Question - How to remove excess water from potted plants?

[Nightmask]

This may sound like a simple question but after much searching I've found very little information regarding this simple problem. How do you remove excess water runoff after watering your plants if they are in a tent sitting in pots and saucers? It's apparently not good to let your plants sit in a saucer full of water, not just for the plants health but also for humidity issues. Sure you could just pick up the pot, empty the saucer, put the saucer back on the ground and pot back in the saucer, but what if you can't move the plants like with a scrog?

How do peoples get rid of excess water from their potted plants sitting in saucers? I saw a post yesterday about a guy that made some modifications to a flood tray and put pots straight into that instead of saucers but I don't remember the name of the post/dude. I'm just looking for a simple and easy way to drain water runoff. Any suggestions would be greatly welcomed.

 

[JPinkman]

I bought a small shop vac for $30 from walmart. I hate shopping there but sometimes you just need to save money. I have a larger one for general basement use, but changing out the filters is a messy job so I wanted a dedicated one. The small ones keep it from getting too heavy for me and kept the price down.

 

[blue rust]

I agree shop vac, helps when it's time to flush too. The other option that I use as well is a flood table even if you're using soil and place a bucket underneath when your watering.

 

[Nightmask]

Thanks for the help guys. I'll add a shop vac to the list.

 

[Regi254]

That is brilliant! I've been soaking my excess water up with paper towels and what a mess. Also probably not too smart with the extra wires around. I'm slowly learning the ropes. So glad you asked this question. I have so many.

Seriously always dreaded my 20% runoff. I was in a bathtub with all the drains taped up bc I worried about pest slipping in through the back way. Hopefully my next one will be a better set up.. starting with my shop vac

 

[chemo64]

I have always did 5% run off because of this and failed to even acknowledge it.
Excellent idea, thanks. Off to Wal-Mart.

 

[JPinkman]

Another water trick I'm trying out to keep my overall cost down (and reduce my overall footprint) is reusing my RH water. The passive intake on my mother tent is fed by my warm mist humidifier. The air in the mother tent feeds the flower tent and keeps it warm at night. In that tent I need a lower RH so I run a dehumidifier. Im re-using the Dehumidifier water in the humidifier.

 

[blue rust]

Another water trick I'm trying out to keep my overall cost down (and reduce my overall footprint) is reusing my RH water. The passive intake on my mother tent is fed by my warm mist humidifier. The air in the mother tent feeds the flower tent and keeps it warm at night. In that tent I need a lower RH so I run a dehumidifier. Im re-using the Dehumidifier water in the humidifier.

Be careful with that, dehumidifiers tend to get mold in them pretty easily. You don't want to contaminate your girls.

 

[JPinkman]

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Regi254]

Be careful with that, dehumidifiers tend to get mold in them pretty easily. You don't want to contaminate your girls.

I did read about that myself. Because I questioned using the water as well