Should I water my plants from the bottom?

[hero4u]

Hello.  Just wondering if i should water my plants from the top or from the bottom?  Ive been told to water them from the bottom.  I have been watering from the top.  Just want to confirm that watering from the bottom would be better?  Is this true?  Thanks!

[Restorium2]

The ideal situation is that you water them from the top enough that some gets in the drip container on the bottom. When the plant needs and draws the water out of the saucer/drip container there will be air drawn up with the water. Perfect.

To water at the bottom cheats the whole system.

I would use the bad information you received to not ever use their advice. Must be someone who hasn't grown much. 

Edited September 3, 2019 by Restorium2

[Restorium2]

double post

Edited September 3, 2019 by Restorium2

[hero4u]

ok thanks! When i water/feed, should i give enough to run out the bottom every time? 

[Restorium2]

7 minutes ago, hero4u said:

ok thanks! When i water/feed, should i give enough to run out the bottom every time? 

On a rapidly growing plant that's what you want to do.

Totally wet all the dirt in the pot and have a little run out into the pan so that it can be taken back up with air, aeration of the soil.

[glued gorilla]

1 hour ago, hero4u said:

Hello.  Just wondering if i should water my plants from the top or from the bottom?  Ive been told to water them from the bottom.  I have been watering from the top.  Just want to confirm that watering from the bottom would be better?  Is this true?  Thanks!

Good and bad to both, but I would recommend watering from top till you get some drainage. Then empty any excess water from trays after 10- 20min.

Plants will take water from the bottom, and it is easier to know how much a plant is drinking, but it is also easier to cause a salt build up. So, you would still need to flush from the top once in a while. Might work better for an organic set up. There are several methods that use bottom feeding, including hempy, zwick, dwc, ect. Auto pots also utilize bottom watering, know a guy using them, says they rock!  So really up to you, but I would learn basics first

[Restorium2]

2 minutes ago, glued gorilla said:

Good and bad to both, but I would recommend watering from top till you get some drainage. Then empty any excess water from trays after 10- 20min.

Plants will take water from the bottom, and it is easier to know how much a plant is drinking, but it is also easier to cause a salt build up. So, you would still need to flush from the top once in a while. Might work better for an organic set up. There are several methods that use bottom feeding, including hempy, zwick, dwc, ect. Auto pots also utilize bottom watering, know a guy using them, says they rock!  So really up to you, but I would learn basics first

DWC is totally water. Deep water culture. One of my preferred methods.

Autopots are really bad. I've seen them fail a bunch of times online. I saw one really terrible large grow that was using autopots lately. One of the large state grow fails. Failure on a huge scale.

[glued gorilla]

28 minutes ago, Restorium2 said:

DWC is totally water. Deep water culture. One of my preferred methods.

Autopots are really bad. I've seen them fail a bunch of times online. I saw one really terrible large grow that was using autopots lately. One of the large state grow fails. Failure on a huge scale.

I only know one guy using them, but his best harvests have come from them.

I know what dwc is, and the plants do drink from a reservoir below them( maybe not best example). I was only making the point that plants will feed from the bottom up. I do agree though that top watering is best. I have not looked at other auto pot grows, but the guy I know is doing well, he is using an organic water only soil mix, then adding some pk boosters to the rez.

[Restorium2]

27 minutes ago, glued gorilla said:

I only know one guy using them, but his best harvests have come from them.

I know what dwc is, and the plants do drink from a reservoir below them( maybe not best example). I was only making the point that plants will feed from the bottom up. I do agree though that top watering is best. I have not looked at other auto pot grows, but the guy I know is doing well, he is using an organic water only soil mix, then adding some pk boosters to the rez.

I was mistaken. Was thinking about Octopots. Bad mojo. I have no idea about autopots, sorry.

[glued gorilla]

21 minutes ago, Restorium2 said:

I was mistaken. Was thinking about Octopots. Bad mojo. I have no idea about autopots, sorry.

All good, I did look, there are failures. It seems that salt can build up and clog valves causing flooding. My friend has not had this issue

[Hydraulic Jack]

Dump the tray or use a vacuum to suck out the extra....Other wise you just asking for fungus gnats.....HJ