Leave - everyone is smiling at the idea of a holiday trip. We often prepare ourselves for such a trip well in advance. We buy a new swimsuit, make a car inspection, check the weather, pack our suitcases and secure the house. But what about our flowers? We take care of them meticulously throughout the year, remember their regular watering, fertilisation or replanting. So what should we do when we leave for more than 3 days? Fortunately, there are several methods to obtain the right amount of moisture, even when you're not at home.
First of all, reduce water loss!
If you are going on a short leave, watering plants in your house may not be necessary, provided that you effectively reduce water losses. Foremost, all the plants should be taken from the window sills and moved into a shady, cool place. Thanks to the fact that they will not be exposed to sunlight and high temperatures, the water will dry out from the soil much slower.
The proper air circulation in the room where the plants are located is also very important. Of course, no one is going to leave the windows ajar during the leave, but opening the bathroom and kitchen door can also be helpful. In these rooms there are ventilation grilles that will ensure adequate air flow.
It is also a good idea to set the plants in groups. Then they will be able to create a kind of microclimate, and the water evaporating from their leaves will make the soil in the pots dry much slower.
Store water
If you plan a slightly longer leave, you should think about ways to store water in pots. One of them is the use of hydrogel in the form of granules. It is enough to mix it with the top layer of soil in the pots and water the plant a little more than usual. The hydrogel absorbs excess water and then gradually gives it to the plants, so the soil remains moist for a much longer time. It can be purchased at any garden shop.
Moist the soil remotely
How to provide plants with permanent moisturising when we are far away? Just construct a watering can that will do it for us. To this end, we need a plastic bottle, e.g., an empty mineral water bottle. Fill it with water, but not completely, and then put on a nut that should not be tightened completely. So that the water drips from the bottle after it is turned upside down and placed in the soil. Some, instead, make a small hole in the cap. It all depends on the amount of water we want to get into the flower pot, so it's worth testing our construction before leaving in order not to over-water the plant.
In shops there are also ready-made ceramic and glass plant watering spikes that gradually bring water into the soil. They are not particularly expensive so if we do not want to experiment with a bottle, we can invest in ready products.
An interesting solution is also creating a kind of system of tubes, irrigating plants during our absence. In this case, we need a water tank, e.g. a bowl or a large bottle, which we set in the immediate vicinity of the plants. Then we can invest in a water dispenser in the form of a clay spike, which we put into a plant pot. It is connected with a water tank with the use of a silicone tube. As a result, when the soil around the dispenser is dry, the water will be drawn directly from the dispenser that is filled automatically from the water tank. The cost of such a dispenser is small and irrigation quite efficient. ?Of course, this method should also be tested before starting the leave.
Put the pots into a water tank
In the case of plants in pots with appropriate drainage, putting them into a container with water is a good method for their permanent watering. It can be either a large bowl or just a bathtub. It should be filled with water to a height of about 1 or 2 centimetres. Then put pots into it. Thanks to the holes in their bottoms, the water will be continuously soaking into the soil. It is therefore a perfect solution for plants whose soil must be constantly moist.
Fully automated watering cans and irrigation systems
If we often go away for long trips and do not want to do harm to our plants, we can also invest in automatic watering cans available in the market. They are equipped with a transformer with a time switch, a pump, distribution pipes and various types of water distributors that are adjusted to the needs of individual plants. It is a fully automated system that runs every day at a specific time. Thanks to this, we can be calm about whether our plants are properly irrigated during our absence.
Unfortunately, such automatic watering cans have a very serious drawback, which is quite a high price. We have to pay about several hundred zlotys for such a system. In the case, however, if we use it constantly, it may turn out to be a very profitable investment for us. It is therefore worth considering such a purchase carefully.
The automatic irrigation system is installed in our green walls which, thanks to their technology, are absolutely no problem during trips because they constantly water themselves. We can fully enjoy the leave, and after returning we can also enjoy beautiful plants.
