3 months ago I gave a friend a bonsai I had created out of the maple called Crimson King. I was aware that she was a busy person and may not have the time to devote herself to the bonsai on a daily basis. Thus I rig up a simple automatic watering system for her. It consists mainly of a porous tube or cube if you like, to which is attached a 3 feet of rubber/plastic tube and a tumbler. Initially fill the tube completely with water, then attach the tube making sure the attachment is airtight. Next you insert the cube into the soil of the plant close to its rootball. Now fill the tumbler with water and place the open end of the hose into the tumbler. As the soil dries up, water leaks out through the porous walls of the cube and new water from the tube replaces the water lost. More water is forced into the tube by air pressure until the tumbler becomes dry, so it needs refilling about once in 1 to 2 weeks before becoming too dry. You will observe that the rate of water flow can be controlled by the height of the water level in the tumbler in relation to the position of the cube. If you need to water more, raise the position of the tumbler above the pot and you have gravity working for you. When gravity works against you then the rate of watering is decreased. This set up works like a charm for her and she is beginning to enjoy bonsai without the tedious attention that she would normally have to devote to it.
Where do you get this "porous tube or cube"? While it is better than no water when on vacation, bonsai need to have All of their roots soaked when they are watered, and if the water is seeping from one spot that can't really happen. A good system when away, but there is no substitute for a loving hand. M.
Gobalist, I couldn't agree more than a caring owner is the prerequisite to growing a beautiful bonsai. But many people would like to own or admire a bonsai, without the bother of constant daily watering regiment. I guess the plant will do better with the tender loving care given but at least with this system it is spared the stress of underwatering or even sure death, in most cases. If you allow water to drip at a point in the pot, it will flow down due to gravity and at the same time spread out due to cohesion and the capillary action in soil particles. You can make a cube or cylinder out of any porous material like pumice stone, or even tofa (paper+cement) will do fine, then embed a short tube for connecting the tubing to the tumbler. The easier way in Canada is to go to Lee Valley store and purchase them for I think C$8.00 for 2.
Michael, You will be surprised to find the majority of people think they do not have the time to 'stand and stare'. Even I myself have been in situations where I am always in a rush to get things done, but not realizing I am rushing for nothing. What I need is to set my priorities right. Of course the virtue of taking up bonsai cannot be overstated. Nothing trains you to have extreme patience better than our art; we live in a world obsessed with instant gratification, don't we? Bonsai has given me the keen eye to appreciate the beauty of plants (or nature in the larger prospective), to know the needs of and care for plants, and the boundless joy we experience when we have created our own masterpiece speciment one fine day. One good point I would like to add on the automatic watering system is that it provides a constancy in the degree of wetness the plant experiences. Too often we shock the plant by the instant transition from underwatering to overwatering. Reminds me of the unpleasant experience of getting out of the hot tub into the chilly winter night.
In India one can buy an intravenous giving set from any pharmacy for about 10 cents. This comes with about 200 cms long pvc tubing and a drip chamber with a regulator to control the flow (the number of drops per minute). I glued the top end of the tube into a hole at the bottom of a five litre plastic carbuoy kept about five feet above the plant and kept the delivery end just above the soil. The plant remained well watered for the two weeks I had to be away at work at another town. However, this expedience is used only as a contingency measure. bioramani
bioramani I liked your method as well. The rate of evaporation through leaf stomata varies with the humidity so a constant drip rate may not accomodate this variation. In the method I use, water flows only when a certain degree of dryness is reached. This degree of dryness, or wetness if you prefer the term, can be prefixed by changing the head of water in the system.
