Watering on a vacation

[Grasswing]

Hello everyone,

we are experiencing a heat wave in Czech Rep. these few weeks, which means temperatures around 30°C which is great for my palms that are outside at the balcony, they love this weather. What are the possibilities of watering them when I am on a vacation? I don't want to place them inside when the weather is so great now.

Do you have any experience with water dripping systems using limited water storage? I can't connect a hose from the sink without leaving the balcony door open, and that is too risky. Are there some alternatives?

Any tips or ideas on this topic are more than appreciated!  

Regards

Ondra

[PalmTreeDude]

Can you get someone trusted to water them for you while you are away? If you do this, make sure you show them how much water each one needs and how often to water them. I have had someone water my plants once while I was away and when I got back the pot was mud. Although I never said anything about how to water them... 

Edited July 25, 2018 by PalmTreeDude

[Josue Diaz]

If you won't be gone long, you can find a tray to fill with water and place your palms in the tray. This would allow them to absorb water from the bottom. 

[Steve Mac]

Yes Ondra, we have used both of these methods, we prefer the 'trusted neighbour ' method.

Old ladies are good for that sort of thing. They are usually smart and reliable.

We take the plants to the carer's house, it makes it easier for them and they don't forget.

Steve

[Grasswing]

Thank you for your entries, I will probably try the water tray method, fortunately the weather is really hot so there is less chance for the roots to rot.

[SouthSeaNate]

If you only have a few small pots then I would bring them inside, fill the kitchen sink with water & place a towel on the draining board with the end of it in the sink then place the pots on top of the towel. Better than risking them either completely drying out or having them sat in water for a length of time.

[Steve Mac]

I like Nate's idea of using a wick to ensure not too much water. It got me thinking, we have a self-watering pot for African violets, it uses some wicks from the water supply. It just came with one but it needed more, I added more. 

and I thought that if you have a big tray of water and a support that you could put across it, for the pots to sit on just above the water you could quickly and easily push a couple of wicks/thick string into the bottom of the pots and have that hanging into the water. The string/wick is easily pushed into the bottom drain holes with a pencil. I would use 2 or 3 pushed at least half way up the pot. This is what I did to improve the self-watering Violet pot. That water lasts 3 weeks.

Cheers Steve

[maxum2610]

If you don't have an outside water connection point, you can use the Gardena watering set (see pic below).  You can hook up 36 plants, and the container they provide will last for about two weeks. I myself use this setup in Spain but I use a 120 liter container with a flowback system. This allows it to last for up to eight months give or take. Be sure to have your plants standing higher than the top of the container, or your container will be empty next day ;). With flowback I mean that the plants are on a very large saucer firmly screwed to the top of the water container with a drainage hole in the middle, which allows the water to flow back into the container. This system has been working fine for me for at least ten years.

 

As an alternative (if you have a lot of plants), you can use one of these:

and one of these:

This allow you to use an overhead spraying system but requires a very large container (or several in succession).

I've been using this system for more than 20 years to water plants outside and in the greenhouse.

 

[Grasswing]

Thank you for your tips!

Steve, this concept is really interesting and I will definitely try it next time, when I will have more time to prepare it. I still can't grasp the fact that some plants can survive purely on the wet knot. I think that for some "heavy drinkers" like Washies it wouldn't be enough, but I guess it is better than letting the soil dry out completely.

Bruno, I considered some Gardena product as well, but I have so many pots that I would have to buy at least two of the kits, and they aren't cheap at all. I have some plans for the next year which will definitely have to include some form of programmed watering. Your flowback system seems to be working great, if you have any photos of the complete and assembled beast, don't be afraid to post it here.  Its great that it saves the water like that.

Eventually, I watered all my palms thoroughly with some little excess water in saucers, placing them inside and I arranged that someone will come to water my plants after a week. I hope they will survive this care with no problems.

Regards

Ondra