I like big holes better than layers of mismatched soil ingredients. Tapla convinced me that the best way to get water out of a pot is to have a uniform soilless mix that wicks, and is coarse enough that it doesn't just HOLD all the water it can.
And when I'm desperate to use drainage to overcome compulsive over-watering, I sit the trays on something absorbent like cotton flannel (or toweling or a Tee shirt).
As long as the soilless mix touches the flannel, capillary attraction pulls water out of the pot until the bottom layer of the soil is exactly as damp as the flannel. And no pot goes thirsty because the flannel shares water between over-watered pots and thirsty pots.
http://garden.org/ideas/view/R...
But, Linda, I should stress: I lean towards Rube Goldberg schemes! Probably all the hoops I jump through are unecessary aslong as you don't overwater.
P.S. I share your horror of damaging seedling roots when untangling. Flinch! But other seem to have no trouble ripping them out of the soil and flinging them into new pots. (Shudder)
