If I grow indoors, in soil in 5 gallon buckets, should the soil stay moust (wrung out sponge)?

A customer has a question and I hope we can get some opinions on it, thanks

If I grow indoors, in soil in 5 gallon buckets, should the soil stay moust (wrung out sponge)? Or dry out a little between waterings.

If you haven’t started yet, I would get some fabric pots. Much more forgiving than plastic when it comes to watering, aeration of the soil, etc. And they are inexpensive.

If you are sold on buckets, drill plenty of holes (sides too) and make sure your soil mix has enough perlite for drainage and so it doesn’t compact as much.

The best watering practice is to go by feel. The top few inches of the soil should be dry, but you could still have plenty of water in a big 5gal container. So when you put the soil in your container get a feel for what the dry weight of it is. For the first few weeks after transplant you won’t be watering that much, but when you get to the point of soaking the pot to the point of having run-off get a feel for the weight of the soaked container as well. That dry-wet weight difference is a better way to see if it is really thirsty yet.

Good luck!

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