Movable Outdoor setup

[morbius18]

This is my outdoor setup. I had to do something to keep the cats from knocking the pots over, so I built a movable outdoor setup. Lately it has been getting into the 40s at night here in Washington state, so I've been moving the plants indoors and setting them out when I go to work.

I use a 5 gallon bucket down below and let the water flow thru the pots and drain down the tube into the bucket.

Now the nitty gritty....

I used some windowsill trays that I found at Lowes and cut some light diffuser grids to hold the clay pots off of the bottom of the trays. These can be cut with pliers to fit the size of the pots.

I drilled a hole and threaded a 1/2" fitting into the hole. I then used silicon to seal the edges to prevent leaks. I used 1/2" tubing to function as a drain. This allows about 1/2 - 1 inch of water to sit in the bottom of the trays for increased humidity. The drain hoses keep the neighbors below me from complaining of constant water raining down on their deck.

[WhiteRabbit]

looks great - wish I could be so motivated

[silken]

Looks like a great setup and your plants look nice.

[morbius18]

Some of the pseudo-bulbs are slightly shriveled. I got them from Lowes and trimmed the roots and re-potted. They got slightly aggravated with that..

[Zoi2]

Looks nice, great idea.
Joann

[GardenTheater]

Very well thought out setup. Like the drains and the way you used light grids to hold your pots.

[morbius18]

is it unusual to have to water daily. I use 4 inch clay pots in a course bark mix. Seems like they are almost dry every morning.

[silken]

I'm not sure how dry your part of the world is, but clay does breath more than plastic. You could put bamboo kebab skewers into the pot. Pull them out to see if they are wet or dry. I have been quite amazed at how light and 'dry' a pot can feel and the skewer is quite damp! That's how I was causing root rot until I started using skewers.

[morbius18]

I'm in the Pacific Northwest, pretty humid. Where I have the trays they are in an almost constant breeze with temps from 60-70 f. The pots are also held off the bottom of the trays getting air circulation all around. They are mostly a mix of odcdm and wils orchids grown in the clay 4 inch orchid pots with a coarse bark mix.

I have been using the skewer and weigh method of determining dryness as well as looking for moisture in the side drain holes. I don't think that I should have any issues with overwatering, but I'm still kinda new and needed advice.