On 29/04/2019 19:53, Chris Hogg wrote:

Just seen on TV Charlie Dimmock recommending that water saving gel be
pre-soaked to swell it before adding it to the compost, otherwise
everything expands and the contents of the pot 'overflows'.

Pre-soaking the gel on its own and you end up with a jelly the
consistency of wall paper paste and it's difficult to judge how much gel
you are adding. You need approx 1 gram of "dry" gel per litre of compost
so for a 50l bag add 50g of dry water retaining gel (50g = approx 10
level tablespoons). From garden shops this gel can be very expensive.
I've purchased 1kg bags from Ebay for around £12.50 - there a few
sellers at this price.


I think your plans for improving the drainage are way OTT.

+1

watering. How that will work with your drip system I don't know, and
maybe your four extra holes will be needed, but those layers of
geotextile are quite unnecessary IMO. A layer of gravel, or a few
crocks from a broken clay pot, are all that you'll need.


I wonder how the drip system is going to be implemented. One dripper per
pot or just the upper layers being watered and gravity watering the
others with the overflow.
In my experience with a micro irrigation and a watering timer/computer
is that around 4 times a year you have to reprogram the timer. Say, one
watering of five minutes per day spring/autumn to 3 periods of 10
minutes during the heat of summer. Program the timer to water during the
middle of the night.

I've had a micro system for the past 15 years or so and I've found that
some of the cheap timers work just as well or better than some of the
more expensive offerings.
Example of £12/£13 models sold under many different brand names
https://storefeederimages.blob.core....4rirhxcav0.jpg

With this cheap timer if you set it up at, say, 3pm for a 24 hour cycle
it will go off every day at 3pm so if you want a watering period at 9pm
you reset it and then set it up at 9pm. The two AAA batteries last
approx 9 months so perhaps have routine to change them every 6 months,
especially if the batteries may be expected to die in the summer months.

I had two Hozelock (expensive) timers and both failed in just over a
year. Either through leaks or condensation water drips internally down
the circuit board to the battery terminals and components/PCB and
terminals corrode.


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