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Vacation Watering System
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Posted by chezmoose z4 MI (My Page) on Sun, May 9, 04 at 8:20
| Has anyone ever tried to make a vacation watering system for outdoor hanging baskets? I just puchased some beautiful hanging baskets (petunias and fuschias) and am trying to plan ahead for summer vacation and a couple long weekends. We live quite far out in the country and don't know any of our neighbors so I don't really want to impose on anyone by asking then to come water my plants every day.
My husband does not want to leave the water tap on, so I'm thinking I'd like to make some sort of pump system that draws water from a barrel or 5 gal. bucket. Would it be possible to make some type of drip system, running off a timer, using a submersible (fountain?) pump? I'd prefer not to use a gravity fed system because I don't really want to take the hanging baskets down which would cause damage to the plants and might make it more apparent that we were on vacation.
Similar systems I've found on the net are $100+ and only hold 6 gallons. Any ideas out there?
Thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Vacation Watering System
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| For my container plants, if the container's big enough I drill a couple small (1/16") holes in a soda bottle and half-bury it with the plants; fill it up before you go and it'll dribble for a long weekend. Maybe if your plants haven't filled out the container yet, you could put one in without damage? They're not hard to hide once the plants have grown a bit. |
RE: Vacation Watering System
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| I tried the tiny hole in a milk jug thing and it didn't work. The water all came out within a couple of hours. Then I tried lining the pots with sponges and that seems to work much better. Long weekends, but not a full week, though. |
RE: Vacation Watering System
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| I also do the milk jug/water bottles with the small hole in it to water my plants in the summer. Except for one milk jug that I had buried next to my tomatoes they all worked great. It really cuts down on watering chores. Good luck Susan |
RE: Vacation Watering System
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| You can try Dri-water. I've seen it at my local big-box. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Driwater.com
RE: Vacation Watering System
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| The best place in the UK is a company called garden4less. I have added a link. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Automatic Watering Systems
RE: Vacation Watering System
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| I prefer using a bipedal lifeform with a gardening prediliction (=a gardening pal) to water my plants when I'm gone, lol. Of course, I'm not big on hanging baskets because I never remember to water them the rest of the year! In fact, everything in my garden is watered only when first planted or transplanted, and *maybe* if it's really dry and the rain barrel is full. Otherwise, nature watering only. Not only are my water bills reasonable this way, but it saves time for toher tasks, like weeding. (Weeds always grow, even if not watered!) |
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