i up pot my trees from 3 g pot to 10 g pot. found that i still had to water everyday, and repot the whole thing. i'm still watering every day. what am i doing wrong?

i use nature's helper, perlite, and peat moss for soil. is it daring too fast? what would be a good soil mix where it will got good balance of air and water retention?

pete

it's soil conditional. i also have "wet toe" thing going. it's outdoor. the trees are fine. i'm just wondering why it needs so much water. one of the reason for repot was to increase watering interval.

pete

It could be that your tree got too rootbound and the reason you have to water every day so because if you recently potted up, the roots haven't gone into the new media yet and the rootbound nature make the rootball dry up  so you have to water the for the rootball rather than the rest of the media.  I have had this happen to me several times before but after a couple weeks it seems to even out once the new roots go in.

Is it really dry below the surface or is the planter/soil getting too hot? If the pot gets too hot, the plant will wilt no matter how moist the soil is. Good luck!

All of my trees are in containers from 2 gallons to 20 gallons.  During the growing season, I bury the containers and mulch around them.  I water all of them everyday - unless we have rain.  Once a week, I add 1/2 recommended dose of Miracle Grow. 

Has worked well for me for many years.

Joe, how much water would you say you give them daily?

This is a question I've had for awhile and always forget to post. Most of my potted figs are in 1-20 gallon pots, I'd say I give approximately a half gallon for 1gal  and 2gallons for the 20gallon pots, daily. My three in-ground trees get approximately 5gals per daily.

Am I over or under watering folks?

I would say that during the typical 80 degree, sunny, non humid day, I would give my large 20-gallon trees about 1.5 gallons of water each morning, and then proportionatley less for the smaller trees...unless I notice wilting, then a little more as needed. 

The important issue is that it is STILL a 3g plant. If you put it in a 10g pot, a 20g pot, a 1000g pot, it is still a 3g plant. When it becomes a 10g or a 20g plant, then the watering requirements will change accordingly. But for now, it has the same amount of roots mass, the same amount of rootball, and drinks from the same amount of soil as it was before repotting. It doesn't matter how much wet potting soil is in the pot, the plant only has access tot he moisture that is in it's rootzone, which hasn't changed.

After that, it matters what the difference is between the potting soil that it had when it was a 3g plant, and the new potting soil. For instance, if the plant was in a water-holding medium, and the new soil is faster draining, you will feel the new soil and think it needs water. So you add water. But the plant is still seeing the the water-holding medium, which gets more overwatered each time you water, trying to make the fast-draining mix wet. Eventually you will drown the plants.

darn. i was hoping for not watering for 3 days at a time. but sounds like i'm SOL. i do add garden lime now and then to lower acid thing. i guess i'll just water every day.

pete

Try adding a mulch layer on top, that will help retain some moisture.

Are you using plastic pots?  Terra cotta and other porous materials will definitely dry out fast.

i'm using plastic 10 g tub. i drilled five 1 inch holes on bottom and three 1 inch holes on the side.

reading Jon's reply, it makes sense why i need water everyday. the trees are fine as i said. they are putting out new leaves, and figs. but if i don't water them every day, the leaves will wilt. this more or less make me baby the trees.

the trees are young. only little over one and a half yrs. i bare root them about two/three weeks ago. now they can handle the sun as long as they get daily water. which puts me back to square one. i up pot because i had to water everyday. i bare root and repot because i watered everyday, and i'm back to watering everyday . :)

soil is same soil i have been using since i got the trees from source.

pete

Jon is absolutely right. Until your repotted plants have had time to grow new roots out into the new soil, it doesn't really matter how wet it is--they can only access water from the soil where their roots are. Give them some time for new roots to develop and maybe they'll be able to go longer between drinks, but also remember that as the trees grow and the surface area of the leaves increases, they'll transpire more water. A lot depends on the weather, too. All of my young figs, both in-ground and potted, do much better with daily water. The well-established in-grounds (8-10 years) get by fine with less frequent, deep watering.