This is how I water my plant from the information I have gathered on the Internet. Fully organic. I would say that I am not totally clear because some of the rules to me seem to contradict the other. Maybe because I don't fully understand them. There is one rule I follow strictly, and it has prevented me from over watering the plant. This rule is wait for the leaves to droop before watering again. I like this rule because it works for any pot size, even the ones that are too large/heavy to carry. For smaller 1-2g pots that I have worked with, I can also lift them or put them on a weighing scale to know if they are light and need water. I used to do this before, not anymore. Now I just wait for the leaves to droop. For example: I will water my plant in the 2g pot 500ml of water every time the leaves start to droop. It will droop again 2 days after watering as it was drinking 250ml of water per day. If I watered 750ml, it would droop again after 3 days. If I watered 1liter, it would droop again after 4 days. But 1liter will cause a little run off, 500 & 750ml will not if poured a little at a time in intervals. I guess 500ml cannot wet the entire potting mix even if poured a little at a time in intervals. How do I improve? Should I have poured 750-900ml so that a larger part of the potting mix is made wet? or I am supposed to wet the entire potting mix, using more than 900ml poured a little at a time in intervals until a little run off can be seen indicating the potting mix is fully saturated with water?
Your video are the best I've seen for good info. Simple straight to the point! I wish you have a week long camp to teach gardening to beginners. Me and my kids would come right over! Teach Brotha!
Thank you for sharing your wisdom. They are enjoyable and very informative, especially since you have shortened your videos and they are are covering one topic at a time. I am new to gardening in extreme heat, I come from Germany and New York where gardening is much less complicated in fact it's very simple. In summer everything grows and in winter everything dies..... temperature and weather in the past were very moderate and over- or underwatering was no issue or topic. It's my second summer in Houston, TX and I again killed a lot of plants because of mismatching plants (in pots) that need daily with plants that need lesser watering. Also, this summer I learned more about PH requirements of plants and soil. I'm so excited about being able to grow Lemon, Kiwis, Figs and artichokes. I killed several purchased Artichoke plants because of my impatience. I expected them to grow daily.... visibly. Only after seeing one of your videos in which you told us to be patient, did I let go of forcing the artichoke to grow... It hit me that, even if we took good care of our children, we wouldn't/couldn't expect them to grow daily..... human beings and plants grow at their own pace, all we can do is nurture and love them. Last year I bought a Mayer Lemon Tree and kept it in its original pot. This spring I repotted it into (I realize now) much too big wooden barrel container, figuring that it grows with time and since the root system would become as big as the crown, I would not need to repot it. It suffered from transpiration, leaf burn, overwatering and all the things you mention in your citrus tree videos. I saved it by taking out the annuals (that need daily watering) and placing the plant under light shade. Thank God, it recovered and it is healthy again. Question: Would you recommend to repot the plant (after its growing season) into a smaller container? Thank you for being who you are and sharing your experiences. Diana C.
Thank you for the support!. I wouldn't repot the lemon as it's been several months already in its new pot. What I would do though is not soak the entire pot when watering as most of it doesn't have roots. Just concentrate in the middle. Your lemon will easily take another year before it starts to grow so just be patient.
Super helpful I got an orange tree to grow in a container and a Thai basil as well The thai basil All the leaves are kind of turned up and small and they turned white I don't know what I did that but the orange tree seems to be going pretty good. I try to keep the Thai basil watered and fed cuz it's in a small container but it just never took off.... If I go back to the nursery where I bought it they're kind of rude so that's why I turn to videos.
Super, very useful content, once again! One other rule of thumb I was taught is to water until the water comes out the bottom of the pot, to make sure the roots are encouraged to grow the whole way down. But as you point out, that still might not do the job if the potting mix has become hydrophobic and isn’t soaking up the water. In that case the weight of the pot after watering would give you a hint, and bottom watering might be a good fix.
@@ROlson-dx2jc Using the weight of the container is a more accurate method to check water content in the pot. As you said, if the soil becomes hydrophobic, it will just drain down the bottom of the pot and not soak in.
I have a 4 year old Owari in a 17 gallon tub (in north Texas). I think I been under-watering it. It put out a flush of new growth in april but nothing since then. About how much and how often should I water it? Thanks.
Hi Allen, thank you for your great videos. Really like your content. I have a question: so I just started growing a citrus tree in a container. I notice the soil around the root has dried but the soil further out towards the edge of container is still moist. should I water in this case? The container is 1.5' x 1.5'x 1.5' for a small Meyer lemon tree.
2 reasons: you just uppotted your tree or the container is too big for the plant. Concentrate on the rootball only and don't soak the entire pot until the tree roots into the container a bit more.
Thanks for all the educational videos. On average, and according to your best guesstimate, how often would you water fig plants 1-2 years old in 5-10 gal pots in a green house during winter in Zone 8A (north Texas)? Thanks!
Based on your information, I would wait until those pots are 100% dry between watering. In your area during winter, that probably would take a few weeks.
If you use a scale and weigh the containers to know when to water you would need to weigh the container and plant before you water. Then water it, weigh it, and subtract the pre-watered weight from the post-water weight. When the plant loses half that amount of weight it would be about 50% out of water
What if you feel coolness but not water/wetness? Thanks for the water then pick it up idea. Thats great..except for the 24 inch wide big containers..what about the really big containers?
coolness would be moist. Depending in your area in extreme heat I would water and not let it dry any further. In cooler climates, you can wait another 12 hrs and check again. Bigger pots you can literally dig down with your hand or you can tilt the pot to see how heavy it is.
50% rule on all citrus. I have never had any issues with citrus as long as the potting mix drains water. Soggy soil would be a problem if you never let the soil dry.
I just repotted my michelia Alba tree yesterday. Its in a terracotta pot. I watered throughly after repotting and today the plant leaves wilted. And I watered it throughly again today. But the leaves still wilted. What did I wrong and I often should water the new planted tree? It is a 6 ft tall tree. But only has a few leaves left but the leaves are wilting.
@@qctropicals thanks mate, It was a lady I was talking to on Facebook. She has a Myer dwarf lemon in a pot. It is heavily set with fruit but just one side and more growth on the other side. I thought maybe the sun or warmer side might promote more flowers than shade side. Thanks for your help.
Is this why some of my in-ground plants do not succeed to grow here in vegas. The compacted clay soil hardens n leave no oxygen for the roots? Pls help
