How to organize watering indoor plants during the holidays

The benefits of indoor flowers have long been known. Enriching the air with oxygen and moisture, pleasing the eye with its beauty, they require constant care. When planning a vacation or a long-term trip, indoor plant lovers, who did not have time to find those who look after the Green Guard, are beginning to be overcome with an alarming question - how will flowers be watered during the absence of the host? Fortunately, this problem has long been solved. It is enough to properly prepare the flowers for your departure, to establish the mechanism of automatic irrigation and you can go on a journey with peace of mind.

We prepare indoor plants for vacation

Potted flowers left unattended for a long time, experts advise to prepare.You can do this as follows:

1. A couple of weeks before departure, stop feeding the plants with various additives. This is necessary in order to slow down their active growth and somewhat reduce appetites.
2. When there is a time of 8-10 days until the desired vacation, you need to carefully remove all the sick and affected leaves.
3. Immediately before departure, it is recommended to remove flower pots from the window sills;
4. Buds need to be cut. Thus, fluid intake is minimized. This should be done carefully, taking into account the ability of the plant to recover later.
5. Soil in a flowerpot shed well with water, it is important not to overdo it. The earth should be soaked with liquid, but not become wet. It is possible to reduce the evaporation of moisture if you wrap the pot with a damp newspaper and cellophane on top.
6. It is desirable to place all pots in a large container with liquid poured at the bottom. However, they should not touch the water. Thus, it will be possible to achieve the desired level of humidity near green spaces.
7. Around the leaves it makes sense to make a dome of a transparent film. This procedure allows you to create something like a greenhouse.
8. It would be good to put clay pots in larger plastic containers. To fill the formed emptiness between walls the keramzit moistened in water.

Homemade autowatering systems

Anyone at home can prepare simple mechanisms for automatic irrigation.

Wicks
You need a fabric that absorbs moisture. It is cut into strips from which the wicks are twisted. One end of the device is buried in the soil of the flower pot, the other is placed in a container with water. As the soil dries, the wick will moisten it. Moreover, it should not just be moistened with water, but rather well absorbed. Behind this must be traced. Important! This wick method can be applied for up to 10 days.

The disadvantage of this method is that in the heat of the fabric flagellum dries quickly, and the liquid in the ground will flow in small amounts. To improve the situation, it is recommended to purchase special wicks and rods made of porous ceramics. With such devices drying will be avoided.

Medical droppers
Excellent system of automatic watering will turn out from droppers, used in medicine. One end is placed in a container with liquid, the other - in the ground, preferably closer to the edge of the pot. Leaving for a short time, it is better to use the clip provided in the kit with a dropper.

When planning a long departure, it is recommended to close the tube, puncturing a small hole in it. Or make the clearance in the needle more narrow.

Alternatively, a porous nebulizer can be placed at the end of the tube (these are usually used to supply air to the aquarium).

Plastic bottles
The method using plastic bottles is quite simple, but quite effective. Such capacity is filled with liquid up to the neck. In the cap, which closes the bottle, a small hole is made. The resulting device is turned upside down and screwed into the pot ground. Water, gradually flowing through the hole in the lid, will moisten the soil. To speed up watering, the bottom of the bottle should be pierced. It is important to ensure that the hole was quite small. In this case, the water will not flow more than the set and will be able to avoid rotting.

Automatic irrigation mechanisms

If you don’t have time or desire to develop the automatic watering system, you can purchase ready-made and convenient mechanisms in any flower shop. Their high cost is justified by reliability and efficiency in use.

1. Gardena - a device that allows to provide dosed irrigation for room flowers that need different amounts of moisture. The system is powered from the electrical network, provides plants with water 1 time per 24 hours. One device can water several pots at the same time.
2. Blumat - a mechanism consisting of a narrow ceramic cone and a silicone tube. The cone should be inserted into the ground, filled with water and closed. To put the end of a tube in ware with liquid. Moisture will gradually be absorbed into the ground, seeping through the porous walls of the device. As the water leaves the cone, a new batch will flow from the vessel through the tube.
3. Oasis - A convenient, completely autonomous system that holds 25 liters of liquid. The unit is powered by a battery. He is able to water up to 20 pots for 2-5 weeks.
4. RAIN SMART - the domestic system of dosed avtopoliv, working from electricity. It is capable of issuing at once from 50 ml. up to 3.5 liters of moisture. Watering frequency can be customized.

"Smart pots" for autowatering

If the forthcoming long absence became known in advance, you can purchase special pots. A few months before the trip, indoor plants are transplanted into such containers, consisting of three parts:

• top (for soil);
• middle (intermediate layer consisting of mesh material);
• bottom (for water).

To plant flowers in such a pot should be the most common way, and take care too. But when several months pass, the roots of the plant will sprout through the middle net layer and the flower will receive the necessary moisture already from the lower reservoir.

Hydrogel will solve the problem of drought

Many florists apply a special hydrogel. Unique polymer granules are capable of absorbing huge volumes of liquid. The crystals are presoaked in water for 7-8 hours. Once in the liquid, they begin to absorb it intensively, while increasing in size. Then this moisture is given to the root system of plants.And with an excess of liquid, the hydrogel absorbs it back.

How to care for plants after return

Those who used the methods of autowatering, described above, are not threatened by unexpected surprises in the form of dried, faded or ruined indoor flowers. Upon return, it is necessary to carefully examine each plant, to remove rotten or dried parts. Soak the soil in pots with water by means of bottom irrigation.
Exposing plants to the light immediately is not recommended. It is better to accustom them to bright lighting gradually.

Care for indoor plants in the period of a long absence of man is necessary. Automatic or self-made irrigation systems are a great option for those who could not find a “nanny” for their green garrison.

Video: how to water the flowers during the holidays