You don't water the whole container of soil on watering day?

Actually my watering "schedule" isn't so much about working them into a timeslot convenient to me so much as just noticing who needs water at the moment. I have various sizes of containers and as such they don't all dry out at the same rate.

Often enough I just immerse the whole container in a bucket to let it soak,then remove and water with the syringe till the salts and such are rinsed out(my guess is that the soak will help to loosen up the trapped salts in the potting medium). :)

That makes a lot of sense, but I didn't make myself clear. You said ..."they put water right where you want it and you know the exact amount you've given them...." That's why I asked my question. No big deal; I was just curious.

Kinda on the same lines - I use a turkey baster. I use it nearly daily. Not necessarily to water per se, but to remove water from the saucers or, if I submerse a plant in a shallow container, I pull up water with the baster and water the top of the soil a couple times.

I have a long history of recycling the water that's already been through the medium,but a while back Al (tapla) was talking to me about watering and such and something he said led me to the realization that all the trapped salts were just being put right back into the medium when I was doing that. Extra effort and extra water but in the long run I'll bet the plants would be better off.

....Just idle musings. :)

Best watering practice:

Wait until the plant is almost at the point where drought stress is about to become a factor (but not quite). This means your plant needs water before it starts to wilt, go soft in the leaves or stems, or exhibit other signals that it needs water.

Water the soil evenly (cover the entire soil surface) with a fine stream of water, but stop watering just before water exits the pot.

Return a few minutes later and water again, more thoroughly so at least 15-20% of the total volume of water applied in both applications exits the drain.

The effluent that passes through the soil should be collected in a saucer or be allowed to drain away from the soil. It should never be allowed to move back into the soil, and allowing a pot to remain in a puddle of water that's collected after it's passed through the soil is very counter-productive.

I skip the extra step of watering then waiting. I water once and flush the soil each time I water. It's proven to be very effective, even if not as effective as it might be if I was more ambitious. There's no question though, that regular flushing and a soil that allows you to do so, is an important part of good vitality.

I use a homemade nozzle from a replaceable caulking nozzle pushed over the end of a 2 liter Dramm watering can with a long neck for all my indoor watering. Outdoors, everything gets watered via the hose.

{{gwi:22144}}

Lol - I started writing this early in the day, but then the Father's Day regulars started showing up, so I had to suspend my notes until after golf was over and the company had left. If any dad's happen to read - I hope you had a good Father's Day. I cooked for a crowd, but that's something I love doing, so it was a good day here with the kids & grandkids.

Al

We sure are lucky to have you around,Al.

Reading your posts is always an educational experience and has at times made me second guess methods which I'd previously had blind faith in.

Glad to hear you had a good time(grilling I assume?).

Lol I just get a cup and i scoop water out my fish tank then I go round all my plants and check if they need watered or not .

I like easily targeted, controlled and slow release of water in order not to make a mess. I drilled a few holes in a coke bottle cap, which works ok but not perfect. Burning holes with a heated needle also works, I understand.

Then I saw this and bought it on ebay. Strangely, I could not find it in the US, so it's being mailed from Thailand. They are 5 for $7 delivered. I hope it works better than my self-made cap. It certainly looks better, and I like that angled thing it has happening.

Thanks for the kind words, Sleepy. ;-) I almost always try to explain how I arrive at various conclusions or point people in a particular direction. It's a lot easier to make a change in our habits if a good reason is made obvious.

I'd skip the water from the aquarium - here's why:

I look at nutrition methodically. I prefer to use the least number of nutrient mixtures that will ensure my plants are getting all the essential nutrients they normally take from the soil and in the right proportions. The reason is, supplying more of any one element than a plant can use can be as limiting as supplying too little. 'How did he get THERE?' you might ask. What is in aquarium water? - anyone know? So - you use it ..... then what? Obviously, it is going to be entirely inadequate in supplying the major elements, N P K Ca Mg S. So then what do you do .... you need to fertilize anyway - because you have no idea what you supplied with the fish water .... and you still need to be sure all the bases are covered.

The point is, if you're using fertilizers that only cover a few of the elements required for growth, additional fertilizers are required to fill in the gaps, Almost always, there will be overlaps, where you are supplying the same element in both products, or the same element will be missing from both products - gaps. Why not choose a fertilizer that supplies ALL the elements required for normal growth, and in a ratio to each other that is favorable, thereby eliminating gaps, overlaps, and potential antagonisms? (Antagonistic deficiencies occur when an excess of one element in the soil solution prevents adequate uptake of 1 or more other elements. Common antagonisms exist between Fe/Mn, P/Fe and Mn, Ca/Mg, others.)

I'm not saying the fish water is particularly harmful, only that if you're employing a fertilizer like Foliage-Pro 9-3-6, or MG 248-16 or 12-4-8, it's probably redundant. This question in another form often comes up when discussing the use of water from boiled veggies as a nutrient source. We know neither is a complete fertilizer, and since you have no idea what you DID supply when you used it, you will certainly need to fertilize anyway - thus making the aquarium water/ veggie water/ manure/ .... of little or no value.

The easiest and most efficient way to supply nutrients to your plants is with a soluble synthetic fertilizer that supplies nutrients in a ratio the same as the ratio at which the plants actually USE the nutrients. The only reliable way to do that is by using a fertilizer like I just described. When you depart from that plan, there can be no potential for benefits - only limitations that arise from either to much or too little of one or more elements essential for growth. Even if the aquarium water supplied a nutrient necessary for growth, it would not help with growth unless it was supplying the single nutrient most deficient.

Al

greentoe

I don't know if there is Lee Valley store available to you, they sell set of 4 for $4.95 - photo copied from their catalog

Lee Valley catalog

Rina

This post was edited by rina_ on Mon, Jun 17, 13 at 16:58

I saw this item in my online research, but these stores are in Canada only.

Accidentally, my order from Thailand came in today. As expected, they sent me five of the same "drenchers" (green/yellow caps). I wouldn't mind having the variety. Oh well, it's fine. I could crazy-glue some of the holes to make the stream thinner if I want to. First world problems for sure. :-)

greentoe

You already have 'bunch' of them; and good idea about crazy-glueing (sp?) some holes!
I thought that you may be able to order from Lee Valley, apparently they ship internationally too (it would probably cost you more thou-not worth for that 1 different nozzle):

Shipping to the U.S.
Add the items to your shopping cart and proceed with "Ship to a different address". Orders shipped to the U.S. are billed in U.S. funds. U.S. pricing, including all applicable taxes and shipping costs will be displayed during the checkout process.

This post was edited by rina_ on Mon, Jun 17, 13 at 18:05

All in, they are $14 from Canada, vs. $7 from Thailand. Getting either is silly for me because the drilled holes work just fine.