I don't know how many Lg. plants you have but with mine; I let water drain then transfer the plant to another tray. I basically rotate the trays at each watering.

H.

little aquarium pump?

This may sound a little ghetto but I use a turkey baster and just squirt it in a bucket.

Hahaha, great suggestions!

Anyone know a small aquarium pump that could do this? I think it's the best solution for my situation. I can't rotate trays because my larger plants are in ceramic pots that don't drain, so I have smaller pots inside them---unless someone else has a better idea to my situation.

thanks

Start using Sub-Irrigated planters, all of your troubles will be gone. With using a container with a separate water reservoir in the bottom, and wicks coming up into the soil column, you will be reversing your watering. You won't see any drainage, unless you water from the top or it rains.

How about a small wet/dry shop vac? Aquarium pumps don't have suction and need to be completely submerged. A plain old siphon would work. you just need a little suction squeeze bulb to start it if you don't want a mouthful.

I would skip the sub-irrigated planters, unless you want a whole new host of problems not the least of which is ugliness.

That's why I never used typical gritty mix indoors. Add some peat, sphagnum moss or wood chips to the mix to hold some water. Its impossible to deal with watering indoors unless you have the time to deal with these problems. Using a gritty mix type potting media means siphoning, heavy pots to other trays, mopping up the mess on the floor, etc.

Jane

I just use the pot within a pot method for houseplants. I make sure there is ample space below the pot with the plant for water, like 3-4". Then I just water well and let that water evaporate. I've never had any problems doing that. Every couple of months I might drag the plant outside to hose off dust and wash out the reservoir pot, but I would have to do that regardless of how the plant was potted.

Small little mosaic tiles work too. I silicone them to the bottom of pots to make feet.

I have a similar situation & this Harbor Freight manual pump has worked very well for me so far.

http://www.harborfreight.com/multi-use-transfer-pump-66418.html

There is a super coupon (expiring Feb 16)on their website to knocking it down to $4.99.

http://www.harborfreight.com/extra-savings.html

Good hunting!