Feb 142014 2 Responses

Watering tips for when you go on holiday

We all know cacti and succulents can go months without water, but not so all your other house plants. Short of having a kind neighbour pop in and give them a drink, below are some tips for DIY self watering house plants. In all cases, water your plants well before you go. Follow some of our easy to use watering tips below:

  • Make a miniature greenhouse by placing a plastic bag over your plant. Make sure the bag does not touch the foliage by using small bamboo sticks (or something similar) to drape the bag over. Seal tightly around the pot using a rubber band. Don’t leave in direct sunlight.
  • Line a shallow tray with pebbles. Fill the tray to almost the top of the pebbles with water. Place potted plants on top so drainage holes (of pot) are sitting on the pebbles.
  • In the bathtub or sink, place a folded damp towel. Sit potted plants on top of towel, so drainage holes (of pot) are sitting on the towel.
  • For larger pot plants, place several layers of damp newspaper over the soil of the plant.
  • Using a braided absorbent nylon cord, or string, or wool as a wick. Place one end in the bottom of a full bottle of water, and place the other end buried about 3 inches deep into the soil. Test your wick, before you go away, to make sure it carries the water (ie set system up over night starting with a dry wick. If wick is still dry in the morning then the wick is not absorbent and won’t work).
  • Use a Bordy Water Reservoir – this is a little terracotta spike which has a little plastic bird-shaped water receptacle.  The water seeps out of the spike gently over a period of four days

For outdoor plants

  • A tap timer on the end of a sprinkler or a soaker or weeping hose is the perfect method, but not always practical. Nothing can beat a reliable neighbour for large gardens.  These can be in short supply however!
  • Using a large saucer underneath your pot gives the plant a reservoir of water to draw from and can keep your plant happy for up to a week.

Pots

  • Water storage crystals are recommended for pots. The crystals swell hundreds of times to form a water reservoir for plants and deliver the water directly to the root systems.
  • SaturAid helps makes water soak directly to root zone and is also extremely beneficial for dry garden areas – especially vegetable gardens where stress can lead to herbs going to seed prematurely.
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2 Responses to Watering tips for when you go on holiday
  1. Leonie Eggers Reply

    I really enjoy reading your comments and advise,I become encouraged to get back into the garden and get my hands dirty. This year I am planting my veges in a pea straw bale, two of them actually, so far the growth rate is fast and NO WEEDS.

    • Gillian Thrum Reply

      Hi Leonie, my neighbour (who shall remain anonymous) grew some strawberries in straw last year. Feeding is the key I think. Make sure you fertilise them well as they can quickly run out of nutrients, not being in any soil. Or so it seemed to my casual observance.

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