Hello, This year, I won't have someone at home to water my maples in containers during my 3 weeks holiday. Someone will come home 2-3 times a week, and some of my maples don't have a good location (...yet, a true garden is progammed for next winter :) ) I'm thinking about several solutions to ease my friend's tasks and to be able to leave with my mind in peace. Today, while surfing I found that some people put hydrogel in their plants. It is probably a very stupid idea, but I have to know :) The questions are : - I fear the poisonning risk, am I too cautious ? - do someone ever tried this with maples ? - if yes, are there better products than others ? (baby diaper ? TerraCottem ? etc...) - and, are they another solutions I could try ? I don't have any external tap I could use to set an automatic watering system... Thank you !
How much water do you think they'll need? Could you try to DIY an "Aquaglobe" out of a 2 liter bottle? Here's a thread on a different forum: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf99018443.tip.html
Excuse for taking so much time to answer. Not sure about the glass ball thing. I'm talking of around 10 maples, almost in full south sun. When I'm not in holiday, the sun is not really a problem. It's easy to handle the shade and the watering, but I'm not sure about putting a glass ball there. Won't it act as a magnifying glass ? I'm thinking about bringing them back inside, in the north rooms of my home...
If you're concerned about magnification through the water, you could always make them out of 2-liter bottles and leave their labels on-- if you click on the link above, some people have used attachments sold online to make their own larger watering system out of bottles...wine bottles, soda bottles, etc.
This might be a good idea. Either that or move them somewhere outdoors in heavy shade. Should be able to make 3 days or so between waterings if in heavy shade.
Do you have room in your garden to bury the containers? I'm not sure how large your containers are so this might not be a viable option. I do this when away on holiday. It also helps that my yard is mostly shaded by large trees, but the cool dirt surrounding the pots definitely keep the roots cooler and moist, especially on windy days. Kevin in KC
Unfortunately, I only have a balcony until the end of the year. A big part of it is full south, with a lot of wind too. I live near Paris, so I only need to give them shade and watch daily for their watering needs. If the place is windy, the sun is the worse. But the shade problem is going to be handled by bringing the most exposed inside, so that's ok. The problem I was trying to resolve was to ensure that my friend is not going to have to come daily to check them. Burying the containers is quite a good idea in fact, I'll remember that for the future garden at the end of the year (I can't wait).
Oh, and sorry for the double post is it allowed to post a new thread on the palmatum photo gallery, or only "trusted" users can ? I have some pictures of missing maples I could share :)
To me, Hydrogel and the like are not a good option: if it rains a lot while you're away (or when you are not), the soil will be totally soaked, which might trigger root rot or fungal diseases.
