Bringing in Plants for the winter - How to water?

11 years ago

Hi Everyone,

Its starting to get cold down here in MD, and I've got a couple of weeks before the tropical stuff will need to come in for the winter. I've got a couple of citrus, a pair of banana plants, etc.

I don't have a basement or garage, so these things have to come in and sit in my office (decent sized 2nd bedroom). Pretty much everything is in gritty mix, so it needs quite a bit of water to actually get wet.

How do you guys water in situations like this? Take the plants to the tub? Do you have those clear plastic dishes for each pot?

Basically, I'm looking for a way to water a bunch of plants in very fast mix, without making a mess. Any ideas?

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Comments (5)

krismast
11 years ago
I was in the exact same situation as you a week or so ago. The only place I could put my plants in the house was in a sun room on a wooden window seat so I knew any water on the wood would be a very bad thing. So I went looking around at some stores and I found this at Tractor Supply.
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It's about an inch deep and several plants can sit inside it. I had some left over pvc pipe so I cut some rounds for the pots to sit on so they weren't sitting in the water.
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So far it's working great! If there starts to be too much water in the tray I'm just going to siphon it out.

Kristopher
hookilau
11 years ago
Yup. I've started using these as well. I added a layer of pea gravel at the bottom about .75" thick so I can water with impunity 0_-

This allows the water to run freely through & pool under the rocks for additional humidity...and it looks purdy too.
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rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
11 years ago
...elevating pots is great idea - if one doesn't have a spare piece of pvc pipe, caps from water/juice bottles could be used...
meyermike_1micha
11 years ago
Also, if you really want to water at the spot where your plants are, you could use a plastic tote and set something on top of it like a grate that allows you to water copiously while you water with a watering can.
You use a sprinkler head on the watering can so the mix gets watered evenly and thoroughly while the water falls into the tote. Sort of like a moveable sink.

If you don't understand, I would gladly take a picture for you to give you the visual.

Mike
Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
11 years ago
I use plastic plates and set my containers on water bottle tops. Four to one container..

When i water my plants and trees in the Gritty Mix, i water lightly and water just a little and then i go back and give them another drink. If you water to fast, the water will drain to quickly. The mix needs to soak up the water so that is why i use a head like Mike and water just a little as i go through my pots, then i come back and give another "drive by..." ;-) The water that collects in the plates will evaporate quickly and also help add some humidity inthe area.

Hope this helps!!

Laura