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water Built a watering tray

W

wordwiz

Watering the plants has always been an hours-long task, especially since I bottom water. I had some lumber and plastic sitting around so decided to build one. I picked a 32" by 13' size, as it will fit in the front of the GH which gets the most sun.

Used 7/16 OCB board for the bottom and 1x3s for the sides. Unrolled some 4-mill plastic and draped it from side to side. My reservoir is a 60 gallon Sterilite type container and I have a submersible pump (about 30 gpm) that I added PVC pipe to. I add rain water (or tap water if I run out of the stuff Mother Nature supplies) and fill the bottom of the trough. Takes about 90 seconds to fill the thing. All of the plants in it are growing in horticubes, so overwatering is not a problem.

It will hold 21 1020 nursery flats and from 378 (3" cells) to 4200 (200 cell flats) plants at a time. I still have three trays to add, but it currently houses about 2500 maters.

Another advantage, I can add nuits to the water, adjust the pH, run an air pump overnight and be able to fertilize them when needed. The high heat - 90 degrees inside today and high light - 84,000 lux of sunlight, akin to a 600-watt MH bulb placed eight inches above the plants should provide great growth.

Mike
 
I am so jealous. What ever the cost I need a tray at lest 4'x 2' next year to bottom water my plants. I saw some for sale at the beginning of the season but at the time I said no way I would spend 100 bucks for it. Now after top watering 137 plants twice a week, 100 bucks seems like a deal and I know I could build or buy it cheaper than that if I really tried. Any chance you can post some pictures?
 
If you want to build one yourself take a 3/4" ply wood sheet cut to 25" X 8' screw 2X4s around the ply wood, I fiberglassed the inside with two coats of glass over the mat. is 7 years old and still looks new. But you can just use plastic about 6 mils works great, i try ed it first before glassing.you can set it on cheap plastic saw horses or build a frame for it. works good for watering a lot of plants fast. you also put fittings in the bottom to drain
 
Sounds great. I am gonna add that function to my indoor greenhouses next year so that I don't have to keep taking them all in and out to water. Takes me almost 2 hours to water.
 
HawaiiAl said:
If you want to build one yourself take a 3/4" ply wood sheet cut to 20" X 8' screw 2X4s around the ply wood, I fiberglassed the inside with two coats of glass over the mat. is 7 years old and still looks new. But you can just use plastic about 6 mils works great, i try ed it first before glassing.you can set it on cheap plastic saw horses or build a frame for it. works good for watering a lot of plants fast. you also put fittings in the bottom to drain
Click to expand...

Al,

I don't recommend 20". A standard nursery tray is about 21x11 so you will have a lot of wasted room. Better to build it 22" or 32" so all the room is used. Mine is actually a bit over 32" wide, just so I have a bit of wiggle room.

Mike
 
Great idea! After reading this earlier and spending time bottom watering plants 4 at a time, it struck me.

I have these tupperware container from Wallyworld that hold 24 4" pots. Deep enough to fill um up and let the plants take their drink. Now all I need to find is those drain plugs like on cooler chests and viola... easy fill and drain watering trays :lol:
 
Alphaeon,

From experience: if the containers are more than a couple years old, be very slow and careful trying to cut a hole in them. They tend to shatter. Nothing that some silicone sealing, plastic and glue cannot fix, but still a royal PITA! I still use these things, but don't tend to worry about draining them. Add the water/nutrient solution, let the plants soak up the stuff they need. Keep repeating during the indoor growing season. Once it is over, dump the leftover water over my compost pile. Upstairs, that means buckets with holes in the bottom, so I end up with some great tea.

I try my best to not waste anything!

Mike
 
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