Quote:
Originally Posted by tanstaafl72555
Question: How much water a day for 5 gallon buckets is "normal"? I don't want end rot, but I also dont want to water log the roots.
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There's no answer to that question. It depends entirely on the amount of water the occupant can pump and how hot/dry is the ambient.
But your question raises another question: You aren't intending to use undrained buckets, I hope. There's no way you'll be able to manually regulate the moisture levels; you must create an environment where the soil moisture level will regulate itself. That means a sufficiently coarse, self-draining soil mix.
Self-watering is one solution. I wouldn't use it with very large plants.
IMO the best is a coarse mix that won't sustain a "perched water table" (PWT). In other words, it won't act as a sponge, holding standing water and drowning roots.
An example is Tapla's 5-1-1 Mix
https://www.houzz.com/discussions/13...in-more-detail
5 parts pine bark fines
1 part sphagnum peat
1-2 parts perlite
Optional:
garden lime
controlled release fertilizer
a micro-nutrient source (seaweed emulsion, Earthjuice, Micro-max, STEM, etc,)
Does this fit your idea of your garden?