I was wondering about that too. There's carpeting in the room I plan to put my tree. I think I'll grab some of the clear trash bags I already have at home, cut them to lay them flat on the carpet under the plants. And if I'm afraid of moisture somehow getting under the clear plastic, I may buy some of those moisture absorbent gel packets in bulk and put those between the carpet and clear plastic. I think I've seen those for cheap in bulk

I use the office chair plastic mats. Then the plant saucer goes on top. Costco sells them (instore) for about $20. This does not, of course, protect from spills that might run off, like if you knocked over the watering can. I especially like it because I can walk on them to care for the plants, and easy to slide/rotate plants if needed.

For a single plant, I use a piece of 12x12 ceramic tile, right on top of carpet. Other flooring material might work. Even just another throw rug on top of the carpet. Bonus: washable.

Concrete mixing tubs ($5-10 depending on size) might work. Better for small plants, I think. Dollar tree has oil change pans which are fairly large, I am trying those this year, although they are a little flimsier than I'd like. They also have carpet tiles.

I always have a towel handy, so if there is a spill, it gets blotted immediately, then a fan pointed on the carpet to dry asap.

Last year I put down a huge folded tarp on my tiled sun room floor and it did fine. I will be doing the same thing this year.

Lots of useful suggestions but what I can't figure out is if I water until it flows out the bottom, what happens to the extra water. Nancy mentions having to lift each tree out to empty the pan. That's what I've been doing although before even getting to that stage, how do you prevent overflowing saucers? Use bigger saucers? Definitely need to have a towel around. I've got less than 10 trees to manage, how are people with larger collections managing to water without flooding their houses or spending hours fussing about? Looking forward to hearing from others.

What I do is lay down that thick gauge painters plastic..I think it 4ml....Very thick and it comes in a roll of 12 by 50 feet..Cut a piece big enough to lay on top of the rug and only the plastic gets wet...Trust me, you will need something to protect that rug, not just from the water, but pesticide you may use and dirt that may fall over the pots..Spills..Happens all the time..

Mike painters plastic or a tarp was on this list as well. You don't have any issues with the carpet underneath getting moisture damage? My trees will be in there 5 months Nov-March and I don't want any nasty surprises when I move them out in the spring and pull the tarp up.

cf03 I've seen garden stores and nurseries selling very tall/deep saucers that would be able to catch all the run off water probably with less overflowing. The rims of those deep saucers looked to be about 2.5-3" tall.

I use plastic saucers and do my best to water just enough so that barely any water ends up pooling in the dishes. As for the floor, Mike suggested last year that I go to Home Depot and buy painters plastic - thicker size - and put that down on my hardwood floors. I did that and it worked well. I’m going to do it again this year.

I have never had an issue on my rugs or floors....But, if you want to go high end on your rugs, you could always use plastic tarp which is breathable and also water proof...I think you are afraid of condensation? I did not have that issue with my floors...

But here is a description of it and a place you can buy it unless you can get some at a big box store...Works wonders.

Here is a fact. With that many trees, you risk the problem of pests..You can not treat for pests and not get anything on your rug with only the use of pots..

You can never mist your leaves as they truly enjoy because water will drip around your pots.

If a pot happens to tip over, you will get dirt every where with that many in there..

Trust me your choice to put something down to protect that rug or floors is very smart, because saucers alone will just not do it, not with that many trees..)

Tarp..........Our breathable waterproof tarps are 20 mil. thick and made with an incredibly strong Rhino-Tex canvas material, 100% silicone-coated polyester. This fabric is industrial strength, making it over two times as strong as typical canvas material

https://www.google.com/search?q=are+plastic+tarps+breahtable%3F&oq=are+plastic+tarps+breahtable%3F&aqs=chrome..69i57j0.8767j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Yes mike I am worried about condensation being trapped between the tarp and the carpet. Those look like a great option, a little steep on price fore the size I need but probably worth it if I can get a few seasons out of them.

I needed to add more lamps and I ended up ordering these from the dreaded Walmart. I got 4 of them to test out, my concern is that the height won't be adjustable and that they may bee too tall for most of my plants. I am going to see how the look once they arrive and I can bend the heads down. I'll be putting CFL's in them and I think i'll leave the shades off, what do you guys think? will it need the shade to focus the light or will bare be better for getting more light to the trees?

Sammers, I have a couple similar to those and although they work, I don’t like them as much bc the necks don’t move enough. Hopefully yours are better. I got mine at Home Depot. They definitely work, but not my top choice.

Sammers, I don't trust those breathable tarps. Can they handle the amount of moisture coming up from your floor? In other words, just how breathable are they? I would not put down plastic sheet or trap on the floor.

I know I don’t bring my trees inside my house but I have a suggestion. How about using these mortar mixing basins, they’re cheap, plastic and about 8” deep, you can probably fit 2-3 trees in each one. You can build some sort of elevated platform that your trees sit on above the bottom of the basin. Then when you water, the basin will allow the eater to fully drain out of the pots without leaving the pot sitting in water. You could put some visqueen below the basins that would catch any minor drips or spills. Just a suggestion.

Had to pop in and say thank you Evan for that! I see my HD has medium or large ones that look like they would work pretty good. I have some sections of my overwintering area with some waterproof rubber mats laid down on the laminate floor, and then the entire main area is covered with a 6'x8' indoor/outdoor rug, and finally some 6 mil sheeting was laid down over the part where the citrus would sit in their saucers on plastic trays. Those basins are a bit wider than the trays for the lighting area (where I was also going to position a humidifier) but I could work it out a different way.