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Post by curlingguy on Sept 4, 2015 0:48:44 GMT -5
Back in the summer I had some bone dry peat/perlite mix. I filled a 16 oz foam cup and weighed it. Then weighed it each day as it sat out in the sun (no plant in it).
Experiment start.....................................completely dry....................71grams Experiment start.....................................max wet..............................314 grams Water content.....................................................................................243 grams of just over a cup (so just over 1/2 of weight is water)
(a cup of water weighs 237 grams so we have just over a cup of water now absorbed into the peat/perlite.)
Day 1........July 22nd..............................hot day......................278 grams..................loss of 36 grams................15% of a cup of water loss... Day 2.........July 23rd..............................hot day......................242 grams.................loss of 36 grams ................15% of a cup of water loss. Day 3.........July 24th..............................hot day......................219 grams.................loss of 23 grams.................10% of a cup of water loss. Day 4.........July 25th..............................Cooler day................209 grams.................loss of 10 grams ..................4% of a cup of water loss. Day 5.........July 26th..............................Cooler day................200 grams................ loss of 9 grams.....................4% of a cup of water loss Day 6..........July 27th.............................Cooler day................181 grams.................loss of 19 grams...................8% of a cup of water loss
So after six days we still have 110 grams of water or almost 1/2 a cup.
So you may not have to water as often as you think.
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Post by lloyd on Sept 4, 2015 8:02:02 GMT -5
Variables:
Humidity Wind speed Air temperature Sun Soil temperature (see above) Drainage Soil surface area & maybe volume Mulch
My big Sarr. pots lose around a liter a day on hot, humid, sunny days.The pots are so shaded and protected by the leaves that this loss is likely almost all by the plants.
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Post by stevebooth on Sept 8, 2015 7:20:19 GMT -5
As Lloyd has alluded to, also transpiration from plant leaves in dry winds greatly increases the requirement for the uptake of water by the root systems to compensate for the loss from the leaves, which is of course is proportional to the leaf area of the plant, which can be quite extensive.
Cheers Steve
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