I want to be able to water without removing the plants.

So I'm currently growing in a closet and whenever I water I have to take all of my plants out and bring them to the tub to water them. I want to be able to water them without having to remove them. I've had a couple ideas, maybe a large tupperwear with a screen over it? But I'm still wondering how I would get the water out once it's full?

I'm growing under a 400w so I'd need about a 3x3 container. Has anyone ever done this? I assume you'd have to if your growing scrog.

I'm also on a low budget so the cheaper the better! lol any help would be awesome.

A small pump with hose and use a plastic $10 storage tub to mix nutes.

Why are you removing them? Fuck, packing a couple milk jugs full of water to your closet beats moving the plants around. Really, no other way you can figure out other than to remove them.

Some people really do need their hand held I guess.

I think your misunderstanding me. I want to be able to water my plants while still in my closet and not have to worry about runoff... Do you usually water your plants and let the runoff pool in your grow area? I hope not. Maybe you should fully understand a question before answering it then maybe you'll avoid looking like an ass.

There are singular trays (round, all sizes to fit all kinds of pots) found at home depot/lowes/garden store, that you can stick under the container. If the container has holes in the bottom (for drainage) it should reabsorb the water in the tray. dont pour the whole gallon of water at one time on the plants or it WILL flood over. Water-let absorb-water a little more

i just bought these big ass plastic saucers from home depot i think it was few like a buck or so apiece, and all i do is sit the pots in the saucers, and i've just been watering them from the saucers, ie, just fill up the saucers and let the plants wick what water they need.. impossible to over water this way, and it works great... i'll try and find a link for you in a second..

found it.. they work great for me as my containers fit perfectly in them, and they are pretty deep so they hold plenty of water in them as well.. hope this helps..

http://www.homedepot.com/Outdoors/h...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Weedle1 said:

I think your misunderstanding me. I want to be able to water my plants while still in my closet and not have to worry about runoff... Do you usually water your plants and let the runoff pool in your grow area? I hope not. Maybe you should fully understand a question before answering it then maybe you'll avoid looking like an ass.

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are you talking about for flushing them out? otherwise if you have that much water coming out the bottom of your plants that you need a container with a draining system... sounds like overwatering to me. like loon said get some of those ceramic saucers and set your pots in them. some people say water until you see water come out of the bottom. what are you using for your medium? if you mean when you water the top that it doesn't penetrate the soil very fast and it runs over the top of the pot then you're soil is probably not an ideal mix. :]

Thanks racer boy I'll check those out.

And yes wereallthieves I'm talking about flushing and just regular watering. I do like to thoroughly water when I do water so I do have a good amount of runoff. I don't think thats over watering, once the soil is saturated thats it, it can't be overly saturated as long as there is proper drainage, if I watered them when they were still moist then I would be over watering. I'm using FF ocean forest with added perlite so theres no soil problems.

How many plants do you have? It is preferable to take them out if you can, to stop the floor flooding, if the water isnt pooling your not giving them enough. Can you put the plants in shallow trays, get 2 trays put the plants in so you only make two trips to the tub and then they drain runoff in the tub.

I use botanicare trays with a small pump and a length of hose. Could easily be done with a cheap tray you find at walmart. Just put it at a little bit of a lean so all the water flows to one end to pump out. A 5 gallon bucket to pump the water into would make this much easier as the pump doesn't always prime, still beats the hell out of moving the plants.
You are spot on with your watering, flush every watering. I learned this from a buddy with a warehouse grow, so i am sure that it works and works well.

Heres how i do it. I water just to the point of it coming out the bottom into the saucer. if, i over water, which usually doesn't happen, or when i want to flush at then end. thats what the drain tube is for. easy to do, and makes life a lot easier too.

I have a grow in my closet. I bought a 1 gallon watering can at the 99cent store...long spout lets me reach to the back...each of the girls take about 1/2 gallon of water per week. I also have drain trays (2 for 99 cents) and 1.5 gallon pots for 99 cents each. I pull them out before i water so i can measure their growth...pop them back then water each until I see runoff.

Weedle1 said:

I think your misunderstanding me. I want to be able to water my plants while still in my closet and not have to worry about runoff... Do you usually water your plants and let the runoff pool in your grow area? I hope not. Maybe you should fully understand a question before answering it then maybe you'll avoid looking like an ass.

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With all due respect, maybe if you'd state your question clearly the first time around (let alone not stoop to name-calling) you'd get a higher quality of response.

Anyway to actually answer the question, there is more than one way to skin a cat.

The simplest (though IMO not best) thing to do is just put trays under you pots to catch the runoff. You could use cheap plastic storage totes, buckets, etc. Assuming you didn't want to move the plants, you could then use some sort of siphon/pump to suck excess water out of the trays when the runoff is complete.

The "pro" way to do it is with a runoff system. Here is one way to go about it:

-If your space is 3x3, get a 3x3 piece of plywood and line the edges with wood scrap to keep water from running off, leaving a small gap/notch in one corner as a drain.

-Then cover the whole thing with cheap plastic sheeting. Construction sheeting could work.

-Elevate the board with bricks (or whatever you like) making sure the corner opposite the gap is about 1-2 inches higher than the other three.

-Put a receptacle of your choice under the notch, put your garden on top, and let gravity do its work to catch all the runoff after watering.

Beautiful. . .now ALL the runoff from ALL the plants is directed into only receptacle, and you don't have to move or disturb any of the plants to empty it, nor do you need any special pump or siphon.

Also, no matter what size pots you use, how many pots, or where you place them, all the runoff will still go to the same place. So if you wanted to add pots later, change their size, or move things around, you don't have to worry about placement or finding other runoff receptacles.

Total cost for this system should be around (if not under) $60, and possibly quite a bit less if you already have access to wood, plastic sheeting, a drain receptacle, etc. If you're a "scrounger" you could probably built it for zero.

I just use tupperware pans I got at Walmart. I water until it runs out the bottom of the pot into the pan. I let that water sit until it is either reabsorbed by the pot or it evaporates, adding to the humidity while it does so.