Watering when on short holiday, any McGuyver style techniques? Maybe water bottles with pin pricks?

Just mulch the plants. Put mulch right in the pot. I've done it for indoor and outdoor plants.

If it is organic, super soil, or no till you wouldn't want the top layer of soil to dry anyways.

Mulch will work or a cover crop would work, just got to stop the evaporation.

willc said:

Thanks for all the suggestions. Although some of them sound fun I think a good soaking and then wrapped in a bin bag is my best bet at the moment. @Skunk Baxter you sound like you're one sandwich short of a picnic, but funny!

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Yeah, it's funny now that it's over, but at the time that I was sneaking around in the woods with frigging 8-pound blocks of ice in a duffel bag, the "one sandwich short of a picnic" reference definitely felt a lot more appropriate! But there was just no other practical way that didn't leave me exposed for too long in the daylight. The only access was through a park and recreational area, so I couldn't park my car at night and walk in. It had to be done in the day.

Could have been worse, though. I remember one time picking out a good spot for a guerilla grow, and when I went to scout it a few weeks before planting, I saw surveyor's tape and flags in a field on the other side of the river. So I scratched that one off the list, and sure enough, sometime around early June somebody started building a freaking house there, right across the river from where I would have had a dozen plants. Seemed like a perfect spot up until then; the other side of the river was in a different state and would have been a 30-mile drive to go scout out. I never would have gone to the trouble of checking it, because it seemed so remote - but if I'd planted, I'd have been pretty conspicuous. I would have probably had to write that one off as a lost crop.

dgthumb said:

Just give them a little extra water then you normally do before you go. Watering more at one time isn't going to hurt, watering to often will.

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I always water maximum to run off and leave until nearly completely dry. My 10 litre pots with biobizz soil are bone dry within 2.5 to 3 days in my set up. My old 20 litre pots would last 5 days but unfortunately too heavy to lug around when flushing etc so Im stuck with the 10litre

willc said:

I always water maximum to run off and leave until nearly completely dry. My 10 litre pots with biobizz soil are bone dry within 2.5 to 3 days in my set up. My old 20 litre pots would last 5 days but unfortunately too heavy to lug around when flushing etc so Im stuck with the 10litre

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Ah in that case I'll second the idea about the mulch.

willc said:

I always water maximum to run off and leave until nearly completely dry. My 10 litre pots with biobizz soil are bone dry within 2.5 to 3 days in my set up. My old 20 litre pots would last 5 days but unfortunately too heavy to lug around when flushing etc so Im stuck with the 10litre

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I have glass bulbs with a stem that hold about a half a liter of water but I've seen larger ones. the stem gets inserted in the soil about 4 or 5 inches and the water flows slowly out because the thing is sealed and air has a hard time getting up the thin stem. Got them at a local garden store but I smell another McGuiver idea,

Tldr to middle posts lol but I'm imagining lining like 6 one quart water bottles all along the ouside of the pot (plastic bottles) that are filled with your nute solution, and rigging them to stay upright just above your soil level in a circle around the edge of the pot. Then, your gonna want an electronic device that somehow opens the bottles or triggers something to allow the bottles to open (a weight that contains a pin is released by electronic switch and punctures the bottom of the bottle somehow for example) (or maybe if you put a circular ring around the edge of your pot that has a flat surface, you could get the bottles to stand upside down with no cap so the liquid doesn't fall, then have something knock the bottles over that can be from an electronic switch so your nute solution spills into your soil)
Just some ideas.
A good idea on how to time the electronic switch for however much time out you want into your trip - link several 24 hour timers together. This way the initial timer needs to be on to have the next timer running, then so say the next timer only runs for "1 hour" A DAY while your gone if the initial timer is set to be on for only 1 of 24 hours. Then on the second timer the "hours" until your electronic switch is set to go on are really equal to the DAYS till the timer flips on, and triggering whatever McGiever thing you rig up to water.

I've got it...

1. Go get yourself an electronic screwdriver or drill, some string, a wine cork, a corkscrew, and an empty bottle that can hold the full amount of water you want to be poured in (and can be corked.)

Add in your water/ nutes and put the cork in just enough to stop the water from spilling out when the bottle is turned over. Now screw in the corkscrew and rig up the bottle upside down on the side of your pot just above the soil so that if the cork is pulled, all the water will spill out into the pot.

Tie a string to the corkscrew, and then tie the other end of the string to the your electronic drill or screwdriver, so that when the drill is turned on the string will be spun up into the drill, thus pulling the cork off your bottle, thus WATERING YOUR PLANTS.

Rig up timers on the outlet as I explained in the last post so that the outlet your electronic drill/screwdriver is plugged into will be turned on when you want your plants to be watered (in 3 days). Tie/ tape the "trigger" of the drill down if necessary and do a test run. Hopefully, the drill is turned on by the timers when you want without having to touch it. The drill will wind up the string, hopefully pulling the cork out of the bottle above your soil, spilling out your nute solution. All while you are gone.

BOOOOOM I'm prouda that one lol

willc said:

Any good techniques for watering my plants for a few days when on holiday that doesn't include pumps etc? Was thinking just a bottle on the pot with a pin prick in it or something like that?

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It all depends on where your at. Veg or flower and size of pots. Veg I can leave plants for a week. Flower not so much. Weed can handle drought, flood not so much.

Honey Oil Riot Squad said:

I've got it...

1. Go get yourself an electronic screwdriver or drill, some string, a wine cork, a corkscrew, and an empty bottle that can hold the full amount of water you want to be poured in (and can be corked.)

Add in your water/ nutes and put the cork in just enough to stop the water from spilling out when the bottle is turned over. Now screw in the corkscrew and rig up the bottle upside down on the side of your pot just above the soil so that if the cork is pulled, all the water will spill out into the pot.

Tie a string to the corkscrew, and then tie the other end of the string to the your electronic drill or screwdriver, so that when the drill is turned on the string will be spun up into the drill, thus pulling the cork off your bottle, thus WATERING YOUR PLANTS.

Rig up timers on the outlet as I explained in the last post so that the outlet your electronic drill/screwdriver is plugged into will be turned on when you want your plants to be watered (in 3 days). Tie/ tape the "trigger" of the drill down if necessary and do a test run. Hopefully, the drill is turned on by the timers when you want without having to touch it. The drill will wind up the string, hopefully pulling the cork out of the bottle above your soil, spilling out your nute solution. All while you are gone.

BOOOOOM I'm prouda that one lol

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lol you and @Skunk Baxter are mental! I think a basic pump on a timer would be a lot easier!

Big wine bottle or 5th or even a handle of booze. Fill with water or nute mix and jam in soil. Plant only drinks when thirsty. Look up aqua globe. Same concept.

Honey Oil Riot Squad said:

I've got it...

1. Go get yourself an electronic screwdriver or drill, some string, a wine cork, a corkscrew, and an empty bottle that can hold the full amount of water you want to be poured in (and can be corked.)

Add in your water/ nutes and put the cork in just enough to stop the water from spilling out when the bottle is turned over. Now screw in the corkscrew and rig up the bottle upside down on the side of your pot just above the soil so that if the cork is pulled, all the water will spill out into the pot.

Tie a string to the corkscrew, and then tie the other end of the string to the your electronic drill or screwdriver, so that when the drill is turned on the string will be spun up into the drill, thus pulling the cork off your bottle, thus WATERING YOUR PLANTS.

Rig up timers on the outlet as I explained in the last post so that the outlet your electronic drill/screwdriver is plugged into will be turned on when you want your plants to be watered (in 3 days). Tie/ tape the "trigger" of the drill down if necessary and do a test run. Hopefully, the drill is turned on by the timers when you want without having to touch it. The drill will wind up the string, hopefully pulling the cork out of the bottle above your soil, spilling out your nute solution. All while you are gone.

BOOOOOM I'm prouda that one lol

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no thanks I'll drink my own piss so at least I wont be thirsty....... ROTF

could you come up with a more complicated solution?

SSGrower said:

no thanks I'll drink my own piss so at least I wont be thirsty....... ROTF

could you come up with a more complicated solution?

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It's so simple though! That's an ingenious idea I say hahaha. One day I'll try it

willc said:

lol you and @Skunk Baxter are mental! I think a basic pump on a timer would be a lot easier!

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But this is free lol

willc said:

Any good techniques for watering my plants for a few days when on holiday that doesn't include pumps etc? Was thinking just a bottle on the pot with a pin prick in it or something like that?

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Has long has the roots are at the bottom of the pots,then i found a cat litter tray with a corriboard on top of it with the pot shape cut out to stop light getting in to root's,then a fish tank pump with a couple of air stones in the bottom and put a few inch of water in the tray,water the plant first though so there is water in the medium this will hold them for a while,then they will up take the nutrient's from the cat litter tray but you have to have a couple of air stones in there,Same has auto pot growing i do this when i go for a week,longer i make sure i have the proper auto pots with a decent sized tank.