Tips for watering indoor plants while away on vacation
L. A. Nolan (nyc, zone 7b)
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
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Dave
8 years agoL. A. Nolan (nyc, zone 7b)
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Do you run your sprinklers while away on vacation?
Comments (4)I do but I have someone check in while I'm gone. I have a cat so they check on the cat and too make sure there isn't a flood because of a busted sprinkler head. :-) If you have someone check in a couple times while you're gone, I would say yes. If you can't then I wouldn't risk it but that's just me....See MoreWatering while on vacation
Comments (3)I don't know how many trays you have, but one option would be to do a Home Depot run and pick up an inexpensive irrigation timer ($20) and a run of drip tubing and emitters. Set an emitter or two to dump into each tray and then turn the water on. If the 18 plants fit into a single tray, you can just drop the hose end into the tray and forget about tubing and emitters. Time how long it takes to get filled to the point where you normally water and then set the timer for that amount of time and the X times per week you need to (or think you need to) water. It would be terrible to hope that they were sufficiently watered and find you were wrong. Andrew...See MoreTips for watering container figs while on vacation.
Comments (6)You're probably right. I don't have a RKN problem (I hope to keep it that way) so I guess I wasn't sensitive to that as a cautionary note. Every year I bury about 100 pots in my yard. This year I repotted all 100 in larger pots, root pruned them and repotted them in Dr Tapla's soil mixture. Fortunately I didn't detect any RKN. Since I bury my pots up to about 3/4 depth, I rarely water. I only water during droughts and if my plants indicate stress. The biggest problem I run into (which isn't really a problem) is cutting roots that run out of the drains when it comes time to put the plants away for the winter. Thanks for pointing out that folks need to be aware of the risk of burying pots. Vinnie...See MoreWatering Plants While Away?
Comments (6)Two ideas come to mind: Water Cooler Method: Use seed trays or any containers to put both your plants and the reservoir in. Poke a hole near the bottom of a bottle (size dependent on how long you're leaving for). The height of the hole will determine the water level in the seed tray. Once the water level reaches the hole in the bottle, water will stop flowing and the water level will be maintained as long as there is water in the reservoir. Same idea as a water cooler. Wicking Method: Pot your plants with some cotton string dangling out of the drainage holes. Place the ends of the string in a tray or bucket of water, and water will wick up the string into the pot using capillary action. To keep the string from accidentally pulling out of the pot, I loop it through some non-slip mesh you can get as drawer liners in the kitchen department. I hope this helps, you can use whatever method would work best for you. Water bottles if your plants might get root rot, cotton string if you don't mind repotting. Or hey, go for both and use a reservoir in a tray that feeds wicks :)...See MoreDave
8 years agorooftopbklyn (zone 7a)
8 years agoL. A. Nolan (nyc, zone 7b)
8 years agohalocline
8 years agodale92539 Riverside Co SoCal
8 years agoL. A. Nolan (nyc, zone 7b)
8 years agoL. A. Nolan (nyc, zone 7b)
8 years agodale92539 Riverside Co SoCal
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojane__ny
8 years agohalocline
8 years ago
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