Yes. Most likely the volume of water was insufficient to fully penetrate the depth of the pot and the soil mix. And while I understand the convenience, I do not care for drip or any other 'automated' watering system for containers. First, you cannot water containerized plants on any sort of schedule so how do you know when to set up the system to emit? And different plants/different size containers will want watering on a different frequency which is also very hard to accommodate with an automated system. And finally, when you do water, you need to water fully enough so that all the media is hydrated and water flows freely out the drain holes in the bottom.

I have maybe 2 dozen house plants and probably twice as many permanent outdoor containers and I only water by hand. I can't imagine the work that would be involved if I had them all on drip......I'd need like 20-30 different timers!!

Our garden in Walnut Creek was about 3/4 acres, terraced, lots of sun, trees, containers and even a creek. We tried drip and it was constantly a problem. Bugs in tubes blocking water, some plants too wet and others too dry. We pulled the system and went back to hand and sprinklers watering. The biggest advantage is that we were monitoring the plants constantly.

Our lawn was the greenest in the block - long deep watering once a week or less in even the 100's in the summer. We watered until the water was puddling on the lawn, turned hose off for a couple of hours and then watered again till it puddled. Pots were watered by dunking in buckets of water till they stopped bubbling and then drained - usually enough for 1-2 weeks. Large containers were watered for at least an hour with dribbling hose fitting. Frequent watering of small amounts of water - same for all plants and trees, may be the easiest for the homeowner, but will not be best for the whole garden. The only way to know if the water is reaching the roots is to dig and look and feel the soil! If the plant looks like it needs water - it probably does! We use the same techniques in our large PNW garden. We water by hand and eyes!

What I have noticed among gardeners who are successful with plants is a common theme that they water by hand. That lets them fine-tune and constantly examine the plant for changes and signals of too much or too little water. The problem for me is I do not have time (or desire) to do that.

What I want is large outdoor containers that are in a soil that makes them relatively bulletproof to overwatering during Winter, and which I can adjust the automatic drip on during the Summer. What I use with the automatic watering system is a flow control valve at each pot. That lets me reduce the water flow until the plant shows me it needs more water. So in theory I have very fine-grained control over each pot without investing in a huge number of zones at the controller.

The problem with what I want is it is hard, actually so much harder than my worst imagination of how hard it would be. I routinely kill plants that were thriving in one season by some combination of the wrong soil and the wrong amount of irrigation. I am stubborn enough to keep trying for a while, at which point I may have to take up a different hobby.

I am starting to think I should grow every succulent and cactus in pure pumice, and just not hassle with soil mixes and at least minimize the chances of overwatering.

You can be successful at gardening and still use drip or micro irrigation. The key is knowing what is happening, never assuming the system is running correctly. When used correctly they take constant monitoring. If the weather is going to be soaring hot you have to make those changes to the system. Then monitor it to make sure it is enough and not too much more. The key to all gardening is to know your plants. Know what they need when they need them. You can use all the tools you want as long as they are being monitored.

Greenhouses use irrigation systems successfully all the time, because everything is monitored. If the soil is not getting enough water, automatic monitors can make the adjustments necessary. They monitor the heat everything. Only in these types of systems can they be turned on and left. But, the best grower understand the system and know how to program it. Even then they don't just leave it. They get reports at home from the greenhouse. The automated systems warns them when there is a problem and it needs their attention.

So, yes you can use irrigation and every little gadget you can dream of in the garden and still be a real gardener, as long as you are still in the know.

@gardengems You are absolutely right that if I continue on this path I am going to need to start managing the system much better - and more often - than I have been doing. I have been taking things for granted. To be honest I fell into the trap of believing that gritty mix made it impossible to overwater, and I have now killed so many plants during Winter in gritty mix I know it just is not true.

You can grow a plant in almost any kind of soil as long as you can protect it from rain and cold and control when it gets watered by hand. But getting the plant to survive in wilder conditions outdoors in a container ends up being a much much harder thing to do. And I now see it requires - for some types of succulents - a level of experience with soils, and with temperaments of specific plant species, that I did not have.

There is a WORLD of difference when considering using an automatic or drip irrigation system in a greenhouse and using the same thing for an assortment of plants and container sizes outside!! That should be patently obvious without any need for explanation!

A greenhouse is a controlled environment - the contents are not exposed to weather and cold. And in the case of production greenhouses, all the plants are similar.......in species, size of container and stage of production. There are very few variables to consider and irrigating is simplified as a result. You are NOT going to get the same sort of uniform results by applying that methodology to an assortment of different plants in different sized containers exposed to much different growing conditions - like exposure to the elements year round, including those that may not well appreciate winter exposure.

Having done much the same thing for many years - a large collection of permanent, year round containers of variable sizes and with a variable collection of plant species in them - I can't conceive of attempting to rely only on an automated irrigation system and still maintain peak plant performance and plant health. I am not sure it is even possible!

It is not the fault of the soil mix. Too many others use the same and with amazing success. It is a lack of individual attention and the assumption that you can apply a formulaic approach to irrigation and call it good. Or expect routinely good results.

To be perfectly honest, If you do not have the time or inclination to hand water, then perhaps you should reconsider container gardening entirely and only plant those species that you can be assured of withstanding your hands-off approach and can survive inground under whatever conditions your climate and location provides.

I’m with gardengal on watering as I have 300 plus trees, plants etc... that I hand water . I’ve contemplated drip but don’t see how I could rely on that 24/7 and get similar results to my hand watering the container plants.

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) I seemed to have struck a cord. It's okay. I understand the difference in a greenhouse and individual containers. I was just trying to give an example of that no matter if you hand water or use drip irrigation, it's all about observation. You can hand water and still water improperly if you are not monitoring the plants. I use various methods of watering. We do use drip irrigation to a degree. But, can't expect the same system to do everything. You need to have multiple zones. Those zones need to correspond to plants of similar needs. Like one for a hedge of boxwood. It's on a timer that comes on twice a week for three hours. In the heat of summer the amount of time will need to be increased. Another zone for the hanging baskets. Another for large containers. But no matter what you have to monitor it just like you monitor hand watering.

Not everyone is as able bodied to handle doing all the lifting it takes to water multiple container or watering their perennial bed. Everybody should be able to enjoy gardening no matter their physical abilities. If that means using drip irrigation, then use drip irrigation, but you still have to go out and check on the plants. Give extra water to those that need more.

So, it does not matter which method works best for you. The important part is you are enjoying the art and science of gardening. That you are getting that mental health/sense of well-being that gardening gives a person.

As lifers our job is to help those that want to enjoy gardening, but don't understand every part of the process, because we have been there before. Obviously, @westes Zone 9b California SF Bay has taken the time needed to research what mix might work best for him/her. It takes some dedication to try to understand 'Gritty Mix'. These threads are not the easiest to follow and understand at time. Now, she/he knows that they need to monitor the system more closely. That they can't rely on gadgets or even the growing medium. They can only rely on what the plant tells them it needs. It takes time to learn plant language, especially since each one has it's own dialect some Cockney, others Cajun, even those from Down Under. No two are the same, but they all want the same thing, water, food and light.

gardengems, the chord you struck was the common one we see here of comparing apples to oranges. Greenhouses are not the same as containers, which are not the same as inground plantings. There is not a one size fits all approach that will work successfully for all 3 situations and making or alluding to that assumption just confuses the issue.

Having done this for a great many years, I just cannot envisage using a drip or other automated system successfully on a large selection of different permanent container plantings. You are going to give up a significant portion of plant health and performance in favor of convenience. It is where all this falls within your priorities as to what road you take. I would opt for the plants over anything else....otherwise, why bother to garden at all if not for the love of plants?

Drip emitters, as the name suggests, produce drops of water in a limited area. With well draining soil that does not work very well. Unless you have many emitters that are closely spaced. Misters/Sprinklers work far better since they they wet the entire surface of the soil. And as the water percolates down it uniformly wets the medium. Drip emitters are far more localized and do not work well with fast draining soil.

In bonsai, where fast draining medium is the most popular, no one will ever recommend drip emitters. Misters are the way to go if you want any sort of automation. As has already mentioned best is hand watering using a sprinkler head. The key to proper watering is slow, uniform and thorough wetting of the soil.

@tropic, I understand your reasoning but I have many plants doing very well on drip emitters in fast draining soil. That said, the containers in which I have problems with soil saturation might be improved by the method you give.

Jeez - this is not rocket science! If you cannot manage to take care of the planted containers you have to your satisfaction, then your choices are to reduce the number of containers you have to attend to or accept the less than satisfactory results that will arise from subjecting them to far from optimum conditions.

You can't have it both ways. Gardening requires time and physical effort and if you cannot devote either then you are not going to have a successful gardening experience. Which is fine if that is what you want.....just don't complain about it.

Westes: How sure are you that drip emitters work well on gritty mix? I mean true gritty mix with no peat or similar stuff in it. It is hard for me to believe that drip emitters will be able to wet the soil uniformly. If some plants seem to thrive in that situation, it is probably because they are happier with dry conditions. And I bet the root systems in that situation will have very skewed growth - either favoring the dry or wet portions of the mix. Plants will produce roots where they sense is the ideal condition.

Gardengems: I agree that everyone should have the opportunity to explore and find out for themselves. In bonsai we have a saying that unless you have killed 100 plants you would not have learned the basics. I have probably killed way more than that. I teach science and engineering and one of the basic lesson is that successes do not teach you anything much - it basically says what you did worked. Whereas failures teach you a lot more if you are willing to find out why it failed. An expert is someone who can teach you why something will not work and the tell what to do to fix it. The rest is up to the person and has to decide what works for them.

@tropic, I am using drip lines that have drips spaced every few inches on the tube, so one pot might be getting 20 to 40 drips. That said, you have raised a really interesting point and I need to re-examine this situation much more carefully during the next summer or extended dry period.

With a mist-type emitter, I worry that the surface layer will saturate but that it will not penetrate the pot deeply. It almost looks like you would want all pots with gritty mix to be on their own dedicated irrigation zone, and you would want to really drench those pots once every week or other week.

What do you think of the nozzle style called a "MicroBubbler"? These could be spaced out in several locations for a large container, on a single drip line that loops the container.

Misters need to be run longer. It will penetrate all the way through mix. And I do not see why not. The mister needs to directed at the soil. You need at least two for a pot for uniform coverage (for small pots one will do). The downside to misters is that they will also wet the leaves - may not be desirable for some plants.

I have not setup one myself but I have been contemplating a misting system for peak summer time only. And that too as a complementary watering method to my usual hand watering.

I have experimented with it before on a smaller scale. Works well but it willl be too complex to implement it as a sole watering scheme.

Did not see the micro-bubbler pic you posted - somehow it did not show up earlier. I am guessing it will work a bit better but it is still quite localized. Each stream of water will hit a localized spot. Looks like there is mulch in the pic you posted - probably a pic you picked from the seller's site. That should help to spread out the water a bit more uniformly. Basically the more water retentive a mix is the better these devices work.

Gardengal48... excellent explanations, thank you! You are right on point, and I couldn't agree more. :-)

I have been a proponent of grittier mediums for many years, using a variation therein for every containerized plant I keep, from orchids to cacti, and everything in between.

Key to all of it was understanding the physics, the basic concepts of using such a medium, and making small adjustments as each plant/container required.

As a result, I am able to keep a reasonable number of my favorite plant varieties happy and healthy... in spite of my not-so-great indoor environment.

Thorough watering, along with other plant necessities, like plenty of light, enough nutrition easily uptaken by roots, etc... have all conspired to make me a better grower.

There's no such thing as a "green thumb"... it's all applied knowledge! :-)