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Newbie needs help with watering solutions when out of town.

13 years ago

Hey all,

I caught this forum a few months back and have been lurking ever since (awesome forum!) This is my second year for containter gardening on my west facing balcony (apartment.) I have some trips coming up that I have to take but the sun where I live can be very intense in May. My question is this: Is there some sort of device and/or system that I can use to make sure my peppers (and other plants) get the water they need while I am gone for 3 days at a time? My priority is that it must be inexpensive as we are on a pretty tight budget and I have no access to a piped water source on my balcony. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I have babied these plants from seedlings and dont want them to die because I wasnt around to water them.

Tim

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Comments (6)

romy6
12 years ago
you need to build a self water containor here is a link that shows how to make a cheap one.

Here is a link that might be useful: swc
Edymnion
12 years ago
Another option, hit walmart and look for those "water globes". They're blown glass balls with a long spiked spout sticking out. You fill them with water and stick the spiked opening into the dirt.

The wet dirt at the opening keeps the water from pouring out all at once, and as it starts to dry out, more water drips down into the pot.

In my experience, they're good for 2, maybe 3 day's worth of constant drip watering before they have to be refilled.

Another option, you can get a bag of water retention crystals (also from walmart) that soak up water then slowly release it over time. Mix some of that in with your soil and give it a good soak, and they'll be good for quite a while as well.
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I cannot help with the spray gun plan, but I would echo what Charina said. I use a home made version of the device in this link. It is: - 5 gallon bucket - drip lines made with smallest gauge standard drip line - hole drilled in the bucket to closely match outer diameter of drip line - inside the bucket, a coupler is attached to the end of the hose. This makes the drip line flare, so that pulling on it tightens it against the hole in the bucket. - attached to the coupler is a pill bottle that has holes drilled in it. It is filled with aquarium floss (like pillow filling), that acts as a filter. - On the watering end, I have micro valves to control the flow. Basically, they are little quarter-turn valves. I can try to dig them up online if you are interested. This works great for me, BUT I am only doing individual trees and a 12' blueberry raised bed. I would guess you would need many more buckets or larger vessels. Also, larger tubing probably more akin to the PVC ones in Charina's vid. Maybe you could calculate gallons needed per sq ft? It is pretty easy to just fill up the buckets and walk away. Plus, it is a slow watering so you have less run off. Let me know is my description is confusing... I can take pictures. Here is a link that might be useful: Drip Irrigation Bucket
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The roommate has "dictated" the month? And has "dictated" the price they'll pay? Oh come on! LOL We're talking about a girl on a budget! You've already stated your position on this. No sense to repeat. I think it's time to give some praise to a girl who is sticking to a budget. That shows responsibility and maturity. Rare these days. I give credit to her for that. You don't know her situation but you don't like her. OK, I can accept that. Your daughter likes her, wants to live with her.... kind of says a lot. Lydia, can't go with this one. You admit you don't know her, but you say you're trying to give her "leverage" to get the larger room. You use the term "fair" but sounds to me like you are getting a little selfish under the pretense of "helping". If you TRULY want advice, back off. I sense your daughter is going to be just fine. She doesn't seem to be the be the one causing trouble here and I also sense that you will make things miserable for her if you go too far and hopefully that's not what you want. And let's clarify: "Dictated" (obviously states your position clearly!) the month they'll move in. She's on a budget and made her needs clear. I commend her for that. "Dictated" the price they'll pay. No, you're wrong there. She specified that she's on a budget and doesnt' have unlimited funds. She specified what SHE could pay. Obviously she's not with unlimited funds and is staying within a budget. Kudos to her for that. Shows maturity and responsibility. There's certainly an arrogance here. I stand by my position that you should back off. And yes, of course we want the best for our kids and want to give them GOOD advice. Crack house? Leverage to get something more??? 'Nuff said. I wish your daughter luck. Methinks she's gonna need it.
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paceyswitters
12 years ago
This is pertinent to me as well; I'll be out of town for a few days at the end of the month, and while I've already arranged to have a neighbor water my little guys, if I can come up with a reliable solution it would be nice to not have to trouble her about it.
noinwi
12 years ago
You could make a wicking system, but I've never made one and couldn't tell you exactly what type of material you'd need. I just remember reading something about it some time ago. I googled 'wick watering', and this is one site that came up...

Here is a link that might be useful: wick watering system
TColl
Original Author
12 years ago
hey yall, Thanks for the responses! I got something from Osh called Plantastic... its similar to the glob but has a screen that regulates how much water comes out. I only bought one as a test, Ill report back on how well it does.

http://store.jobesplantastic.com/
tsheets
12 years ago
Looks interesting, TColl! Please do report back on how they work out for you!

I've heard mixed results about the regular globe things.

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