Hi

My question is about having several small pots, and putting them in a
shallow plastic tray with water in it.

Is this OK?

Would it be a bad idea because the water would never be able to get up
from the tray through the soil to the roots?

Or would it be a bad idea because it would be like leaving the plants in
standing water?

Would it be better than leaving them completely without water if you're
going on holiday?

Sorry if this is a naive question.

Cheers

Jack

In general, if you're talking about long periods, leaving plants in standing water is a bad idea because the roots rot. If you want to provide a higher level of humidity, then standing them on a tray of gravel or pebbles, and filling the tray with water to the top of the gravel, works very well.

BUT - for a holiday, ie for a shortish period, you can get away with it, and it's definitely preferable to no water!

In autumn and spring, smallish plants will cope for just over a fortnight (3 weeks is pushing it) in a greenhouse if you leave them standing in a good inch of water - it takes the first week or so to use up the water in the tray, the second week to dry out the soil, and they're ready for a good drink when you get back.

Outside, you also get rain, so you have to check the weather forecast and adjust how wet you leave the plants - you don't want them to be up to their necks in water for two weeks.

In summer, it's that much more difficult. Small plants (indeed, any plants other than cacti) are going to struggle in a greenhouse without someone coming in to water them. And there are security issues too - dead plants, or plants in the kitchen sink, are a good sign that the owners are away and the house is empty

I do a combination of things. First I try to get as much as I can of the stuff in pots planted out into the garden. The things that are going to stay in pots I deal with in two ways. Some plants I put in the shade, with or without a tray of water, depending on how well they cope with drought. Other things I bring into the house, and stand in the bath with about 3 inches of water. It's not ideal, but although more plants are killed by overwatering than underwatering, it usually takes more than a couple of weeks to kill by overwatering, whereas you can kill in a couple of days by drying out completely.

Probably the best solution is to have a reservoir of water flowing at a controlled rate on to suitable cloth on which you stand the plants.But you would want to set this system up and have several practice runs before leaving it unattended over the holiday. If you don't have a couple of months to spare, I wouldn't risk it.

"Chris Hogg" wrote

Jack wrote:

My question is about having several small pots, and putting them in a
shallow plastic tray with water in it.

Is this OK?

Would it be a bad idea because the water would never be able to get up
from the tray through the soil to the roots?

Or would it be a bad idea because it would be like leaving the plants in
standing water?

Would it be better than leaving them completely without water if you're
going on holiday?

Sorry if this is a naive question.


Not a naive question at all. Very pertinent at this time of year.

It's never a good idea to let pot plants stand in water for any length
of time. If you're just watering them by filling the saucer that
they're in and letting it wick up into the pot, that's fine, but any
water that's left in the saucer after say an hour or so should be
tipped out.

If it's going on holiday you're worried about, the standard method
recommended in days past was to water the pots well and let them
drain, then line the bath (plug out) with wet newspaper several pages
thick and stand the pots in there. The damp newspaper maintains a high
humidity in the immediate area of the plants, and bathrooms are
usually cool and away from direct sun, so when you come home in two
week's time or whatever, they'll be fine.

Being summertime you could always put your houseplants outside in a non
sunny place and hope it rains while you are away or get a neighbour to water
them occasionally.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

"kay" wrote in message
...

'Jack[_24_ Wrote:
;928933']Hi

My question is about having several small pots, and putting them in a
shallow plastic tray with water in it.

Is this OK?

Would it be a bad idea because the water would never be able to get up
from the tray through the soil to the roots?

Or would it be a bad idea because it would be like leaving the plants in

standing water?

Would it be better than leaving them completely without water if you're

going on holiday?



In general, if you're talking about long periods, leaving plants in
standing water is a bad idea because the roots rot. If you want to
provide a higher level of humidity, then standing them on a tray of
gravel or pebbles, and filling the tray with water to the top of the
gravel, works very well.

BUT - for a holiday, ie for a shortish period, you can get away with it,
and it's definitely preferable to no water!

In autumn and spring, smallish plants will cope for just over a
fortnight (3 weeks is pushing it) in a greenhouse if you leave them
standing in a good inch of water - it takes the first week or so to use
up the water in the tray, the second week to dry out the soil, and
they're ready for a good drink when you get back.

Outside, you also get rain, so you have to check the weather forecast
and adjust how wet you leave the plants - you don't want them to be up
to their necks in water for two weeks.

In summer, it's that much more difficult. Small plants (indeed, any
plants other than cacti) are going to struggle in a greenhouse without
someone coming in to water them. And there are security issues too -
dead plants, or plants in the kitchen sink, are a good sign that the
owners are away and the house is empty

I do a combination of things. First I try to get as much as I can of the
stuff in pots planted out into the garden. The things that are going to
stay in pots I deal with in two ways. Some plants I put in the shade,
with or without a tray of water, depending on how well they cope with
drought. Other things I bring into the house, and stand in the bath with
about 3 inches of water. It's not ideal, but although more plants are
killed by overwatering than underwatering, it usually takes more than a
couple of weeks to kill by overwatering, whereas you can kill in a
couple of days by drying out completely.

Probably the best solution is to have a reservoir of water flowing at a
controlled rate on to suitable cloth on which you stand the plants.But
you would want to set this system up and have several practice runs
before leaving it unattended over the holiday. If you don't have a
couple of months to spare, I wouldn't risk it.




--
kay


Time and time again this question of watering plants whilst you are away
comes up.

Neighbours and Family.

Don't any of you have them?

We have superb neighbours who look after our plants and house for us. If
those on one side didn't, the others would. Don't tell me that I am very
lucky to have good neighbours because I have ALWAYS had good neighbours. You
HAVE to live with them 'on your doorstep' 24/7/365. we can go away on a
World Cruise for 3 months, or move into our daughter's house whilst they go
away on a World Cruise, 3 months this year, 4 months next year, and OUR
house and plants are looked after.

Talk to your neighbours.
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
Mmmmmmmmmm knowing the attitude of some on here, 'Holier than Thou', I can
see your problems :-((

Mike


--

....................................

Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive.

....................................

Jack wrote:

My question is about having several small pots, and putting them in a
shallow plastic tray with water in it.

I've been very pleased with the Hozelock Auto Watering Kit Deluxe 2756
which waters a small garden in Italy for 5 minutes each morning and night.
It's kept all the plants alive for a couple of years.

Ps I'm there now, and would like to plant a shrub
which will flower for 3 months starting now,
and the same each year.
Suggestions please.


--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail: gayleard /at/ eircom.net
tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

It is absolutely fine to leave your pots in a shallow plastic tray of water, as long as your pots have drainage holes in the bottom of the pots. It is always good to stand them in water because it encourages the roots to grow. You will be surprised how quickly the water is drunk by the plants, would be good if someone could pop in and fill the tray while you are away.

Thanks for all the replies - v helpful.

Does it make a difference if the roots are short, near the top of the pot
(ie seedlings or cuttings)?

Cheers

Jack

On Sun, 03 Jul 2011 20:16:58 +0000, Rose1 wrote:
'Jack[_24_ Wrote:
;928933']Hi

My question is about having several small pots, and putting them in a
shallow plastic tray with water in it.

Is this OK?

Would it be a bad idea because the water would never be able to get up
from the tray through the soil to the roots?

Or would it be a bad idea because it would be like leaving the plants
in

standing water?

Would it be better than leaving them completely without water if you're

going on holiday?


Hope this helps!!

Sorry if this is a naive question.

Cheers

Jack

It is absolutely fine to leave your pots in a shallow plastic tray of
water, as long as your pots have drainage holes in the bottom of the
pots. It is always good to stand them in water because it encourages the
roots to grow. You will be surprised how quickly the water is drunk by
the plants, would be good if someone could pop in and fill the tray
while you are away.

On 2011-07-04 17:08:20 +0100, Jack said:

Thanks for all the replies - v helpful.

Does it make a difference if the roots are short, near the top of the pot
(ie seedlings or cuttings)?

Best to drip water automatically into the top of the pots. Maybe not
worth it for one short holiday a year but if automatic watering appeals
all summer long then you might want to invest in a timer for the
outside tap and a drip irrigation system. Take a look at the various
options:
http://www.garden4less.co.uk/product...wc4QoduUhS YA

I

use the Aquapod system all year round to water plants in my front porch
and it is by far the easiest auto irrigation system to set up. Without
it, or similar, I would ban plants from the porch. And without
automatic watering of my raised veg beds, I would stop growing
vegetables. Move with the times - these systems are economical with
water and there's even a tap timer which comes with a ground probe that
automatically suspends any pre-set watering program if sufficient
rainfall is detected.

If the soil doesn't dry out completely, it will continue to soak up water from the pot. Having the roots short is probably an advantage as they will be above the water table and won't rot.

For cuttings which I've just taken, I'd remove all the leaves except one, make sure the soil is good and moist, then enclose the whole thing in a plastic bag - it'll keep for months like that. But if they've rooted and are growing away, then they're basically just a plant.

If the seedlings are still small and unlikely to grow massively while you're away, then covering with a huge plastic bag will cut down evaporation. But make sure the seedlings don't touch the plastic else they can easily rot.