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#1
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DIY auto-watering
I'm going away for a month,
and am wondering if there is a simple way of watering window-boxes while I am away. I have a number of 500ml empty sparkling water bottles. I tried making a hole in the top of one, but it is very difficult to control the amount of water that comes out. I'm wondering if one could use a piece of string with one end in the bottle and one in the soil, with osmosis slowly taking the water from the bottle? -- Timothy Murphy e-mail: gayleard /at/ eircom.net tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366 s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland |
#2
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DIY auto-watering
"Timothy Murphy" wrote in message
... I'm going away for a month, and am wondering if there is a simple way of watering window-boxes while I am away. I have a number of 500ml empty sparkling water bottles. I tried making a hole in the top of one, but it is very difficult to control the amount of water that comes out. I'm wondering if one could use a piece of string with one end in the bottle and one in the soil, with osmosis slowly taking the water from the bottle? -- Timothy Murphy If you are going away for that length of time, who is looking after your house and mail etc. can't they do your watering for you? We have wonderful neighbours and when we go away cruising, we hand them the keys and they look after watering, the mail, opening and closing windows etc. 5 weeks in our case this year and the same next year is too long to leave a place empty. Look at the junk mail!! You won't open the front door!! -- Mike The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association www.rneba.org.uk Luxury Self Catering on the Isle of Wight? www.shanklinmanormews.co.uk |
#3
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DIY auto-watering
On 24/07/2009 01:59, in article , "Timothy Murphy" wrote: I'm going away for a month, and am wondering if there is a simple way of watering window-boxes while I am away. I have a number of 500ml empty sparkling water bottles. I tried making a hole in the top of one, but it is very difficult to control the amount of water that comes out. I'm wondering if one could use a piece of string with one end in the bottle and one in the soil, with osmosis slowly taking the water from the bottle? I managed to keep a polytunnel alive for 2.5 weeks earlier this month using - 4 x 200l water butts, connected together as pairs - 2 of these electronic timers http://www.beddingplantsdirect.co.uk...ering-timer-p- 182.html - 3 of these micro irrigation kits http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kingfisher-25M...t-Watering-Kit _W0QQitemZ290326936536QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ2009062 6?IMSfp=TL090626168004r701 8 (Note I am not recommending either supplier. I paid £10 for each timer and £5 for each irrigation kit - so you may be able to find cheaper.) I would expect you can sort out something similar, but smaller scale, so long as you can suspend a suitable quantity of water above the window boxes, or have a tap you can leave on. In terms of working out how much water you need - I guessed that 800L would be enough for my purposes, based on how many 20L watering cans we generally use during the course of a day/week. I then ran the system for a week at 30 minutes at day and from this estimated how long I could actually run the water for each day and use up the entire amount in 2.5 weeks. |
#4
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DIY auto-watering
"Timothy Murphy" wrote in message ... I'm going away for a month, and am wondering if there is a simple way of watering window-boxes while I am away. I have a number of 500ml empty sparkling water bottles. I tried making a hole in the top of one, but it is very difficult to control the amount of water that comes out. I'm wondering if one could use a piece of string with one end in the bottle and one in the soil, with osmosis slowly taking the water from the bottle? Well, a month from now means late August, they'll be pretty much gone over anyway, especially with no dead-heading being done. Also, isn't Dublin expecting a bit of rain in the next month? Simplest, as has been mentioned, is to ask someone to water for you if it's a particularly dry spell. Steve |
#5
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DIY auto-watering
Timothy Murphy wrote:
I'm going away for a month, and am wondering if there is a simple way of watering window-boxes while I am away. I have a number of 500ml empty sparkling water bottles. I tried making a hole in the top of one, but it is very difficult to control the amount of water that comes out. There are commercial gizmos to do it. How well they work is a mute point eg. http://www.travena.co.uk/watering.htm I'm wondering if one could use a piece of string with one end in the bottle and one in the soil, with osmosis slowly taking the water from the bottle? It would be capilliary action that does it. As you describe it would lose too much by evaporation, but you might be able to get it to work by sleeving the wick with cling film. There is a moderately cute way to do it with a small amount of metal work and a bit of ingenuity. Based on expansion of air when the sun shines. You need some soft brass or copper capiliary pipe and bend it carefully to form a J shape. Then drill a matching tight fit hole through the centre of the drinks bottle cap. The long leg of the pipe goes down into the water and the J drips onto the plant. You may need to attach some black PVC tape to the part above the air space to get the right amount of water to come out. It is the air expanding that make sit work. At night when it is cool air is sucked back into the bottle and the cycle starts again. The amount of water delivered depends on how warm it is during the daytime. More water delivered as the air space increases. You need a gas tight seal on the hole for it to work - a spot of impact adhesive or bath sealant will do. You can buy gizmoes to do it too but they are expensive for what they are and fail fairly quickly. Make sure there is a diffuser around the bottle. The sun through a clear cylindrical lens at this time of year can start fires! It always pays to test irrigation systems for a few weeks before you go away. I came back once to find a bunch of rare desert plants in my greenhouse under 2" of water - amazingly they tolerated it. Regards, Martin Brown |
#6
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DIY auto-watering
'Mike' wrote:
I'm going away for a month, and am wondering if there is a simple way of watering window-boxes while I am away. If you are going away for that length of time, who is looking after your house and mail etc. can't they do your watering for you? I do indeed have a very good neighbour who is looking after our cat. I could indeed ask her to water the window-boxes, but would prefer to do something myself if possible. -- Timothy Murphy e-mail: gayleard /at/ eircom.net tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366 s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland |
#7
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DIY auto-watering
Piers Finlayson wrote:
In terms of working out how much water you need - I guessed that 800L would be enough for my purposes, based on how many 20L watering cans we generally use during the course of a day/week. I then ran the system for a week at 30 minutes at day and from this estimated how long I could actually run the water for each day and use up the entire amount in 2.5 weeks. Thanks for the info. I'm hoping a very small amount of water will keep the plants alive, much less than they normally get. -- Timothy Murphy e-mail: gayleard /at/ eircom.net tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366 s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland |
#8
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DIY auto-watering
On 2009-07-24 12:27:02 +0100, Martin said:
On Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:03:46 +0100, Timothy Murphy wrote: 'Mike' wrote: I'm going away for a month, and am wondering if there is a simple way of watering window-boxes while I am away. If you are going away for that length of time, who is looking after your house and mail etc. can't they do your watering for you? I do indeed have a very good neighbour who is looking after our cat. I could indeed ask her to water the window-boxes, but would prefer to do something myself if possible. We took down our flower baskets and left them on the ground out in the open, when we went on holiday for two weeks. Mother nature did the rest. I have access to a very expensive and therefore hopefully good meteo forecast system which says with confidence that we are due to get a fortnight's heatwave from the beginning of August (35 degrees!). That being so, Mother Nature may not get the job done on her own. Being paranoid about floods and/or under-watering, I only use commercial micro irrigation systems connected to a tap timer. The Hozelock AC Pro has a rain sensor accessory which turns the watering program off if/when it detects sufficient rainfall. You can't get that kind of eco-sensible control from a home-made system. http://www.garden4less.co.uk/hozeloc...ain-sensor.asp |
#9
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DIY auto-watering
Timothy Murphy wrote:
... osmosis slowly taking the water from the bottle? Capillary attraction, not osmosis. -- Which of the seven heavens / Was responsible her smile / Wouldn't be sure but attested / That, whoever it was, a god / Worth kneeling-to for a while / Had tabernacled and rested. |
#10
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DIY auto-watering
"Piers Finlayson" wrote in message ... On 24/07/2009 01:59, in article , "Timothy Murphy" wrote: I'm going away for a month, and am wondering if there is a simple way of watering window-boxes while I am away. I have a number of 500ml empty sparkling water bottles. I tried making a hole in the top of one, but it is very difficult to control the amount of water that comes out. I'm wondering if one could use a piece of string with one end in the bottle and one in the soil, with osmosis slowly taking the water from the bottle? I managed to keep a polytunnel alive for 2.5 weeks earlier this month using - 4 x 200l water butts, connected together as pairs - 2 of these electronic timers http://www.beddingplantsdirect.co.uk...ering-timer-p- Went there but could not find a price for the timer! Alan |
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