Saucers/trays to hold water under containers?

[tlintx]

It's not quite that cut and dried!

With the method above, if I'm reading right, you're basically bottom watering. You fill the tray, the moisture is distributed through the growing medium fairly quickly, and the tray runs dry. Repeat as needed. So nothing is standing in water.

Another option would be to use the bottom couple of inches of soil in the pot as a wick, similar to the Earthtainer design. In that case you'd want the reservoir to stay full, but not be more than a few inches deep.

Either way, you want a soil that wicks well without getting compacted or soggy. Like Raybo's mix (from the earthtainer guide). People have experimented a lot with different variations.

[Ed of Somis]

T...so if a person top waters and the pot drains down to fill up the saucer....will that water in the saucer "wick" back inside the pot after it's soil dries?

[tlintx]

In my experience, the water wicks fast enough to just keep it generally moist all the time. My test containers are about six inches deep; in our heat and humidity, the soil never really dries out. But I don't have an optimum mix, just plain old Miracle Grow. I've been letting the rain keep the reservoir full so far.

My only experience with non-reservoir bottom watering is with seedling pots. I water from the top the first time, and any extra water is reabsorbed, then I fill the trays if the seedlings look dry.

I'm not a soil scientist or an expert, there may be gotchas my simple setup doesn't run into!

[Ed of Somis]

OK...well thanks for your experiences and advice. Keep us posted...