Ideas / designs for water tray setups and water changing? (For Drosera, Utrics, etc)

[Another World Terraria]

One of the current issues I have with my Drosera, Utrics, etc is that I grow them in trays of water, and it's a pain to drain and change the water out, for a variety of reasons.
Currently I have some in 10x20 black plastic trays, and others in smaller clear plastic organizer trays (I definitely need to replace the small ones with larger trays so there are less containers to deal with in general).

I'm wondering if anyone has any creative setups / water tray system designs they'd be willing to share pics of, or just explain the setup. Or even just share pics and info about your "normal" tray setups and explain how you change the water (do you use a pump to drain it? do you pull al the plants out and carry the tray somewhere to dump it? or any other info)

My goal is to make it easier and faster to change tray water, so I'm hoping I can learn from people who are more experienced than I am.

Thanks for any help you can provide

 

[Grey Moss]

Is there a particular reason you want to drain the trays? If it is mineral build up I've never really found that to be an issue. I have trays that has stood for multiple years watered with tap water in the 100-140 PPM range and have not yet observed negative effects from it. If your tap water is high enough in minerals where harmful levels could realistically build up you should be watering with distilled or RO water anyway.

If you do want a draining tray some washing machine drip pans come with drain lines that can be opened and closed with a spigot.

 

[Another World Terraria]

Is there a particular reason you want to drain the trays? If it is mineral build up I've never really found that to be an issue. I have trays that has stood for multiple years watered with tap water in the 100-140 PPM range and have not yet observed negative effects from it. If your tap water is high enough in minerals where harmful levels could realistically build up you should be watering with distilled or RO water anyway.

If you do want a draining tray some washing machine drip pans come with drain lines that can be opened and closed with a spigot.

Thanks for the reply!

Here are some reasons I thought I should drain the trays:

- I have heard that other people sometimes do that to avoid buildup of minerals and/or possibly pH issues or other chemistry issues. Basically my idea was to "keep it fresh and clean" to avoid chemistry problems. Sometimes if I don't keep the water clean and flush the pots, the Drosera get brown or black coatings on the new foliage. I am not sure if that is the cause, but it seems somewhat correlated.

- I am using RO water (and even could use tap if I wanted to because the TDS is super low here), so the water supply would not be an issue. The salts/minerals problem could possibly come in because I foliar feed with liquid fertilizer (very diluted Sea Grow). I do this because there are zero insects for the plants to catch in my grow space, so I like to supplement the plants a little for stronger growth. My thought is that after a few fertilizer applications, it would be smart to change out the water, just in case.

TBH this discussion has made me realize I should test the TDS of the water in the tray, and of water draining out of the pots, and also compare fresh water to the water after some fert applications. That will likely give me a better idea of if I should be worried or not.

Do you have any additional thoughts on the info above?
Thanks for the help

 

[Grey Moss]

That brown coating you're seeing isn't related to mineral buildup. It's humic acid. It gets wicked up from the media up onto the crown of the plant when the water table is high. Draining out the water isn't what gets rid of that, its the flushing of the pots. Humic acid buildup may harm some more sensitive species but for most it isn't a major concern.

Do note that a TDS reading of the tray water may not accurately reflect the mineral content. Non mineral substances like tannins are also picked up by a TDS meter. Considering the water tested will have been soaking peat for a while you'll get a TDS reading that implies much higher mineral content than is real.

 

[Another World Terraria]

That brown coating you're seeing isn't related to mineral buildup. It's humic acid. It gets wicked up from the media up onto the crown of the plant when the water table is high. Draining out the water isn't what gets rid of that, its the flushing of the pots. Humic acid buildup may harm some more sensitive species but for most it isn't a major concern.

Do note that a TDS reading of the tray water may not accurately reflect the mineral content. Non mineral substances like tannins are also picked up by a TDS meter. Considering the water tested will have been soaking peat for a while you'll get a TDS reading that implies much higher mineral content than is real.

Thank you, this is very helpful!

 

[hcarlton]

If you're concerned about mineral buildup from fertilizer, that should not be getting into the soil/water anyway. Apply it only to the leaves and don't topwater plants, and that should not become a factor.

 

[Another World Terraria]

If you're concerned about mineral buildup from fertilizer, that should not be getting into the soil/water anyway. Apply it only to the leaves and don't topwater plants, and that should not become a factor.

Do you have any tips for applying liquid fert only to Drosera leaves?
That seems really difficult.
I'm using a misting bottle. When I spray the plants, the fert inevitably also gets on the substrate, especially for smaller species and those which grow low to the soil.

 

[PraisetheSUNdew]

In regards to drosera fertilizing, I use a small dropper to place a few droplets on traps.