Mulch

[JamesM]

In preparation for going on holiday for a week in mid-August i've been doing a little research on the best way to protect my veg while i'm away. Essentially i'll be lucky if i can get everything watered once over the course of the week due to living away from family, elderly neighbours etc so it looks like a good soaking a layer of mulch may well be my best bet.

What i'm looking for hopefully is some advice. I'm looking to use grass from my lawn as opposed to bark or anything i'd have to buy but do i need to dry it out etc or just pile it on straight from the mower the day before we go?

As a note i've got growing (or will have by August): cucumber, sweetcorn, parsnips, carrots, onion, spring onion, toms, courgettes, bunch of herbs, spinach and all in pots.

Any advice on watering would also be appreciated. Is it a good policy to water sparingly all summer so they don't become over dependent on regular watering? Sorry for the long post- thanks in advance. James

[Potstubsdustbins]

James,
I foresee problems just the wrong time of year to be going away for someone who grows in pots. At that time of year I am watering my toms & cumbers every day.

Can you stand your pots in trays of some sort that you could fill with water just before you leave?

Colin.

P.S. You can bet it will be the first August for many a year when it will not rain.

[King Carrot]

If its warm and dry I really don't know if a water and mulch before you go would be enough as the plants could use loads in transpiration (I think it is). I can think of some options and perhaps you'll get a better solution from someone else who grows in pots (my first year trying a few things in pots so no experience)

A big container of water with just the end of one of those capillary mats immersed and the pots placed on the rest of it – I think it all needs to be on the flat to work properly though. Maybe you could get someone to just top up the container mid week, if needed.

Otherwise can you grow your pots on the ground/earth so the roots can get into the soil and increase their potential water take up area?

Depending on how many pots you have to water, one of those auto watering doo dahs with the pipes might be another option though probably loads of money bother and hassle to set up.

[solway cropper]

I've been container growing for years and know from experience that in the summer they sometimes need watering twice a day if the sun comes out and it's not actually raining!!

As KC says, if there's a chance you can place the pots on the soil that will help. Also, if you cut the bottoms off plastic bottles you can push the neck into the container soil and fill it up with water but this might only last a couple of days.

[Bren In Pots]

The others have come up with good ideas so all I can add is to try and move your pots into the shade, that way they won't dry out so fast.

[Two_Sheds]

As Bren says, move everything into shade and keep your fingers crossed. Do you have no neighbours at all?
When we moved in I went out of my way to say hello to them, took presents of jam & chutney etc (and spare courgettes lol). Now we're all on speaking terms and I can ask them to water if I'm away. They know I'd do it for them.

Mr TS though, has never bothered even smiling at our neighbours

[Florence Fennel]

As others have said, a week is a long time to leave the plants without water, they dry out really quickly in pots. If you have no neighbours who would do it, have you a work colleague who would water for you? Good luck with it.

[chris]

You you not setup an auto watering system.. or even a drip watering one with old 2l pop bottles? August is ripening time, so they will need the water as everyone has said above.

I feel bad going away at the end of this month

[JamesM]

Many thanks for the replies- RE the neighbours one side is a lovely 91 year-old who is very able but i wouldn't feel comfortable asking and the other side we don't like after they kept banging on the wall all night when my son was up crying, very poorly.

It's really cathc 22 as we're very lucky to go away (free holiday paid for by my parents as we could never afford it) but frustrating timing. Other than the drip bottle situation which is the only one i could think might help- would there be any benefit/repurcussions from moving what i can into the bath (!)? It's right next to the back door and could take the more valuable pots and filled with enough water would it sustain them? Or would the amount of water needed drown them? Thanks again

[chris]

You could wet a towel in the bottom of the bath, and place the pots on them there - but room will be an issue (I did this before, Two_Sheds advised me - so credit to her!). Also if they're bearing fruit, you could risk breaking the branches/stems.. But I'm sure it'd be better than nowt!

[JamesM]

thanks, I'll probably try and do that with what I can and for everything else just submerge as many bottles in the pots as deeply as I possibly can with a think layer of grass cuttings on top. A wet towel as opposed to a few inches of water then? How is that more beneficial?

Any more advice on anything greatly appreciated! It's very disheartening to think that all the hardwork i'm going to now may ultimately be in vain and puts a downer on going away as much as i'm looking forward to it.

[Two_Sheds]

If you leave pots sitting in water the roots can't breathe and the plants drown. My FiL did this when we went to the Far East for a month in '08. He ignored my request to water little & often, and simply turned up once and filled all the saucers as deep as he could

I lost loads of plants

But, you're only away for a week: you might be luckier

[JamesM]

Makes perfect sense. Looks like i'm going to have to start saving up 2L bottles and making some jam for the neighbours. Having said that and with my cooking skills i'm probably better off just buying a couple of hundred easter eggs from Tesco

[Potstubsdustbins]

Hi James,

I thought you might be interested in a project I have going. I didn't want to say to much before because it was still under test.

I have been working on a cheap as chips home made irrigation system. The pictures show my first effort mad from a 10ltr bottle (free), silicon air line tube for aquariums
£2-99p for 5 mtrs, valve £0-80p, straight connector £0-18p and 2 pac glue I had on the shelf.

At first I had trouble getting the water flow down to a reasonable level but it now delivers a litre over a 24 hour period. With a bit of effort and little outlay something like this may help you.

Colin

[JamesM]

That is honestly brilliant. I've been racking my brains with what to do and wondering whether something along the lines of what you've done is at all feasible.

Basically where i'm at with it is that the day before we go away i'm going to pack up all the pots i possibly can and take the round to my girlfriends parents for a week. essentially that leaves me with cucmbers, sweetcorn, courgettes and toms that wouldn't be practical to move and have began sinking bottles into the pots for drip watering while away. They're all going to be located in places where there's elevation to have something like that drip water them for a week.

I'm absolutely hopeless at anything DIY based- is there anyway you could give me instructions just as to what exactly is where and how you've made holes/what with etc etc if it's not too much trouble. Don't worry if not i'll print your pics and work my way through them in the garden. I'll probably have it ready for next year!