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10 votes
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Can drained water from potted plants be used again to water another house plant?

Well, the correct way to conserve water is to watch your water, and make sure you don't have excess drainage. This of course takes time and experience. Till then, use measuring cups, or watering jugs ...
Srihari Yamanoor's user avatar
9 votes

Can drained water from potted plants be used again to water another house plant?

I haven't found any good reference sources, so this is just my personal experience. It ended up being too long for a comment, so I hope it's appropriate as an answer. I do this frequently, with both ...
Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL's user avatar
7 votes
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Would holes in the sides of plastic pots impove drainage and aeration?

No, don't bother, it absolutely is not necessary and not a good idea either. Just use the pots as they are - the fact that a little free water is sitting in the bottom of the empty pot in your image ...
Bamboo's user avatar
  • 135k
7 votes

How can I improve drainage in a rainy area lawn with little manual labour?

There are different reasons why your ground could be so wet, I don't know the situation in Ireland, but here in the Netherlands we can have boggy ground as well. Different reasons are: High ...
benn's user avatar
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5 votes
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Holding water and good drainage contradiction?

It seems a contradiction, but if you look more in deep, there is a reason: A soil with a lot of clay (so finer grains of soil) is a concrete like structure: water and clay paste together: there is a ...
Giacomo Catenazzi's user avatar
5 votes

Are there species that thrive in non-draining pots?

Typically a non-draining pot is used for growing succulents (especially cactus.) The idea is to water infrequently (once a month or longer) and completely soak the soil. This mimics the natural ...
JimmyJames's user avatar
5 votes
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Are there species that thrive in non-draining pots?

No, is the short answer. Whilst some plants will grow in waterlogged soil quite happily in open ground, such as in a bog garden, soil in a non draining or waterlogged pot can become hypoxic/anoxic and ...
Bamboo's user avatar
  • 135k
5 votes

Why should you usually not place pebbles, rocks etc at the bottom of a container?

I'm not going to answer the entire question, but I am going to make a case for the one time it is useful to use curved pieces of broken terracotta pot, since you mention broken clay pots. Many ...
Bamboo's user avatar
  • 135k
5 votes
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Making boggy ground less boggy and planting trees

I have been researching some stuff for my own garden and came across these two links which might be of use to you (I am certainly going to try some of there methods): Landscaping Ideas for Boggy ...
Jason Delaney's user avatar
5 votes
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How to reclaim my backyard that has turned into a swamp?

Most yards with this slope would drain better. It must rain an awful lot and your soil must be very high in clay. Nothing wrong with clay but this shows just how powerful water surface tension can ...
stormy's user avatar
  • 40.5k
5 votes
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Plants that absorb carbon monooxide and other drainage gases

If you were trying to use plants to mediate this you would need to approach it at some other point. No plant in the hole or around it will "absorb" gases to reduce the ppm below detectable ...
Andrew Bocz Jr's user avatar
4 votes

Can drained water from potted plants be used again to water another house plant?

Unless you are OCD about water, which might come in handy someday, watering your potted plants who depend on you completely means giving them the best chances for survival; the best soil, the best ...
stormy's user avatar
  • 40.5k
4 votes

French Drain Below or Above Retaining Wall?

If you compare the cost of perforated drain pipe with sleeve and the possibilities of water damage then more drain pipe is better. I am a big fan of four inch perforated drain pipe with sleeve as a ...
kevinskio's user avatar
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4 votes
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New topsoil has puddles on it

I thought you were probably in the UK... First, let's just establish that we've had a fair bit of rain in the last few days with these storm conditions, so that might account for puddles for an hour ...
Bamboo's user avatar
  • 135k
4 votes

Can I use cat litter in potting mix? Has anyone tried it?

Sepiolite is a clay that's non-toxic (it's used in animal feed) but unlike vermiculite and perlite actually hurts, rather than helps, drainage. According to this source, it can absorb its weight in ...
Jurp's user avatar
  • 20.1k
3 votes

Holding water and good drainage contradiction?

I wonder whether it might help understanding to 'scale up'. Consider a saturated sponge buried in pebbles inside a container that is porous but retains the pebbles. Water will flow straight past the ...
pnuts's user avatar
  • 96
3 votes
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Potential drainage issue?

The easiest way I see would be to dig a DRY WELL. Right where that water is pooling dig a sizeable hole; 6X4', and line the hole with landscape fabric, then fill with drain rock, cover with landscape ...
stormy's user avatar
  • 40.5k
3 votes

Potential drainage issue?

Examine as best you can how the city sidewalk was laid, and what depth of foundation layer was created. You will be looking for several inches of coarse aggregate which will allow the water to pass ...
Colin Beckingham's user avatar
3 votes

Are there species that thrive in non-draining pots?

Plants are living things and therefore all the cells must breathe. This includes the roots. Even plants which appear to be growing in nothing but water are in fact breathing through the roots, ...
Colin Beckingham's user avatar
3 votes

Is there a risk of rot with plastic lining in a raised garden bed?

When (not if) water gets between the plastic and the lining, it will move through the wood to the outside of the bed and evaporate. If the wood is rot resistant, this should not be a problem (...
Ecnerwal's user avatar
  • 25.2k
3 votes

Raised bed on tile floor, covered veranda?

Unfortunately you WILL have drainage issues. The rock or gravel at the bottom will be causing a PERCHED WATER TABLE essentially causing the soil to super saturate before any movement of water happens ...
stormy's user avatar
  • 40.5k
3 votes

How can the "soils" be improved on coral atolls.

Normally, atoll sandy sand is seriously deficiency in 3 mineral, iron (Fe), manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn). These 3 mineral is the most wanted. Chemical fertilizer is the best way, buy these 3 mineral ...
Nat's user avatar
  • 31
3 votes
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What exactly is garden soil, and why shouldn't it be used for potted plants?

I don't know how I managed to post an answer twice... Many people do use garden soil in their pots - but it's a risk. Bacteria, pathogens, fungi and other bio diverse life forms in open ground may ...
Bamboo's user avatar
  • 135k
3 votes

Standing Water with sidewalk surrounded

Water close to the house is a serious issue and you should examine the inside of the house where the water is pooling to see if there is any dampness. In my area there are contractors busy all the ...
kevinskio's user avatar
  • 60.5k
3 votes

How can I improve drainage in a rainy area lawn with little manual labour?

Adding Organic matter is not a permanent solution, I would advice adding some fine material like sand might help air out the ground it worked for me....Also try adding more shrubs to try draw up the ...
javaninja's user avatar
3 votes

Should i use rocks in a (VERY) large container for gardening? (no drainage)

This looks an ideal setup to make a sub irrigated planter. You can look on youtube for many videos on how to construct these but you've got most of the construction already completed for you. So, in ...
Graham Chiu's user avatar
  • 23.4k
3 votes

First time home owner, leaky basement, and a poorly graded yard.

Ecerwal is right, grading first. You can consider other solutions if you have a good drop towards the street or the back of the lot. As always, when you change the grade where is the water going to ...
kevinskio's user avatar
  • 60.5k
3 votes

Weep holes in garden retaining wall

You're smart to look for ways to improve the drainage here, since the number one cause of a failed retaining wall is poor drainage. In a perfect world, weep holes in a retaining wall should be ...
Jurp's user avatar
  • 20.1k
3 votes

Would a vernal pond (as either a retention basin or a infiltration basin) be a viable solution for this drainage issue?

I think I would regrade the land as you're intending, but I would not create a pond. To do that correctly you're looking at creating the pond's area and depth, lining it (typically with clay and/or ...
Jurp's user avatar
  • 20.1k
3 votes

How to make well-drained sandy soil from potting mix?

Whether a potting mix drains well or not depends on the characteristics of the components. We have to look carefully at the components of the mix. Many off the shelf products are basically peat and ...
Colin Beckingham's user avatar

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