-Water until runoff is clear
-pour quickly and aggressively.
-the biggest thing I can think of is that the plant and the rootball should be about the same size. This makes it very difficult to overwater. Within reason of course.
.02
By pouring quickly, the water does not get absorbed by the soil correctly. It’ll just run through channels in the soil and you will still have dry spots.
The only problem I’ve ever had is when I put holes in the side of the pot for tie down sites. The water flows through them which is a pain.
I usually fill to the lip of the pot and let it filter through from there.
Maybe because you are pouring too much too fast? There’s really no right or wrong way. Just a thread to help a new grower out.
Note I am not saying your plant will die if you don’t do what the thread says. I wanted to put this thread up to help newer growers out and help them understand it a little more. One of the most common mistakes for a new grower is bad watering habits. ( usually over watering too ) I call it “loving your plant to death”
Make a single use feed with some yucca in it , ( wetting agent ) and then watch the next feeds just disappear straight in , no more pooling or running down edges , pot will be evenly moistened without any dry spots etc : )
Water for the size of the plant not for the size of the pot , with a ring around the circumference of the plant , as plant grows , volume of feed rises and ring gets wider too , look out for glutinisation ( leathery bumpy looking leafs and or drooping etc )
Be aware of watering for the plant size and not pot size ESPECIALY AFTER AN UP-POT
: )
Sorry @TheSadBadMadGrower, but we don’t allow copy-pasting articles from other sites without giving credit to original author…
https://www.420magazine.com/community/threads/the-proper-way-to-water-a-potted-plant.266274/
You can just link to article if you want to discuss it… If you have edited original article, those parts that you have written yourself can stay. But please add some disclaimer to your post (via edit function) so that source and author are clear.
Thank you very much.
Plagiarism is lame man!
I don’t know original author just a member name. I didn’t want to link a very useful article from another forum and get in trouble for linking a possible competitors site. I just knew that is very helpful and could help many people so that’s why I copy and pasted. I do apologize.
You can put a link to an external site that contains useful information. Wholesale copying and pasting work by other authors (particularly without proper attribution) is frowned upon, though.
Do you know how to edit your posts (time limited)?
Can you please elaborate more on this for me?
@grohio When you look down on a plant from above you imagine the rain landing on the top , see how all the fan leaves direct the water to the outer edge of the plant befor it hits the soil , so as the plant grows bigger it directs the rain further out kindof ( watering ring gets bigger ) and the roots then chase the water gradually outwards filling the pot
Hard to put into words : )
Like a growing umbrella , lol late here pretty hammered haha
when my plants get towards the end and are getting very root bound i put a small pan under the plant and water from the bottom …when there is not much soil left and the pot is mostly filled with roots the water has nothing to collect in and just runs right through this method fixes that …how ever you need to make sure you do not over do it and that the plant is using up all the water in a few hrs so it is not sitting with wet feet
Another trick I learned from IC mag was to dunk the entire pot in a container large enough to do so.
The pot will bubble for a few, pull it out when that stops and let the pot drain before going back under the lights.
As @riverlady says this is especially useful as the plant gets more rootbound.
i ONLY use this method when the plant is root bound… like your method also but would need room to keep a big container of water and due to my space constraints this would not work for me 
note a good way to tell if a plant needs water is to pick up the pot and see how heavy it is…the more water that’s in it the more it will weigh be of course
That’s how I was taught, seems to work well
I water in a circle away from the meristem and away from edge until water has penetrated. Sometimes I’ll use a yukka wetting agent but that will depend on nitrogen levels.
Presently I’m pushing the nitrogen a bit and they may be in for a flushing soon so I’m watering then coming back in half hour.
Agresive watering can leave dry pockets when you’re soil compacts. This is only true when working with soil I find, if I switched to the popular medium for my area coco, my medium won’t constrict as much gravity will play its part.
This is because I’m watering more often to keep moist. And in fact causing the medium to contract with a downward effect rather than just constricting from the outside.
It’s a hole different concept
I find 30% coco rest organic medium can give a best of both worlds without tinkering too much with ph