I'm heading away for a few weeks of vacation.
Rather than hire a plant sitter, is there anything I can do on short notice,
to keep these plants alive and watered while I'm away?
Sub-irrigating your houseplants make watering easier year round.
By sub-irrigating I mean providing a reservoir of water under the plant,
and a wick that connects the two, allowing the plant to draw water as needed.
This doesn't involve tubes or sensors, just a few readily available household
items.
Attractive and functional sub-irrigation containers are popping
up at garden centers and hardware stores. But since you are headed away soon,
repotting your plants into new sub-irrigated containers isn't
practical.
To make a simple sub-irrigation system that works while you are
away, follow these basic steps.
Use a watertight container as your reservoir. Suspend the plant
above or slide it into the container so that the bottom of the plant pot
just touches the maximum fill line of your reservoir. A clean, discarded
food container like a yogurt cup, with its bottom cut out, can be trimmed
to the right height to elevate the plant in the reservoir.
Avoid using solid objects, like bricks or rocks, that displace water
volume, or you may not have as much water in your reservoir as might appear.
You want to make sure that the bottom of your plant pot is as close as it
can be to the reservoir water level without getting its feet wet.
The most obvious element of a sub-irrigation system, the reservoir
allows you to tailor the system to the plants water needs.
Try a mop bucket for larger plants and a low plastic container for
smaller plants. Anything that is watertight, non-breakable and won't leave
rings on furniture works well. Try to adjust the vessel's capacity to the
plants needs.
Plants like Ficus (Weeping Fig) or Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily) need
to have lots of water available. Cacti and Snake plants may not need
any.
The wick is the most vital element of a sub-irrigation system. It
provides the essential connection between root ball and water. Without a
good wick that both contacts the soil well, and absorbs water easily, the
sub-irrigation system won't work.
Strips of pantyhose work well, as do absorptive felted fabrics or
terry-cloth. Old cotton napkins or tea towels, torn into strips work well
too. Test the fabric first if you are not sure. As with the reservoir, tailor
the quantity or length of wicking material to the plant's needs and the
reservoir's depth.
Larger pots may need two or three long wicks, smaller pots only
one short wick.
The wick can be inserted into the root ball with a chopstick or
a thin pencil. It is not necessary to remove the plant from the pot. Simply
hook the wick over the tip of the chopstick and drive the wick up and through
the drainage hole and into the root-ball on a forty-five degree
angle.
Heavily-rooted plants, like ficus, may require the use of a long
screwdriver or sturdy rod to push the wick up and through the tangle of roots
at the bottom of the pot. When you are sure that the wick will make contact
with the soil and won't fall out, tap the pot a few times to settle any air
pockets you might have created. If the wick falls out or appears loose, try
again.
Before you leave your plants to water themselves, check the soil
moisture level. You may need to jump-start the sub-irrigation system if the
soil is dry. Water from the top, making sure that the soil is evenly moist
and that the water reaches the bottom of the root ball. If there is a gap
between the soil and the pot rim, fill the gap with some potting soil or
tamp-down the surface.
As you place the plant above the reservoir, make sure the wick is
hanging down and into the water and is not snagged on the bottom or folded
under the pot. Make sure the bottom of the plant pot is just above or barely
touching the reservoir water level. As long as the wick is well connected
to the soil, water will travel up the wick and become available to the plant
as it is needed.
For especially thirsty plants like Peace lilies or Ficus trees,
an additional step may help. As long as the plants are not in direct and
intense sun, a clear plastic bag tented over the plant may help to reduce
water loss through transpiration. This works well for other plants as well,
creating a small greenhouse around them and limiting the loss of reservoir
water through evaporation.
Give the system a week to work out any kinks. Adjust reservoir
capacities as you need and re-insert any wicks you think aren't making good
contact. Once your plants have settled into the benefits of sub-irrigation,
they'll plant-sit themselves while you are on vacation.
About the Author: After spending her childhood in the garden, Jennifer
J. S. Stengle graduated from Cornell University in 1987 with a degree in
Floriculture and Ornamental Horticulture. For her own firm, she designs and
plants perennial gardens and small landscapes in New York and Connecticut.
She has also served as a consultant to a New York Interior-scaping firm.
She now lives in upstate New York , with her husband and son, where she continues
her perennial contemplation of plants . Write her at:
Triskele@AOL.COM.
Books on Plants:
The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tompkins and Christopher O. Bud.
To
order click here.
The American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants
by Christopher Brickell, editor, Judith Zuk, editor.
To
order click here.
The House Plant Expert: The World's Best-Selling Book on House Plants
by D. G. Hessayon.
To
order click here.
The Flower Expert by D.G.
Hessayon.
To order click here. |
