Summer Garden Watering Hacks

[inlotsofknots]

Hello all, looking for advice looking ahead.

I'm a keen gardener of both flowers and fruits and veg. This year, I'd like to add one of the poly green houses to my garden for things like tomatoes, chilli's and peppers. Does anyone have any hacks or recommendations for watering whilst on holiday??

We go away for 2 weeks in august every year. Family will come to water, but only every few days. I desperate to not lose all my plants and flowers over this 2 weeks. Any suggestions of any decent and affordable hacks or products to keep things watered for a few days at a time? So far, I've bought water retaining crystals.

Thank you!

I use solar powered irrigation, mine is by Irrigatia but I’m sure others are available. It takes water from a waterbutt and drip feeds two or three times a day. It means my tomatoes at the allotment get regular water without me having to do it and has made a massive difference.

Same. Waterbutt and an Irrigatia solar irrigation system. Very easy to set up.

Thanks, will look it up!!

Move everything to the shade, group pots together, soak them before you go and stand water filled bottles upside down in the soil. Everything survives and I don't have anyone calling in to water.

Fill 2 litre plastic bottles, lemonade or whatever, with water, replace lid and poke a small hole through with a darning needle or similar, then place upside down in the soil/container, burying the first third for stability. It will slowly trickle out over time.

Home made olios? Kind of the same approach as the lemonade bottle hack. Take an unpainted
terracotta plant pot and a saucer that fits it. Plug the base whole in the terracotta plant pot. Dug a
hole and put the plant pot underground (open top
at ground level/just above ground level). Fill
plant pot with water, then put the saucer over the top of the pot. Terracotta is porous so water will seep out slowly.

*ollas. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GRiLhrY2CMc

Against all advice, I leave everything in trays 3 inches deep in water, which carries me through the first few days even for the thirstiest things. Thereafter I tell my non-gardening DS to water any plants in dry trays but that they don’t need standing water.

I’ve been cutting my watering right down by using buried pots and mulching with shredded leaves, but the biggest difference came from a small setup I got through HT Bauer, which gave me more even watering without much faff. Pairing that with early-morning watering and keeping soil covered has kept my flowers and veg going through heat spells with less effort.

That's linking to something designed to water 120 acres, which seems a little excessive for my patio pots.