I read where I should water my container plantings until water runs out the bottom of the pot. I do that, but they seem to dry out really quick. Am I watering the right way?
Great question, as I read that bit of watering information in gardening information all the time! If I just watered my containers until water came out the bottom, it doesn’t take very long for the water to run out of the bottom, especially if they’re close to being dry! Water will come out of the bottoms pretty fast, and there’s a real good chance that I did not thoroughly soak all of the potting soil! I water until I feel that I have totally saturated the soil and more. Water will run out of the bottom right away, then slow down as the dry soils expand, then start back up again. And once I’m finished soaking them, the water usually drains out for another several minutes which is exactly what we want. By the way, as we get into the heat of the summer, watering will increase naturally. You can help reduce your watering by mulching the tops of the pots (just like the landscape beds), and by adding Soil Moist to the soil (if you didn’t when you first planted). Simply create several small channels down into the soil (down deep into the potting soil) and sprinkle in a few Soil Moist crystals, then back fill. Now you’ve created channels of water storing polymers that will help reduce your watering.
