Volume of water

[CanadianCitrus]

Evening all!

When I water my plants I do so in a 5 gallon bucket and then pH the water (my city water is very alkaline). My question is, when watering potted citrus (my plants are indoors only), does the volume of water you give each plant matter as long as it’s enough to run out the bottom of the pots? I’m not necessarily worried about root rot but rather a high volume of water may flush all nutrients out of the pot. They are in 3 gallon pots and I am giving them about 1gallon of water each every time I water.

Thanks!!!

[Vlad]

I water so that a little comes out of the drain hole.
Ian Tolley, the Australian citrus expert, in one of his videos, says to use just enough water so that a little comes out of the drain so that fertilizer is not drained away.

[CanadianCitrus]

Makes sense! Thanks for you’re help!

[Millet]

If you fertilize your plants with a slow release fertilizer such as Osmocote,  then you do not have to worry all that much about nutrition loss when watering.

[gardenhoe]

I had similar problem with chemicals in my water. For non tropicals I let my water sit out overnight that will remove chlorine but I have found that my citrus is way more sensitive to the chemicals and the ph, I fill a large food grade container with hose water and let it sit in the sun then I add white vinegar to lower the ph. I let my citrus dry out until I can stick my finger in the soil and it is dry to the second knuckle of my first finger then water until it comes out of the drainage holes.