watering plants whilst away on holiday

lucym

We are going on holiday for two weeks, the last time was seven years ago so we are very excited… however this is the first year that we have got it together to plant more than a couple of tomato plants. We are so pleased with our vegetables (we can’t help but check them every morning - it’s like having more children ) and I am worried about what will happen to them whilst we are away. As luck would have it everyone we know is going away at the same time as us.

What can we do to help keep them alive? We don’t have an outside tap…

squeaky

Have you got time to find and buy one of these:-

Automatic watering kit

I know it's not very Old Style - but then, neither is losing all your hard work!

Magentasue

Keep looking for someone to come in?

Is it a veg plot or some pots? For ours, I'm going to soak the ground as much as I can in the days before we go away, chuck on loads of bark chippings and soak again. We have got someone coming in to water once a week so Im hoping most stuff will survive. The real danger is extended hot dry weather but seedlings and young plants are most vulnerable - I'll make sure I don't have any of those.

KTFrugal

If you can dig around your water hogs eg the tomatoes, you can bury a terracotta pot and use that as a drip waterer. Block the hole with bath sealant, sink the pot in the ground, fill it with water and cover it. The water seeps out slowly and keeps your little darlings alive.

If you don't have space for this, you can use big fizzy drinks bottles filled with water, with a hole pierced in the base, placed strategically around your toms. You can also buy specially designed spikes which fit on the bottles and go in the ground, but this is just fanciness...

Mulch mulch mulch, use newspaper if you can't lay your hands on anything else.

Consider shade netting for your lettuce and other greens which don't like full sun all the time. You can use old net curtains etc. I'm using weed-blocking fabric this year as it's all that came to hand.

Have a great holiday!

lucym

In terms of area we have two large raised beds (roughly 12' by 3' and 15' by 4') and we are growing peas, beans, tomatoes, sweetcorn, swiss chard, peppers, carrots, courgettes and chillies. We also have smaller pots and planters for lettuce and herbs.

KTFrugal

Hi Lucym,

Move the lettuce pots to a shadier part of the garden. Stand the pots next to an old dishpan or similar, filled with water. Put one end of an old towel in the water and stand the pots on the other end (you need a plastic sheet underneath the whole lot or suchlike for this to work well). Water will soak up from the dishpan into the towel and under your pots.

Its a bit Heath Robinson, but it works fine. You can do it for houseplants too, put the whole lot in the bath.

Cover over the basin to reduce evaporation.

henhog

Reminds me of a funny story that happened to me - got a sixth former from school to look after garden, cats and goldfish whilst on holiday. Came back to find he had tried to clean out goldfish at same time as watching TV. Dropped goldfish bowl on TV, TV blew up, carpet soaked, he ran out to buy new goldfish and shut door behind him with keys inside. Came back with fish and tried to get in round the back, neighbours saw him and rang the police! Hot day, police investigating and checking who he was and goldfish suffering in plastic bag but did live! Well funny, but motto of story is housesitters are good but everything has its downside! Stick to pop bottles filled with water!

damo101

Hi,

While away is there a way to keep potted plants watered? I have only 2 to keep watered for a week so seems to be a lot of hassle for a friend to come into water to small pots.

I was thinking of leaving a large pot of water beside my 2 pots and placing a piece of wool in it and running it from there to the soil in my pot - as the soil dries out will it suck water thru the wool and keep moist? (think it might - capillary action and all that - but just wondering if anyone heard of this before)

Thanks in advance,
Damo

chatta

I would do that in the summer when they are growing but now in Dec I would just water them the day you go, they will be fine. Plants in winter will be resting anyway.

damo101

Thanks Chatta, the pots are indoors - does that make a difference?

Damo

pboae

Unless you are going to have the heating on full belt while you are away, they should be fine. Put them somewhere cool if you can. If I'm away for a while I leave my house plants in the bath with a little water.