Showing posts with label drip irrigation system. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drip irrigation system. Show all posts

Monday, 15 August 2016

Watering plants when you are away

2L pop bottle
It wasn't too bad.
Not to bore my faithful readers with our travel photos, I've been changing it up. I haven't even posted them in order! You can see the overview, with links here: The ongoing saga of our Toronto/Muskoka trip!

My main concern, while away, were my outdoor plants. The cats were safely ensconced at the cat hotel. Some plants are simply seasonal, others I bring in for the winter. I've been hand watering them during the drought, and didn't want to lose them.
grape juice container

I spotted this idea using an expensive duhickey you could buy on a Marilyn Dennis show while working out, and figured I could make them.  The duhickey fits into the lid. I wanted a drip irrigation system. The question: What kind of container?

I used a wine bottle, 2L pop bottle, small pop bottle, plastic juice container, and a recycled windshield washer fluid bottle. Also, the plastic from a 4L wine box. (Please don't judge me!)

The second question, how to make the hole. Some cut holes with a small penknife in the lid, or on the bottom of the containers. I would have experimented with that, but just went for it and drilled a small hole (1/8" drill bit) in the lid of the containers, except for the wine bag!

the pumpkin in the veggie garden
was on its own!
I set them up a week before we left, experimenting with the planter type and the location and the container. The wine bottle needed to have the plastic in the top of the cap removed. It worked poorly. The windshield washer fluid container was the best!

The softer the container, the faster it all drained out. The grape juice bottle was the better, although the amount in the pop bottle kept it going for several days. The trick, as I read online, is to ensure that the container's soil is wet to begin with, which slows and regulates the seep of water. Happily, it rained the Friday we were way (we were away from Thursday morning to Monday afternoon). I think that saved me!

Butch raccoon kindly snapped a nice bite hole in the wine bag, which didn't matter much.