Out of town for a week

[CatsnBubbles]

Hey Guys,

So, I showed some pictures of my current one tree grow (I nicknamed her Lillie). She's growing really well (only very small signs of deficiencies only on a few leaves...nothing as a current cause of alarm) as I switched her to a 12/12 cycle about 2 weeks ago. I just accepted a new job (yay!) which will move me to Denver (double yay!). Over the next few weeks, I will be out of town every so often for the next three months (officially moving during the fall).

My question is about keeping a soil grow happily hydrated while I'm away. I have no one to rely on, so I need to be able to supply about a quart or so of water about every two days. Any advice? This is a soil grow in a 5 gallon cloth pot running a cooling fan and a Mars 300 light about 6 inches from the tallest branch. I live in a moderately humid area, so the humidity can range from 40-70% depending on the day. As you can imagine, that requires a lot of intervention at this stage of her growth.

Thanks!!!

 

[Clancy]

Hi Cats&Bubbules,

I'm perpetually faced with the absence and watering issue. Right now I'm away from my plant for 30 days. One week without a fresh watering is not at all bad. I've gone 3 weeks straight with no water--but that can turn out bad.Anyway here's what you can do for a week and you'll be okay.

First, water your plant really, really well. Then, get some cedar mulch or similar, wet that too, and pour in as much as you can over the topsoil. If you have room for 2-3 inches that's great.--You want to prevent evaporation from the soil.

Next, get some plastic and put that over the mulch and around the stem...( some water soaked wool things would help here too) not so air-tight that you cut off all air but enough so all the mulch is covered. (If you didn't have a 300w light you could just put the whole plant in a plastic bag and it'd look better when you return than before you left.)

That's it...after one week, you may lose some leaves, your plant may give you an "I hate you" look when you get back, but it'll recover...trust me, one week is nothing. You should have seen mine after 3 weeks...lol...but it recovered too.

Now, I've been away for 3 weeks with still another week to go---but I've gone HI-Tech--I bought an automatic waterer that can water for up to 40 days. This is my first time trying it so I'll see in about 10 days. I set it up to give one plant a few ounces of water 2 times a day.

Good luck with your plant.

 

[Weaselcracker]

An autowatering setup is cheap and easy to install. Especially for only one plant. A bucket of water, a little electric pump, a timer, and a bit of hose. My grow has been existing on once a week visits for most of the last three years. I generally don't need the autowatering setup- just keep them in appropriate sized pots. Anyway- you shouldn't really need to water very two days unless your pot is too small for the plant. Five or six days between waterings is a more normal time frame.

 

[Clancy]

Well, I came home after 3 weeks away and I found that the automatic waterer hadn't worked at all...Seems I neglected to get all the air out of the lines before I left with the result that no water flowed to the plants. Nonetheless, the plant was alive and only lost 10-12 leaves. After watering again she bounced right back and is progressing well. So once again that's a 3-week no water period and things are ok---not ideal, but going well. Keep in mind that I always water really well before I leave and my soil is very high in peat--which holds a lot of water. Temps tended to the high side though in my absence though-- the gauge said 34 C.

I do think though, that flowering was "paused" during my absence because it seemed that bud formation only took off after being rescued and watered. It's over 10 days since I returned and it's doing great. I'll be posting again in my Early Miss journal soon.

 

[CatsnBubbles]

Well, I came home after 3 weeks away and I found that the automatic waterer hadn't worked at all...Seems I neglected to get all the air out of the lines before I left with the result that no water flowed to the plants. Nonetheless, the plant was alive and only lost 10-12 leaves. After watering again she bounced right back and is progressing well. So once again that's a 3-week no water period and things are ok---not ideal, but going well. Keep in mind that I always water really well before I leave and my soil is very high in peat--which holds a lot of water. Temps tended to the high side though in my absence though-- the gauge said 34 C.

I do think though, that flowering was "paused" during my absence because it seemed that bud formation only took off after being rescued and watered. It's over 10 days since I returned and it's doing great. I'll be posting again in my Early Miss journal soon.

Cool cool!

 

[killa4lyfe]

yea an automated watering system is best