Shelving Units & "Mini Greenhouses" for growing indoors. Advice?

[Ray]

The trays had better NOT be the reservoir, and the liquid level before it drains had better not be above the holes in the S/H pot, either!

Water is a wonderful vector for sharing plant pathogens. If either of those scenarios was the case, any sick plant would almost immediately infect all of the others.

[emmajs243]

Those were my thoughts!! And one of my concerns with using a tray per shelf without using something else as a barrier still!

When i learned that black rot spreads via watering......game over! Not ever going to intrntionally risk it!

[WaterWitchin]

LOL... Easy there Ray!

No, I use traditional S/H container, two holes on side, flush each time. The holes for the reservoir are just above the lip of the tray. Main issue is making sure none of the holes point outward. Big mess on floor if I make that mistake, which I've done. I try to line each pot up so the reservoir holes point toward the side of the next pot over, and when I get to the corner face one back, then line up on the other side.

The drain pipe sits slightly above tray bottom, so it leaves roughly less than a half inch of water at far end, and about a quarter inch at drain end. (I slope each shelf one "click" higher on one end.)

I have the drain through the floor, as I have a LOT of plants and flushing each one twice a week equals a LOT of water going through.

I don't get the comment Emma, about using one tray per shelf without some other barrier. Each pot having it's own saucer inside a tray? What would be the purpose?

Of course, I've only been doing this for around twenty years and never had rot/disease from doing it this way. Now that I've said that, everything will likely turn black and drop its leaves by end of week.

No, Dolly, black boot trays. They're the perfect size to completely cover each shelf. And thanks, it's super low maintenance compared to some other ways I've experimented with.

[emmajs243]

Idk! I guess that's what I thought too until I learned how awful some of these viruses/diseases are....and I guess maybe because I work in a lab....I think of every possible scenario for contamination! Even if it is just a root that grows out of one of the holes of if the tray gets bumped and the water waves into the holes or onto the side of the cup and then drips into the holes or what if you have long air roots climbing out of the cup????? You see where my mind is going with this???

Maybe it's a completely unlikely scenario that should never happen but I am a worrier!!!

[estación seca]

Biology as a whole is not sufficiently studying interactions with organisms. Potential pathogens are EVERYWHERE in the environment ALL THE TIME and organisms only rarely are affected.

[Roberta]

Back in my condo days when the spare bedroom was the "greenhouse" I used storage bins (from various places in various sizes) to catch the water draining out of pots. Over the top of the storage bins I used "egg create" light diffusers (Home Depot, a grid of 1/2 inch square holes, sheets are 2 ft x 4 ft) on top. A nice stable platform for the plants, free-draining. To cut to custom sizes just a matter of breaking the plastic with a needle-nosed pliers. See http://orchidcentral.org/GrowingAreas/indoor.jpg for what it looked like. The racks are even better for efficiently using space, but the concept for controlling water run-off is the part that might be applied here.

[katrina]

I have a similar set up to Witchin's...but w/bucket drain system. These pics are a few years old...I've made some adjustment (a couple of wider shelving units and some other rearrangements/additions/changes of the space- evolution of the space) but these pics give a good idea of the watering system.

My husband put these together for me several years ago and this is as close as one can get to the "in place watering" convenience of a greenhouse but the grow space being in the house. I have a 50ft hose that attaches to my laundry room sink and I can move through the space watering everything in place. This really cut down on the time demands of having so many plants.

The mount stations are PVC pipe frames w/legs cut to size and lined w/a heavy duty plastic. Legs come off for easy storage between uses.

The trays are boot trays I got from Gardner's Supply.
Hubby drilled holes in the corner where I wanted the drain plug...added the plugs used for hose connectors...sealed w/caulk and gorilla glue...hoses attach easily. Lined w/louvers for drop ceiling lights, purchased at Home Depot. Before the boot trays we had ordered plexiglass cut to size and put together trays w/caulk and i had those for years but the lights are so drying and the constant putting on and taking off hoses would cause the seals on the plugs to weaken so they had to be recaulked every year...got to be a big PITA so we made the switch a few years back to the boot trays. I've only had to re-seal a couple of them once in all the time they've been in use.

I have to watch the buckets to make sure they don't get too full. I keep 2 buckets at each area so it's easy to switch them out and then everything gets dumped in the sink during the winter and outside when temps aren't too cold.

All the shelves are "pitched" toward the drains just slightly to allow most of the water to drain out but a little does stay in the trays...hence the louvers to keep the pots above the waterline. The nice thing about the water left in the trays is that...with the sheer number of plants I have...it does increase the humidity in the room for a day or two by a little bit.

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Biology as a whole is not sufficiently studying interactions with organisms. Potential pathogens are EVERYWHERE in the environment ALL THE TIME and organisms only rarely are affected.

Yep. I think my work here is done... back to the thread about algae and sourdough starter. I will have pictures to show regarding the sourdough process later today.

[SundayGardener]

Water Witchin, I would happily contract you to set up a watering system for my shelves!

I didn't realize how much water weighs until I hurt my back. Now watering orchids has become one of my most painful activities, even with help. A gallon is the maximum weight I've be told to lift, but the lifting isn't so hard as the holding the weight away from the body to pour.

Anyway, I have saved this thread for future reference! I don't have a drainage hole but while lying on the floor (the best friend of anyone with back pain) I starting thinking creative thoughts about an unused toilet as a potential drainage site....

[emmajs243]

Sorry guys! Life happened! Got busy....

I did just want to throw out there....I never said anything about my concerns being education based...needless to say biology based. Or about them being accurate! I merely said maybe from being taught to run through possible contamination methods in my head constantly that is why I immediately jump to worrying about them!...Then again, who really can say why any of our brains work the way they do!

Just wanted to clarify though WaterWitchin, totally didn't mean it in any belittling or disrespectful way! Its just....when you already a more paranoid/OCD type of person and your aware of this fact and trying to improve on it....Its really tough to figure out where the paranoia stops and what is a realistic concern. So anytime I throw out these "concerns" running through my head, it is solely because I am trying to figure out..."Am I worrying about nothing OR...am I worrying about trying to NOT worry and these are realistic concerns?" You know what I mean? I haven't quite figured out that never ending question yet so thats when I turn to what I consider "normal people" to help validate what is what!

Ok but after going back over this thread...I never had ANY idea in-place watering was even really an option on this sort of level! Holy crap guys! Mind blowing!

I will say....Really like the louvers idea Katrina!!!! Just goes to show that any idea can be adjusted to fit ones needs! I didn't even know they made "louvers" needless to say that was what they were called! Super cool! Also, the contraptions for catching hanging plants...awesome! I have been racking my brain on if there is a way to do hanging plants indoors without having to take each of them down and totally opened my mind to new possibilities!

Unfortunately, Sunday Gardner....I too tried laying on my floor to see if I look at things from a new perspective if creativity would also hit me and I too could find a drainage source....I think I am going to be left with buckets on this excursion! MAYBE during summer I can run a hose through a screen fixed with some type of circular fitting for the hose to run through and then one of those drainage pipes away from the house and towards the irrigation ditch? That was my only floor inspiration!