drainage and where does it go/reusable?

[stef666]

Hi firstly thanx for the input on my lighting question.
Now another regarding drainage.I have this silly idea about having a six inch void bellow my terrarium (size of terrarium 4' wide 3 ' high and 3 ' deep) which will collect water from runoff etc.Althoght the draigae hole will be lifted so there will always be say 2" of water always in it any deeper and the water will flow out the drainage hole.
Can i use this water again say for my fogger or would it be better just to get rid of it?

It crossed my mind to have the fogger in there too so all you would see is the fog rather than the fogger.I hope im describing this clearly.I know what im trying to say

The other question has anyone ever tried to have a sliding drainage area where you could slide out the drawer with the water in it or pump or fogger so maintenance could be performed.
Or am i just trying to over complicate things??

[UKCat]

I would treat the excess water as 'grey' water, fine to water plants in the garden or normal pot plants, but I wouldn't re-use it for the fogger as there could be detritus in it that could block the fogger up.

It could also be a breeding ground for bacteria and fungus so re-introducing it to your orchids may not be a good idea.

[Eyebabe]

Do not reuse the water.
In addition to bacteria and fungus, you can also spread color break virus (ORSV).
If you can somehow distill it first, then I would imagine it's okay.
These are some of the primary reasons full hydrophonics is not used for orchids...as you would have your plants in a row in the same tray with water running over and touching them all in sequence.
Thus s/h pots them up separately etc.

[stef666]

thankyou for your replies ...that settles that then