Runoff. What to do with it?

Hello RIU I have a simple, maybe even dumb question about the runoff of water left at the bottom of the saucer. My question is what to do with it, the water that runs off and sits at the bottom? I know I should leave it a few minutes so the soil gets a good soak, but not too long as it can cause root rot, but after the "few minutes" of marinating, should I just dumb the water back in the pot? I do this most of the time, but sometimes I get another amount of runoff at the bottom, and dump in again inside the pot. If I get a third runoff, I simply just take the water and dump it outside on one of my palm trees or agave plant. Is it that I might be watering too much? Because sometimes I have a good amount of water at the bottom, about half inch to one inch deep. I usually give half a gallon of H20 for three gallon pots, and 3/4 to a full gallon to 5 gallon pots. Is this too much? I water about once every seven days, on average. Only nutes I use are potassium silica and bat guano, and I just added ff microbrew to a few plants that were showing yellowing of entire leaves. Medium I use is ff happy frog. Please give opinions info, comments, all are greatly appreciated! ThANK YOU

Pick up the pots when dry, pickup the pots when soaked... Then go by that.... When its light, water it... Sounds like you may be underwatering.... If you use soil, its ok to let it suck up the overflow... If coco, it needs to be drained to waste

I would discard the runoff. By adding it back to the pot, you're simply reintroducing the ions the plant rejected. I have an unfortunate mental image of a mama shouting "clean yer plate!"
Also, you don't need silica supplements with happy Frog. They might be harming more than helping. cn

I`m lazy and hate lifting my plants so I shop vac it, add water and dump it on the wifes plants outside.

Then I clean the shop vac. So much for lazy eh?

That shop vac sounds ideal for SOG or any many-pots growing scheme. I'd keep one for general duty, and one dedicated to slurping runoff. Less cleaning that way. cn

I'd collect it and apply to your indoor or outdoor plants/trees. Don't reuse it, drink it or use it in cooking.

jayfury said:

Pick up the pots when dry, pickup the pots when soaked... Then go by that.... When its light, water it... Sounds like you may be underwatering.... If you use soil, its ok to let it suck up the overflow... If coco, it needs to be drained to waste

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Yes Im usung soil, and well I let the soil get pretty dry before watering, enough to where the lower leaves start to look "sad" and a just a tad bit droppy before I water. Thanks for the info!

cannabineer said:

I would discard the runoff. By adding it back to the pot, you're simply reintroducing the ions the plant rejected. I have an unfortunate mental image of a mama shouting "clean yer plate!"
Also, you don't need silica supplements with happy Frog. They might be harming more than helping. cn

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Ok that does make sense! I think I will just let it soak in the runoff for about 10-15 min then I will let the outside palm trees and agave have it. And I do remember you informing me about not needing silica for soil, so I will discontinue the silica and see how they react! Thanks again for the info!

charface said:

I`m lazy and hate lifting my plants so I shop vac it, add water and dump it on the wifes plants outside.

Then I clean the shop vac. So much for lazy eh?

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Haha that is a great Idea! I think I will have to try that once I up my plant quantity! Thank you!!

I soak most of my run-off water up with a large cloth and the rest evaporates,which kinda fucks my humidity.

SSHZ said:

I'd collect it and apply to your indoor or outdoor plants/trees. Don't reuse it, drink it or use it in cooking.

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Yea I usually give the runoff to a palm tree and agave plant I have outside, and I totally agree about it not being potable! lol. Thanks for the reply!

HotShot7414 said:

I soak most of my run-off water up with a large cloth and the rest evaporates,which kinda fucks my humidity.

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Maybe you should give the shop vac a try? Luckily I don't have high humidity problems where Im at, its mostly hot and dry about 8 out of 12 months in a year. But I do have low humidity, in 20's or 30's when the temps reach high 80's- low 90's.