I've started growing seedlings in a seedling tray which is a 6x4 array of connected seedling pots. Each seedling pot has apertures in its base. The seedling tray sits in a water catch tray so water and mud don't get on the floor. The seedlings need to be watered every few days. I'm going on 2 weeks holiday in a few months and I'm thinking of making a self-watering device.

My idea is to sit the seedling tray on a sheet of foam with holes aligned with the apertures in the pots. The seedling tray will then be able to float in the water catch tray (with the foam sheet and the bottom few millimetres of each seedling pot submerged). Thus the bottom few millimetres of soil will be sodden but the rest of the soil will remain moist.
-- xaviergisz, Sep 16 2019

I made two floating plant pots https://imgur.com/a/bo5bX9i
[xaviergisz, Dec 11 2019]

My grandfather used to use a strip of cheesecloth as a "capillary siphon" from a bucket of water for his tomatoes. Let us know how this turns out (I suspect it will be good).
-- neutrinos_shadow, Sep 17 2019


Neat. My old man is talking about building a seedling table which suspends trays of seedlings on a level waterproof table with a lip. A simple float valve refills the table as the water wicks up or evaporates and it just needs to be checked on periodically. If you have an elevated water tank then gravity does all the work.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Sep 17 2019


Could network camera them and have a number of a friend as a failsafe.
-- wjt, Sep 17 2019


I don't know if this applies only to specific plant species, specific soil types, or what, but, at least in some cases, continuous watering can be harmful in that it allows the roots to rot, and so intermittent watering is preferred, because it allows the roots to dry out, which prevents rotting.
-- notexactly, Sep 24 2019


Yep, this is probably not a great long term solution. This will just keep the seedlings alive over 2 weeks of summer.
-- xaviergisz, Sep 24 2019


Yes, really good idea [+]

Every time I see the title, I read it as “Floating Point Pot”
-- Frankx, Sep 24 2019


Full-baking, nice!
I was thinking of how to do this "long term". Perhaps a very shallow water tray, so evaporation & plant up-take can change the level noticeably, but slowly. A (float or other lever) valve attached refills, with a delay (a series of tanks, so takes time to fill each one before the water gets to the plant tray..?).
-- neutrinos_shadow, Dec 11 2019


I keep seeing this as "floating point pot", which then brings to mind "integer pot", which is a whole other thing.
-- theircompetitor, Dec 11 2019



random, halfbakery