Bottom Up Watering

[JennieAtkinson]

Right fellow Grapes - I need some tips on this one!

Having read all the threads on watering, I decided to have a go at bottom up watering in the greenhouse. I bought a couple of large trays and stood my pots on them and watered from the bottom. Bit of a problem as the trays were not flat, so water was not generally feeding all plants at the same time. I've lost a few plants, with sodden bottoms and dry tops, so I reckon I'm definately overwatering. So to help, I bought some capillary matting. This is where I am not sure what to do.

Do I keep the matting just damp or does it have to be soaking wet?
How do I know if the plant is getting enough water?
Should the top of the plant be dry, or damp?
If the top is dry do I assume that the roots are wet?
Do you spread the plants out a bit so there are not too many sucking up the water or is it ok to stand pots quite close together?

Perhaps I am doing it all wrong with the capillary matting and trays? Any other suggestions.

Sorry - so many questions! But thanks in advance ..............

[Alison]

I've not used it much but have found that the matting needs to be pretty wet to work properly. Also your pots need to be making good contact with the matting otherwise the soil in the pots can't soak up the moisture. Note that this won't work at all if you've got crocks in your pots as there would then be an air gap. If you're not too sure how much water your plants are getting you can buy some moisture checking devices (not done it myself) which would help you get the hang of it. As far as the closeness together bit, in theory the capilliary matting would shift enough water for pots which are pretty close together but that would mean that you need to make sure the matting is kept wet, this can be done by use of a trough of water. I hope that makes sense, am not very good at explaining this.

[jacob marley]

I do not know if the title of thread was meant to catch the eye but i resisted for two hours answering but i have bitten the bullet and here go's i think bottom watering is as it say's i was tought many years ago that you water the bottom and feed on the top do not know if this helps always a shame when plants diejacob

[JennieAtkinson]

Thanks to you both.

Jacob - I wasn't sure how to title it! There must be a proper expression for it, but I don't know it I'm afraid. It is obviously quite a science as I have certainly lost alot of plants this year, but not sure whether it is this or whether I started sowing too early.

[rustylady]

I usually try to water my pots from the bottom up Jennie. If they're in small pots I just stand them in a tray of water for about 20 minutes, then remove and let them drain. You can use capillary matting, but it needs to be constantly wet - you lay it on a solid sheet or flat tray and dip the end of the matting in a sort of reservoir of water than you can clip to the end of the staging. Lot of fuss I think, but then my plants are constantly on the move. I've just potted my tomatoes and chillies into their final large pots, and they each have their own large plastic "saucer" to stand in. You can water from the top or the bottom, and until they get too big and heavy you can simply tip away any water they don't take up after half an hour or so.