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Watering whilst away

Last post 06-07-2012 3:33 PM by Kateh. 10 replies.

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  • 29/06/2011 02:33 PM
    • coatgal
    • london
    • 18 Nov 2009
    • 5
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    Hi, We are going away for a week and have been trying to think of a way of making sure our tomato plants (outside in grobags) are watered over that time. Because they are in grobags we can't use capillary matting, but 'dripper' products only seem to last a couple of days at best. Does anyone have any suggestions for how we can make sure we don't come home to sorry looking plants?

  • 29/06/2011 06:02 PM
    • sue1002
    • Ipswich, Suffolk
    • 06 Sep 2005
    • 9,468
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     If you have an outside tap, you could fit a timer to it and use some irrigation tubing which will drip water where you set it up to drip and at the time(s) you want it to run, or you could ask a neighbour to kindly pop in and water the plants for you and in return, give them a few tomatoes when they are ready.

    sue1002
  • 29/06/2011 07:53 PM
    • Arrem
    • Staffordshire. UK
    • 12 Jul 2009
    • 243
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    When I am away on me hol's, I have a timer on my garden tap which takes care of the watering for me.  My back yard is not too big and the whole yard gets watered every other day by using one of those oscillating lawn sprinklers.  I placed it in the centre of the yard and have adjusted it so it doesnt water my neighbours gardens as well.

    There is no such thing as useless - you can always be a bad example.
  • 30/06/2011 06:39 AM
    • Nigel
    • Paignton
    • 27 May 2008
    • 189
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     Hi

    I rope in a couple of neighbours, who water the plants in return for whatever is ripe. Also do the same for them at various times of the year.

    Nigel

  • 30/06/2011 08:40 AM
    • coatgal
    • london
    • 18 Nov 2009
    • 5
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    Unfortunately we have no outside tap, and no neighbours who are able to water regularly, hence the dilemma... Thanks for the suggestions though!

  • 30/06/2011 08:56 AM
    • sue1002
    • Ipswich, Suffolk
    • 06 Sep 2005
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     Outside taps can be bought from any garden centre and are easy enough to fit.

    sue1002
  • 30/06/2011 10:41 AM
    • JG
    • Scotland
    • 03 Jan 2011
    • 67
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    you coul dtry the plastic bottle trick with a couple of small holes in the lid. Position it upside down in the soil and it will slowly drip the water out.....you can also buy small plastic spikes to fit 2l plastic bottles which regulate the flow out of them, but a couple of small holes should do the trick as well I believe

    JG
  • 30/06/2011 11:14 AM
    • Julie
    • London
    • 28 Apr 2009
    • 410
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     Whereabouts in London are you?

  • 25/06/2012 06:12 PM
    • Snoopysue
    • Denmark
    • 19 Jun 2012
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    You can make a container to sit your grow bags on.

    It is possible to buy them (they're quite cheap here in Denmark, but I gather they're more expensive in the UK).

    There was an artical in Gardener's World mag a few months ago, showing how to make them.

    You need a plastic box with a lid about the same size as a growbag, a couple of 2liter pop bottles, two plastic plant pots.

    Cut the edge off the lid, so that it's small enough to sit in the box, about half way up. Cut two holes in the lid, slightly smaller than the diameter of the plant pots. The plant pots are attatched to the underneath of the lid with wire. Another hole is cut in the corner of the lid, the same diameter as the pop bottles. Cut the top and bottom off the bottles and fit one inside the other to make a pipe. This is where you add the water. Put the lid in the box, and fill the plant pots with soil. Cut two flaps on the underside of the growbag, that line up with the soil in the plant pots. The soil will soak up the water and capillery action will take it up to the plants. Take care not to overfill, as the plants don't want to sit in water. Usually you'd put the growbags on the watering box, and then plant up, but if you're careful then it may be possible to do it after planting.

    We've made a variation on this for our pots with summer flowers in. We've used containers with lids, that are small enough to fit in the bottom of the pot. Then we've cut slits in the lid, and threaded capillery matting though, so that it hangs down in to the container but also has a good surface area on the top of the lid. To fill them up we've added a tube. The soil is in contact with the capillery matting. So far they seem to be doing the trick. In fact my home made ones are doing better than some shop bourght ones!

  • 06/07/2012 08:54 AM
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    There is no reason why you cannot fit a timer to a gravity fed dripper system.

    I have a larger scale version set up to water my whole greenhouse, comprising two linked bins, raised on a table, battery operated timer,  with 1/2" piping looped (for even pressure) around the inside of the geenhouse, and 4mm pipe, with dripper attached, for each plant.

    I lug the water from the water-butt manually, as I prefer it to tap water for toms and cues, and I can add feed at 1/4 strength, and find that, filled, two half-hours per day last a fortnight.

  • 06/07/2012 03:33 PM
    • Kateh
    • Lancashire
    • 06 Jul 2012
    • 6
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    Perhaps you could also consider some type of water-retentive compost, or water storage granules, such as these: http://www.lbsbuyersguide.co.uk/raingel-water-storage-granules.html I haven't tried them personally, but I have a friend who swears by them for hanging baskets. Although these might not hold enough water for the time-period you need.