I have placed upside down saucers under a lot of my plants that are on pebble trays for same reason. I use round, black plastic bottoms of old take out containers (dinner plate diameter) from our local Mexican restaurant to collect water under larger plants, so I dont have to lug them back & forth. Maybe I water too much (volume) but I want to make sure all soil gets evenly watered. I use 511 bark mix for soil, so I dont really worry about overwatering - just that I have big enough saucer to catch it all. I do put them in shower when hosing them down w/ neem oil & my Norfolk Island Pines & Crotons are getting too wide to fit through the opening! Now what?! Next winter it may be trouble...

I use very deep saucers. On my large Ficus in a 20” pot, the saucer is 6” deep and I have the pot spaced off the saucer about 3-4 inches. When I water, waiter drains out but the pot never sits in it.

Also, you shouldn’t let your plants sit in that water for even a couple hours. It should be discarded as soon as it’s collected.

My smaller plants I take to the sink to water. For my larger plants I use a combination of very large/deep saucers and these "Pot Toes" risers. The cool thing about the Pot Toes is that they click together so you can make them as high as you need (within reason). Plus, they leave the space under the pot open, so there is more room for the water to drain, and therefore keep the water level in the saucer lower, rather than that space being filled with pebbles, upturned saucers, etc. I hope that makes sense.

I get mine from Amazon and they come in three different colors.

Here's a link:
Pot Toes on Amazon

I also use them for potted patio plants. Helps keep the pot up off the concrete and avoid staining.

Rebecca, wow we really face similar problems. Yea I always make Sure I water them thoroughly so it will completely saturate the whole potting mix. I also have to bring my citrus through the tub opening too and it touches it every time and I‘m worried the branches might break one day... and they only get bigger and bigger each year! As much as a foot. I’m still young so I can still do this but wait until I get older. I won’t be able to even lift the pots anywhere anymore...

Dave, would leaving old water in there cause problems? Last time I dumped all the residual water out in my cast iron plant decorative container was like 5 months ago.

Thanks westender, I will consider using that.

I take ALL my plants to the sink to water them. That is the only way I can make sure they are getting thoroughly watered and the potting soil flushed of fertilizer salts. And I usually spray them down when watering as well, to keep mites and other, low humidity insect pests at bay.

But none require very frequent watering during the winter months and from midspring through early fall, they are all outside anyway.

My cactus in gritty mix are in the shower as we speak.

Heruga,

The issue with not discarding that water right away - the soil will suck the water back up. Therefore you’re not fully able to flush salt and fertilizer build ups from the soil properly.

* Growing in overly water-retentive media is much more difficult (for a number of reasons) than growing in a soil that drains well enough that you have no reason to worry that your soil will remain wet/soggy so long that it affects root function/health.

* Most bagged media are water retentive to the degree that, for a notable fraction or all of the growth cycle, you'll be fighting your choice of media for control of your plant's vitality.

* That's not a good place to be in terms of the amount of reward you can expect for your efforts at nurturing plants in pots.

* By way of the use of some basic scientific principles, there are several ways a grower can limit the unwanted effects of soils that would otherwise be deemed too water retentive for best results.

The images upthread illustrate 2 important concepts that we could all easily incorporate into our habits. The first is using a wick to drain excess water from media which hold perched water that defies the force of gravity. The second is, there should be no pathway by which effluent (drainage water) from the pot can make its way back into the medium after it's exited the drain hole. If the pot in the last picture above had a wick, it should be allowed to drain with the wick hanging several inches below the pot. Then, the wick would be laid on top of the plastic u-channel so it never comes in contact with water in the collection saucer.

Click me for more on dealing with water-retentive media.

and

Click me to learn more about using ballast, which can allow you to use soils that might otherwise be too water-retentive to achieve good results.

Al

So them I'm guessing only the serious gardeners go this far into maintaing their houseplants. I wonder how the average person who knows nothing about gardening takes care of houseplants. Al, I know the significance of using a well drained mix. I've done some research on your threads in the past before I started growing plants in pots. But my question was how can you water your plants the easy way without water flowing all over the place. Your saucer seems shallow so if thoroughly watered the water should overflow out of that in no time. And I don't want that. As I do all the care of my plants indoors sometimes I wonder if I am going a little excessive.

The average person kills houseplants within a season and buys more.

Really. That is a real waste of money on them. Although I often see very healthy looking ones at doctors offices.. I wonder if all them happen to know how to properly care for houseplants? And sometimes I check the soil and they are all in a commercially made potting mix. Very peaty.

Heruga I also found deeper clear plastic drip trays @ HD, I think 4"deep at least? Around $1-$3 each, depending on diameter. I found bags of smooth Black River rock at Dollar Tree. It can be a lot of work, to keep plants healthy but the accomplishment to me is worth it. I am 43years young and my heaviest pot is my cacti bowl- 32"diameter, filled w/ grit, perlite & turface...on TOP shelf, nonetheless (best sunlight there)...I'm ok for now but now that you mention it, when I'm like 70, it might be a little tough! My bigger plants, all except monstera, are in plastic pots to help keep them lighter weight.

Rebecca, yea well I use decorative containers to allow the water to collect on the bottom so I’m ok for now I think but those are expensive so maybe my next plant I can start using those cheap deep saucers. But wow 32 in diameter ..... I don’t see myself ever trying to grow a plant that requires a pot that big. I’m gonna kill my back. It’s amazing though that a cactus in a pot gets that big.

Al, thanks for the info. I do feel like I’m getting the hang of watering the 3 years I’ve been doing this. and It does feel rewarding when you see your house plant keep growing but not sure if I should be feeling that way yet towards my cast iron plant because apparently it’s the easiest houseplant to grow and even the average person can succeed with that plant ?

Al, After learning from you I had been using that small dramm watering can and very happy with it. Allows immense control over watering slow and steady. Initially I made those bent nozzles from caulking tips but that is not a easy task figuring out the correct heat and then bend without putting a major kink. But then I found these in Home Depot. Perfect solution.

Heruga: Waiting 5 hrs for pot to drain is way too long. 10-15 min should be plenty. It may still drip a bit but should not be a problem. I also tilt the pot while draining. That allows extra water to drain away. That way when you pick it up and keep it level while carrying the pot it does not drip on the way. You may be also watering a lot more than needed.

Best is as Al described. Water evenly and slowly till you see a bit of water come out of the bottom. And then come back after 5-10 minutes and do it again. The watering can that Al posted makes it easy especially with the nozzle that increases the reach and slows down the water to a narrow stream.

A few times in the winter I do drag some plants that are upstairs in a bedroom to the shower for a good soak and a wash. To make it easier, I replaced the hand held shower attachment with a regular garden hose nozzle with a long 7+ ft hose. My wife, of course, was not entirely amused by that.

Heruga its a grouping w/ several diff. Types...opuntias, cereus, mamillarias but still really heavy! I'd guess 40lbs? I'm getting ready to start another. The Lowe's lady talked me into buying a bunch more that were on clearance for $1. I kept declining & she kept dropping the price & begging me to buy them b/c she "knew they would go to good homes"! She calls me the plant lady. She dropped them to $.25 for each! One of them, against my better judgement was a dreaded painted Easter lilly cactus. It's Red but actually doing good. Well how could I say no??! LOL What's wrong w/ me??!

Tropicofcancer, well even if my mix is super fast draining it really takes a long time to completely let all the water drain out. One time I let the citrus sit on the bathtub for an hour after watering and then I set it back on the saucer and within minutes it started filling with water. So I tried 3 hours and it still does the same thing. I have no idea how a fast draining mix of 5-1-1 takes 5 hours to completely drain but thats what I have to do to avoid puddling in the saucer. In the winter I water only a gallon on my 18 inch potted citruses. Everytime I water the water drains out the bottom in less than 5 seconds. I use the showerheaded watering can too. I can't seem to figure out how such a fast draining mix takes so long to drain out. I'll try to position the pot so it is at an angle and see if it'll make a difference.

Rebecca, ah gotcha. That makes more sense. And I totally get you. I take advantage of every deal related to gardening and tend to buy plants that catch my eye at the moment without thinking.. I spent over 5000$ on my first year of gardening to my regret. You're very lucky you could get such good deals like that, no one wants to give me any discounts!

Btw happy national houseplant day!

Heruga: May be I was not clear enough. After watering wait for 5-10 minutes or so. Let it drain normally. At that point there will be still some water near the bottom of the pot that and it will not come out easily. That is the PWT water of your mix. To get that out quickly tilt the pot at 45 degree angle and wait another 5 min. You may need some wedge to hold it at that angle. The remaining water will drain out.

If the pot is small/lightweight you can speed it up by holding the pot at 45 degrees and shake it in a up/down movement. One min is plenty. You can do this right after watering without waiting for the 5-10 min initially. I have never had water drip out like the way you are describing.

"A" is a pot filled with commercially prepared potting soil. The shaded part represents a rather normal PWT (perched water table) of 4" which is about normal for commercially prepared mixes based primarily on small particulates - peat, coir, compost. composted forest products, sand, ..... The ht of the PWT is primarily based on the size of particles from which the soil is made, and the ht of the PWT any given soil will support is the same in any shaped container.

"B" is pot "A" tipped at a 45* angle. Since the PWT ht is going to be the same in any pot, you can see how much extra water was forced from the drain hole when the pot was tipped. When you use this trick of science to help drain extra water from your pots, it's best (but not critical) that you have a drain hole through the bottom of the pot near the vertical wall, and that that drain hole is at the lowest point on the tipped pot.

"C" is meant to illustrate that the container shape can have significant impact on how much perched water a planting can hold.

"D" is one example of using ballast to reduce the amount of perched water a planting can hold. Compared to "A", you can see it reduces the amount of perched water in the planting by displacing soil that would otherwise be filled with perched water.

"E" shows what can be accomplished with the use of a wick. Like B, the wick is best secured through a hole in the bottom where bottom meets the pot wall. It's also most effective when you use the wick and tip the pot, too.

These images illustrate how much pot depth (and shape) can influence the amount soil roots will grow into. Most of the plants we normally grow as houseplants are reluctant to grow into saturated soils, and when they do, they're often killed the next time the planting is watered. The cyclic death and regeneration of roots is a very expensive outlay for the plant and comes straight out of its growth/development account. IOW, the energy the plant spends to regenerate roots over and over again is borrowed from energy that would otherwise be devoted to growth and vitality, and keeping the plant's defense systems orderly and humming along as you wish they would.

The last images show what happens when a "drainage layer" is used (see middle image), and how you can use ballast at the bottom of the pot to eliminate nearly ALL perched water. Many items can be used as ballast - bricks, soda bottles/milk jugs with the cap still attached, kids plastic building blocks from a dollar store, over-turned pots. For growers not interested in making their own soils that allow the grower to water correctly without having to resort to tricks of science to drain away excess water, I highly recommend using ballast. It won't be as effective as media with a higher % of air porosity, but it will darn well make a big difference in how much of their genetic potential your plants can achieve.

Al

For my plants that are too big to make regular trips to the sink or tub, I move the plant into a deep saucer for watering and then move it back to its regular saucer once I think it has drained sufficiently. I try to check back a little while later in case more water has accumulated. It still requires lifting the plant, but only a short hop. I'm not sure what I'll do if they ever get too big to do that!

I use plastic cement tubs from Home Depot. I think they are like $8 ish each. They are largish so several small plants can fit while watering. I tend to do it while doing other household chores and usually not in a hurry. My wife likes to do it when watching reruns on TV (NCIS is her favorite now, Colombo, Matlock etc also on her list).

I just bought a tea trolley for a few dollars at neighborhood garage sale for the purpose of walking round my house, collecting all my plants, setting them in the bathtub, watering them, letting them drain and then rolling them back to their places. Until this week, the method was the same, but with more trotting back and forth!

KC

This thread got me thinking because I've clearly been repotting my plants all wrong. I usually fill the pot with coarse wood chips for about 1/10th of the pot, and then a quick draining potting soil, usually palm and cactus soil. I am now seriously tempted to repot them (in the same pots if appropriate) but adding a layer of what Al calls ballast above. Do you think it makes sense to do that even if I wouldn't normally be repotting any right now?

KC

The trick to using ballast is, you must make sure you have an unbroken soil column between the soil above the ballast to the bottom of the pot. IOW, you want the bottom 4" of the pot almost, but not quite, full of ballast. Let's say the bottom of the pot was a 9 x 9 rectangle and you had 3 bricks that were 3 x 9 x 4" tall. Since they would fill the bottom 4" of the pot entirely, they wouldn't be at all effective for the purpose of reducing water retention because you've essentially created a new pot bottom that is 4" above the former, and water will perch in the soil above that layer just as it did above the actual pot bottom. If, however, you broke one of the bricks so it was 3 x 6 x 4", the only soil that could hold perched water in the pot would be the soil that would have occupied the space 3 x 3 x 4" piece you broke off and left out of the pot. So instead of there being a PWT that can hold 324 cu in (9 x 9 x 4 = 324), you only have a volume equal to that if the small piece of brick, or 72 cu in (3 x 6 x 4 = 72); and, that can be reduced even further by breaking off a smaller piece of brick. So always keep in mind that you must have that unbroken, uninterrupted column of soil between the pot bottom and the soil mass above the ballast.

Al

Thanks, Al. I think I got that: I need my soil to have a columnar base that goes through the ballast to the pot bottom. I am imagining my soil kinda shaped like a wine glass (or trifle bowl, really) in a pot, with the ballast filling in the space around the stem? So my layering a loose draining layer all over the bottom was inadequate in more ways than one.

Also, Al, thank you for all the advice and information you share with us. I follow you on several forums and so deeply appreciate the knowledge you share so generously.

KC

Yes - you have it right.

It's a pleasure, KC - helping others get more from their growing experience is something I look at as an extension of my own growing experience. Say hey to Milo for me too, please.

Al

OMG Al, I'm fangirling big time over here! I just yelled out to my husband, Al said hi to Milo, and he said, you mean that tapla guy you're always quoting!!! lol, that totally made my day!

KC

Too funny! Make sure you tell him I'm old and decrepit ..........

Al