What is the purpose of plant saucer?

[marino760]

Saucers were designed for one purpose. To keep water from staining whatever the plant is sitting on by catching the water overflow when you water and not letting it drip onto a table or floor.
Anything else a saucer does is icing on the cake.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by luv4horses

The saucer has one of two purposes. 1) to protect the area under the pot safe from drips, and 2) to hold extra water that keeps the soil water-saturated in the pot. So, for an outdoor pot where you water from the top you do not need or want a saucer, unless the plant is very water loving and needs to be in moist soil all the time. If the last is true you would like a small amount of the water in the saucer most of the time.

I learned that when I moved to the south. The pots of flowers on my brick steps in North Carolina had to be watered twice a day. There was always water left in the saucer. They still drooped in the afternoon.

[LIcenter]

Some plants require extra humidity, so the addition of water in the saucer helps in that respect also.

[evening sun]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

I don't use them as the standing water attracts mosquitos. However I don't have the conditions oldgardener mentions.

The plants here, in the heat, tend to drink the water before any larvae arrive. If it were to stand, we'd empty it out.