questions about watering

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Surfer Joe

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I have read that you should wait until the soil feels dry down to your knuckle or the pot should feel light before watering again, and then to always water to runoff of about 10%.
This seems to work better with smaller pots that dry out quicker, but in larger pots, the soil can feel dry well down into the pot yet there is still a lot of moisture at the bottom of the pot.
I have often noticed this when repotting.
How do people water larger pots?
Does letting the top parts of the soil (4+ inches down) get dry harm the upper roots?
Does watering that keeps the bottom of the pot moist most of the time harm the lower roots?
I felt the weight of the pots when I first filled them with dry soil. Should I wait until the weight feels that light before watering again?
Is it ok to water without any runoff just to keep the soil more moist at the top as well?
And is it best to water before or after lights go off or come back on?
I have read something about how the water amount in a plant's soil interacts with their internal pressure and their leaf stomatas open or close depending on the moisture/humidity between the plant and the environment. I don't yet understand how that translates into good watering practice.

Thanks for any advice.
 
I am outside in 10gal and 15gal grow bags they dry out almost everyday if hot
I go by the plants leafs when they start to look droopy I give a full water
2 gals each , I get lil runoff and the plant quickly absorbs it up.
The leaves that were droopy will perk right back up in a few minutes it is amazing to watch. But I also feel by lifting each pot to make sure the droop is not from something else , The whole plant and pot will be very easy to lift dry
 
I can tell by the weight of my pots.
 

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