that one to the shower.

I use a squirt bottle for the sips, or dribbles from a watering can if I'm sure it won't come out of the bottom. No drip trays here, but there are plastic tablecloths on some of the furniture occupied by plants.

My gauge is primarily the weight of a pot, but I also put about as much stock in the appearance of the plant, its' turgidity, the vitality. With most, I know them well enough to water just before they pre-wilt. I could do it more often, but won't unless some plant gets unhappy about this. I have better things to do if everybody's happy.

It's so much easier outside, I really don't worry about any of that stuff. When plants are outside, I always water all of them copiously, preferably with rain water if nature has cooperated. And I usually do it twice. Once to moisten, the second time for flushing. That's usually an every-other day thing from May-Oct, every day for some things if I didn't have a big enough pot. If I have to use the hose, it's on full blast and runs through the pots just as fast. If I don't keep the water flowing quickly, the hose could fill with scalding HOT water from the sun beating on the 150 foot of hose it takes to get around to the front porch.
greenlarry
9 years ago
well all plants are different. Aloes like it dry but like a good drenching once the soil is dry.
Tropical plants, or jungle plants, like things moistrr and shadier, the soil never drying out ideally.
And some plants are better watered from beneath or by subjunging to the top level of the pot till water is seen, as they dont like water on the leaves.
cowgurl160
9 years ago
I am finding that I like to drench from the top when I water. Now I have a few pots with no drainage that I'm giving sips to, but the few plants in those pots will be repotted this spring so I can drench them. I carefully top water and drench my AVs when they are starting to get dry. I have a couple that are planted in the self watering pots that I still use as they are designed but I want to replant those too so I can drench them. And I have one pot that is a bad combo of succulents based on watering needs that I give sips to on one side of the pot so that the plant that likes more water is hopefully getting enough without completely soaking the other plant. For all my water I use the city tap water. Sometimes it has a chance to sit before I use it and sometimes I use it straight from the tap. So far I haven't had any problems doing it this way.
tapla
9 years ago
I treat all my plants the same way. I water from the top so at least 15-20% of the water applied exits the pot. It doesn't matter if they're succulents/cacti or impatiens/coleus - they get watered the same way. To date, I've never had to put down an insurrection or even a mild rebellion because of the practice.

Al
dsws
9 years ago
What about misting? (Or does that belong in its own thread?)
tifflj
9 years ago
Dsws- ooohhh you dared to ask the question. Refer to a thread i posted a month or so ago. Lots of info there. And everyone has their own opinion.
dsws
9 years ago
Ok, I'll bump an old misting thread instead. Is this the one you were thinking of?

Here is a link that might be useful: An old misting thread

This post was edited by dsws on Fri, Jan 11, 13 at 0:59
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
9 years ago
Good question, Mike. I'm in one hundred percent agreement with Al and others who drench. Understandably, people get confused about their cacti and other succulents. That category of plants require lots of water...just far less frequently.

It takes lots of available water to replenish the water storing cells of succulents. I even like to drench mine twice, an hour or more apart.

Depending on many factors, these plants might not get watered again for weeks...even months.

Mike, I use tap water from the faucet or hose. I don't adjust the temperature. You won't find a commercial operation with warm water.

I use several criteria to decide when to water. The weight of the plant, the feeling of the leaves...I'm a plant fondler, intuition, and experience. I do not allow plants to wilt.

I don't have any plants that I haul outside in the spring and back inside to overwinter. That would present some challenges in my little house.
mrlike2u
9 years ago
Why do you water in sips?

With out plant type information the plant is dormant chances are better that a dormant plant doesn't need a big gulp.
Why do you water in gulps, copiously?

With out to much plant type naming the old wives tail is
When it rains it pours when it pours water flows in all kinds of directions.

When you do, what's your prceedure?

With out mentioning specific plant types
More by volume during signs of growth less by volume when growth is slow

What kind of instrument do you use?

The plant added with a dash of knowledge of how the plant grows experience.

Do you water with rain water, tap, well, fresh, store bought, or facuet?

If rain water is available then rain water is used I dont 100% completely depend on rain for water toward all my plants. The water in my tap or faucet is filtered well this water left in safe from freeze area in gallon jugs for use if or when there is no rain water available.

Do you see any downside to any of the watering techniques and or positive ones?

A misunderstanding question read by me Mike. The up side is all plants need water and it's good to see people are willing to water by what ever method they choose. The down side would be if they didn't water plants.
TheMasterGardener1
9 years ago
I water in sips because I use potting soil which allows the water to soak all through the soil even with sips. I hear allowing 20% of water to run out of the bottom is needed, but experience is great. So thats 20% of all your fertilizer and water wasted. Many things you hear really are not needed. If I were concerned about salt build up in a food crop I may consider allowing runoff for a few days maybe, but if you fertilize at such a low rate you will not have salt build up as plant will use the nutrients. I grew tons of pepprs and this is the method I used and they tasted great I harvested a lot for only putting very little in.
dsws
9 years ago
Then there's how I like to imagine watering, if I had unlimited time and budget.

I would have a container of water under every pot, with a slight air gap between, and separate temperature controls for every pot and water-container. I would have plumbing to soak each pot from the top and mist or spray each plant, and it would all be controlled by computer. The same computer would also control the lighting, the fans, the fertilizer, and the room humidity. In every pot the computer would have sensors to measure the total osmolarity of the soil water, ion-selective electrodes to measure specific minerals and pH, and hygrometers to measure the water potential in the soil. Every plant would have its own daily and annual cycle of soil moisture and minerals.

This post was edited by dsws on Fri, Jan 11, 13 at 12:06
greenlarry
9 years ago
Dsws, Misting is pretty pointless to be honest, except in cacti seedlings.

OK, Who waters in sips or copiously? Why? What kind of water?

Comments (17)

birdsnblooms

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a

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