watering problem with fabric pots

[Surfer Joe]

I am trying to use fabric pots for growing and it's a problem watering them.
They are 12L pots in a small tent and when I go to water them, the water seems to leak out the sides of the pot near the top. Eventually, water also seeps out the bottoms into the tray.

When I prepared the fabric pots for re-potting the seedlings from little plastic pots, I watered them thoroughly (or so I thought), but when I went to re-pot the seedlings and dug out a hole in the center of the fabric pots to take the seedlings, the soil about half way down in the center was still not moist, as if the water had never reached that part of the fabric pot, yet I had gotten a good amount of run-off when I was watering the fabric pots before putting in the seedlings.

Is there an effective way to water a fabric pot so that the moisture goes throughout the soil? Should I sit them in buckets of water instead to feed them and let them suck in the water through the fabric? I hope that fabric pots are worth the hassle.

 

[hollowpoint]

Watering slowly will help the water soak into the soil...I split into half......applying half at first......then 30 minutes later apply the rest of the water. Good Luck!

 

[Surfer Joe]

would you recommend soaking them in buckets rather than watering them?

 

[hollowpoint]

Its OK to have some extra water in drip pan to be soaked up...but guard against the over watering. Any water in pan after 1 hour should be removed to prevent over saturation. Soaking in a bucket may be a bit much...its like a flush and may remove wanted nutrients.

 

[burnin1]

I soak the soil in my fabric pots before planting if the soil has never been used before.
The unsoaked soil has air in it or something that prevents thorough water saturation of the pots.
Sometimes I will rotate the pots of soil into a large Rubbermaid container of water. They eventually become soaked. I remove the pot and drain it and then plant. I let the soil dry completely before watering again.

Good karma to you and your grows.

 

[oldfogey8]

I use a sprayer like you’d use to spray pesticide to water my plants in fabric pots. 3 gallon pots are what I use which I believe is 12 liter. I think the spray allows the water to be soaked into the soil better. I spray all over the exposed soil and use a stopwatch on my phone to water each pot for 2 minutes then move on to the next pot. If I see water leaking out the side I move the sprayer head away from the leakage. With well established roots, normally 3 and a half minutes is good to water each plant(about 3 liters per plant). I start to see run off after the third minute. As hollowpoint said, don’t let the plants sit in the drip pans too long(I soak it up with a sponge after 20-30 minutes). I need to water every 36 hours but depending on your temp, humidity and plant size(transpiration), your needs will be different.

 

[Rosebud]

I love me some cloth pots. You have to use drip pans. I water about twice what i think they need and let the saucepan fill with the excess, i go away and come back later, 20-30 min and all the water is taken back up. I really love these pots, no matter if they are the original smart pots or the knock offs. they are nice.

 

[Surfer Joe]

Thanks for the advice. Is there any real benefit to fabric pots over plastic pots? I can already see some of the down sides, like the watering routines and needing more frequent waterings.
Should I be concerned that more frequent waterings will lead to overnutrition? Should I alternate between nutes and plain waterings or is it better to use nutes every watering?

 

[oldfogey8]

More air gets into the root zone. I alternate watering and feeding, sometimes 2 waterings to 1 feeding.

 

[JimmyNugs]

Thanks for the advice. Is there any real benefit to fabric pots over plastic pots? I can already see some of the down sides, like the watering routines and needing more frequent waterings.
Should I be concerned that more frequent waterings will lead to overnutrition? Should I alternate between nutes and plain waterings or is it better to use nutes every watering?

A couple of major benifits with fabric pots, for sure more air is taken into your medium which is really benifit enough: you also have air pruning (as the roots hit the edge of the bag the tips die off and create secondary root filaments. This in turn stop roots circling the pot and creating a rootbound plant.
Also, when you over water (assuming you use soil - i use coco so can't overwater) your likelyhood of getting root rot of is minimized, the excess usually drains much faster so no roots stick in oxygenless soil.
All round, air pots and fabric pots are a smart choice.
Despite the spills!