How much water in a 10 gallon pot?

Weedly · Jun 2, 2025

Quick question: in a 10 gallon pot after a full dry back about how much water should be given to fully water the plant? I really don’t have any way to collect runoff, so I’m hoping someone experienced can give me a guideline. I gave her about 5-6 quarts yesterday and she seemed pretty happy until late this afternoon when she got a little droopy. The soil seems slightly moist, but not completely wet or dry. So I’m not sure if I added enough yesterday.
This is my first soil grow.

Outdoors
Ocean Forest with a little perlite added.
3 1/2 week old Northern Lights auto.
(In the fire pit to keep my dig happy dog out of it.)

Natep · Jun 2, 2025

10% so 1 gallon

mancorn · Jun 2, 2025

The plant can also droop from cold wet roots, so depends on what your weathers like.

The amount of water per pot size isn’t very useful. Obviously a 8’ plant in the pot is going to need a lot more water than a 1’ plant. In your case - you should get the pot up off the ground. Lots of ways, but easiest is some sort of pallet. Anything that can get air under your pot and make it so that you can see the run off.

Then it depends on how long your plant has been in this pot. If you just up-potted yesterday then your roots aren’t going to be any bigger and watering along the edge isn’t going to do diddle and you’ll want to make sure the roots are moist. The general rule of thumb is to watering along the drip line.

But with a fast growing plant like cannabis you also want to make sure that the area around your stem dries out so that the roots will search out the moist soil along the edge. Best bet is to slowly water your entire pot until you start getting run off out the bottom and then keep going for however much run-off you want/need. With fabric you can easily get side run off if you’re water too fast, so I normally push dirt up against the side to keep if from pouring down the sides.

Depending on your weather you may not need to water for days, or twice a day if it’s hot. A 10 gal fabric will dry out quick in the heat.

GnomishViking · Jun 2, 2025

Natep said:
10% so 1 gallon

I was always told you give 1 gal for a 5gal grow bag.

Oldchucky · Jun 2, 2025

Weedly said:
Quick question: in a 10 gallon pot after a full dry back about how much water should be given to fully water the plant? I really don’t have any way to collect runoff, so I’m hoping someone experienced can give me a guideline. I gave her about 5-6 quarts yesterday and she seemed pretty happy until late this afternoon when she got a little droopy. The soil seems slightly moist, but not completely wet or dry. So I’m not sure if I added enough yesterday.
This is my first soil grow.

Outdoors
Ocean Forest with a little perlite added.
3 1/2 week old Northern Lights auto.
(In the fire pit to keep my dig happy dog out of it.)
View attachment 2446582

How do you know how wet it is in the middle third and the bottom third! Maybe it’s not under watered! And do you have the pot elevated a little so air can circulate underneath it?

Bigalmoby · Jun 2, 2025

I gave my 6 foot plant 1 gallon for the first time if that helps

GNick55 · Jun 2, 2025

10 gallon bag will take 2 gallons, once it’s full of roots you like in flower you’d probably give a gallon and a half to three quarters,..

Mazeblue1 · Jun 3, 2025

Tomorrow will be two months in veg.
10 gallon pot
She’s drinking 2 gallons every five days

Weedly · Jun 3, 2025

mancorn said:
Depending on your weather you may not need to water for days, or twice a day if it’s hot. A 10 gal fabric will dry out quick in the heat.

Thanks. I did get some side runoff. I’ll get the pot up off the ground and it looks like best bet is to collect runoff from the bottom.

NoVC01 · Jun 3, 2025

GNick55 said:
10 gallon bag will take 2 gallons, once it’s full of roots you like in flower you’d probably give a gallon and a half to three quarters,..

EXACTLY!

You don't need to water for runoff until late veg.

Weedly · Jun 3, 2025

Oldchucky said:
How do you know how wet it is in the middle third and the bottom third! Maybe it’s not under watered! And do you have the pot elevated a little so air can circulate underneath

These are all good questions and the only one I can really answer is, no, I don’t have the pot off the ground but will try to do so today.
Also, can I water right from my well at ph 7.7 into Ocean Forest? Or should I ph it to 6.5?

Weedly · Jun 3, 2025

GNick55 said:
10 gallon bag will take 2 gallons, once it’s full of roots you like in flower you’d probably give a gallon and a half to three quarters,..

This is what I was looking for, thanks! I’m thinking the fabric pot will be drying out faster than I originally thought, so I’ll have to get use to checking it by weight I think.

NoVC01 · Jun 3, 2025

Weedly said:
These are all good questions and the only one I can really answer is, no, I don’t have the pot off the ground but will try to do so today.
Also, can I water right from my well at ph 7.7 into Ocean Forest? Or should I ph it to 6.5?

Try some "plant risers" (elevators), they work well and are inexpensive.

Oldchucky · Jun 3, 2025

Everybody’s 10 gallon pot in different climates with different soil mixes is going to dry out at a different rate! And as the plant gets bigger, it will contribute more and more to drying it out! There is no one-size-fits-all! With one of these you can get an idea of what is going on in every inch of the pot! Weather from the top, through the side, whatever! Guess work is no Bueno! Probably the most indispensable tool I have! Long probe. $14.99 plus tax! And I don’t PH anything! But would guess that 7.7 is OK!

Oldchucky · Jun 3, 2025

And lifting even tiny 10 gallon pot is an awkward, arduous, inaccurate, and unhealthy way of determining whether to water or not! In my opinion! a healthy back is a precious commodity so use it wisely!

ArtfulCodger · Jun 3, 2025

Correct watering amount will depend on media and chosen watering style. In Happy Frog and Ocean Forest, I'll water slowly to about 10% runoff, which usually takes between a quarter and a third of the media volume.

Ninjadogma · Jun 3, 2025

Oldchucky said:
Everybody’s 10 gallon pot in different climates with different soil mixes is going to dry out at a different rate! And as the plant gets bigger, it will contribute more and more to drying it out! There is no one-size-fits-all! With one of these you can get an idea of what is going on in every inch of the pot! Weather from the top, through the side, whatever! Guess work is no Bueno! Probably the most indispensable tool I have! Long probe. $14.99 plus tax! And I don’t PH anything! But would guess that 7.7 is OK!View attachment 2446903

I was just thinking there are too many variables in play for there to be a reliable amount. The medium itself and how much moisture it can hold before gravity pulls it... how much of the plant's roots are in the medium... slight variances in consistency even from the same soil brand, and that's just water volume before we even look at environment and demand. And then other crazy stuff... not sure if anyone has shared vids demonstrating how soil becomes hydrophobic and how you can have water pouring out the bottom and still be underwatering because of it.

Oldchucky · Jun 3, 2025

ArtfulCodger said:
Correct watering amount will depend on media and chosen watering style. In Happy Frog and Ocean Forest, I'll water slowly to about 10% runoff, which usually takes between a quarter and a third of the media volume.

Yeah, that’s fine! But the most important part is how often you do it! That’s where it can get a little tricky! But nothing insurmountable! It gets easier with experience! Like all of this weed growing stuff! and from what I’ve seen most people do it too often!

Weedly · Jun 3, 2025

Oldchucky said:
Probably the most indispensable tool I have! Long probe. $14.99 plus tax!

I’ll be picking one of these very quickly. I didn’t know if they were trustworthy or not, but if Oldchucky says it’s good, I’m buying it. I probably wasn’t going to be able to lift this pot too much longer anyway. And hard numbers satisfy my OCD a lot more than trying to guess something I have no clue about.

Weedly · Jun 3, 2025

Ninjadogma said:
I was just thinking there are too many variables in play for there to be a reliable amount.

Seems like the probe recommended above would take all these variables into account?

How much water in a 10 gallon pot?

How much water in a 10 gallon pot?

Weedly

Natep

mancorn

GnomishViking

Oldchucky

Bigalmoby

GNick55

Mazeblue1

Weedly

NoVC01

Weedly

Weedly

NoVC01

Oldchucky

Oldchucky

ArtfulCodger

Ninjadogma

Oldchucky

Weedly

Weedly

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