How do YOU remove your run off water?

I've got three ladies in 5-gallon pots and when I water it takes forever to remove the run off from the trays. They get too heavy for me to move it to my bathtub so I let it drain into the tray and pump it out with a big turkey baster thingy.

Has anyone found an easy way of dealing with runoff? Maybe a small fishtank pump or something?

I use a wet dry vacuum.

are u not supposed to let it wick back up? am i doing it wrong?

To much water if you cant lift a plant

I do a mini-flush each time I water.
Typically out of a 4 gallon buckets (soil grow) I get around a gallon of runoff from each & the vac makes it so much easier to deal with.
Buckets sit in small tubs, I water & let them sit for around an hour & then I suck it out.

Haha, I can lift it and the soil has great drainnage but I hate keeping them in a bathtub away from the lightsource for 15-20 minutes while I water. Plus it continues to drain for another 10 minutes. With three big ladies and three little ones, it gets old lugging them to my bathroom.

I have a 2 sided sink. I put one plant in each sink, water them, and let them drain for 45 - 1 hour. I also keep my plants on those big cork coaster things to soak up the excess, if any. I only grow a few plants at a time, so it's not hard for me to use my method. Plus my grow room is the pantry in the kitchen LOL

I like the wet vac idea, why didn't I think of that?! Any other cost-effective ideas, a wet vac may be out of my budget right now.

i've just started watering my plants from the bottoms on this grow and it seems to be working great imo..
i went to home depot and bought these plastic containers that are made to hang plants outdoors, but i'm using them as saucers under my pots instead.. i just water them from the saucers... at first, a lot of the water will quickly get wicked up into the plants so i wait a minute or so, then add more till the saucer is completely full, then on to the next plant...

here's a pix of the saucer thingy, it's just filled up with some trimmings from my last harvest yesterday, but you get an idea of what they look like still.. i looked all over online and then went to home depot and found these and they work great as my pots fit perfectly inside of them, and they are pretty deep, which allows them to hold quite a bit of water..

better yet dont over water, if it runs out it got too dry, if it takes awhile to run through its to wet a 4-5gallon pot weighs about 16lbs with soil add another couple of pounds for plant material, i use a old school bathroom scale and it never lies lol makes it k.i.s.s.

DJ TEEREKS said:

I like the wet vac idea, why didn't I think of that?! Any other cost-effective ideas, a wet vac may be out of my budget right now.

Click to expand...

Try this link out - here's the one I use & it beats the hell out of lugging pots - and beside I do SCROG - moving the plants is out of the question.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Shop-Vac-Corporation-5-Gallon-2.0-Peak-HP-Quiet-Wet-Dry-Vacuum/17218345

I use a couple of the microfiber towels you can find at Walmart, Target, etc in the car wash area...the big ones for drying a car. Each towel will hold about a quart/liter of water. Make sure to rinse out the towel, though. If you let it dry with nutrient water on it, it will smell like mildewed ass in a day.

Shop Vac is a great idea though.

i am growing out in the garage.

i just let it drain into the driveway. i am lucky.

Found a shop vac for $40 at Lowes...thought they'd cost waaaay more. Should do the trick, thanks guys!