My first post on this excellent looking forum and a cry for help! I'm Googled out after trying to find a way to water a bougainvillea that I have recently bought to grow to fill the glass ceiling of a new conservatory.

It's no problem when I am at home but I do travel a lot, often away from home for 3 weeks at a time. What I need is some sort of system that will give my plant a good soak and then allow it to dry a little between waterings. A continuous drip I'm told is not the way to go.

I did seem to find some cunning device on an American website that consisted of a reservoir linked to a probe that sensed moisture levels in the pot. This seemed interesting but the folks that sold the kit were not geared to an international retail operation.

Could any of you nice people in the UK point me in the right direction of something suitable in our part of the world?

"Magellan" wrote in message
...

My first post on this excellent looking forum and a cry for help! I'm
Googled out after trying to find a way to water a bougainvillea that I
have recently bought to grow to fill the glass ceiling of a new
conservatory.

It's no problem when I am at home but I do travel a lot, often away
from home for 3 weeks at a time. What I need is some sort of system
that will give my plant a good soak and then allow it to dry a little
between waterings. A continuous drip I'm told is not the way to go.

I did seem to find some cunning device on an American website that
consisted of a reservoir linked to a probe that sensed moisture levels
in the pot. This seemed interesting but the folks that sold the kit
were not geared to an international retail operation.

Could any of you nice people in the UK point me in the right direction
of something suitable in our part of the world?

Magellan

if you goggle with timer "watering system" you'll find 6.110 hits :~)))
Jenny

I did seem to find some cunning device on an American website that
consisted of a reservoir linked to a probe that sensed moisture levels
in the pot.

Did anybody see the Gardener's World Live show? Sarah had found a terracota
thing which was put in the pot with what looked like an upside down glass
ball which slotted into it. Apparantly kept plants watered for about 6
weeks. Does anybody know where to get these?

The message
from Magellan contains these words:


My first post on this excellent looking forum and a cry for help! I'm
Googled out after trying to find a way to water a bougainvillea that I
have recently bought to grow to fill the glass ceiling of a new
conservatory.

It's no problem when I am at home but I do travel a lot, often away
from home for 3 weeks at a time. What I need is some sort of system
that will give my plant a good soak and then allow it to dry a little
between waterings.

It's called, a neighbour.

I think you're going to have a lot of problems if you leave big
conservatory plants unsupervised for three weeks in summer.
Janet

"datsy" wrote in message
...

I did seem to find some cunning device on an American website that
consisted of a reservoir linked to a probe that sensed moisture levels
in the pot.

Did anybody see the Gardener's World Live show? Sarah had found a terracota
thing which was put in the pot with what looked like an upside down glass
ball which slotted into it. Apparantly kept plants watered for about 6
weeks. Does anybody know where to get these?


I saw those too :~)

can't find them on the web.....but something similar (scroll down to water
wizard) 8.50 for 4 :

http://www.queenswood.co.uk/acatalog...nswood.co.uk/a
catalog/Queenswood_Watering_Equipment.html&CatalogBody

jenny

"JennyC" wrote in message
...

"datsy" wrote in message
...

I did seem to find some cunning device on an American website that
consisted of a reservoir linked to a probe that sensed moisture levels
in the pot.

Did anybody see the Gardener's World Live show? Sarah had found a terracota
thing which was put in the pot with what looked like an upside down glass
ball which slotted into it. Apparantly kept plants watered for about 6
weeks. Does anybody know where to get these?


I saw those too :~)

can't find them on the web.....but something similar (scroll down to water
wizard) 8.50 for 4 :


http://www.queenswood.co.uk/acatalog...nswood.co.uk/a
catalog/Queenswood_Watering_Equipment.html&CatalogBody

jenny

Found some more.........
http://www.improvementscatalog.com/p...pt%5Fid=12100&
subdept%5Fid=12140

http://www.improvementscatalog.com/h...elf-Watering-S
ystem.html

and a device that reminded me of Jeff Hamilton :~)
http://members.tripod.com/toppertwo/pop_bottle_pots.htm

Jenny

Thanks for that Datsy, Janet and Jenny.

Datsy, the self watering ball you mentioned seems similar from your description to the self-watering sphere Jenny located on her trawl through the web. Problem that her's were on an American site and while I have bought stuff direct from the USA in the past it can be something of a lottery with HM Customs & Excise what you end up paying. I'm also a bit iffy about buying from a small bit operator abroad for all the obvious reasons.

Janet your "neighbour" solution is nice and simple but where I live most of my immediate neighbours are often empty holiday homes or very, very old widows who would be happy to help but are mostly too frail to cope with the task of getting into my house.

Jenny, the drip bag from Leominster looks dead simple and is worth a try. The Oasis dripper is from the USA and so, for me that is ruled out and, finally, the home-made pop bottle device, as much as I like the idea of self-help, is a bit on the small side.

So that leaves the dripper so far and my main concern about that concept is the fact that my bougainvillea likes, so I am told, a drenching and then a period of gradual drying out before another drenching.

It would seem I need some sort of soil sensor that tells my reservoir that it is time for a large shot of food and drink when the time is right. I'm sure someone must have come up with that bit of kit by now. As I said in my first post I did find something along those lines for sale but in the States.

If anyone has any more UK based ideas to solve my problem I would very much continue to welcome some help!