Watering houseplants while on vacation. Automatic watering flowers during the holidays: a few simple and effective methods

If you are going on vacation and rejoice in the upcoming pleasant days, then your indoor flowers are unlikely to rejoice the same way as you, because they will face hard trials and suffering from thirst! Therefore, take care of their well-being in advance.

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Of course, you can ask relatives or neighbors to look after the plants. But what if you don't have any? Then let's resort to the automatic watering system! There are many ways to save plants.

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But first you need to prepare the flowers for your departure:

1. Remove the flowers from the windowsill or close the curtains more tightly. The less light, the slower the life processes in plants, which means they will need less moisture.

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2. Water the soil well so that it is saturated with water. The pot can be wrapped with a damp newspaper, and on top also with cellophane. This will reduce moisture loss.

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3. small plants it is worth covering with plastic or glass caps, bottles, but so that they allow air to pass from below. Evaporating water will condense on the walls and drain back into the ground.

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4. 5-7 days before departure, carefully check if the plants are affected by pests and diseases. Remove from the plant all dried and disease-damaged shoots and leaves, as well as large buds and flowers. Treat diseased plants with the appropriate preparations.

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5. It is better to cut too large leaves.

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6. Plants should be placed in a lighted place, but not in the sun.

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7. Close both doors and windows so that there are no drafts in the room where the plants will remain.

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8. 2-3 weeks before departure, stop all types of top dressing.

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9. If you leave the plants in a tray of water, place the flower pots on a raised rock or wooden stand to keep the roots warm.

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10. Flowers in ceramic pots tolerate "separation" better than those that live in plastic containers.

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Most simple ways how to keep soil moist

If you keep indoor plants in clay pots, then each pot can be wrapped with moss - both the moss and the plant are abundantly moistened. If there is no moss nearby, place the clay pot in a larger container. Expanded clay should be poured at the bottom, and the gap between the walls of the container should be filled with the same expanded clay. This will maintain a more or less constant soil moisture. The top layer of earth in a pot or container can also be sprinkled with expanded clay, it will prevent drying out.

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This method is effective if the plants are left for 7-10 days.

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Drip irrigation

A plastic bottle is taken, depending on the volume of the pot, filled with water, a small hole is made in the cork (with a hot gypsy needle), you pre-water the flowers and stick the bottles into them with the cork down. As the soil dries, the flower will absorb water from the bottle. It is not bad to fix it on both sides with chopsticks (for example, from ice cream).

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This dropper is valid for 5-7 days. Several bottles are placed in large flowerpots and the stock will last longer.

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Watering through the "wick"

It can be ropes, laces, woolen threads different diameters, twisted bandages and so on. One end of the wick must be lowered into a container of water (for example, a basin), and the other end must be attached to a pot (for reliability, it will need to be fixed, for example, with a peg). Water will flow to the flowers due to the difference in capillary pressure.

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One 10 l container is enough for 7 days for 6-7 plants

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Moisture-loving plants can be placed on pallets, deep trays or in wide basins of water. so that the bottom of the pot is in the water. The soil from above is covered with wet moss or expanded clay.

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Hydration through fabric

Lay on kitchen table oilcloth film(you can also put the pots in the bathroom if the plants are not whimsical to the light), lay a fabric soaked in water on the oilcloth (cloth, felt, an old baby blanket, batting folded in several layers). Place pots with already watered plants on the fabric, dip the end of the fabric into a container of water. Pots must have drainage holes, saucers are not needed.

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This method is suitable for a period of 10-20 days.

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Watering through the "wick" at the bottom of the pot

You will need your flower pot and another container to put under the pot. Make holes in the pot and thread the string as shown in the picture. Place a pot on a vessel with water so that the end of the rope falls into the water. Water along the rope will rise up and moisten the ground.

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For a pot with a diameter of 10 cm, one wick is enough, and for a pot with a diameter of 25-30 cm, 3-4 wicks are needed for an adequate supply of water.

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Soil moistening systems

Let's say the Archimedes system, which consists of a glass flask - a water reservoir - and a ceramic cone that is immersed in the ground. Water oozes through the capillary-porous ceramic walls drop by drop and constantly moistens the soil. You will have to put several of them in a balcony box or a large pot, of course. It looks very cute, by the way! From an aesthetic point of view, this is perhaps the most glorious option. They cost about 180 rubles a piece.
cone in flower pot Enough for 5-7 days

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Or here are the Blumat cones, only in addition to the cone, some kind of remote container with water is also required.

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The cone itself is installed in a pot, and the tip of the hose with a weighting agent is lowered into a container of water. These devices draw water "on demand" - as the soil in the pot dries out, the cone gradually releases water to the surrounding earth.

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Inconvenience in that the water container should be above or at least on the same level as the pots. You don't always get along, to be honest. Well, the price is not very happy - about 4 thousand for 25 cones.

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Automatic watering systems

Remember that all of the above methods are designed for a maximum of three to four weeks of your absence.. If you have to leave for more long term, here you can’t do without complex store-bought automatic watering systems.

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The most popular thing is Gardena, which is capable of watering, according to the manufacturer, up to 36 plants at the same time. Sold in OBI and other large shopping malls. The kit includes a pump with a filter, a transformer with a timer to power the pump, a supply hose, three distributors (each with 12 outlets), a capillary hose, holding pegs, end caps and plastic container for water, 9 liters.

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One or more branches can be connected to each plant - it will be necessary to find out the right amount empirically. If, for example, 60 ml of water per day is not enough for plants in a large container (namely, that much has time to flow out in a minute), the amount of moisture supplied will have to be increased by installing additional capillary tubes. The hose is attached to the pump, the pump is immersed in the above tank, the system starts to work.
If the water in the tank suddenly runs out, the pump will turn off automatically, and when water is added, it will continue to function.

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Inconvenience- an outlet is required to which the system will be connected. It costs from 3 thousand rubles per set

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Do you know?

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... that tradescantia, begonia, dracaena easily tolerate a temporary lack of moisture (up to 7 days)

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... that aloe, agave, euphorbia comb tolerate temporary “droughts” well and love sunlight, so it’s better to leave them in a room on the windowsill, having previously watered well.

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... that palm trees and ficuses that live on the balcony are better to bring into the room during the holidays. They are also unpretentious to moisture, but they can get sick in three weeks of your absence.

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Sometimes a seemingly minor problem can arise that can create certain difficulties and slightly spoil the mood before such a long-awaited and desired vacation. We are talking about watering flowers and other house plants during your absence. For people who are not interested in floristry, this circumstance seems not worthy of attention, however, for amateur flower growers who put their whole soul into plants, this can be a big problem - our article is for them.

Before leaving, you should carry out a number of procedures that will help to significantly reduce the need for watering plants during your absence:

1. Flowers should not be fed later than two weeks before your departure. Flowers need water after feeding for better absorption of minerals.
2. Just before leaving, cut off the flowers, buds and leaves (not all, but so that the green mass noticeably decreases, but without prejudice to decorative look). A large amount of greenery contributes to the rapid evaporation of moisture.
3. Review each plant for diseases and pests - if you find a problem, take action.
4. Move flowers to a shaded part of the room, away from windows. Lower illumination and, accordingly, air temperature contribute to less evaporation.
5. Gather all your plants into a compact group by sliding the pots. In this way, you will create a microclimate with high humidity.
6. Just before leaving, water all the flowers with a little more water than you usually do (but do not fill it in), it is recommended to use the immersion method for individual plants.
7. An excellent solution would be to overlay the pots with wet moss.

Important! Plants in ceramic pots require more frequent watering than the same in plastic.

Watering while on vacation

There are enough ways to water plants in the absence of owners. Quite a few various devices industrial production presented on the market. But, taking this or that method as a basis, you can independently make a completely effective device that will replace you during your vacation.

Wick method great for some plants (for example) as a permanent watering method. Its essence is this: before planting a plant, a wick is placed on the bottom of the pot, folding it in the form of a spiral. The end of it is brought out into the drainage hole, and from there into a container of water.

In our case, we can resort to a slightly modified method: we put several wick rings in a spiral on the surface of the soil around the flower, sprinkle with soil on top. We lower the free end into a container of water located above the level of the plant. Pay attention to the neck of the container: if you leave for a long time, and the neck is wide, the water may evaporate.

Watering from a funnel

There are ceramic cones (funnel) - such gadgets are sold both with and without a liquid reservoir. Water in this case comes from a separate container.

The tip of the funnel is made of a special material based on clay, which gives off water depending on the moisture content of the substrate where it is inserted.

Depending on the height of the position of the reservoir with liquid in relation to the pot with the plant, the rate of water supply changes.

Did you know? purifies the air in the room, harmonizes the general aura. However given plant has a negative biofield - make sure that the flower is not near the bed. But he will feel great in the kitchen: chlorophytum is able to absorb up to 70% of carbon monoxide.

Watering through drainage holes

The method is as follows:

1. It is necessary to water the plants well, and then put them in a wide container, for example, a basin.
2. At the bottom of the container, you need to pour 2-3 cm of water and pour a layer of expanded clay (10-14 cm, water it well) around the flower pots.
3. The containers should be without stands, therefore, in order to avoid freezing of the root system, make sure that the pots are on the expanded clay layer, without directly touching the water.

Keep in mind: there are certain risks in using this method - even if there are pests on one flower, they can infect other plants.

The method is especially good for flowers in clay pots and in ceramics. In order for it to show the greatest efficiency, the soil in flowers should be covered with a layer of moss. In this case, the plant can freely, without any shocks, transfer up to three weeks without owners. You can also supplement this method with drip or wick irrigation.

There is also a capillary mat for drip irrigation. This is a hygroscopic mat made of a special material, which is placed on a layer of garden film, its edge is lowered into a container of water, and pots with plants are placed on it, of course, without pallets.

Important! Don't buy for home use capillary geotextile: it is made from recycled waste and designed for industrial applications.

Drip irrigation

There are a large number of varieties of this method, below we will talk about the simplest, but quite effective and popular:

1. Make holes in the cork from a plastic bottle, fill the bottle with water and hang the cork down. It is necessary to calculate so that water drips from a height of 6-8 cm with a frequency of 1 drop in 20-30 seconds. This should be done in advance so that the system is ready and adjusted for your departure.
2. You can stick a bottle with a cork with holes in the ground. This method requires careful adjustment. If you are going to resort to it, experiment in advance with the diameter of the hole and, accordingly, the speed of the water supply. Try to measure (by the amount of water that has left the bottle) how much moisture the plant received in 1, 2, 3 days, and whether the soil is sufficiently moistened.
3. A more complex system can be made using droppers: one end of the dropper is lowered into a container located above the level of the plant, the other (needle) is near the plant. The advantage of this method is that you can regulate the supply of moisture.
4. A method similar to the previous one, only natural threads or strips of fabric are used instead of droppers. In this case, it is not possible to regulate the supply of moisture, but it is believed that the plant itself takes the amount of water it needs.

Video: how to organize drip irrigation for indoor plants

A hydrogel is a polymeric substance that absorbs water in quantities many times its own weight. The data differ, but in various sources the proportion of the weight of the gel to the mass of absorbed moisture is from 1:100 to 1:250. This substance absorbs water, and then gradually frees itself from it, giving it to flowers.

The hydrogel is available in the form of granules. There are also products with fertilizers in the market. Their manufacturers claim that the effective service life of such pellets is 35–50 months.

Before you leave your plants unattended, soak the hydrogel in water for 8 hours. After that, put the swollen gel on the soil and cover with moss. In the event that the roots of the plant do not come to the surface, you can lift the top three-centimeter layer of soil and put the substance under it.

Did you know? Popularity is due to its pronounced antibacterial properties. Almost all anaerobic bacteria (streptococci, staphylococci) are afraid of this flower, just likemosquitoes and flies insummer time. It is widely used in medicine - not only folk, but also traditional.

Alternative Methods

Of course, do not forget about such options: take the flowers to friends during your absence or ask someone to come in for watering. Circumstances may arise here when the person to whom you entrusted the care of your flora wants to play it safe and flood the plants. Not everyone understands that sometimes excess moisture is worse than its lack. You should explain this in detail to a potential assistant, but do not overdo it so as not to scare the person with responsibility.

You can try to find a person who professionally takes care of flowers, for example, via the Internet: there are enough offers in this segment of the service sector. Or you can try to negotiate with someone you know not on a monetary basis, but in exchange for a return service - to look after the flowers during their vacation.

Video: watering flowers during the holidays We looked at the basic techniques and methods that allow you to water your flower garden during the holidays. If you decide to make the device yourself, we remind you once again that it is better to test and configure it in advance. If you want to invite a person from outside for a responsible procedure, you should once again consider the safety of this method.

For several years I have been using primitive and effective method"automatic irrigation". I put a stand next to the plant at the height of the pot, fill a container with water with a 3l jar, 5l canister, depending on the volume of the pot and the plant's need for watering. I cut a ribbon, approximately 1 cm wide, from pure wool fabric (cotton, bandage is possible) and 1 m long. The ribbon is well wetted (soaked) with water, lowered completely into the container and immediately pulled out to the desired length, placed around the stem ring. The irrigation system is ready. Do a test run before using it. Using different width strips of cloth You will achieve a certain amount of water supplied. Make sure that the strip touches the bottom in the container.

The plant is installed in a basin on a stand 5-10 cm high, in which case excess water will drain to the bottom of the basin. Use the tape (wick) for no more than 3-4 weeks, salinization (contamination) of the pores (fibers) of the fabric occurs.

If you are going on vacation for a couple of weeks, it is important to provide indoor plants the necessary conditions. Then the flowers will meet you on your return green and viable. Watering flowers can be entrusted to relatives or neighbors, but this does not always work out. How to leave the plants in this case? In this article, we will tell you how to leave flowers for the holidays.

There are many ways to leave flowers for the holidays without watering.

How to leave flowers without watering for a month

Houseplants can easily survive without watering for two to four weeks if the following steps are taken:

• water the flowers abundantly before leaving;
• remove the pots from the windowsill and draw the curtains tightly;
• wrap the pots with wet newspaper, and wrap the top with a plastic bag;
• cut off all the buds and flowers, as well as thin out the leaf mass a little;
• small flowers can be covered with plastic caps, but so that air enters from below;
• put the pots closer to keep the high humidity around the flowers;
• place the pot with the plant in a larger container, and lay expanded clay in the gaps between the walls, which is moistened with water;
• you can put the pots in a basin, on the bottom of which put a material that absorbs water well, and lay a layer of newspapers on top of it, then open the faucet so that water flows out of it drop by drop (the water will moisten the newspapers and material, creating the necessary moisture for plants).

Many of these methods are stressful for plants, but will allow them to survive your absence. Upon returning from vacation, you will have to try a little to return the flowers to their former splendor and beauty.

How to leave flowers and ensure they are watered

If the vacation is long, then it is better to purchase a special drip irrigation system. But this option is not cheap, so you can get by with improvised means. The easiest way is to use a plastic bottle. It is necessary to pierce the cork of the bottle with an awl (so that the hole is small), fill the container with water, tighten the cork and put the bottle in the ground with the neck down, deepening by 2-3 cm.

Droplets flowing from the bottle will gradually moisten the soil

Another known way- wick watering. For him, strips of fabric are taken that absorb water well. One end of the strip is placed in a pot and sprinkled with a little soil, and the other end is placed in a vessel with water located above the surface of the earth in a pot.

Method one- Plants are watered abundantly, so that the earthen ball is completely saturated with water. If the pots are clay, then it is advisable to wrap each pot with moss, which is also thoroughly moistened. You can also place a clay pot in a plastic one, bigger size, and fill the space between the walls of the pot with moistened expanded clay. In plastic pots, the soil is covered from above with wet moss or expanded clay. Watered plants are placed on pallets or in wide basins with water, without saucers, so that the lower part of the pot is in the water. Plants that categorically do not tolerate when "feet in the water" are left on saucers, and the water that has drained after watering is drained. This method is effective if the plants are left for 7-10 days and if there are many plants.

Method two- Useful if there are not many plants, and also if the plants are very sensitive to excessive moisture (both soil and air). The plant is watered so that the earth ball is saturated with water. Is taken plastic bottle with water and a thin knitting needle (or vice versa with a thick needle, you can use an awl) heated on fire, a hole is made in the cork, then the same hole must be made at the bottom of the bottle. The bottle is dug into the pot with the neck down to a depth of 2-3 cm. Water, flowing out drop by drop, moistens the soil. There is very important point- you need to practice on the bottles in advance in the size of the holes. After all, it may turn out that the water will flow out too slowly, or vice versa too quickly. It is best to try this method some time before departure on a pot without a plant filled with dry earth. Watching for several days how the soil is filled with moisture, you will determine for yourself whether such a hole in the bottle is suitable or you have to change it. When you are able to optimally "tune the bottle" - then the problem of watering during your absence will be solved once and for all. The duration of such watering depends on the size of the bottle.

Method three- A wick is twisted from a bandage or a strip of cloth, one end of which is placed on the surface of the earth in a pot, and the other is lowered into a container in water, which should be located above the pot. Here you should provide for the number of wicks for a certain size of the pot. So for a pot with a diameter of 10 cm, one wick is enough, and for a pot with a diameter of 25-30 cm, 3-4 wicks are needed for an adequate supply of water. This method is effective if the plants are left for 7-10 days.

Method four- If your plants are grown in pots with good drainage holes in the bottoms, then this method will work for you. An oilcloth is spread on the table (so as not to spoil the furniture), on it is a wide strip of any dense woolen fabric (cloth, felt, an old children's blanket, batting folded in several layers, etc.), previously soaked in water. Pots with already watered plants are placed on the fabric (of course, without saucers). The end of the cloth should hang down from the table and fall into a large container of water placed slightly below the level of the table with the plants. The fabric is kept moist all the time and the plants receive water through the drainage holes in the pot. This method is effective if the plants are left for 10-20 days.

Method five- If you are leaving not for 7-10 days, but for 3-4 weeks, and more than once a year, then it would be advisable to purchase an automatic watering system. Now they are sold in any major city and represent a container with water, a set of thin tubes and a program control that turns on the water supply at certain intervals, for example, 2 times a day.

The main thing that plants need in your absence is water. There can be two global outputs:

Retain the moisture that the plant has received from last watering, as long as possible. it a good option for a two week break. It can work with reservations even up to three weeks. He has only one advantage: he practically does not require financial investments.

Think about how to provide plants with water without human help. There are a variety of, including automatic ones. They are indispensable if the plants have to exist on their own for three weeks or more.

First, consider how to get out of the situation with a minimum of costs. So, indoor flowers can last without watering up to fourteen days, and even a little more if they are properly prepared. Of course, this is a last resort method, which has its drawbacks.

We remind you that this method of preserving plants is still quite stressful. Therefore, if you are away for more than a week, it makes sense to stock up on cuttings from your favorite species. They will take root in a jar of water while you are gone.

Now about how ensure moisture supply. The construction described above will last longer if you add additional source water. It could very well be "handicraft" variant. For example, make holes in the lids, pour water and place the bottles upside down between the pots. Moisture should seep in drop by drop and moisten expanded clay. The hole size is determined experimentally.

Bottles prepared in this way can also be placed directly into. The required bottle size depends on the size of the root ball. For example, large tubers may need several bottles at once. But for plants in small pots, this method is hardly suitable.

Meanwhile, this is an effective method: there are similar industrial production devices. The simplest ones are called aqua globs in English (glass aqua globes, glass watering sphere, watering tubesArchimedes by Brigadier Werkzeuge). They consist of a glass flask connected to a ceramic cone, which is immersed in the ground to more evenly moisten the earthen clod.
Due to the capillary-porous structure of its walls, water oozes into the pot drop by drop. For big plants such devices are recommended to be used in the amount of several pieces at the same time. Ceramic cones Blumat Austria can be mentioned in the same row). They do not have a water tank that is screwed on top. They are connected to the water supply with a thin hose.

Another well-known and most common among amateurs passive watering method for indoor plants- "connect" plants to a container of water using improvised wicks. It can be ropes, laces, woolen threads of different diameters, twisted bandages, and so on. One end of the wick must be lowered into a container of water (for example, a basin), and the other end must be attached to a pot (for reliability, it will need to be fixed, for example, with a peg). Water will flow to the flowers due to the difference in capillary pressure.

In any case, both industrial and homemade systems moisture must be tested in advance. For example, to track the speed with which a particular wick conducts water. And it may turn out that in an hour or two the basin will be empty, and the plants will be in a pool of water. It is also important to choose a container of the right size so that the plants have enough water, and determine at what level in relation to the pots it is best to place it: at the same height, higher or lower.

good decision for passive irrigation can become capillary mats- mats made of hygroscopic material. They are sold in many garden centers and they are inexpensive. (For home use, you should not purchase capillary geotextiles made from recycled materials.) The capillary mat can be spread on any flat surface, such as a table, by lowering one of its edges into a container of water. Be sure to lay a film under the rug to protect the surface from moisture. If it is difficult to lower the end of the rug into a container of water, you can cut off strips from its edge, moisten them with water, and then lower one end into the container, and place the other under the rug. By the way, you can try to adapt these same stripes as wicks.

There are ready-made pallets for automatic watering of plants using capillary mats, for example, manufactured by Garland (England). They consist of a deep outer pan, an inner pan and a capillary mat. Pour water into the outer tray, insert the inner tray lined with a rug into it, and make plants on it. The mat will draw water from the pan and give it to the plants. Manufacturers promise that in this way the plants will be able to survive up to two weeks of your absence. Moreover, the roots of the plants are guaranteed not to rot.

It is not worth composing directly into a container of water. Even if you do not want to buy capillary mats or expanded clay "in industrial" quantities. This method is well suited, for example, for, but in most other species common in room culture, if the pot is immersed in water for a long time, the roots are likely to rot.

It is likely that after considering all these "easy" ways to water your houseplants, you will decide to purchase an automatic watering system that is similar in design, but works more efficiently and reliably.

We thank the online store Mastergrow.ru and Nikolai Vavakin for the samples provided for shooting.