Daily Pot Plant Waterer - Ideas?

wittyusername on 26/02/2020 - 10:17

I work FIFO, so for 8 days of a fortnight, my plants don't get much water.

I've seen the automatic timers that go on a garden tap, but I worry that if something goes wrong while I'm on site, my tap will be on and leaking for up to 8 days.

Random 'Lifehack' articles online suggest things like turning a bottle upside down and leaving it in the soil, or using string and adhesion (cohesion?) to draw the water to pot to be watered, but these seem a bit over watery or under watery.

I have a few 20L containers I was hoping to rig up into a daily watering system with some tubing and a timer. Does anyone know of any way I can make some kind of gravity fed daily waterer?

Thanks!

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Slippery Fish on 26/02/2020 - 10:19
    +2

    Run it through a hose timer maybe?

    Or a small pump on a power timer that puts water into your tube system.

    • wittyusername on 26/02/2020 - 10:21

      Aha! That could be something. When I was looking, I searched tap timer, so I thought all the attachment points only clipped onto the tap. I'll have an investigation! Cheers

      • pegaxs on 26/02/2020 - 10:39

        Tap connectors are pretty standard, so you can get any 1/2" or 3/4 BSP fittings to screw into/onto them.

        • wittyusername on 26/02/2020 - 11:48

          Cheers,

          I was hoping to avoid leaving the wall tap on while I was away, just in case anything went wrong.

          I wanted to use a 20L water container as a water source, so was looking for a timer that blocks the end of the hose, if that makes sense.

          • pegaxs on 26/02/2020 - 12:00
            +1

            @wittyusername: You will have to make sure that the timer is not a pilot operated type, as some of them require the pressure in the water system to open them. The water will be gravity feed, so it may not have the required pressure to open some timers. Most should be fine, but try it out before you decide to just leave it running.

  • ManUnitedSydney on 26/02/2020 - 10:22

    Hi,

    How much you want to spend? Cause some of them are wifi compatibility and you can control it when you out!

    • wittyusername on 26/02/2020 - 10:24
      +6

      As little as possible! I've only got one plant I'm trying to keep alive to impress my girlfriend.

      • ManUnitedSydney on 26/02/2020 - 10:30

        Try this

        Adjustable Self Watering Spikes.Indoor Outdoor Plastic Bottle Garden Plants Drip Irrigation Spike System.

      • EightImmortals on 26/02/2020 - 10:55
        +1

        Can't you get your GF to look after it when you're gone?

        • dust on 26/02/2020 - 15:41

          That's probably the most expensive way to get your plants taken care of!

  • c64 on 26/02/2020 - 10:26
    +2

    can't you just buy self-watering plant pots? they have a reservoir at the bottom and a shelve a little way up and the water wicks up from the reservoir into the potting medium

    • wittyusername on 26/02/2020 - 10:28

      She's already pretty established in a decent sized pot - do you think if I put the pot in a bucket it'd be the same thing?

      Also - I know next to nothing about plants - will this be sufficient water? Too much water?

      • one man clan on 26/02/2020 - 11:02

        What type of plant? Indoor or outdoor?

      • bobbified on 26/02/2020 - 11:16

        She's already pretty established in a decent sized pot

        You sure the plant doesn't identify as "male"? :p

      • dust on 26/02/2020 - 15:42
        +1

        Ah! She!

        Got it! Only the female plants contain buds!

  • holdenmg on 26/02/2020 - 10:29

    https://www.bunnings.com.au/search/products?page=1&q=self%20…

    Do you need to FIFO to finance the Grow Lamps and Electricity? lol

  • GangGang on 26/02/2020 - 11:09
    +4

    How many pots? For a temporary solution, just place your potted plants in a large shell pool, fill it with water so most of the pot is submerged in water. Over time the soil will soak the water up. Leave it out of the sun.

  • boomramada on 26/02/2020 - 11:35

    Garden tap timers are pretty good these days, just use it under lower pressure. I been using for like years.
    Got older version of this https://www.bunnings.com.au/holman-electronic-low-pressure-t… running for like 5 years. Just need to change the battery every so often.

    • wittyusername on 26/02/2020 - 11:45

      Yeah - I'm sure it'll be fine. It's just that the house is empty when I'm at work so if something does go wrong it'll be such a major waste of water.

      • boomramada on 26/02/2020 - 13:28
        +1

        Well I have tested against 20 days away from home with no issues although once while I was sleeping, washing machine pipe burst and flooded entire house :)

        • Krogers on 27/02/2020 - 08:45

          I've experienced what OP is concerned about. The connector between the timer and the tap is what blew, flooding my patio for about 3 days until the neighbour turned it off. I then went with these https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/133279735698 but you need to buy O rings to go between your coke bottle and the funnel because they dont seal all that well against our bottles. Also you need to cut the drip slits with a blade

  • saltypete on 26/02/2020 - 12:00

    If you are watering every 8 days you are probably overwatering anyway. Shove the pot in another tray or basin if you expect a heatwave, otherwise just leave it. You are going to kill it with too much water…

  • tsunamisurfer on 26/02/2020 - 12:02
    +2

    If its an outdoor plant, go to Bunnings and get a deep dish to put the pot in, they have big diameter dishes for all pot sizes and some of them about 5 cm deep so can hold a lot of water.

    There are also soil additives that can absorb water then slowly release into the roots.

    https://www.bunnings.com.au/hortico-500g-water-storage-cryst…

    But you may have to repot the plant to spread some of these around, these are very handy especially in hot climates like Perth.

    Mulch the pot, so as to reduce evaporation.

    Place the pot in a semi shaded area.

    Get a big plastic bottle or container.

    Eg Coke bottle or 4L bottle (that used to contain Demineralised Water) and poke a very snall pin hole in the bottom of the bottle. Water will come out in drops very slowly but enough to keep the plant watered.

  • Marty-69 on 26/02/2020 - 12:54

    I've got my watering system hooked up to a LinkTap. The latest model comes with a flow sensor and a fall detection sensor. It's fully automatic and programmable, connected to the internet, managed via an app and can skip watering when the forecast is rain. When I was away recently and there was a heatwave at home, I remotely added an extra watering cycle.
    My water system is a drip irrigation hose with small sprinklers in different garden beds & pots, they are connected by a normal garden hose.

  • Gronk on 26/02/2020 - 13:37

    Can't really speak for a gravity fed system, but if you've got a water feature pump kicking around you could hook this up to a smart-switch or similar and control it manually? Main issue with this is that most smart switches aren't designed for outdoor use.

    That's only if you're really attached to using the 20L containers, if it were me I'd probably go straight for something like this

  • Haplo on 26/02/2020 - 13:52
    +1

    Your plastic bottle hack and one of these automatic drippers to control the flow rate: https://www.watermyplants.com.au/product/idris-8055/

    I use them when on holidays on a few plants.

    Cheers

  • boomramada on 26/02/2020 - 16:40
    +1

    Get a small 9v pump , pump water from 20L container to the plants through a drip irrigation. User a timer for the pump.

  • OzHunterNSW on 27/02/2020 - 09:40
    +2

    You buy those "aqua beads" that expand once placed in water.
    You dig these around the plant root system.
    When the plant is in need of water, it will draw from these aqua beads.

    • bamzero on 27/02/2020 - 13:35

      Water crystals is probably the easier name to find them by.
      Good idea, would need to be mixed in well but probably do the job to cover the 8 days.

  • djk on 27/02/2020 - 21:18

    Buy the next plant at Bunnings and use their 12 month replacement guarantee. Or go with cactus, my cactus didn't get watered for 11months whilst in hospital and it survived.

  • WreckTangle on 27/02/2020 - 21:29

    Why are you watering so much…u growing cannabis or something lol

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