Growing plants under controlled conditions minimizes environmental variability and enables precise measurements of whole-plant physiological responses to the environment. The desired control can be achieved by growing plants in containers in a greenhouse or growth chamber. Containers are typically filled with a lightweight soil-less media mixture such as peat/perlite to facilitate drainage. Growing plants in soil better approximates field conditions, but soil moisture dynamics are altered significantly in containers. Soil columns are an improvement over pots because they are deeper and support better water dynamics. We applied precision drought stress to plants grown both in containers with soil-less media and in soil columns. Plant roots were subjected to steady-state, low root-zone water contents (or negative water potentials). Changes in transpiration rate of plants in soil-less media were quantified gravimetrically using digital balances. In soil columns, gravimetric measurements of soil water content were compared to measurements of soil water potential made by Watermark sensors.