Automatic house plant watering?

[Bruce W.1]

Sometimes I have to go out of town for a month or two. I'm trying to figure out a way to keep my house plants watered.

I've tried the ceramic cones that have a water tube attached. This works pretty well, but only for a few weeks. I think hydrostatic pressure affects this system too much. It can pull more water than is needed.

Also I've experienced mold growth in my water reservoir. I'm not sure if there's a solution to this, or if it's really a problem. Is this mold harmful to plants?

Seems like there should be a simpler way of distributing water, like with a cotton rope. The toilet reservoir might make a good self-replenishing water reservoir.

Has anyone devised a way of automatically watering house plants for two or three months?

Thanks for your help.

[Warren]

Drip irrigation system with a timer. Or a house sitter.

I'd tend to go with the house sitter for that long of a period, or at least make sure the part of the system that would always be under pressure has a safe place to drain if the hose busts.

[Suzie-Q]

-> Sometimes I have to go out of town for a month or two. I'm trying to

-> figure out a way to keep my house plants watered.

->

-> I've tried the ceramic cones that have a water tube attached. This

-> works pretty well, but only for a few weeks. I think hydrostatic

-> pressure affects this system too much. It can pull more water than is

-> needed.

->

-> Also I've experienced mold growth in my water reservoir. I'm not sure

-> if there's a solution to this, or if it's really a problem. Is this

-> mold harmful to plants?

->

-> Seems like there should be a simpler way of distributing water, like

-> with a cotton rope. The toilet reservoir might make a good

-> self-replenishing water reservoir.

->

-> Has anyone devised a way of automatically watering house plants for two

-> or three months?

->

-> Thanks for your help.

Something I read somewhere long ago said to leave them in the bathtub with a little water in the tub. Cover the tub with plastic wrap. That new cling wrap with the sealer stuff on one side should work excellently for this purpose. I don't recall whether the article advised to poke small holes in the plastic wrap, but I would.

[justme]

If you get an ice maker kit for a refrigerator w/ the plastic tube you can make your own irr. system with little effort. I did this last year it was for an outside application but will work inside as well.

[Travis]

Two or three months in the tub with no sun? I don't think so.

[Suzie-Q]

-> Suzie-Q wrote:

-> > -> >

-> > -> Sometimes I have to go out of town for a month or two. I'm

-> > trying to

-> > -> figure out a way to keep my house plants watered.

-> > ->

-> > -> I've tried the ceramic cones that have a water tube attached.

-> > This

-> > -> works pretty well, but only for a few weeks. I think hydrostatic

-> > -> pressure affects this system too much. It can pull more water

-> > than is

-> > -> needed.

-> > ->

-> > -> Also I've experienced mold growth in my water reservoir. I'm

-> > not sure

-> > -> if there's a solution to this, or if it's really a problem. Is

-> > this

-> > -> mold harmful to plants?

-> > ->

-> > -> Seems like there should be a simpler way of distributing water,

-> > like

-> > -> with a cotton rope. The toilet reservoir might make a good

-> > -> self-replenishing water reservoir.

-> > ->

-> > -> Has anyone devised a way of automatically watering house plants

-> > for two

-> > -> or three months?

-> > ->

-> > -> Thanks for your help.

-> >

-> > Something I read somewhere long ago said to leave them in the

-> > bathtub with a little water in the tub. Cover the tub with plastic

-> > wrap. That new cling wrap with the sealer stuff on one side should

-> > work excellently for this purpose. I don't recall whether the

-> > article advised to poke small holes in the plastic wrap, but I

-> > would.

->

-> Two or three months in the tub with no sun? I don't think so.

Grow light? Flourescent light?

[Mook23]

I think you could take care of the mould growth with a little hydrogen peroxide mixed into the resevoir. I had some mould growing in my little greenhouse because things got too damp, a little spray of H2O2 cleared it right up.

[dps]

The best way to keep your plants watered for a month is to enlist a neighbor. It fosters good community relations at the same time. However, if this is something that happens very frequently, you should either rotate neighbors or forget about house plants, since you're not there much to enjoy them anyway.

Bruce W.1 wrote:

[Bruce W.1]

=====================================================

The only thing I've used to keep mold out of water is chlorine, but that's not very plant-friendly, and it evaporates into the air in a few days, or so I've been told.

Hydrogen peroxide? Is this plant-friendly? Does this also evaporate? Can you recommend an amount?

Thanks.