Some will deposit their plants with like-minded gardener friends or get neighbours to water them if they are accessible along the corridor or pass them the house keys. Or the brave will cross their fingers and hope that God will water the plants when they are away. Yep, hoping that rain water will splatter onto their beloved plants when it rains. Never, ever resort to such behavior if you have a sheltered balcony, they will die and you are evil. I decided against getting friends/relatives to come by to water them as it is too much a hassle.
This is what I do:
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| The balcony in its wired-up mess the night before I left for hols. |
I rigged them up on an electric automatic watering system (Gardena), self-watering water bottle system and some of the plants are potted in pots with a built-in reservoir.
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| My trusty electric watering system |
What can the electric automatic water system do? What does it consist of?
This German-made watering system will water my plants daily at a specific time till the 9l water reservoir almost runs out. I planned how much water each plant need and group the plants according to their water demands. The system consist of the below items which I have rigged up. Sounds like a lot of things but it is straightforward. Germans are very good at such things. The instruction manual is precise and come with step-by-step pictures.
- Container (9l)
- Transformer with timer
- Pump (14V)
- Distribution pipe (4mm)
- 3 Drip distributors (15ml/30ml/60ml)
- Drip pipe (2mm)
- Pipe pegs
- Nuts and sealing plugs
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| Closer view. I gathered all the plants in a shady corner of the balcony. |
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| Close-up of the one of the drip distributors (15ml). I am also using the 30ml for the bigger plants. The water bottle self-watering system is also in this picture. |
Each plant has a peg that is connected a tube and a drip distributor. I can choose which distributor my plants need. They are 3 watering specifications, 15ml, 30ml or 60ml. Each distributor drip has 12 plugs to attach to 12 different plants location. Some plants are pegged with one tube, but the thirstier plants are plugged with two. There are also stoppers if not all 12 plugs are used. The distributor plugs are connected to 9l bucket reservoir with the water pump in it. This water pump is operated via electricity and is switched on through out my holiday. The plants need to be placed at a higher location than the water level in the reservoir.
Do I use a self-watering system that doesn't use electricity?
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| The indoor 2m tall plant which is placed next to the balcony with the watering tube and peg, the clay plug from the self-watering water bottle and the moss in the soil. |
My plants are also rigged up with the self-watering water bottle system. I rather have extra water for my plants than have none. These are just water bottles connected to a clay reservoir which is stuck in the soil of the plant. Water will be drawn naturally from the water in the bottle to the clay reservoir. Since the clay reservoir is porous, the soil surrounding the clay reservoir will be moist.
How paranoid am I about my plants?
The thirstier plants had moss covering the topsoil to prevent the loss of moisture. I will give these plants a good water before I leave. Make sure these plants don't mind wet roots.
Lastly, plant pots with reservoirs?
I have some plants which I keep with a reservoir underneath the actual pots. Either you buy pots with built-in reservoirs or find a deep pot with no draining holes. Put the main plant pot into the reservoir pot, make sure when the plant pot sits in the reservoir pot, it must have ample space between the bottoms of the two pots. The main plant pot should not sit on the base of the reservoir pot. There should also not be any gaps between the rims of both pots to prevent mosquito breeding. Through trial and error, I found the right fit for the two pots to get the reservoir I wanted. Some plants have been replanted with a cotton wick that reaches into the reservoir and others are cultivated with roots that grow into the reservoir.
Still paranoid?
I sent my precious basil and rosemary to my mother's. 2 pots away from home.
Now the after. 12 days later.
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| Still very much alive. I swept the fallen leaves and petals away. |
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| Self watering water bottles with a much lower water level. |
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| The water level left in the 9l reservoir after 12 days. |
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| The 1.2m tall muraya and Episcia pot.The pegs with the water tubes which are connected to the 15ml drip distributors. Hidden under the episcia leaves is the clay plug for the water bottle watering system. You can see the moss covering the topsoil for this pot of plant. I watered this plant thoroughly before I left. |
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| When I was away, the I dunno what shrub (2m tall) this is, flowered. |
Update on my plants after I was away for 12 days. I think I missed them more than they missed me. The murayas flowered, had many new shoots and left their petals all over the balcony floor again. One of the indoor 2m shrub flowered. I fertilised the plants with neem oil solution before I left too and they rewarded me with new shoots and flowers. Looks like they don't need so much of my care. Some of my plants are also left without water, these plants do need much water. Normally they are watered once a week.
My gardena system was bought during a roadshow at Takashimaya, cheaper lah (I paid I think abt $150-170). They are from Hyray, 62532277. Ask for the Holiday watering set (model 1266). I think Far East Flora carries this brand but may be more expensive. The self-watering water bottle set is from Home fix. The pots I used are mainly from ikea and various nurseries.
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