I like to put some rocks on top of the potting soil, that way can remove them to make the pot lighter if I have to move it (I have 14”-24” pots). I’ve used everything from landscape stone to random rocks, broken patio pavers, and 3-hole bricks. The pavers and bricks aren’t exactly stylish, but they’re real easy to work with and store.
The air gap above water reservoirs provides soil bottom aeration as roots draw water. Combining capillary action with bottom aeration is the secret sauce for self-watering pots. Gravel can somewhat support capillary-uptake/aeration if capillary soil columns are allowed to exist. But inverted pot-in-pot does much better with copious airholes. The outer capillary ring is large and made of potting soil and the inner soil/air boundary provides oxygen as reservoir water level drops and air rushes in to replace the missing water. Reservoir depth should not be excessive (a few inches) to prevent anaerobic soil immersion in the capillary soil ring. Thanks for the video!
I use Earthboxes or Patio Pickers, both are wicking bed systems. And I have some AC Infinity auto watering bases for fabric pots. They're just reservoirs with tops and ropes hang down into the reservoir to wick up water. The fabric pot sits on the ropes and wicks up the water. They're pretty good but I like the wicking bed boxes more. I grow cannabis indoors and veggies outdoors and the boxes do well outside. I haven't tried the auto watering bases outside but they'd be fine I think. In the cannabis growing community we call bottom watering "butt chugging" for a laugh. The results aren't funny, but they are fun. 😜
Thank you for all your hard work, your videos have been invaluable to me and have equipped me with the wisdom to make the right choices in my nursery and call out bs from all the other sources Thank you for being the best youtube source for real gardening information
That's really interesting and eye opening, thanks, as always!! Have you, or could you talk about hydrophobic soil and what to do about it? Thanks again!
You came pretty close to a coherent explanation. It does seem a bit strange that for somebody who has written a book about soil, you didn't look to the very old and very well understood literature on soil water movement. The forces at opposition are not capillary rise and gravity. Capillary rise only occurs in pore sizes that are small enough to create the tension to pull water against gravity. Large pores cannot pull water up very much at all. When soil is wetted from the top, capillary action pulls the water down in unsaturated flow. As the soil becomes wet enough, water flows freely down through the larger pores as long as more free water is added from the top. If you stop adding water from the top, the largest pores will drain but only if the tension of the hanging column of water creates a tension greater than the "air entry value" of the pores at the top of the saturated zone. Pores hold hanging water with a tension that is determined by the size of the opening into the top of the pore (and the properties of the solid phase, which is not as important in this example) . Most people understand this phenomenon in that you can have an open ended tube that will hold water if the top of the tube is covered with a mesh fine enough that air can't pass through it. The tension required to cause air to pass the mesh is the air entry value. One of the most important factors in how a rock layer prevents water movement can be understood by placing a nearly saturated sponge over another damp sponge or over a bed of marbles. The wet sponge will not lose water to the bed of marbles, but it will lose water to the damp sponge because the small pores in the sponge draw the water down by capillary action. It helps if the bottom sponge is damp because some materials have a very high wetting angle when dry and so soak up water poorly when dry. Peat moss is notorious for this. Coir, not so much. The problems with drainage from a large pored soil into an underlying finer pored soil are in some cases not as critical. The saturated hydraulic conductivity of a finer soil is less and so for saturated flow the finer material limits the flow. However, saturated flow is usually transient (see field capacity) in a soil and most water flow through soil is unsaturated. Most people don't pay enough attention to unsaturated flow. An underlying finer pored material may actually have a higher unsaturated hydraulic conductivity than the overlying coarse material. Silts tend to have high unsaturated hydraulic conductivity which gives them interesting and sometimes annoying properties. I hope this helps.
@@LiamEserda I think they meant there is no capillary rise in the pot, if there were it is pulling the water down. So the roots are the only one capable of pulling the water up?
If you've ever had a meadow vole enlarge a drainage hole in every pot in your greenhouse and excavate all the soil out eating all the roots ,like I had happen this past summer, you might consider adding at least a few rocks as a deterrent...
Exactly. Not everyone uses rocks for the purpose of drainage. There are other reasons people do it. The drainage argument in this video is what's called a straw man argument.
Enjoyed this discussion. I create perched water tables all the time in my pots outside that will live in a hot and sunny location. I do it a little different than you show here. Step 1 - A saucer under the pot with rocks to the top of the saucer. Step 2 - A pot with a hole in the bottom that is a little narrower than the saucer sitting on top of the rocks in the saucer. Step 3 - A rock large enough to block about 80% of the hole in the bottom of the pot. Step 4 - Depending on how big the pot is for instance with a 18 inch or 2 ft pot, about 2 inches of rocks at the bottom and about 3 inches of sand on top of the rocks Step 5 - Good quality soil What this does is fills all the soil with water, so the roots have time to swell with water. After the the roots have absorbed needed water, the sand and rocks allow air to work its way up through the soil. This will stimulate root growth throughout the soil without root rot. Once the roots have filled the pot, plants can survive on rain water or less frequent watering. The bulk density of the roots has tremendous water capacity and creates drought resistance.
Wow! I found this info mind blowing. I’m presently having trouble with root rot in my propagated Nandina Domestica plants. Now I know what to do! Tip the pots. Thanks so much Robert.
This is very good information. A lot of people need to see this video. I like to grow bonsai trees and the soil particles are big, kitty litter size. The perched water table is a critical lesson for bonsai because the pots are so short. It's easy to overwater, and if the soil particles are small the soil holds a lot of water. Everything else that I grow is in fabric pots on top of reservoirs or in wicking bed boxes. I like bottom watering. It's great for cannabis and veggies. Earthboxes or Patio Pickers are my favorite way to grow, with a preference for the Patio Pickers because there's a larger size available. Right now I have plants in one of each and they're doing great. Bottom watering aka butt chugging is a perfect way to avoid over watering, in my opinion and experience.
A huge problem in pot management is potting mix hydrophobia (especially larger pots) - nobody much understands wetting agent. Dried out mix is often the problem with plants that fail..
The only pots I put anything apart from growing medium is with big terracotta pots which have large, single drain holes. I put a curved piece of broken pot over the hole to reduce clogging.
Thank you. Sure makes filling those larger pots more expensive though! And hold water better than when the bottom has a few plastic bottles in it. Win!
Interesting, I''l try that. A thin layer of gravel at the bottom increases the contact area between air and soil, it is better than the few holes in a pot. And the tipping to check if there is a perched water table would work as well, I guess.
Thank you a very clear description of perched water table. I knew of the consept but never understood it until now. I stopped puting gravel/stones into pots years ago as it seemed to stop drainage. Know I know why.
The word you are looking for is perculation, not stickiness. It does not coat the matter. It soaks it. Capillary action goes in ALL directions, not only up.
Thank you for using words which is easy to understand. As this is not a science class, using basic language is way more efficient. @@Gardenfundamentals1
@@Gardenfundamentals1 They should! ;) I learned it from the virologist Drosten when he explained how covid spreads. It's like percolation as well. First it infects one group, say a school class, and from there it percolates into other groups like families, workplaces, etc...
Thanks for the video LECA doesn’t appear to wick very well(if it does it does so very slowly) Sand on the other hand wicks very well If you filled a tall jar( for example 7”tall) with sand the water, and if bottom watered , would wick/cause the sand to be damp all the way to the surface but the perched water level would only maybe 2” from the bottom of the jar and the 5” above would be damp but not saturated. Now if you placed 1” of LECA in the jar and filled the rest of the jar with the same sand( the sand would filter thru the LECA) the water would still wick to the top but would the perched water level still be 2” from the bottom
Does breaking/blending the two different soils at the interface between them really do anything for this? So a perched water table is always there, and our concern should be how high it reaches and how easily it can drain? My previous understanding was that it CAN happen and that it's BAD. Now I'm hearing that its always there... and my plants are doing fine so I'm left with more questions hahaha.
"Does breaking/blending the two different soils at the interface between them really do anything for this?" - yes. You no longer have a boundary between two types of soil.
I learned that the Overwatering of container plants usually has more to do with watering more frequently than needed and less to do with the amount of water. yeah the amount is important especially in cool weather where the evaporation rate is low, but the first one needs more attention.
One sheet of paper towel works for me. No soil comes out. I think it helps the soil to saturate before water comes out. Eventually, roots hold the soil, and the paper towel's function is less necessary. Thanks. Usually, I learn a LOT from your clips. This time? I kinda figured it out years ago. I have a 20 yr old watering can, too. I tapped the thumbs up button to feed the algorithm monsters.
Ground Cherries were so good that I plan to dig up 2 plants before our first frost this Thursday and move them inside for the winter under lights. I can`t think of a faster producing indoor crop if it works. My attempts at indoor cucumbers and dwarf tomatoes is a mistake I won`t be repeating.
This might bring up why there are tera cotta clay pots. That sort of wisks and bleeds the moisture to the inside shell of the pot. Plastics just repel water.
I always put a piece of mosquito mesh/netting over the drainage hole(s) to prevent soil from leaking out. On top of that leca clay pebbles or lavarock. For more weight against the wind blowing it on it's side if it's a plastic pot: minestone chippins/chunks. Then another piece of mosquito mesh on it. At the end of the season when I get the annuals out of their pot: the roots have grown through the mesh and the leca pebbles; it holds it firmly together. Thus the smallest tips of the roots grow through the mesh gradually and become thicker so the mesh holes get bigger and worms can crawl through it and enrich the soil. But ants also and that's no pleasure/fun but so be it every now and then. I use the mesh and pebbles again and also the soil after sieving: there can be weevil larvae in it that eat the young roots. I enrich the sieved soil with some fresh soil about 50/50: the rest I scatter on the borders. So only the dead plants will be discarded. Watering: heavy pots from above and when the top of the soil is very dry; use a hand pressure waterpump to wet and saturate bit by bit till you can water normally. Or: add a drop of dishwashing soap in the watering can and stir well. It's best to keep heavy pots lifted on potfeeds or whatever that keeps it from the ground for drainage. Tilting the pot a bit is a good idea I never thought off honestly and will try that for sure. Light pots; water from above or from underneath. Put it in a tub, bin, bucket or whatever that holds the water and let the plant absorb the water. The upward force will let the water travel up in the pot and after a while the level in the tub or bin will be a lot lower and you can see how much water is absorbed and saturated the soil, especially with terracotta pots. Kind of ebb and flow system that nurseries use I guess? The water will really pass the leca, lavarock or minestone chunks because it's not that dense as sand. The test with the sand is not a good example and not useful: who puts sand on the bottom of a pot?? too dense; water will not pass easy through sand, think about waterfilters with sand how long it takes for the water to drain through. And in that case it's useful. Then let it drain out on for instance on an iron doormat or some bricks that keeps the pot lifted during drainage. Never never put a pot with dry soil just like that in a bin/tub with water because the opward force of the water and the air pushed aside will push out the plant complete with the soil out of the pot. This works for me best.
I thought the point of the gravel (or broken crocks) in the bottom of the pot was to prevent saturated soil creating a kind of vacuum seal against whatever is underneath the pot, which resists the natural drainage due to gravity?
I thought the gravel at the bottom was to lower the center of gravity so the plant wouldn’t tip over. I use wood chips, just to keep the soil from washing out the holes on the bottom.
yes, make it all of the media instead. for all plants that dont have very fine and delicate roots, 7-20mm pumice is as perfect medium as you can get. you cannot drown the plant by watering, even sensitive plants to overwatering. pumice does retain some water in intrnap structure, unlike most other media, keeping enough moisture for a couple of weeks or so.
So adding say 3 large rocks which are as high as the perched water table gives some weight & stability to the pot without reducing useful soil volume 🤔
This should be an argument for watering from below, ie. using a watering tray? Since the watering mat underneath the pot is designed for capillary transport of water, it also means any perched water table in the pot would drain down?
@@Gardenfundamentals1 Does it not depend on how long and how you water from above? I see people water a dry pot from above and the water drains between the inner wall and the soil: there will be no water perched table at all. Watering in a tray (of course long enough) will then create a sufficient perched water table. How do you create a perched water table in a hanging basket? Do you have to get it down and let it soak in a large enough bucket or whatever? Most people spray/sprinkle a bit and it flourishes.
I'm just not fully convinced. Rocks in the bottom provide a greater area for dranage. I can see the explanation as immediately after watering that the soil media soaks up the water, but after, say, 4 to 6 hours, and maybe as little as 2 hours the rocks provide a path of least resistance for the water to be released. Then, at this point, the quality of the organic matter determines what stays and that it would be released but at a much slower rate. The release rate is also dependent on temperature that affects evaperation. I dont fully know, just some different thoughts.
A good chat about how texture contrast greatly affect soil water movement. The bottom of the post essentially acts like a texture contrast at the interface of the hole as the bottom of the pot and the air. For some good demonstrations I recommend a demonstration titled "Water movement in the soil" by the UA-cam channel "Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech". I do wonder that the rocks could allow for some gas exchange for the soil at the bottom of the pot. Is the gas exchange able to hand the soil from going anerobic, probably not.
Sir we use real soil and compost in pots , so please make a video does synthetic fertilizers affects in that type of soil And microbiome? Please I am from india.. thankyou
Good question. The same way as in a pot. The soil outside the french drain needs to reach a point where gravity over comes capillary action. Some people call this water pressure. Once high enough, water flows out of the soil.
Not convincing. Improved ventilation by rocks in the bottom would still be of value. The water that runs out when you tip the pot is water resting on the bottom of the pot between the holes
@@carlholdt1042 LOL ! 🤣 Of course rocks! But you never know what kind of things people put on the bottom of their pots, I once read of piece of cloth. Tried it: a nightmare! Rootrot. 😡
water does not cause root rot. lack of oxygen does. tap water has enough oxygen to sustain roots if kept at the right temperature. hydroponics is an example of this.
Partially correct. Roots grown in water have adjusted to the lower oxygen level and therefore can grow in it. Soil roots need to adapt to wet conditions and need time to do that.
@ true but i would say that as long as there is ample oxygen water will not cause root rot. If you put organic matter into the mix the decomposition process will use up the available oxygen. Key is to have the organic matter away from the roots ie. top 4 inches as in nature. I am literally growing in sand, pummice and a little peatmoss with a 4” compost layer on the top.
@ soil in nature is 99% mineral. It is broken down mountains. When it rains for days in a rainforest the plants thrive they don’t get root rot. Plants love water in general it is the medium that suffocates them.
You show what appears to be an old soil experiment that uses sand and soil, not soil and rocks, which is what is being discussed here??? Two very different mediums.
There are so many variables that could be happening in different situations to sit there with a cup and some water and pour it through is what you would call anecdotal evidence at best lol 10 people sit down and do the same thing you might get 10 different results
At no point did you show research or even your own demonstration of rocks or gravel in the bottom of a pot. The experiment you showed was with sand. Not saying I don't believe you, but you didn't provide any solid evidence for your assertion.
Sand particles are bigger than soil and gravel and rocks are bigger than sand. So by showing sand, he showed what happens even more with gravel and rocks. This isn't new science, it's been known for decades.
You did not give us the answer as to what we ARE suppose to be doing??? WHAT THE HEY? You spend a ton of time showing some stupid water tables and did not tell us how to fix the problem or what to do. Very disappointed can you remake a video explaining what to do, not just a video showing the problem ten ways to Sunday! I am the woman who puts plastic Easter grass in the bottom of my pots.😮😮😮😮😮
The more I watch this channel the more I feel like this is the only guy that knows what he's talking about.
He is very good indeed😊
Well that explains what I've been doing wrong with my hanging planters. Thank you!
You are one of the very few teachers who gets to the point of a concept. Thank you.
Wow, thanks!
I like to put rocks and such in my pots mostly so that gravity doesn't tip my pots to their side when a strong wind blows on them
I like to put some rocks on top of the potting soil, that way can remove them to make the pot lighter if I have to move it (I have 14”-24” pots). I’ve used everything from landscape stone to random rocks, broken patio pavers, and 3-hole bricks. The pavers and bricks aren’t exactly stylish, but they’re real easy to work with and store.
@@mungobaggins8197I suppose this also allow you to put mulch that won't blow away
I put rocks on top of the potting soil to avoid becoming public toilet from the neighborhood cats
The air gap above water reservoirs provides soil bottom aeration as roots draw water. Combining capillary action with bottom aeration is the secret sauce for self-watering pots. Gravel can somewhat support capillary-uptake/aeration if capillary soil columns are allowed to exist. But inverted pot-in-pot does much better with copious airholes. The outer capillary ring is large and made of potting soil and the inner soil/air boundary provides oxygen as reservoir water level drops and air rushes in to replace the missing water. Reservoir depth should not be excessive (a few inches) to prevent anaerobic soil immersion in the capillary soil ring. Thanks for the video!
I use Earthboxes or Patio Pickers, both are wicking bed systems. And I have some AC Infinity auto watering bases for fabric pots. They're just reservoirs with tops and ropes hang down into the reservoir to wick up water. The fabric pot sits on the ropes and wicks up the water. They're pretty good but I like the wicking bed boxes more. I grow cannabis indoors and veggies outdoors and the boxes do well outside. I haven't tried the auto watering bases outside but they'd be fine I think.
In the cannabis growing community we call bottom watering "butt chugging" for a laugh. The results aren't funny, but they are fun. 😜
Thank you for all your hard work, your videos have been invaluable to me and have equipped me with the wisdom to make the right choices in my nursery and call out bs from all the other sources
Thank you for being the best youtube source for real gardening information
That's really interesting and eye opening, thanks, as always!! Have you, or could you talk about hydrophobic soil and what to do about it? Thanks again!
The only solution I have is to sit the pot in a water tray until water fully seeps up. That could be hours, and even overnight.
You came pretty close to a coherent explanation. It does seem a bit strange that for somebody who has written a book about soil, you didn't look to the very old and very well understood literature on soil water movement. The forces at opposition are not capillary rise and gravity. Capillary rise only occurs in pore sizes that are small enough to create the tension to pull water against gravity. Large pores cannot pull water up very much at all. When soil is wetted from the top, capillary action pulls the water down in unsaturated flow. As the soil becomes wet enough, water flows freely down through the larger pores as long as more free water is added from the top. If you stop adding water from the top, the largest pores will drain but only if the tension of the hanging column of water creates a tension greater than the "air entry value" of the pores at the top of the saturated zone. Pores hold hanging water with a tension that is determined by the size of the opening into the top of the pore (and the properties of the solid phase, which is not as important in this example) . Most people understand this phenomenon in that you can have an open ended tube that will hold water if the top of the tube is covered with a mesh fine enough that air can't pass through it. The tension required to cause air to pass the mesh is the air entry value.
One of the most important factors in how a rock layer prevents water movement can be understood by placing a nearly saturated sponge over another damp sponge or over a bed of marbles. The wet sponge will not lose water to the bed of marbles, but it will lose water to the damp sponge because the small pores in the sponge draw the water down by capillary action. It helps if the bottom sponge is damp because some materials have a very high wetting angle when dry and so soak up water poorly when dry. Peat moss is notorious for this. Coir, not so much. The problems with drainage from a large pored soil into an underlying finer pored soil are in some cases not as critical. The saturated hydraulic conductivity of a finer soil is less and so for saturated flow the finer material limits the flow. However, saturated flow is usually transient (see field capacity) in a soil and most water flow through soil is unsaturated. Most people don't pay enough attention to unsaturated flow. An underlying finer pored material may actually have a higher unsaturated hydraulic conductivity than the overlying coarse material. Silts tend to have high unsaturated hydraulic conductivity which gives them interesting and sometimes annoying properties. I hope this helps.
Interesting but a bit too scientific for me. 🤥
@@LiamEserda I think they meant there is no capillary rise in the pot, if there were it is pulling the water down.
So the roots are the only one capable of pulling the water up?
Bro what should we do then? Any conclusions? 😵💫
Thanks for this information! Very interesting stuff. Are there any papers/resources you'd recommend reading to better understand these dynamics?
@@fireh3211Good question. You could be right.
If you've ever had a meadow vole enlarge a drainage hole in every pot in your greenhouse and excavate all the soil out eating all the roots ,like I had happen this past summer, you might consider adding at least a few rocks as a deterrent...
Exactly. Not everyone uses rocks for the purpose of drainage. There are other reasons people do it. The drainage argument in this video is what's called a straw man argument.
Enjoyed this discussion. I create perched water tables all the time in my pots outside that will live in a hot and sunny location. I do it a little different than you show here.
Step 1 - A saucer under the pot with rocks to the top of the saucer.
Step 2 - A pot with a hole in the bottom that is a little narrower than the saucer sitting on top of the rocks in the saucer.
Step 3 - A rock large enough to block about 80% of the hole in the bottom of the pot.
Step 4 - Depending on how big the pot is for instance with a 18 inch or 2 ft pot, about 2 inches of rocks at the bottom and about 3 inches of sand on top of the rocks
Step 5 - Good quality soil
What this does is fills all the soil with water, so the roots have time to swell with water. After the the roots have absorbed needed water, the sand and rocks allow air to work its way up through the soil. This will stimulate root growth throughout the soil without root rot. Once the roots have filled the pot, plants can survive on rain water or less frequent watering. The bulk density of the roots has tremendous water capacity and creates drought resistance.
Wow! I found this info mind blowing. I’m presently having trouble with root rot in my propagated Nandina Domestica plants. Now I know what to do! Tip the pots. Thanks so much Robert.
This is very good information. A lot of people need to see this video.
I like to grow bonsai trees and the soil particles are big, kitty litter size. The perched water table is a critical lesson for bonsai because the pots are so short. It's easy to overwater, and if the soil particles are small the soil holds a lot of water.
Everything else that I grow is in fabric pots on top of reservoirs or in wicking bed boxes. I like bottom watering. It's great for cannabis and veggies. Earthboxes or Patio Pickers are my favorite way to grow, with a preference for the Patio Pickers because there's a larger size available.
Right now I have plants in one of each and they're doing great. Bottom watering aka butt chugging is a perfect way to avoid over watering, in my opinion and experience.
Feels great to know that my laziness has been guiding me down the right path all along 😊
Great demo and as usual a clear and informed presentation. You're helping me up my gardening game. Thank you!
A huge problem in pot management is potting mix hydrophobia (especially larger pots) - nobody much understands wetting agent. Dried out mix is often the problem with plants that fail..
The only pots I put anything apart from growing medium is with big terracotta pots which have large, single drain holes.
I put a curved piece of broken pot over the hole to reduce clogging.
My poor potted agaves, no wonder you're not doing as well as you could. Thank you for your videos!
Thank you. Sure makes filling those larger pots more expensive though! And hold water better than when the bottom has a few plastic bottles in it. Win!
Thank you. My love of short wide pots has been my downfall all this time, now I know why, time for some taller pots.
I would take the house plants outside for a big drink and even after letting it sit to dry I would set water flow out after tipping. Lesson learned!
Thank you. It clicked for me fully what this effect is.
Interesting, I''l try that.
A thin layer of gravel at the bottom increases the contact area between air and soil, it is better than the few holes in a pot. And the tipping to check if there is a perched water table would work as well, I guess.
Thank you a very clear description of perched water table. I knew of the consept but never understood it until now. I stopped puting gravel/stones into pots years ago as it seemed to stop drainage. Know I know why.
The word you are looking for is perculation, not stickiness. It does not coat the matter. It soaks it.
Capillary action goes in ALL directions, not only up.
but nobody knows what percolation is :)
Thank you for using words which is easy to understand. As this is not a science class, using basic language is way more efficient. @@Gardenfundamentals1
@@Gardenfundamentals1 They should! ;) I learned it from the virologist Drosten when he explained how covid spreads. It's like percolation as well. First it infects one group, say a school class, and from there it percolates into other groups like families, workplaces, etc...
I think it could be for the fruit flys. I use small gravel on top the flys can invade through the drain holes?
I think i will buy all your books
You did a good job explaining that
I put coconut husk at the bottom because it is easier when repot
Thanks for the video
LECA doesn’t appear to wick very well(if it does it does so very slowly)
Sand on the other hand wicks very well
If you filled a tall jar( for example 7”tall) with sand the water, and if bottom watered , would wick/cause the sand to be damp all the way to the surface but the perched water level would only maybe 2” from the bottom of the jar and the 5” above would be damp but not saturated. Now if you placed 1” of LECA in the jar and filled the rest of the jar with the same sand( the sand would filter thru the LECA) the water would still wick to the top but would the perched water level still be 2” from the bottom
Garden Fundamentals: Maybe a test with transparent pots would convince me more. Perhaps a fieldtest in your garden?
Does breaking/blending the two different soils at the interface between them really do anything for this?
So a perched water table is always there, and our concern should be how high it reaches and how easily it can drain? My previous understanding was that it CAN happen and that it's BAD. Now I'm hearing that its always there... and my plants are doing fine so I'm left with more questions hahaha.
"Does breaking/blending the two different soils at the interface between them really do anything for this?" - yes. You no longer have a boundary between two types of soil.
I learned that the Overwatering of container plants usually has more to do with watering more frequently than needed and less to do with the amount of water. yeah the amount is important especially in cool weather where the evaporation rate is low, but the first one needs more attention.
Thanks you two
One sheet of paper towel works for me. No soil comes out. I think it helps the soil to saturate before water comes out. Eventually, roots hold the soil, and the paper towel's function is less necessary.
Thanks. Usually, I learn a LOT from your clips. This time? I kinda figured it out years ago. I have a 20 yr old watering can, too.
I tapped the thumbs up button to feed the algorithm monsters.
Terimakasih atas penjelasannya.
Would adding sticks instead be better?
Ground Cherries were so good that I plan to dig up 2 plants before our first frost this Thursday and move them inside for the winter under lights. I can`t think of a faster producing indoor crop if it works. My attempts at indoor cucumbers and dwarf tomatoes is a mistake I won`t be repeating.
This might bring up why there are tera cotta clay pots. That sort of wisks and bleeds the moisture to the inside shell of the pot. Plastics just repel water.
Yes, and gradually you can see the height of the perched water table by the rim on the outside of the pot.
I always put a piece of mosquito mesh/netting over the drainage hole(s) to prevent soil from leaking out. On top of that leca clay pebbles or lavarock. For more weight against the wind blowing it on it's side if it's a plastic pot: minestone chippins/chunks. Then another piece of mosquito mesh on it. At the end of the season when I get the annuals out of their pot: the roots have grown through the mesh and the leca pebbles; it holds it firmly together. Thus the smallest tips of the roots grow through the mesh gradually and become thicker so the mesh holes get bigger and worms can crawl through it and enrich the soil. But ants also and that's no pleasure/fun but so be it every now and then. I use the mesh and pebbles again and also the soil after sieving: there can be weevil larvae in it that eat the young roots. I enrich the sieved soil with some fresh soil about 50/50: the rest I scatter on the borders. So only the dead plants will be discarded.
Watering: heavy pots from above and when the top of the soil is very dry; use a hand pressure waterpump to wet and saturate bit by bit till you can water normally. Or: add a drop of dishwashing soap in the watering can and stir well. It's best to keep heavy pots lifted on potfeeds or whatever that keeps it from the ground for drainage. Tilting the pot a bit is a good idea I never thought off honestly and will try that for sure. Light pots; water from above or from underneath. Put it in a tub, bin, bucket or whatever that holds the water and let the plant absorb the water. The upward force will let the water travel up in the pot and after a while the level in the tub or bin will be a lot lower and you can see how much water is absorbed and saturated the soil, especially with terracotta pots. Kind of ebb and flow system that nurseries use I guess? The water will really pass the leca, lavarock or minestone chunks because it's not that dense as sand. The test with the sand is not a good example and not useful: who puts sand on the bottom of a pot?? too dense; water will not pass easy through sand, think about waterfilters with sand how long it takes for the water to drain through. And in that case it's useful. Then let it drain out on for instance on an iron doormat or some bricks that keeps the pot lifted during drainage. Never never put a pot with dry soil just like that in a bin/tub with water because the opward force of the water and the air pushed aside will push out the plant complete with the soil out of the pot.
This works for me best.
I see new garden fundamentals video I click. Everytime I learn something new.
Thank you.
Well done
I thought the point of the gravel (or broken crocks) in the bottom of the pot was to prevent saturated soil creating a kind of vacuum seal against whatever is underneath the pot, which resists the natural drainage due to gravity?
What does this do for foundation walls where we have dirt on top then gravel under the dirt?
I thought the gravel at the bottom was to lower the center of gravity so the plant wouldn’t tip over. I use wood chips, just to keep the soil from washing out the holes on the bottom.
yes, make it all of the media instead. for all plants that dont have very fine and delicate roots, 7-20mm pumice is as perfect medium as you can get.
you cannot drown the plant by watering, even sensitive plants to overwatering. pumice does retain some water in intrnap structure, unlike most other media, keeping enough moisture for a couple of weeks or so.
So adding say 3 large rocks which are as high as the perched water table gives some weight & stability to the pot without reducing useful soil volume 🤔
This should be an argument for watering from below, ie. using a watering tray? Since the watering mat underneath the pot is designed for capillary transport of water, it also means any perched water table in the pot would drain down?
Yes, but only with pots that can be moved.
Watering from above or below create the same perched water table.
@@Gardenfundamentals1 Does it not depend on how long and how you water from above? I see people water a dry pot from above and the water drains between the inner wall and the soil: there will be no water perched table at all. Watering in a tray (of course long enough) will then create a sufficient perched water table. How do you create a perched water table in a hanging basket? Do you have to get it down and let it soak in a large enough bucket or whatever? Most people spray/sprinkle a bit and it flourishes.
I'm just not fully convinced. Rocks in the bottom provide a greater area for dranage. I can see the explanation as immediately after watering that the soil media soaks up the water, but after, say, 4 to 6 hours, and maybe as little as 2 hours the rocks provide a path of least resistance for the water to be released. Then, at this point, the quality of the organic matter determines what stays and that it would be released but at a much slower rate. The release rate is also dependent on temperature that affects evaperation.
I dont fully know, just some different thoughts.
Yes, I agree, always rocks, lava or leca on the bottom. Gives me confidence that drainage is optimal. Won't hurt in my opinion.
What is pull?
How does gravity "pull?"
Maybe tilting the pot is just squeezing the bottom soil more? Hence the few drops?
Did you try it without squeezing?
I use fabric pots now for anything thirsty so I can't drown them when the drain holes clog unnoticed
Yes tilting even works on fabric pots
A good chat about how texture contrast greatly affect soil water movement. The bottom of the post essentially acts like a texture contrast at the interface of the hole as the bottom of the pot and the air. For some good demonstrations I recommend a demonstration titled "Water movement in the soil" by the UA-cam channel "Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech". I do wonder that the rocks could allow for some gas exchange for the soil at the bottom of the pot. Is the gas exchange able to hand the soil from going anerobic, probably not.
I avoid watering to the point of saturation .
That's mean cone shape pot is the best pot for plant?
I'm gonna invent it after this.
I think it does not matter as long if you don't overwater and/or drain enough.
I put stones in the bottom of my house plants once and it became a breeding grounds for fungus gnats.
Sir we use real soil and compost in pots , so please make a video does synthetic fertilizers affects in that type of soil And microbiome? Please
I am from india.. thankyou
I once read that synthetic fertilizer desonrient worms. And they are so important if you garden organic.
I use lava rocks because they are very porous.
and do you get dripping water when you tilt your pot?
If water doesn't move well from SOIL to GRAVEL , then how come french drains work ?
Good question. The same way as in a pot. The soil outside the french drain needs to reach a point where gravity over comes capillary action. Some people call this water pressure. Once high enough, water flows out of the soil.
capillary [KAP-uh-ler-ee ]
Not convincing. Improved ventilation by rocks in the bottom would still be of value. The water that runs out when you tip the pot is water resting on the bottom of the pot between the holes
What kind of socks do you mean? The second sentence: you could be damn right!
Rocks* @@LiamEserda
@@carlholdt1042 LOL ! 🤣 Of course rocks!
But you never know what kind of things people put on the bottom of their pots, I once read of piece of cloth. Tried it: a nightmare! Rootrot. 😡
Minimum 2x playback speed
I just put a rock over the drain hole and fill the pot with dirt. Gravel goes in the fish aquariums.
water does not cause root rot. lack of oxygen does. tap water has enough oxygen to sustain roots if kept at the right temperature. hydroponics is an example of this.
Partially correct. Roots grown in water have adjusted to the lower oxygen level and therefore can grow in it. Soil roots need to adapt to wet conditions and need time to do that.
@ true but i would say that as long as there is ample oxygen water will not cause root rot. If you put organic matter into the mix the decomposition process will use up the available oxygen. Key is to have the organic matter away from the roots ie. top 4 inches as in nature. I am literally growing in sand, pummice and a little peatmoss with a 4” compost layer on the top.
@ soil in nature is 99% mineral. It is broken down mountains. When it rains for days in a rainforest the plants thrive they don’t get root rot. Plants love water in general it is the medium that suffocates them.
Leighton Morrison would disagree
I use Easter grass to keep the dirt from coming out of the holes. Gravel adds too much weight to big pots with trees that need to be moved in and out.
You show what appears to be an old soil experiment that uses sand and soil, not soil and rocks, which is what is being discussed here??? Two very different mediums.
There are so many variables that could be happening in different situations to sit there with a cup and some water and pour it through is what you would call anecdotal evidence at best lol 10 people sit down and do the same thing you might get 10 different results
Would punctuation make your comment make sense?
At no point did you show research or even your own demonstration of rocks or gravel in the bottom of a pot. The experiment you showed was with sand. Not saying I don't believe you, but you didn't provide any solid evidence for your assertion.
Sand particles are bigger than soil and gravel and rocks are bigger than sand. So by showing sand, he showed what happens even more with gravel and rocks. This isn't new science, it's been known for decades.
@@mjones8170 them how do french drains work ?
I’m going to put rocks in the bottom of my pots if I feel like it. Some guy in a bad hat won’t change that
What a load of useless information
You did not give us the answer as to what we ARE suppose to be doing??? WHAT THE HEY? You spend a ton of time showing some stupid water tables and did not tell us how to fix the problem or what to do. Very disappointed can you remake a video explaining what to do, not just a video showing the problem ten ways to Sunday! I am the woman who puts plastic Easter grass in the bottom of my pots.😮😮😮😮😮
Settle down! He’s saying DON’T put stones in the bottom of your pot, could it be any plainer.
I can redo the video for you, if you send me $5,000.
www.gardenmyths.com/perched-water-table/